The world “mandate” may be one of the most intentionally or unconsciously abused directives. There are mandates and then there are mandates. In the 2010 election, the U.S. House of Representatives was decimated with the influx of the clueless freshman and gained a Republican majority. The Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate was sadly diluted and many Republican governors were voted into office.
They enjoy referring to the election as a mandate. In a distorted way, they are right.
The vote was precipitated by a mandate — a mandate unfulfilled. In 2008, Barrack Hussein Obama, despite an unfortunate choice of a middle name and in the minds of some, was elected president by a majority with a mandate based on his stated goals during the presidential campaign.
He had earned the majority House and Senate and the security blanket of a mandate. What he did not have was the killer instinct necessary to deal with a ruthless, single-minded pack of wolves determined to take back the presidency regardless of the damage incurred upon their country as long as it damaged his presidency.
After two years witnessing his naive attempt at diplomacy, the enthusiasm with his brave vision of our country’s future wore thin. Come 2010, those formerly enthusiastic voters did not show up, allowing the radical anti-government, anti-middle class, anti-Obama zealots to sweep into office.
This disappointment in Obama’s failure to fulfill his mandate has been adopted and reinterpreted by the 2010 shoe-ins as their mandate. These deluded who were allowed to sail into office mistook it as a mandate and proceeded to over-reach.
Well, now, the no-show voters realize what their lackadaisical voting has cost them. All across the country the wake-up call is deafening. Recalls are running rampant and, hopefully, although still disappointed with Obama’s civilized approach in dealing with the obstructionists, they will opt for intelligence, honesty and integrity and hope that the last few years has proven to our president that you cannot pet a mad dog.
Nicholas Zizelis
Bayside
