Over the weekend one of my friends posted on facebook:

I had to really think about his question and posted this response:

It seems like wherever I turn I'm hearing about the fiscal cliff.  I feel as if the media has made this into our country's version of Armageddon.  Let's be clear, there are some serious issues if the budget issue is not resolved but is it the end of our country as we know it?  

The day after the election I posted an Open Letter to Congress.  I wrote:

Obviously no one is paying attention to what we as citizens expect our politicians to be doing considering they are being paid by our hard earned tax dollars.  They have chosen to fight this out in the media instead of going behind closed doors and not coming out until they come up with an equitable solution.  They have again chosen politics over people, ideology over practical solutions.  Anyone with a modicum of common sense knows that two things have to occur simultaneously to significantly reduce debt, increase revenue and cut expenses.

I read a news feed this morning from News One titled “Divided States of America: 20 States Petition To Secede after Re-Election of President Obama. “  The opening sentence was “Some white people are really having a difficult time facing the reality of a Black president…….”  They have since changed their opening sentence to “Some people are really having a difficult time facing the reality of a Black president…..”  I commend them for this revision (although they haven’t corrected the hyperlink).  I did not feel that the issue is totally racial and disagreed with the writer limiting it to white people.   I do believe that there are some serious underlying racial overtones. 

The Star-Telegram reports: Hardin County [Texas] Republican treasurer Peter Morrison writes "…..Let each go her own way," demanding an "amicable divorce" from the U.S. and from the "maggots" who re-elected President Obama.  Morrison is particularly angry at Asian-Americans and Hispanics who backed Obama, accusing them of voting on an "ethnic basis."

"'They' re-elected Obama," Morrison wrote. "He is their president."

The election is over.  I suppose that some of you are extremely happy and some of you, well, are maybe not so happy.  As a taxpaying citizen I have to say that this has been one of the most grueling election cycles that I've experienced so far in my voting life.  If I wasn't being inundated with advertising that was mostly negative, I was overwhelmed by media pundits.

So now it's time for you to get back to the business of running our country.  I trust that you have renewed your commitment to being a servant of your constituents, the American people.  As I'm sure you know  as reported in a Wall Street Journal article your approval rating was at an all time low of 12% in August 2012.  In October 2012, twenty-one percent of Americans approved of the job Congress was doing, higher than the 13% Gallup measured in September, and the highest rating in any month since May 2011.

If approval ratings were an exam, these would be failing grades.  Unfortunately these are not exams.  This is real life.  The decisions (or lack thereof) that you make impact every American citizen and there are no make up exams in life.  The Encarta Dictionary: English (North America) definition for the word politician includes:

I'm tired.  I feel like this has been one of the longest election cycles ever and it's not over yet.  On election day I will be voting for President Obama.  Although I'm a registered Democrat, I'm not voting for him because I'm following the party line.  I'm also not voting for President Obama because he's African-American.  I'm voting for him because in my opinion he's the best person for the job and deserves another four years.  

One thing I have realized during this election cycle is the depths both parties must go to get their candidate elected.

There are issues with both parties. There is spin on both sides. Do I fault them?  No, I fault us, the American people. We have allowed ourselves to be reduced to listening to 30 second sound bites. We have allowed big money to contribute to a point of virtually running the campaigns and setting the agenda. We have become so complacent that we just want somebody to tell us what to do. We have become so focused on the national election that we forget that the rubber hits the road at the local level.  Voter suppression, Stand Your Ground laws, and many others happen at the state level, we need to ensure that we are paying close attention to our local elections.