By Carlin Whitehouse

There is much political fist pumping in America this month. Republicans couldn’t be happier now that they have commanding majorities in the House and Senate. They are chomping at the bit to further emasculate Barack Obama’s presidency and probably plan to subject him to more derision and abuse than ever. Maine, too, ushers in an era that is committed to conservative ideals. Governor LePage has now earned carte blanche to execute his vision for the state and oh-so-ineloquently speak his mind.
Waves of crimson-hued voters have apparently sent a message to Washington and Augusta, “We demand a new direction!” Yet, this so-called “mandate” is actually the same one that is sent in the middle of nearly every American president’s term in modern history. It doesn’t so much signify a revolution, but merely the pendulous trends of two-party politics.
Nevertheless, the 114th U.S. Congress and Maine’s 127th session could very well bring some of the right wing’s best theories, fiscal or otherwise, to practice: the stock market could soar to record heights on the heels of multinational corporations, “too big to fail” financial institutions, and the exorbitantly wealthy being freed from burdensome minimum wage raises, taxation, litigation, and regulation. The working class could be awash in a historic trickle that may include boosting employment rates (currently at 94.1%) a point or two, an IRS refund of a few hundred dollars and/or an irresistibly low APR on a line of credit. Even though Obama has knocked almost a trillion dollars off what he inherited, we may also see further whittling of the federal deficit. Hawkish Republicans and the accompanying urge to spread democracy will surely see to it that the armed forces see a swell in both investment and theaters of war. This could produce some dazzling strikes and victorious battles, maybe even another Hollywood spin-off.
Make no mistake about the glittering opportunities that Reince Priebus, Mitch McConnell or Paul LePage promise. When the “Greatest nation in the world… Kiss my butt…U-S-A! U-S-A!” rhetoric fades, their center-of-the-world views won’t deliver on the issues that ultimately matter most. For every short-term gain that is theoretically possible under Republican power, America risks dire, long-term consequences that dwarf any spikes on the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
The United States of America can ill afford to endure many more election cycles dominated by right-wing ideologues. The laundry list of platforms where Republicans simply get it wrong is daunting: continued nuclear proliferation, Constitutional amendments that codify heterosexual supremacy, the hubris and illegality of sidestepping the Geneva Conventions with torture and extraordinary rendition, “Drill, baby, drill” energy policy, philosophies of education that treat schools as businesses and students as consumers, and on and on. Hoisting female candidates this season was strategically inspired, though ironically, the GOP continues to bend over backward to both maintain gender inequalities (i.e. 20+% wage gap, Equal Rights Amendment) and obstruct women’s reproductive rights.
The experiment of deregulatory Reaganomics and ambling toward the mirage of a “free market” has failed. The wanton exploitation of labor and resources, domestic and abroad, reliably leaves a wake of destruction and the very real potential for cataclysmic events like Bhopal, Deepwater Horizon and 2008’s economic meltdown. Speaking of melting, NASA findings assert that the warming of vast swaths of Antarctic ice is, as of Spring 2014, irreversible. Yet in the face of ever-mounting evidence, folks who unabashedly deny climate change will be steering the ship for the foreseeable future. There could not be higher stakes for Earth and all her inhabitants.
A tragic reality of “passing the point of no return” is that it’s virtually impossible to recognize it…until it has come and gone. Tallying battles won is utterly worthless when the war obliterates one’s very livelihood. Therefore, citizens must demand that their governments rebuke shortsighted and narcissistic worldviews for holistic ones. Elections must prioritize a sustainable “justice for all” above a superficial prosperity for some. Time will tell if America has voted too much power into the hands of politicians who focus on the wrong outcomes. By then, democracy may prove altogether irrelevant.