For years I have been saying to those complaining about the laws churned out by our government, you only have gotten what you voted for.  You got the government you deserved.  What is embedded in this sour look at elections and results is the realization that there was so little interest in the process for the turn out to vote was so small.  There was no grassroots swelling of thousands or millions jamming the inadequate voting booths to tell us all what was the will of the people.

Some commentators on this lackluster scene tell me that they are unhappy with the 50 + 1 formula that we have followed for so many years.  It may eventually have to be decided by this smallest majority but is this it the best we can come up with? Critics have said that to really know what the people want is to have upwards of 90% of eligible voters going to the polls.  These, incidentally, should be open on weekends as well as the early two weeks ahead when you COULD have voted if you read about it or listened to the TV newscasters who told you about it.  What our elections do is favor those in power and the practice is to let them stay in power for you have gotten used to being told what they want you to do, when to do it and then shut up because you voted them in and they now can tell you where to head in.

My original question about who represents you and for whom did you vote will probably cause you to think a bit if you did vote.  Did you get a paper receipt telling you how and for whom you voted?  If not, there is something seriously wrong with our system.  The parties confuse the issues.  We basically have a two party system but only one party does the voting – the party that has the know-how to protect it from the barbarians on the other side.

Some are saying that the Democrats didn’t win but the Republicans lost.  There is truth in this. But the whole truth is not known to the general public about the deals that were made to get front-runners ahead of those who wanted to be in their place.  It is a matter of money, backers, bases, interests and activists who are involved.  Your job was to go out to the polls and pull a lever, make a mark or press a button.  This does not compute. People much smarter than you call the shots.

I have representation after months of disputation. I chose one from among many. At that point, I left all decisions up to my representative.  Where there were propositions, referendums or questions I had to try to understand the language which asked me to vote yes or no and not be able to tell about the shades of gray that I saw there. Our system lets us make a statement every 2, 4, six or 8 years.  It is not enough. We listen to talking heads and not use our own. Democracy is a great system, flawed seriously, but flawed by those who do not use it.