You Say ""Governor Moonbeam" Like It's a Bad Thing. . .

. . .or, "Election Reflections."


--At least locally we did OK. Senator Boxer goes back to Washington; Jerry Brown goes back to Sacramento; and SF Mayor Gavin Newsom moves up in the California political hierarchy. As to Brown's lunar nickname, we frankly don't see it as a denigration. We like the thought of voting for "Governor Moonbeam": It's like voting for Luke Skywalker. We overcame any misgiving we might have had about voting for someone who sounds like a character from "Star Trek" awhile back (cf., "Barack Obama").

--Speaking of which, we'd rather vote for the guy whose (nick)name sounds like it belongs to a "Star Trek" character than for the lady whose major contribution to modern society was giving people the ability to buy "Star Trek" bobble-heads online from disreputable merchants.


--And, of course, better a "Governor Moonbeam" than a "Senator Wacko Opthalmologist Who Wants to Repeal Civil Rights Legislation." (We're looking at you, Kentucky.)


--At any rate, we take solace in the fact that, if nothing else, we don't have to worry about our mailboxes imploding under the weight of campaign mailings for another two years or so. And we got through the voting itself, which is no mean feat.

If you've never voted in California, we suggest you move here just to have the experience at least once. We don't know how it is in your state, but, compared to voting in New York--a breezy two minutes in a booth, flipping a few switches and pulling a lever--voting in the Golden State is a veritable Bataan Death March of civic participation. In addition to the "top of the ticket" items (governor, senator), you have the mid-level folks (lieutenant governor, attorney general), the "Enough Already!" offices (supreme court judges running unopposed, school board), and the "Really?" brigade (Deputy Assistant Commissioner for Sanitation Transportation). Then come several pages of propositions, referenda, measures, and jirgas--the pros and cons of all of which a conscientious voter must deliberate on. Or you do what we did and just alternate "Yeses" and "Nos." We noted that at least one of these measures was to repeal a measure that had been voted on in the LAST election. (Tough noogies, losers! You wanted it? You got it!) We think the strategy is to wear down the electorate so that, by the time they get to the end of the ballot, they're so groggy that they approve things like free lapdances for city-councilmembers.

--And now, we head into the next two years, looking forward to a Congress that gets nothing done; an increasingly angry electorate ever-more divided by partisan rancor; and our nation's slow, sad decline into malaise. . . .

So, yeah, nothing's changed. Kind of a relief, really.

(Image from eBay, obviously.)