Well, the election is just a few weeks away and my mind is in pieces. Politically speaking, I’m stuck in a no-man’s-land between disappointment and anxiety. I’m sure I’m not the only one feeling this way right now.
I’m disappointed by the airstrikes in Syria. Disappointed that no matter which party is in power, we keep doing our perpetual war thing. Our addiction to constant military conflict seems to be a train which has jumped the tracks and cannot be stopped by anyone. I just hope it doesn’t end with our country’s demise.
But I’m anxious that if the Republican side gains too much strength, they could do even more damage. Their openly stated goal from the beginning has been to block and get in the way of anything the President proposes. I can complain about the Middle East, but thanks to the Affordable Care Act, my mother has health insurance for the first time in years. Repealing the ACA would have a real effect on my life and my family. Also, I’m in no mood to see the guys in Congress try to force more socially conservative stuff down our throats.
Having Obama in office hasn’t made as much difference as I had hoped it would. But having more Republicans in the House and Senate could make a bigger difference than we think it will.
So the disappointed side of me will continue to shake a fist at all the pictures of pretty, pretty missile explosions which my TV box keeps showing me. But the anxious side of me will vote for and is signing up to volunteer for the local Democrats in our state.
The rest of me remains in no-man’s-land.
eurobrat 
10/05/2014 at 12:27 pm
I’m not worried at all about The House going more Republican and the Senate going mildly Republican.
One of the silver linings in the funnel cloud that is today’s American Congress is that nothing can happen. Even a Republican majority in both houses doesn’t result in much difference.
1) Unless the Senate Democrats want to bend over & take it up the ass when it’s their chance to be jerks by stopping anything from happening, the Republicans would need 60 votes in the Senate to do anything. (unless they change the rules, which they might) But even then, Obama still has the Veto. Mind you, he’s such a pussy that -even though never having to face an election again- he may bend over himself. However, the one thing you can count on is him vetoing an Obamacare repeal.
2) The power of incumbency requires a complete across-the-board Democratic collapse for anything to change significantly. If Democratic voters weren’t such pussies, I would say this would be almost impossible.
So, if The House remains Republican and the Senate comes back with 50-59 Republicans Senators, I figure the biggest problem posed in the next 2 years would be getting a non-imbecile onto the Supreme Clown Court.
10/05/2014 at 1:07 pm
Hmmm, you are right…that makes me feel better about the situation!
10/06/2014 at 10:34 am
That said, the status quo is certainly nothing to write home about. A comatose democracy, oligarchical rule, a complete collapse of rights, constant surveillance, drones, torture, permanent war, fascist police, increasing poverty, environmental destruction (etc, etc, etc.) A Republican Congress will make it worse, but only a little bit…because America can’t get much worse without turning into an Iraq/Afghanistan/Somalia. Our society is now akin to Climate Change; in that it’s worse than all the “worst case scenarios” of 25 years ago and can no longer be stopped.
The “good news” is that this fall’s elections won’t make much of a difference. So, you can feel free to smile when you cast your meaningless ballot this fall. 😉
10/06/2014 at 5:02 pm
And don’t forget my meaningless volunteering…that is, if they ever call me back about it!