Electioneering is finally winding down for the 2012 Presidential Campaign.
For those of us who have voted in other presidential elections, 2012 stump speeches and debating rhetoric was among the most deceitful and offensive to an educated populace. The lies, slanted news coverage and all around media mishandling of real news events that were replaced by side show coverage of surrogate issues – like the erroneous official explanation for a 9-11 attack on four Americans in Libya and the Red Cross preference for money over canned goods for Storm Sandy – were, at the very least, disgraceful; unfortunately, not particularly surprising to those of us who have become accustomed to the preferential semantics, the parsing of the rule of law, and divisive rhetoric imposed upon us American Dreamers by Government Mouthpieces and Journalism’s Elite.
Whatever answers we find in a party’s campaign slogans, we can take heart: presidential votes we cast on Tuesday will only remain in effect for four years. The country’s recovery, however, is entirely dependent on the leadership and decision-making skills of the elected public servants. Repercussions from an abuse of power can reverberate well beyond any electoral cycle.
Election outcome aside, no amount of recovery ever occurs as fast as the initial destruction. Healing and rebuilding our nation’s economic health will take time. The election’s defining outcome may very well lift the spirits temporarily; but, the work ahead will be arduous for all those elected to govern as well as for the many adversely affected by the last decade’s inflationary losses.
As an American, one can vote for the party or one can vote for the candidate. One can choose to support incumbents or one can cast them out in favor of some new blood. One can believe simple soundbites or one can familiarize oneself with the discerning truths hidden between the captions.
Remember: the ballot box is the last vestige of the individual’s voice and is only protected by an educated citizenry exerting its voting responsibility at the federal, state and local levels.
Voter, heal thyself.