So, how about that, that election thing? You know the one.
I remember a weekend evening years ago when famed entertainer Jackie Gleason, star of TV's "The Honeymooners" and motion pictures returned to network television to host a new show. The show was called 'You’re in the Picture," a 1961 CBS game show format, not one of Gleason’s usual comedy or variety programs. Celebrity guests put their faces through cutouts in oversized illustrations and tried to guess the scene by asking Gleason questions. The premise failed immediately and the premiere was quickly savaged by critics.
The following week, with no game to play, Gleason sat alone onstage and apologized to viewers, calling the premiere “the biggest bomb in history.” The apology was so entertaining as Gleason excoriated executive decisions and the entire premise that it received better ratings than the game show.
This week's U.S. elections were a lot like Gleason's TV adventure, looking almost foolproof to the Republicans for weeks in advance. . .until they actually happened. Talk about a "bomb!"
I cannot take back, nor would I, my hope that the Republicans would claim the prizes all across the country -- not because I love Republicans (which I don't), but because I value the conservative element among them. You may have noticed that as the basic Republicans sat on their asses, doing virtually nothing to help steer either Trump or crucial issues important to Americans, the small segment known as conservatives at least tried to make strides. Conservatives take their designation seriously, maybe too much so at times, but they truly try to be what their name suggests, to conserve and use thought and constitutional ideas wisely.
But why beat around the bush, as people who hide behind bushes used to ask just before laying out some truth? Lots of people are hurting because of fuel and food prices, and the long, long continuation of the Iran War adds nothing to alleviate the cost of living.
What screams inside my head, however, is knowing a basic difference between the Republicans and Democrats. One side at least offers chances for real opportunity and self-support, while the other skips along while basically stealing money from one segment of society to give to another, accomplished through taxing, spending and legislation guaranteed to screw over somebody along the way. Then there's DEI still waiting in the wings for a return appearance (did you forget?). Too harsh? Too bad.
Truly, I believe much of the Democrats' election success is based upon desperate people of all or no party affilitions searching for a solution to economic concerns. Unfortunately, we fear that the substitution of one horrible long-term choice over one that may be improved soon was a precarious move.
Notable, too, was a statistic I saw on TV during Election Day coverage, indicating that a large number of under-30 voters had taken to the Democrats like ducks to a shark pool, and they surely have a relationship to voting numbers.
The 2026 elections have almost concluded, save for some votes yet to be counted. Now? Now, we prepare to experience the consequences on a ride destined to be anything but fun. After the Democrats -- especially the hard socialist types -- get through patting themselves on the back, one can only hope that sanity and American government standards prevail. I fear that the "winners" neither realize nor care that they mostly won elections, not because of the danger and foolishness they plan for the nation, but because there seemed no other alternative at the moment. Let's see how they look in two years after supposedly forced to deal with not only Trump's actions, but with the continuing mess that was the Biden administration (or did everyone forget old Joe's political influence, the gift that keeps on giving?).
