114

So the 114th United States Congress was sworn in yesterday, with Republican majorities in both houses.

Call me a pessimist, but given the predominance of Republicans in state houses, the recent history of gerrymandering, and the current role of money in election politics, I see little possibility of change in the foreseeable future.  We'll have a Republican House, a Republican Senate, and likely a Democratic President.  The presidency represents, as I see it, the last tangible shred of democracy--and even the presidential election is compromised by money, of course, and by the absurdly anachronistic tradition of the Electoral College.

And let's not even mention the Supreme Court…

Aaaargh!  Call this an elegy for a once-promising political system, before it was hijacked by greed, self-interest, and a mindless belief in the infallibility of the market economy.