I am not surprised by the election results.

There are astounding events that have occurred in this election, however.

This election was racist.  You had to figure that minorities would vote for Obama in large numbers. But this President, even with high gas prices, high unemployment, higher numbers of people on food stamps, and an unbelievably high record of deficit spending to be passed to future generations, was given a pass by 90% of the black and Latino voters.  This racist issue really never concerned me until I heard one of the talking heads on TV say that Romney would not win unless he got 75%+ of the white vote.  Really?  So the sobering item to take away from this is that we are not voting for the most qualified person to run our great nation, we are voting by ethnic background and race.  And, if the person running for office is what is now considered a minority, he will garner a large percentage of that vote, regardless of qualification or past performance.

The downfall of democracy.  Fifty years ago, while I was preparing for college, I discovered  that a wise ancient pundit said that the fall of democracy, to be considered a temporary form of government, would be caused by people voting themselves entitlements for which they did not earn.  In the ancient times-refer to Rome.  In modern times- refer to the problems in Greece.  This election has made it very clear that we have now “Crossed the Rubicon” in reaching this, the last step of a declining democracy.  When the Federal government was originally founded, it had two purposes:  International commerce, and national defense.  How did we go from this, a time in our history when you “ate what you killed,” to now, where we have become the bastard stepchild of socialism;? (ie: a more accepted word for communism)  How did abortion become a federal issue?  How did mandatory health care figure into the Constitution?  How did deficit spending become the norm, not the exception; other than in times of war?  All of these costly social-welfare programs may be noble, but no one wants to stand up and just state that we cannot afford these programs in their present format.  Private citizens can go to jail for writing checks they cannot cover.  Our government needs to look at balancing their checkbook, also.

Class envy, class warfare.  The most irritating aspect that came out of this election is the class envy, class warfare element.  The popular conception is that if you are financially successful, or what is believed to be that evil four letter word, “rich”, you either stole it, inherited it, or obviously screwed over a large pile of “little people” to get it.  There was a time when the prevailing thought in America, because it was the “land of opportunity,” was that you, too, could work hard, be all you could be, and with some luck and a great deal of perseverance, become financially successful.  It was everyone’s goal in life.  That thought has disappeared.  I came from a lower middle class family, worked my way through college, was a successful business owner, and also retired as a Colonel from the National Guard.  The operative word is “I,”  not the government. Now, someone that drops out of high school, never gets a job, or considers giving birth to future welfare babies a job, expects to obtain the same degree of financial success that I have.  As importantly, I should feel guilty and ashamed  for my success, because I have so much more than someone who has gone the drop-out route.   No one  has the fortitude to pass this message on to those who feel they should have everything without accomplishing anything.   But wait!  We have the government to save those less fortunate.  The plan?  To tax the hell out of the top earners in our society.  The top 10% pay over 90% of the taxes.  We’ll fix those successful silver spoon-using  bastards; we’ll tax them more!  What an idea!  And, we will not make the bottom 47% pay any taxes.  Another novel idea.  That’s only fair, isn’t it?  Fair, a word used way too much in this election. It really means that those who are successful should foot the bill for those who have never attempted to accomplish anything and have no intention of doing so.

America was the land of opportunity. Now, to buy more votes, it was being used as the “land of extortion.”  Our politicians have provided “the koolaid” to legitimize this permanent social/welfare state, and far too many people are enjoying drinking it, just for the politicians to garner votes and remain in office.

Lest we forget, a person on welfare, who has no intention of getting off of welfare or of bettering themselves in any way; has the same vote as you and me.  To whit; this election.  I have no problem with temporary benefits or unemployment benefits.  I do despise it becoming a lifestyle without an effort at betterment.

The evil of big business.  The majority of all businesses, large or small, are corporations owned by stockholders.  All businesses, regardless of size, are made up of people.  Yes, as astonishing as it sounds, businesses are made up of people.  So, when you hear that favorite mantra saying that we are “anti-business,” what is really being said is that we are “anti-people.”  The pulse of any business is made up of its employees.  Here again, class envy says we should not promote the health of the business climate, but we should punish these businesses because they, too, had to have screwed over a pile of “little people” to become successful.  And another revelation–businesses are not in business to break even or lose money; they are in business to make a profit.  Profit- another four letter word with two extra letters.  That profit is used to pay present employees, hire new employees, buy equipment, expand buildings – all in future attainment of more profit!  These job creations, these purchases and expansions, are what we need to stimulate and maintain our society. Who would have thought?

Voter ID.  Why is it an issue, like it was in Minnesota, that a person can vote without proving who they are by presenting a photo ID?  Aren’t you proud and privileged to be able to vote in our democracy?  Coincidentally, the amendment to require a photo ID to vote in Minnesota was defeated.  You all know what a photo ID is, don’t you?  It is the thing in my pocket that I have to present every time I  get on an airplane, renew my drivers license, buy Sudafed, apply for a mortgage, renew my car insurance, get on a cruise ship, cash a check, go on a military base, enter a foreign country, go to my doctors office, and, sometimes when I use a credit card.  So far this year, I would say I have had to show a photo ID at least 100 times, including when I had to VOTE!  So why is this an issue, when the majority of the people have them?  Is there a possibility that with the incumbent President winning by 2.5 million popular votes, that maybe some of the 20+million illegal immigrants voted and changed the election outcome?  How much are these illegal immigrants really costing us?  They do receive all kinds of benefits from health care to education to social security.  Additionally, it costs us a bunch of money to incarcerate them for committing crimes.  I do not want to go further with this as this would be another 10 paragraphs.

Here is my wind-up.  Obama is not the problem- he is the symptom of the problem.  Our country is changing in ways that I thought I would never see in my lifetime.  I never thought that being successful would ever be an evil attainment.  I was brought up to believe everyone wanted to be successful, or at least make an attempt to be successful, all in the hope of being financially independent.  Hope- that word we have all heard too much lately.  Hope is something we should all have; but it sure as hell is not an end-all business plan.  When I was growing up, being on some form of government assistance was a stigma that everyone understood to be temporary.  Now it is a lifestyle.  We are continually reminded that we are a “nation of immigrants.”  No doubt all my ancestors were immigrants- immigrants who came to this country to be able to blend into our society in language and religion, and to raise themselves to the lofty ideals presented by our nation.  Today’s immigrants are different.  They do not want to blend in with language (press 2 for Spanish) or religion. They are lowering our lofty ideals to the level of their third world home countries.  And, thanks to such great government funded organizations such as the ACLU, we are bigoted, biased, and racist if we don’t swallow the crap they are pandering.  After all, they are immigrants and we should adopt and tolerate their lifestyle.  The silent majority is rapidly becoming the silent minority.

Common sense appears to be a vanishing trait for individuals as well as for our country.  I will be the first to say that it certainly appears that the lunatics have taken over the asylum.

I am sure that many of you, like me, were appalled by the behavior of both candidates in the debates; and by the bombastic aggressive message presented by campaign ads.  Has this  become the norm for our political contests?   I am also sure that many of you are also concerned about the future of the United States of America.  United- another word whose definition may be stretched in the future.

My advice- the silent majority cannot afford to be silent any longer.  We need to get involved.  I was hoping to leave a better world for my grandchildren.