Wednesday, November 7, 2012
by Burt Prelutsky
The most surprising thing about the election is that I, generally the most cynical of men, gave too much credit to the American people. Although I only lost a ten dollar bet on the election, I was sorely tempted to wager a lot more. Fortunately, I couldn’t afford to risk it, even on what I regarded as a pretty sure thing.
The truth is that when Dick Morris began talking about a Romney landslide, I began to entertain doubts. I’ve never forgotten the way that Bill O’Reilly’s favorite oracle insisted in 2010 that Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina were going to trounce Jerry Brown and Barbara Boxer. But I figured that even a blind pig sometimes stumbles across an acorn and a broken clock is right twice every 24 hours.
I realize that a lot of Republicans will insist that Rick Santorum or Newt Gingrich would have won the election, but I respectfully submit that they’re nuts. Romney ran a decent campaign and certainly gave the voters a perfectly fine alternative to the left-wing radical who pretended that birth control pills were more important than an economy on life support, a nuclear Iran, national security leaks to the NY Times and a massacre in Benghazi. What it says about America’s future is almost too horrifying to contemplate.
When in the final weeks of the campaign, Obama had to call on a weasel like Bill Clinton to sell him to Ohio and Pennsylvania, while Romney had Billy Graham’s heartfelt endorsement, I figured it was a done deal.
I admit to experiencing a loss of self-esteem after suffering such a body blow to my ego. Generally, I get these things right. In 2008, I predicted Obama’s margin of victory. In 2004, I not only predicted that Bush would defeat Kerry, but came within four electoral votes of nailing it.
But the truth of the matter is that I feel far worse about America. The country teetered on the edge of the precipice and had a chance to step back. Instead, like a colony of lemmings, they surged forward and over the edge.
In 2008, knowing what I knew about Obama, I felt all was lost. That was especially the case when the Democrats wound up with super majorities in the House and Senate. I felt the Republicans might never recover. But Obama and his stooges in Congress so badly overplayed their cards that the GOP came storming back in 2010, thanks mainly to their revulsion with ObamaCare. I felt that America had just barely dodged the bullet.
Now, however, I think the outlook couldn’t be bleaker. With the birth rate of blacks and Hispanics far outdistancing that of whites, and with more and more women electing to remain single and, like gays, identifying themselves solely on the basis of their sexual organs, I really can’t envision America ever again electing someone who, like Romney, champions America’s traditions, the Constitution, free enterprise, religion, a strong military and individual responsibility.
Because the majority of Americans have now openly declared their preference for European-style socialism, and because we have a president and a Senate with a mandate to continue throwing money at public sector unions, minorities and the young, we can pretty much count on Greek-style riots in the streets as we pass the point of no return when we simply won’t have enough money to pay for ObamaCare, state and federal pensions, Social Security, Medicare and Michelle Obama’s vacations.
Considering how close the election was in several states, one has to wonder how large a part Hurricane Sandy played in Obama’s victory. It did, after all, give him the opportunity to appear presidential, to walk around New Jersey pretending to be deeply concerned. Moreover, thanks to having a St. Bernard named Christie constantly at his side, licking his hand, it even managed to make Obama appear to be bi-partisan for the first time in recorded history.
I am on record as never having understood why conservatives ever regarded Christie to be the answer to their prayers or why Ann Coulter kept urging him to seek the GOP nomination. Although I acknowledge that my reputation as a political pundit has suffered greatly as a result of recent events, I will still venture out on a very narrow limb and predict that by the time Gov. Christie waddles for re-election, he will have a (D) after his name.
November 6, 2012, is a day that will live in infamy. Having said that, being the Pollyanna I tend to be, I have sought something positive to say about the gruesome outcome. I’m afraid the best I can come up with is that for the foreseeable future I will continue to have an endless supply of grist for my busy little mill.
________________________________________
To read another article by Burt Prelutsky, click here.
No comments:
Post a Comment