Has Lee Atwater's political strategy died?

Has Lee Atwater's Republican political strategy - hard-edged campaigns based on emotional wedge issues - taken its last gasps of life?

President Obama's resounding victory (despite being the first President to win since FDR with a 7.9% jobless rate) indicates - as Bob Dylan would say - that times they are a changin'.

Hate mongering - it seems - can't rally the numbers needed to win elections nowadays in America.

A new progressive coalition of women, minorities, and the so called 'millennials' or Generation Z have made their voices heard.

Though President Obama's victory spiel did come off a bit like Kenny Powers;

"And together with your help and God's grace we will continue our journey forward and remind the world just why it is that we live in the greatest nation on Earth".

I tend to side with Jeff Daniel's Newsroom tirade on this one.

But I guess that's one of the prerequisites of being a politician - you can't actually tell the truth.

So the big question is WWLAD? Or What Would Lee Atwater Do? I'm looking at you Karl Rove.

Enemies of Peace Win Reelection

It's great that President Obama won - because he smells less rotten than the alternative and speaks with a silver tongue. But of course - it's all a facade.

The very truth of it is that the President of the United States and congress are owned by the same big money special interests that have controlled American politics for decades.

The same enemies of peace - as FDR put it in 1936 - business and financial monopolies, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering - are alive and thriving and consider the United States Government as a mere appendage to their own affairs. No one man - even if he is the President has the power to unhinge these parasitic entities.

Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob.

The President's reelection speech was emotionally jarring - as it was carefully crafted to be - but if the present is an indicator of the future - it seems likely to be one of more weapons proliferation, increased militarism on American soil, suppression of internet freedoms, and expanded federal powers.

Democracy is an antiquated idea and the repercussions of its faults are well represented in the inherently corrupt nature of the United States Government.

Do the 'millennials' have the fervor to throw off these shackles? Or have they already bought into the establishment's system?

Why I Will Never Vote Again

I know – it's a terrible thing to utter in the midst of nationalistic cries professing the importance of voting.

We rebelled against a tyrannical King for this right.

Don't forget to vote!

Our forefathers perished by the thousands on the beaches of Normandy and Iwo Jima for this right.

Don't forget to vote!

Countless more died in the sweltering jungles of Vietnam so we could choose our representatives.

Don't forget to vote!

Ninety thousand U.S. troops are in Afghanistan protecting our freedom to vote.

Vote – because if you don't the Taliban wins!

But really – truthfully – it’s all bullshit wrapped in a big fucking patriotic lie.

You better vote – or they'll take away your guns, or your right to choose, or your hard earned paycheck!

So, yes don't forget to vote! And don't forget to say your prayers too!

Don't Forget to Vote!