Politics!

Every two years on a Wednesday morning early in November slightly less than half of the Americans are depressed and convinced that civilization as we know it is doomed. Slightly more than half are celebrating a great victory which will bring glory and prosperity and eternal power. According to Charles Dickens, "it (is) the best of times and ... the worst of times."

I am in the slightly less than half this time. It is the worst of times. I would have my door draped in black if I had any black stuff to drape it with.

It is a sad day for American women. The constitutional theory of checks and balances will be out of order for two years. With all three branches of government in the hands of Republicans whose power base is the far right, issues important to women are in deep trouble. Women's health care, child care, medical research for women, health insurance, Social Security, women's right to control their own bodies are all threatened.

Abortion is now a political issue rather than a private, moral one. Many Republicans nationwide campaigned openly on an "anti-abortion, kill Roe v. Wade" plank. Bush Administration judicial candidates have apparently been required to pass the abortion litmus test, and now Republicans will control the Senate Judiciary Committee. I do sincerely wish good health to the present members of the Supreme Court.

We have survived crises before, and each time we think it is the worst ever. There are a few bright spots locally, however. We don't have to rip up county government for Home Rule. The political ads on television are over for a while. We de-Bruced another road block to progress. We passed the campaign contributions amendment.

I have lived through a lot of post-election Wednesday mornings. When I was a kid, my house on the morning after an election was either a happy, wonderful place to be, or a place for a kid to get out of as soon as possible. My mother was a political junkie too, which says something about either heredity or environment or possibly both. She was quite certain that "In the Beginning there was the Republican Party." I outgrew my upbringing in that matter -- but I never had the nerve to tell her. After all, she was a Colorado delegate to the Republican Convention in Philadelphia in 1940 that nominated Wendell Willkie.

I cast my first vote 1936, and have not missed voting in a national election since. Of course I have usually been on the losing end.

On the morning after Geraldine Ferraro and Walter Mondale were defeated in 1984 I couldn't stand myself, and went out to breakfast at 6:00 am. When the poor waitress tried to be pleasant I snarled at her that I was there to sulk and to let me sulk, skip the kindness please. She did.

I would have done that this morning, but it was too cold.

Politics is not an American invention. "Man is by nature a political animal," wrote Aristotle. But sometimes I wonder. Participation in the political process does not seem to improve with the years, either in numbers or understanding . Sometimes I like to fantasize that we have become more conscientious in selecting our political officers. But it's just a fantasy. According to a study by the University of California, the voter turnout in 1824 was 26.9%, and the turnout in 1996 was 49.1 -- hardly what we would expect or hope for in nearly two centuries of progress. The largest turnout in our history was in 1876 when Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel Tilden split the popular vote 50/50 with 81.8% of the people voting. Hayes won on the electoral vote. Sound familiar?

Meanwhile the country goes on as it has for over 200 years. Elections are like streetcars. There's always another one coming.