It’s the day after what can only be called one of the most intense election seasons in history. In the end, the country elected a President for a  second term – something which, all things considered, so many had thought an impossible task. But it did happen and the exhausting season of primaries, debates and outlandish campaigning bordering on sheer looney toons has finally ended and the proverbial die is now cast.

But let’s not be too hasty to leave this all behind. As we are often told, we must learn from history – a concept  which we have, in my opinion, miserably failed to grasp – and some elements of this election season were nothing less than historic in nature. Historic in its level of venom, of the twisting of actual events and narratives, in the spewing of streams of out and out lies. As Professor Kevin Kruse of Princeton University noted in a recent article in the New York Times, the real loser in this election was TRUTH. I would also add CIVILITY.

Some time ago, the late statesman Daniel Patrick Moynihan noted that one is indeed entitled to one’s own opinion BUT one is not entitled to ones own facts.Fact checking was once the purview  and a foundation element of all news reporting. Now that has, as Professor Kruse says, become the province of a specialized few.A senior Romney campaign aide, Neil Newhouse,  summed it all up when he  declared to ABC News that ” We’re not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact checkers..”.Now, while I accept that both sides of the aisle often play footloose with facts and cherry pick information to suit the cause, the GOP has of late, far exceeded the limits of truth, any semblance of integrity and all levels of civil discourse – and all with what seems to be total impunity . One has to question the utter lack of ethics on the part of candidates – candidates on all levels. The complete disdain for facts has, in my opinion, placed many who seek  or hold public office  as seeming to be wandering in some sort of alternative reality.

Case in point – when Mr Romney boldly declared to an audience in Ohio that the Jeep division of Chrysler had been sold to an Italian auto company and was moving its entire operation to China.In spite of strong and emphatic assertions to the contrary by the CEOs of both Chrysler and GM, stating that the statement and subsequent ad were entirely without merit or basis in fact, both the president and vice president candidates continued with this falsehood on the campaign trail.

There was an statement made by the GOP candidates that the President had issued a policy revision on the Welfare to Work program in the states. It was alleged that in this policy revision, all work requirements associated with the Welfare to Work programs were ended. There would be no more work requirement. The facts are so distant from this statement. What the President actually did was to issue a long overdue response to a letter sent by no less than six governors ( including then Governor Romney of Massachusetts ) which asked the  federal government for more latitude in determining the work requirement so as to more in tune with local circumstances. While the White House agreed with the need for some leeway in these determinations, the response did in fact, make the requirement that, if this waiver of sort was to be  in place, it must be shown to increase the job placement by twenty per cent in order to be maintained. Now, in the face of clear and compelling evidence to the contrary, why did BOTH GOP candidates persist in this patently false declaration. And, more importantly, why did the mainstream news media fail to raise the issue.

In the face of documented analysis by several  sources like the Urban Institute, the Congressional Budget Office and the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, the Affordable Care Act would, as part of its implementation, eliminate close to 130,000 low wage, non skilled jobs. It would, on the other hand, add over 800,000 jobs in the medical and health care sectors. Of course, Tea Party legislators such as Michelle Bachmann of Minnesota, Eric Cantor of Virginia and John Boehner of Ohio continually blast the Act as being a job killing” law. What most people do not know is that these people are quoting a study conducted by the NFIB ( National Federation of Independent Businesses ) which was commissioned by the the U S Chamber of Commerce a full two years before the Act was actually passed.  I sense that the late venerable newsman Walter Cronkite is writhing in his grave.

Throughout the lengthy campaign season, the GOP across the board ,  national and local candidates  alike, has  constantly and consistently lied about so many issues important to most people. There was the whole ” Birther” nonsense resurfaced by the “mouth from Manhattan”. Donald Trump. There was the “Death Panel ” raised by several candidates, including the VP candidate. There was the whole 716 billion dollars “stolen ” from Medicare beneficiaries , time and again reliably refuted as being misleading at best and false, at worst.In one local election, the opposition ad stated that the GOP candidate voted against the interests of veterans. An ad to refute this claim was posted, showing a veteran stating that with the invention of the candidate, she was able to get what she needed. The question remains, why did she have to go to the then Congressman in the first place. Could it be that in fact he did vote not once but twice against the G I Bill and once against the overall  Veterans Benefits bill which included job training ( Cf. Roll Call of Votes – Washington Post ). In spite of this, there was no challenge to the  fabrications.

The apparent dismissal of facts as being relevant to the debate or that they are even necessary any more was equally met with what has to be the worst flow of venom in recent political history. The GOP candidates made their share of comments, outlandish as they were. The GOP surrogates – another story entirely. From the former Speaker of the House, to the former governor of New Hampshire to sitting legislators to the king of comb over to the bellicose idiots on talk radio and Fox ( I refuse to call it “news” ) we heard such insane epithets as the President does not know how to be an American, is not an American, only got accepted to Columbia University and Harvard Law because of quotas and Affirmative Action, charges that he wants to keep as many people on public assistance as possible in order to get votes, that he is  a marxist, a socialist or worse, a Muslim terrorist infiltrator. Imagine calling the President of the United States a liar in full voice during the State of the Union Address – REALLY, Joe Wilson !! It all more than sickens me, this level of complete lunacy.

While I have my suspicions about the source of much of the animosity against this President,this is nothing short of frightening.

In the world of politics, one probably should tolerate a certain level of hyperbole and exaggeration and self promotion. After all, in some ways, politics, campaigning and seeking political office is  in large part marketing. One can even tolerate a certain level of attack on the opposition, its policies and its vision or lack thereof.  But this election season held out a level of calculated lies and misinformation on all levels and, when you pair that with the element of the huge amounts of influence peddling, I strongly hold it is time to make wholesale changes to how we elect holders of public office.

How you change the process is negotiable and possible. What one does about ignorance, calculated slander, planned misinformation, fear mongering – short of continuing the fight and spreading the facts, I don’t know. Perhaps one day, indeed, TRUTH and CIVILITY will win out.