From the deepest depths of Mordor, depression and darkenss

I suppose that the title tells all, the election went to the wrong candidate probably for all the wrong reasons.  There is a sense of foreboding in many quiet corners.  The crystal balls all show storms and disaster, economic chaos and international repudiation.  A sense of urgency moves some to stock up on weapons and ammunition preparatory to the great seizure campaign foretold by the Acts of Congresses Past.  And on the left, hatred for the defeated, animosity toward the fallen and some of the most illiterate rants ever penned.  If you have a strong stomach and can resist violent impulses take a stroll through the liberal blogosphere.  Don’t say you were not warned, much that you will see is offensive but more telling is the degree of ignorance that passes for rational thought there.  Start with the CNN blogs.  If you still have the stomach for it go to any blog that sounds like it might be liberal.  (Do not allow young children to stay in the room with you when doing this, their psyches may be permanently scarred by all the hatred and intolerance you will find.)

My depression  is not because Barack Obama is President Elect, well, a little, OK a lot is.  But, I’ll get over it and, after a suitable grieving period, relaunch myself into the fray.  The true horror exposed by this political season is the total ignorance of so many people of the principles that form the foundation of our republic.  There are millions out there who have voted for a slogan, elected a catch phrase.   People who have no idea of what the slogan means because they don’t understand what it is they want to change or why it needs changing.   I doubt many understood the regime they so eagerly vilified.

There was a time when the Declaration of Independence was taught to every grammar school student.   Our history teachers taught lessons of triumph, progress, inventiveness, ingenuity, courage and prosperity.  We learned that ours is a nation founded unique principles, a magnet for the dispossessed and disillusioned, a place of hope.  We also learned of slavery, the unfair treatment of native peoples and the then ongoing struggle for civil rights.  I learned this last from my father, a Fifteenth Air Force veteran who told me at an early age about Benjamin O Davis and the Tuskegee Airmen.  Were it not for them I might not be here.  Dad never fully abandoned the prejudices of his childhood but when he had the chance to hire a young talented black woman, he did.  She was killed, with her husband in a car wreck.  I never saw him cry before the day of her funeral.   But I digress.  We were taught the totality of American History, not just the catalogue of errors, misdeeds and failures kids are taught  today.   There is little of our accomplishment and almost none of the principles of our founders taught today.

The problem extends beyond the classroom to popular media.  Dueling catch phrases substitute for reasoned discourse.  Ignorance is celebrated, facts declared irrelevant and celebrity accorded undeserved value.  Our young people will accept blather from Snoop Dogg as more significant than a quote from Jefferson.  Reporters think their job is to further the careers of favored politicians and pillory those who dare oppose the current political pop star.  (quote Chris Matthews)  Networks function as propaganda agencies for the politically hip.  Newspapers abandon objectivity.  Print journalists anoint themselves Prophets of the new order, casting aspersions like spells on unbelievers.  Our founders saw a free press as the key to a sound political system even as they used the media to slander one another during campaigns.  In that sense I suppose the press is only honoring their heritage but we had expect better of them.  Print media’s declining revenues and influence are a hopeful sign that somewhere  people want information from news sources and will form their own opinions after reviewing the facts.

We need to reassert our foundation principles, to reconstruct the foundation that until recently supported the Constitution.  It is no longer sufficient to debate and argue among ourselves about contemporary issues.  We need to relate the founder’s principles to the kitchen table issues that drive today’s politics.  Never again should a campaign slogan and catch phrase elect a President of this great nation.