Do You Hear That?

Do you hear what I hear? Listen carefully ... it's the sound of NOTHING! The 2012 Presidential Election is finally over and we are all now spared from listening to any more political advertising. No more politics for a couple of years at least!

That sound you actually do hear is the echo of polls closing. If you live in Hawaii, you're especially grateful for that. The combative Linda Lingle-Mazie Hirono and Caldwell-Cayetano advertisements were about all you saw when you tuned in to local stations or opened the newspaper. More and more, over and over, ad nauseum.

Let me assure you, the country, the state, and the city are not going to hell in a handbasket, no matter what the opponents said about each other in their advertising, no matter what their supporters and detractors said in THEIR advertising. The sun came up today, and everybody went about their business.

We've had unhappy people since we started casting ballots (actually, before that), and the country has survived. The directions taken by our Presidents and their administrations have not brought the country to ruin. Our elected senators and congressmen, no matter how red or blue they are, no matter how liberal or conservative, will not make our lives hell.

The new mayor will run the city, and if he does a lousy job, he'll be kicked out of office in four years. Everything works out in the long run. Why?

There is a system in our government that we call "checks and balances." So long as cool heads prevail with the vision of what's good for the people, we will not go the way of the Roman Empire. We fight over political philosophies for a reason: We just want to see the right things done for the people of America. It's just that how we do it, and what we want, will never satisfy everybody.

So ... Good morning, America. Go outside and enjoy the sunshine. Give your ears a rest ... they deserve it.