The People have spoken

I know it's been already five days since the midterm election, but the days flew by so fast, that I didn't get a chance to write my comments about it until now. I'm quite conflicted about the outcome, really. One the one hand, the huge victory of the Democrats was a surprise and a disappointment; seeing the very people, who for the last several years spewed nothing but hatred and bile directed at their country and her president, rejoice and taunt the losing side, was quite painful. In my opinion the Democrats clearly did not deserve to win, and so it felt like injustice - it was the same feeling I had gotten watching OJ Simpson get away with double homicide.

On the other hand, the Republicans fully deserved a big dope slap. They have been corrupted by power and kept making one arrogant and stupid misstep after another:

• ballooning budget deficit (Are they trying to bunkrupt the country?? Sure looks like it.)


• trying to squeeze in some sort of amnesty for illegal immigrants


• huge increase in pork-barrel spending


• unethical and reckless behavior, including, but not limited to, the "Foley affair"


• attempt to meddle in people's private lives and decisions (the Terri Schiavo debacle)


• inability or unwillingness to talk openly and forcefully about the war in Iraq, allowing the anti-war, anti-American media to distort the picture and win the propaganda battle


• wasting the opportunity to get Americans behind a bold plan toward energy independence - and not having such a bold plan in the first place

... to name just the most eggregious ones. And so they deserved to lose, only perhaps not as badly. It's not that I feel sorry for them, but the drastic measure the American electorate took seems a bit like divorcing an alcoholic to marry a heroin addict. A powerful warning would have been good enough: losing a few seats while keeping the majority, just hanging by a thread. Except, of course, elections are blunt objects, especially in the American system of "winner-takes-all". Besides, I do trust the wisdom of the American electorate - it has been proven right in the past, and there is no reason to doubt that it will be so this time as well.

Let me say a few words in praise of voluntary participation in elections, which is one of the reasons I have more trust in the electorate that I would have otherwise. Some countries force their citizens to vote, e.g. by imposing fines on those, who don't - Australia comes to mind. I could not disagree more - after all, paradoxical as it may seem, not-voting is voting. It is just indirect: by not casting my vote I let other people make the choice for me. This is a perfectly legitimate option, consistent with the idea of representative - as opposed to direct - democracy. How is this different from allowing ather people - representatives in Congress, senators, the president - to make decisions on my behalf? People who choose to vote are those who care, and I'd rather trust their collective judgment than rely on the choices of people, who don't give a shit, but go to the polls merely to avoid fines.

Then, there were the five proposals in the State of Michigan, from allowing dove hunting (rejected), to a set level of funding for education (rejected), to banning affirmative action, i.e. preferential treatment given on the basis of race or gender (passed). The fact that this last proposal (Proposal 2) passed, is nothing if not stunning, considering the opposition mounted against it. It was truly a fight of a small army of Davids against not one, but multiple Goliaths. Both the Republican and the Democratic candidate for governor spoke against this proposal. (Only the Libertarian canditate - a black person, interestingly enough - spoke in favor.)  University of Michigan, having spent hundreds of thousands of dollars defending its affirmative action practices in court was - obviously - vehemently opposed. Major corporations issued statements criticizing the proposal. The groups opposing its passage outspent the proponents 3:1.

Some tactics used by the opposition, most notably the very vocal and aggresive BAMN (By Any Means Necessary) were crossing into the realm of thuggery: spreading lies, intimidation, physical violence. BAMN members apparently meant it when they named their organization: any means (they consider) necessary; those means included: busing children from Detroit to Ann Arbor for a counterdemonstration that thwarted the tiny gathering of anti-affirmative-action students and involved some pushing and shoving; physically blocking signature-gatherers on UM campus from approaching people; contacting the black people, who had signed the petition to put the proposal on the ballot, and intimidating them into testifying before a judge that they had been mislead; organizing a loud and obnoxious demonstration in front of a court where supporters of the proposal were testifying - this "peaceful" demonstration included spraying the people leaving the courthouse with soft drinks from cans; mounting one legal challenge after another in order to deny the citizens of Michigan a chance to vote on the proposal; etc.

Given the resources and the sheer aggresiveness of the campaign against Proposal 2, it is truly remarkable that it passed, and by such a wide percentage margin: 58:42.