The truth is Donald John Trump may very well be the president elect in a little over a week and a half, although chances are good that the parties will still be counting ballots at that point and fighting over election law in the courts. The Republicans will most likely win the US Senate and it’s looking increasingly like they’ll keep the House. But we won’t know for sure until the votes are cast and counted.

I have very mixed feelings about that. I generally believe in divided government, that there should be somebody to say no and keep the politicians honest. But despite casting a protest vote against Kamela Harris, I do kind of hope she is ultimately elected. I fundamentally think many of Trump’s ideas are bad such as tarrifs and I like smoking pot and believe in renewable energy and a role in government in creating rules for a fair economy.

Ultimately, we are victims of whatever our nation’s leaders decide, though elections are very temporary things and it will be 2026 and 2028 before you know it. Politicians are a lot more constrained then they let on and we all live in the zeitgeist of the times. We have to do the best we can do in our personal circumstances, regardless of what we see blaring on the color television.

One of the two leading Presidential candidates will likely win the election, and they will inevitably go on television each night, causing indigestion in millions of households across the nation. The politicians and their enablers, the news media, will remind you that everything is at stake and you should go out to vote, but the truth is bar the indigestion the election may cause to watchers of television, not much will change regardless of who is elected this November.

Politicians act like they are all powerful, how they can move socities but they are awful constrained both by existing law, existing technology, and future elections. Politicians have to constantly be on their toes, they have real reason to fear the voters in two to four years. Politicians have a lot less power then they like to express. They say all kinds of crazy talk, but when it comes down to it, they are just another bureaucrat in the government. Even the President has very little impact on your day to day life.

The older I get, the less I pay attention to the news. The more I operate on a need-to-know basis. There are some things that are legitimately important to know about, but there is also a lot of crap out there that has little bearing on one’s own life, and even when it does, you have very little control over it. Why be angry or concerned about who is going to be the next President when we all are soon to be victims of whomever is elected for good or bad? Only time will tell.