It Won't Be Over

I have looked at Governor Romney and am very glad he is the Republican candidate. Etch-a-sketch yes, but that shows he is not really ideological but, like Obama, more pragmatic. And I believe him to be a good man, not too ruled by Murdoch and the Koch Brothers (though he will certainly owe them)--and certainly not as opinionated and narcissistic as Newt Gingrich and Donald Trump or as "true-believing" as Santorum and Ryan. I think he will have Ryan on a short leash just keeping the Limbaugh and Fox News "dittoheads" in line. Romney already has dismissed the more extreme positions he took to win the primary. 

I also think that by electing a Mormon, America would again show a people leaving behind its old prejudices. His election may actually be better for Latinos in that he would probably, for political reasons, pressure Republicans to go with the Bush/McCain/Obama comprehensive immigration reform and curb the excesses of Arizona. By pushing ObamaCare to the states, he would allow states to go for single payer as Vermont may now be doing and that could sweep across the nation the way it did province by province in Canada. Or even pooled insurance programs covering everybody as Massachusetts did under Romney. Those are upsides.

Also, no matter who is elected, the bubble is over and the economy, no longer in free-fall, is on the mend. There will be 12 million new jobs and the president no matter who he is will take credit for it.  

The downside: No matter who is elected, the Plutocrats, those who have the money to influence legislation, will continue in control. However, Romney will not allow or enforce regulations on Wall Street and the financial system. So a new bubble will be on the way to burst in about ten years that will make a lot of people rich and most of us poorer though they will keep just enough of a safety net to avoid a Teddy or Franklin Roosevelt moment. 

A Romney election will mean supreme court nominees like Thomas and Scalia who will retard the progress that women, African Americans, and civil libertarians have made and will keep the plutocrats in control of politics using their interpretation of the meaning of liberty, free speech, and wealth. 

By repealing ObamaCare and pushing it to the states will mean that hundreds of thousands in the conservative, poorer, especially southern states will not have health care and be at the mercy of charity, over social justice. 

Science will be used when it suits the purposes of the military, but not at all when it might slow the enterprises of the plutocrats.  

Neither campaign has discussed the two greatest threats to our specie's future: climate change and rapid, extreme divergence in wealth within both advanced and emerging economies--both of which could lead to extremes in politics, rationalized by religion, that will be settled by war and possibly nuclear war. I don't fear for myself, but I do for my grandchildren and the whole human enterprise.  

I believe that Obama will win the election by a hair.  But again he faces a very polarized nation with nearly half of the citizenry who have bought in on the Trump/Limbaugh/Fox frame that he is an alien--worthy of hate, disgust, fear. I really do not think that Romney buys into that at all. He is too decent a man, but unfortunately his campaign rides on that and legislators elected in that campaign will keep pandering to the strange people who deny science, fear homosexuals and other minorities, keep the plutocrats in charge, emphasize carbon based energy over renewable, clean energy, and support supreme court justices that hold us to and in the eighteenth century. We will have another four years of bible belief-based policies. And possibly the neo-cons will get us into another war. This time with Iran.

I will not be affected at all personally no matter who wins. In fact, my income which is totally in Social Security, mutual funds, and real estate will grow, I am confident.  My health care is excellent and insured. I am in a good, liberal state where people are willing to pay taxes as they are able, but expect and get great services. And I know how to use the great parks, public transportation, public education facilities, museums, libraries, art and science shows, and other services in my community.

And no matter who wins I will continue to act to build local communities and to fight for better policies and hold all political officials accountable to what I and my colleagues, friends, and family consider true human progressive American values. Talking and passing on emails will not be enough.

No matter who wins, I am quite concerned about the future of my country, my grandchildren, and my human family.