The dust has finally settled on the 2014 elections. I’m going to take this opportunity to offer some random observations, thoughts and musings as to what transpired on November 4. It was indeed an historic day here in West Virginia with what State Chamber of Commerce President Steve Roberts described as “a game changing election”.

Well, its election time and that means that it is also finger pointing season. Every election season Democrats and their supporters harrumph about which Republicans attended what forum. One editorial in the Spirit pointed out that local Republican candidates for the West Virginia House of Delegates were no shows for the NAACP forum; in the State Senate race neither candidate showed. All true enough. However, in another NAACP forum, this one for candidates running for Sheriff of Jefferson County, it was the Republican that showed up while his opponent the Democrat was a no show. The League of Women voters canceled their forum. Scheduling difficulties were cited as the reason. Round and round we go.

MoveOn, recently ran a contest. Soliciting submissions from the public they said, “Together with our friends at MAYDAY.US, we’re working to produce a powerful, 30-second ad about the problem of money in politics”. By the way, MAYDAY.US on its website discloses that it has raised more than $10.5 Million and describes itself as a “Super PAC to end all Super PACs”. Just as World War I was described as the war to end all wars. It’s an interesting turn of phrase and I suspect not an accidental one.

According to Wikipedia, “Progressivism is a broad philosophy based on the Idea of Progress, which asserts that advances in science, technology, economic development, and social organization can improve the human condition”. According to one website called Dissident Voice, that describes itself as “a radical newsletter in the struggle for peace and social justice” Progressivism “is a term that encompasses a wide spectrum of social movements that include environmentalism, labor, agrarianism, anti-poverty, peace, anti-racism, civil rights, women’s rights, animal rights, social justice and political ideologies such as anarchism, communism, socialism, social democracy, and liberalism”. That’s a wide spectrum indeed but is more in keeping with how I have come to view progressivism.

Last month an article authored by Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel appeared in the Atlantic entitled “Why I Hope to Die at 75”. In it, he declares his intention, upon reaching that age, to refuse any and all medical attention - anything that would be for the purpose of prolonging his life. His reasoning: the vast majority of people over 75 do not contribute significantly to society but instead become a burden. In fact, according to Emanuel while “death is a loss…living too long is also a loss…no longer remembered as vibrant and engaged but as feeble, ineffectual, even pathetic”. Reminds me of the infamous words of Ebenezer Scrooge - “if they would rather die, they had better do it and decrease the surplus population”.

Albert Einstein is said to have defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. Here in West Virginia we have had one party rule for more than 80 years. That’s more than three generations. Over that time span the economic performance of our state has been, by all metrics, underwhelming. And that’s putting it in polite terms.