"For shame! for shame!" ~ Jane Eyre

A good writer avoids cliches at all costs.

However, I cannot help but reverberate the old adage, they don't make 'em like they used to when I think about the midterm election.

Elections have become a farce in this country due to the politicians. They have no shame. This midterm election has gone beyond mudslinging; this is shitslinging.

I am so relieved that this year's election will be over in about 13 hours. My intuition tells me that there will certainly be voting problems at the poll sites, and perhaps there will not even be clear winners decided by the morning. Still, the campaigning will be over and done with, and I hate to even use the word campaigning because most politicians are finger pointing rather than campaigning - and that goes for both parties!

This morning the old ladies at the polling site informed me that I was their 18th voter. The 18th president of this country was Grant. He was a horrid president, but he was an amazing general. Therefore, I like to remember him more for his leadership during the Civil War and not post Civil War.

I begin to wonder what would happen today if my three favorite presidents - Lincoln, Teddy, and FDR - were alive today and seeking election. I am sure Abe would be called ugly by mudslingers, Teddy would be called fat, and FDR called a cripple. Lincoln's failures would be listed as showing incompetence, Teddy would probably be in huge trouble with anti-NRA groups, and FDR would be impeached since he had more mistresses in the White House than Clinton. It makes you think, doesn't it?

These men were on my mind as I voted this morning. I respect them more than any other men in history. I find it a shame that the lack of respect that politicians have for each other have made election campaigning a mockery and an insult to the ideologies, passions, and strengths of our forefathers. I also find it a shame that people in this country take for granted their right and are too lazy to vote. I have no tolerance or patience for that. I am sure those who are too lazy to vote would get out and go if they were living in China for even just a week...