The Myth of Sisyphys, or the Great Amercian Election Game

"Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose"

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Pretty appropriate for Election Day 2010 here in the Excited States of America where the same old bums are arguing that they know better than the current bums.

Yeah, yeah, I have heard the rhetoric. We are done with socialism (oh really?), the current crop of deadbeats are responsible for high debt (forget for the moment that Reagan did more damage to the US budget than any president before and until Bush II), and on and on and on.

The real issue is the amazing shortness of memory. The amazing ability for the average, and not so average American to ignore the real issues and succumb to the rhetoric without applying any thought.

Changing the make up of the House of Representatives is a nice feel good measure that your voice is heard. Forgetting that those same representatives are not beholden to you the voter, but to the machines (and funds) that got them elected in the first place. It will not get you a new job. It will not turn the economy around. It will not automatically make it rain money. But it could have some very chilling effects that most people are overlooking.

A Republican house will likely overturn many of the valuable social programs that are preventing large numbers of Americans from dropping into abject poverty. The counter argument from my libertarian friends is that it isn't the government's job to keep them out of poverty. Fair enough. So what does the well educated, hardworking individual who has been out of work for more than six months do? Really? What do they do? The societal safety net that existed in the 1920s is gone. Many would argue it was pretty much gone by the 1920s. But what are they supposed to do? Congress cannot force companies to hire, and there has been very little hiring going on in the last 18 months. Most people are down to bare bones with high debt and many are trying to work, with little success. So just what are they supposed to do?

A Republican house has been trying, for generations, to tell the average, and not so average American who they can and cannot sleep with. With the backing of the even more right-wing tea party, it is likely that this time, should they win, that they might actually get the ability to enforce this view. At risk is a woman's right to chose, the rights of union between those of the same sex and raft of other rights and privileges that have been gained over the last generation.

And then there is the continuing myth that soldiers are dying in Afghanistan to protect our way of life. Right. Spin that one a little faster, because so far I am not seeing a lot of improvement in my way of life since soldiers were sent to Afghanistan and Iraq almost ten years ago. I have seen an increase in the federal deficit, although not on the official books. I have seen a degradation of my civil rights, in the form of increased security at borders and airports, and I have seen a lot of good men and women come back in steel boxes. All to protect my way of life? Death, cost, and degradation is not my way of life, nor is it the American Way of Life.

So today is the beginning of the next election cycle. Vote carefully. The devil you know could very well be better than the devil you do not.

This is not Iowa

On my way to work today, I encountered a new phenomenon. That of the lost tourist searching for the White House tours. Following September 11, the White House became a bunker. Only recently has it reopened to tours and only under some pretty strict rules. Today, I encountered people running (literally, in circles) around the perimeter of the complex asking everyone in sight (including the members of the Uniformed Secret Service, who, while polite, were not in the business of helping lost tourists) for help.

Now, DC is not all that tourist friendly. In fact, as the National Capital, it is almost hostile. The locals do not care that you are lost - despite the fact that most of them are lost too half the time and do not know where anything beyond their locality is.

The city is not really well marked. Sure, it has grand vistas (most of which do not exist any more because of building plopped in the middle, overgrown trees that either the city or the Park Service cannot afford to cut back, security bollards or fences that screen the view, or just the general lack of signage), so getting around is sometimes a challenge. But with all those faults, if you are coming to see the White House and have to be there at 0700 in the morning, would it not make sense that you should venture out the night before and find out exactly where you were supposed to go? They were all clutching letters that said which entrance and off of which street, so it was not a mystery, but it seems that looking up at signposts seems to be beyond their skill set.

In case you are wondering, yes, I pointed them in the right direction. No there is no sign that says "White House tours this way" and I only hope they had all the ID required of them in the letter, because some of them, frankly, looked like this was their first trip to a city of any size and in DC especially, if you cannot prove who you are, well, there are some imposing people with guns that will be happy to tell you to go away.