“And I’ll get on my knees and pray…
… we don’t get fooled again! Meet the new boss… same as the old boss.” (YouTube video) The Who, “Won’t Get Fooled Again”
No, this is not some CSI Miami theme… this is politics. Tonight, I have shifted from my comfortable recliner to another room, with a TV in it, this election night.
How do you feel about stalemates, and voter ANGER? 
Will the corporations, who have been “sitting on” piles of cash or spending it overseas, finally start HIRING, just to show that it was really the fault of the incumbent Democrats, and that “life will be good” now that voters have elected more Republicans? Will the corporations hold off hiring a lot of people, just to influence FUTURE elections? And what about us small businesspeople that corporations have been trying to “kill off,” along with individual citizens (in California, by shifting tax burdens from corporations to small business and individuals)…?
CNN just announced a projected win for Democrat Jerry Brown (56% of women and 65% of Hispanics voting for him, after Republican Meg Whitman spent roughly $140-160 million of HER OWN MONEY in the election) in the California Governor race after earlier announcing a projected win for Barbara Boxer in the Senate race.
Sometimes I sleep better at night when I know that it will be harder for legislatures to pass new laws, ESPECIALLY in Sacramento.
To me, it looks a lot like the American electorate has “fired a warning shot.” Getting elected is all that some (all? ) politicians care about. The only way to get the attention of incumbents is to vote some of them out of office. Philosophically, I can admire people who “vote their politics” by voting for candidates who are NOT of the two major parties, but the realist in me says that people have to vote for the other major party’s candidate, to be effective.
I believe that individual people can (and do) change the world and that thousands of people in the street can (and did) end a war, so I have not lost all of my optimism.
The CNN folks are marveling that some of the VERY conservative Republican candidates are winning. The fact of the matter is that voters, to “have their votes count” have to vote for EITHER the Republican or the Democrat. If the Democrat is the incumbent, and the voters want to “send a message,” they have to vote for the only Republican on the ballot. They may have had a wider choice in the (usually “closed”) primary election, but that is about it. I was actually quite surprised by some comments from a friend of mine in Ohio that he agreed with my comments about having to choose between the extreme Right and the extreme Left, as is USUALLY the choice in California!
I cannot wait to see the results of votes on the California PROPOSITIONS!
In any case, tomorrow, we will all have to pick up our guitars “…and play, just like yesterday…” with a substantially changed governmental structure in many places in the U.S., but (apparently) only slightly, in California.
-Bill at
Cheshire Cat Photo™ – “Your Guide to California’s Wonderland™”
You can view higher-resolution photos (*generally* 7-30 megabytes, compressed) at the Cheshire Cat Photo™ Pro Gallery on Shutterfly™, where you can also order prints and gifts decorated with the photos of your choice from the gallery. The Cheshire Cat Photo Store on Zazzle contains a wide variety of apparel and gifts decorated with our images of California. Framed prints and prints on canvas can be ordered from our galleries on redbubble®. All locations are accessible from here. Be a “Facebook Fan” of Cheshire Cat Photo here! If you don’t see what you want or would be on our email list for updates, send us an email at info@cheshirecatphoto.com.
©2010 William F. Hackett. All Rights Reserved.
