Well, now that the Maya have not come to get us, time to come out of my, self imposed, post election ‘Cave’. Why did the election turn the way it did? There are a thousand points of analysis; social media, ground game, fund raising, messaging etc. It’s easy to get lost in the crossfire of dueling data points. It’s easy to lose sight of larger themes.

A Nation of groups.
Americans are losing their ability to sort through details and rhetoric perceiving the larger picture. Reliance on common sense as a platform for decision making is in retreat. America is being successfully compartmentalized, de-unified. You’re not an American anymore; you’re an African American or a Hispanic American or a Native American or an Arab American; each group with competing agendas. It’s not about the country as a whole anymore, or the ability to see actual greater good; it’s about what’s good for my group, for my agenda; to hell with the rest. It’s not about a rising tide raising all the boats as has been our history. The political process has embraced segmentation, long a concept in marketing. Freeze the needs of each market segment and customize the message for the perception of their needs. Market segmentation is however much different that the divide and conquer approach that is currently driving our politics in national elections. Elections are now driven by the promise that ‘your group’ has something to gain. Sacrifice is to be accepted only when it required by fiat, and even then fought every inch of the way.

Slippery.
Conservative warnings of the slippery slope are now unnecessary. We are half way down the slope and it did not take very long. When you look at the degree of dependency, much of it by executive fiat and regulatory ‘interpertation’ it is difficult to come to any other conclusion. What is clear is that climbing a slope is a lot harder than slipping down it. Economically the slope leads to the cliff.

Minority Rule.
The courts regularly define the Constitution in favor of a minority viewpoint. Atheists, for example, represent a continued onslaught on any public demonstration of faith. They are a distinct minority and yet demonstrations of faith are regularly ruled illegal. California three times voted not to enshrine Gay marriage. Courts sided with the minority view and overturned the will of the majority. Many examples exist but the key issue is that when ‘minority rule’ deconstructs fundamental parts of the fabric of society we face difficult consequences. The consequence is demonstrated by the fact that half of those who could vote, do vote. Political apathy is everywhere; there are only so many times that the majority can be held captive by a minority before the energy for the fight dissipates.

Words
Words matter, they communicate agreed upon ideas. Slowly, we abandon our agreement on what words mean. Illegal is not illegal if we’re speaking of immigration. Terms prohibited from some segments of the population may be used freely by others. Offense is not a case of the word that is used it’s about who used it. Words must be reconstructed so that no offense occurs, unless of course you are part of a protected group; in that case offensive words and behaviors are excused. Does anyone know what Racism means anymore on a common sense basis? Likely not, as it is not a word that is associated with an idea anymore it is an indiscriminate political weapon; redefinition.

Nothing is better than something.
I’m going to take my ball and go home, and when I get there I’m going to jump up and down, hold my breath and stamp my feel! It appears, from the Republican point of view, three groups did not show up. They took their ball and went home: Libertarians, Evangelicals and a percentage of Tea Party folks. They had their reasons; the treatment of Ron Paul, a not conservative enough candidate or the presence of religious bigotry. The absence of one voice means the dominance of another and that’s what we got. One might reprise the aforementioned theme of ‘my group’ for these folks as well! Nothing was better than something. Obama was better than a less than perfect Conservative. It’s a mindset that becomes more prevalent every day in American life, Hostess Twinkies being our most recent example.

The Prize.
We are the prize! America remains, for the moment, unique. It is inescapable that Leftism has become the dominating theme in the democratic world; Europe, South and Central America; add China and the historic connection the Left maintains with the Islamic world and the final puzzle piece is apparent. America has moved to the Left but has not yet fallen over the cliff. The global infrastructure of the Left maintains the capability of unifying constituent groups in the interest of common ideological cause. It is a global infrastructure that Conservatives simply cannot match absent compelling circumstance that mobilizes the non ideological center. America represents 25% of global GDP. We are the prize; full out Leftist controlled Globalization cannot happen absent America. The Left will do or say anything to achieve that prize, it’s not my opinion it’s clearly stated by the leading lights of the Left, now and historically. They moved substantially closer to the prize with this election. A near term example; the American ‘journalistic’ establishment was fully aware of the amount of foreign money in this election, nary a word was spoken.

Media.
To conflate ‘media’ with any traditional definition of journalism is chimera. Journalism is dominated by two compulsions; to be entertaining and to promote ideology. ‘Man on the street’ interviews demonstrate beyond doubt that we know more about the Kardashians that we do about the body politic that actually affects our lives. Bread and Circuses did not die with the Romans, it’s alive and well and, unfortunately, it’s on display in our news media. It’s a distraction that becomes more dominant with each passing day. It’s part of the plan. Alternative and Conservative ‘media’ were never as energized and prolific as they were in 2012. The chorus liked it but in the end it didn’t matter did it?

Double standards.
Double standards are acceptable as long as they fall in your favor. Empirical standards that apply to all are nowhere to be found. Any discussion of the media must associate itself with a discussion of double standards. Yup, some Republicans said dumb things and this time Republicans castigated them for it, it didn’t matter. Democrats also said a lot of dumb things, the silence was deafening. Republican stupidity ran as a story on the evening news day after day. Democratic faux pas did not show up at all. ABC, NBC and CBS did not cover union violence in Michigan, not at all, no mention. Benghazi did not show up on NBC for weeks and weeks. Speaking truth to power is not empirical, its guided by who is in power to begin with.

Fraud.
Voter fraud is acceptable! The very idea of identifying yourself at the polling place sets off a firestorm of charges on the Left; Racism, voter suppression, civil rights, Jim Crow. Nurses helping Alzheimer’s patients who barely know the time of day to vote is acceptable. People who can’t read a ballot are organized to vote. We’ve all heard the stories and we’ve all come to accept it. Shame on us! In a democracy, apathy regarding voting standards is a quick step away from apathy regarding the integrity of the results. Give up election integrity, give up the republic.

Demographics.
Demographic change absent assimilation is upon us, press two for Spanish. The Founding Fathers were highly concerned about the status of Native Americans. The demographics and energy of the Westward push, however, overwhelmed they’re concerns. Europe is on the verge of permanent, irrevocable change, based on open immigration, non-assimilation and the demographics of who is having babies and who is not. Native Europeans are not having babies. Immigrants from Pakistan, India, Africa and the greater Middle East are having lots of babies. In two generations the demographic ballots will be in and indigenous Europeans will be on the verge of minority status in their own countries; the weakness of a Parliamentary system evident to all as the numbers turn to political clout. The numbers are the numbers and have been for quite some time. We are on the verge of following the same path.

The common denominator is that we are losing political, cultural and social cohesiveness. The willingness to sacrifice when faced with crisis grows weaker by the day and is reflected by our politics and the leadership we have chosen. The current lunacy of the fiscal cliff debate in Washington is evidence enough.