Taking stock

At the end of the year, we usually take stock of the arbitrary 12-month period behind us, assessing whether we're better or worse off.

- Joseph T. Gonzales [e-mail]

Whether we’re learned some life lesson. Whether we need to tweak ourselves a bit for the better (or, for the bitter, when all we can think of is to exact revenge).But it’s true what they say. What a difference a year makes. As we survey the landscape, we see that all is not well in the political front. Oh boy. Oh girl. The past year has seen us go from creaky democracy to absolute shambles, with bombshell after bombshell, landmine after landmine, and yes, more deaths from floods, volcanoes, and earthquakes by naive voters, those innocent lambs who pinned their trust on their patrons, and who thought their votes would somehow secure their safety.

Yet despite the noise and the fury, not much else has been accomplished.

Sure, many senators and congressmen, legislators previously thought untouchable and who kept in winning seats despite obviously dismal records, have fallen. Their reputations, formerly unassailable, are in tatters. Their stolen billions will no longer be used to purchase luxurious European apartments and ritzy Manhattan townhouses, but will have to be deployed to rebuild their brands. At least, they’ll be pump priming the local economy instead of funneling those billions outwards.