Pepto Election

How ya feelin' champ? A little better? Just take a spoonful of Pepto and a sedative at bedtime, you'll be fine, mostly.

Let's start with a deep breath, now on to some useless analysis.

We'll begin with draining the swamp. That phrase actually means nothing. Swamps encompass an entire ecosystem and the creatures living there are amazingly adaptable, so it is in politics. Most of the names being floated for the new Trump Administration are old well known names and insiders. Rience Priebus has been appointed Chief of Staff, there is no greater insider in Republican politics than it's current Party Chairman and it is a direct olive branch to the Republican leadership in Congress. Steve Bannon of Breitbart News and a former senior executive of Goldman Sachs has been named Chief Strategist, which simply means advisor, although President-elect Trump says he will be equal to Priebus which is, strange. All Presidents have paid advisors. It seems the long reach of Goldman Sachs will continue. Bannon's views will carry weight and his views are bizarre and overflowing with conspiracy theories, but as to what Trump will do remains unknown.

Some are suggesting that Mike Pence will be the new Dick Cheney but I wouldn't bet on that. Trump has shown little regard for Pence and even thought about changing his V.P. pick less than a day after choosing him. Pence has good relations with Congress because he was there for twelve years but accomplished nothing, not a single legislative victory was achieved by him. His political career has been one long obsession with gay people and women's reproductive rights. Pence is not in Dick Cheney's intellectual league but is a bit scarier. If Bannon is as influential with Trump as we are told, Pence will be relegated to a traditional Vice-presidential role, which is attending funerals and checking on the President's health.

On all of the protests against Trump's election I would suggest Trump and his allies have short memories. First, protesting is part of a healthy democracy and while I have no evidence that there aren't some paid agitators, Trump and company have no evidence there are. I do know that the size of the demonstrations are ultimately organic in nature. People do not show up in large numbers or spontaneously join a protest unless they are genuinely motivated. There are scared people that just don't know if Trump's blustery rhetoric will become policy. The short memory is that there were protests when George W. Bush was proclaimed the winner in 2000. Many on the right also lost their minds when Obama was elected. During the healthcare debate Obama was burned in effigy and pictures of him portrayed as Adolph Hitler were in abundance. People said he was setting up death panels, that along with all the moronic conspiracies that Obama had set up numerous death camps and reeducation centers, also that he was going to take all of our guns. For those small number of protesters who have broke windows and burnt cars, they are hurting the cause and dismissing the most important tenants of peaceful protest, which is the most poignant way to make the point.

Now for the hand wringing and revisitation of ghosts past. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote and when the last vote is counted that large lead will hold, just as Al Gore, no matter how many times it's spun, beat George W. Bush in the popular vote. So twice in sixteen years this has happened. So once again the debate about the electoral college is in play. A movement to ammend the Constitution could have been done at anytime in the past, but it hasn't happened and does anyone think that the Republicans who have benefited twice in such a short period are going to pursue it? The idea of the electoral college is to assure that a handful of densely populated States could not overwhelm the small and relegate their votes to the void. Individual States could act on their own to redesign the way they allocate their electoral votes but unless all fifty States took that action, it would be moot. Changes in the way we elect our President is not likely to happen anytime soon.

Donald Trump says he's definitely going to pursue term limits on Congress, a golden oldie. It's unclear to me if he realizes that requires a Constitutional Amendment and that his fellow Republicans are unlikely to be enthusiastic. I've argued for years that we have term limits, they're called elections, but a sizeable number of people don't seem to buy this Constitutional argument, I wish them luck in their endeavors but I will be signing no petitions calling for this.

Naturally the losing party of a national election, the Democrats in this case have begun the finger pointing and blaming. So Hillary Clinton is the big target, but not for long. I've heard some commentators lamenting, what was her message? Really? Apparently those who say she had no message weren't paying attention. I seem to recall an extensive set of proposals about infrastructure, the creation of a Trade Prosecutor to make sure our treaties are enforced, a liveable minimum wage, equal pay for women, fixing the Affordable Care Act, strengthening Medicare and Social Security, making higher education more affordable and attainable and I could go on but I won't. The voters had a choice between a highly prepared, competent and ready from day one candidate and a question mark, they chose the question mark.

This is our system of government, of selecting our President. The election is over and now we have no choice but to turn the page. Yes, Donald Trump has earned the right to form an administration and begin his initiatives but it is squarely on his shoulders to set a positive example and to earn respect.

Turn the page.