The Singing Fat Lady

"It's not over 'til the fat lady sings." And at last she is about to burst into song. In about 10 days it will be over. Well, actually it will all be beginning, and we will know who is going to be running things for 2 or 4 years. But at least the advertising will be over and we can go back to Law & Order or Seinfeld or bowling or whatever else we spent our evenings doing.

November 3rd approximately half of Americans will be celebrating, and the other half will be crying in their coffee. I hope I will be one of the former, since I like my coffee straight.

I wonder how many people watched all three debates. I stuck it out for the last one because the debaters had come so close to blows in the second that I wanted to see what would happen. But not much did. Anyway, I suspect that at least 95% of us already know how we will vote.

Thanks to television, presidential debates have changed a bit. Lincoln and Douglas would have been horrified at the scripted performances today, but they might have enjoyed the comfort of air conditioned studios. Their seven debates took place in the boiling Illinois summer sun, "Little Giant" Douglas against 6 four inch "Honest Abe" Lincoln. Both were skilled politicians, brilliant orators and experienced dissemblers. They went head to head in front of a handful of people who couldn't even vote. Now those were debates.

The national election has been a real cliffhanger, but it is by no means the first. I do remember the night in 1948 when Thomas Dewey went to bed as President (he thought) only to wake up and find that Harry Truman had the job. And then there was the 2000 election. It was the first time in nearly 100 years that the candidate with the greatest popular vote lost in the electoral college. That also happened to Andrew Jackson in 1824, to Samuel Tilden in 1876 and to Grover Cleveland in 1888. It may be time to look seriously at the electoral system.

I had resolved not to express any more personal opinions, but of course I can't resist. My 25 years of working in the Library make me especially anxious to see 5D and 5E pass. These have nothing to do with partisan issues and everything to do with allowing an honored and much used library keep up with the population growth.

We need all the Democrats we can get in Congress to keep some semblance of balance between the executive, the legislative, and the judicial branches of government

Side note: Can somebody sell the Golden Gate Bridge to Doug Bruce as a new home? It is probably tax free and it is not in Colorado.

In the last debate George Bush stated his rigid belief that he has made no mistakes in the four years of his presidency. Quoting Ellen Goodman, "There can be no corrections without any mistakes. Just more of the same. Denial is powerful because it is so comforting. Voting for George Bush means never having to say you're sorry." I'm afraid for our country.

I'm sure I will be up very late on November 2, but whatever happens, the sun will come up the next morning. Meanwhile, whatever your opinions, please be sure to vote.