Vicarious Pleasure

There, I must confess, was a wee bit of vicarious pleasure in watching the early returns of the US election. I think it fits mine (and many other Canadians) sense of smugness over how absurd the USA's politics are when we see an election that was so full of vindictiveness, lies and absurdities. Almost any developed country looks sane and rational as compared to the US in mid election. If nothing else, watching the zoo next door allows us to ignore our own political problems.

As I much as I fantasized that the much discussed "blue wave" would sweep the country and dispose of every supporter of Trump - I knew it could never happen. However, the final results were a tad disappointing. It is inconceivable to me anyone with a political intelligence greater than Easter the pig's would vote for anyone who was a supporter of Trump. However, while it appears as if the Democrats "won" the popular vote - at least 43% of Americans voted for a Republican senator. Clearly having an economy that is doing well and rewarding those with money (as well as suggesting that eventually, sometime in the future , everyone may do as well) and promising that no one will ever threaten those privileges is a more powerful election promise than suggesting that everyone should have at least some access to the benefits of a vibrant economy. Clearly using Ester's political intelligence as a standard was setting the bar too high.


On the other hand, if the Democrats had won the election in both the House and the Senate, and if all of the states had elected Democratic governors, how boring our news would be. Trump would be impeached, silly and /or inflammatory tweets would no longer sent out from the White House and then what would we talk about? And who would we blame for the problems of the world? How would we as Canadians justify our smugness?

It is so much easier to criticize our neighbours than to see what we need to do to make this world a better place for all.