A case of post-election blues

“I am convinced that whenever we exaggerate or demonize, oversimplify or overstate our case, we lose.“ “Elections have consequences.” “I am not on the ballot, but my policies are.”

All of these quotes are from President Obama sometime prior to the 2014 election.

Democrats appear to be puzzled by this election. They thought there would be some damage, but had no idea it would be so extensive. Not only did they lose control of the Senate (so sorry, Harry) but also lost Ggovernor’s seats. Further, several historically Democrat state legislatures are now in Republican hands, including Nevada.

President Obama either doesn’t understand that this election has consequences, is so narcissistic that he believes he will carry through no matter what, or he just doesn’t care. He seems to be a much less gracious loser than winner. He is still posturing and threatening to use executive orders.

One thing is certain. He has managed to fundamentally change America, just not the way he wished. It seems to be changing from liberal left to center right, not in his playbook. Whether he chooses to remain an ideology after the election remains to be seen.

By the way, have you seen the video clip of one of the main architects of Obamacare? He basically says the bill was deliberately vague to mislead the General Accounting Office and relied on “voter stupidity” to pass it.

Even more entertaining was to watch the reactions of the third political party (the media or the liberal arm of the Democrat party, depending on your view) to the election. I actually enjoyed watching MSNBC. That will probably be the only time that happens. There were no thrills down anyone’s leg this time, unless it was unmentionable brown stuff filling britches.

The media is already trying to find ways to cover Obama. The first thing they promoted was that now that Republicans will be in charge of Congress it will be even more important that they compromise with Democrats to get things done. Huh? For six years Democrats have snubbed anything Republican. Harry Reid would not allow any amendments to any major bill or any meaningful debate. The media coined the phrase “the party of no” even though there are over 340 bills from the Republican-controlled House sitting on Harry’s desk.

Republicans have their work cut out. If they pass something that gets vetoed they will be in the wrong. If they pass a law that is signed by Obama, Democrats will get the credit. The Republican message must be crystal clear on each bill they pass. They need to get in the 21st century and use social media to bypass mainstream media bias.

We the people have managed to elect Senators and Congressmen who understand that the country is going the wrong direction. However, our work is not done. We now need to hold them accountable when they begin to drink the D.C. Kool-Aid, which they eventually will. Not only do we need to communicate with our representatives but also those from other states. They represent us, too.

I have written to Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, John Boehner, and Mitch McConnell. The only one I did not get a response back from was Boehner. The others acknowledged my comments, and in most cases thanked me for writing even though I was not from their state. It is easy now to do so with email and social media.

The one pleasant surprise in the election was the shift in representation in Nevada. The Senate and Assembly now both have Republican majorities. Perhaps now committee chairmen will not have the gall to think they know better than everyone else and some law proposals will at least get to committee hearings, if not floor debate.

Examples of this are the proposal to allow concealed carry on college campuses, and the study on the feasibility of state management of public lands. Also expect Governor Sandoval’s education plans to expand alternative schools such as on-line and charter schools. Even though he supports Common Core, this part of his plan has a lot of merits. Just take a look at Louisiana for validation of charter schools.

Here again, we must be vigilant in holding them to their promises. I intend to follow up vigorously on Adam Laxalt’s promise to defend all Nevada laws and Mark Hutchison’s promise to petition Congress to revert most federal lands back to Nevada.

We now have the tools, let’s use them.

Tom Riggins is an LVN columnist. He may be reached at news@lahontanvalleynews.com.