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U.S. election both good and bad news for Whistler

by G. D. Maxwell

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Maria Dryfhout / Shutterstock.com

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So I'm celebrating the fact that a scant 51 per cent of voters decided to cast their ballot for the side that at least seemed to want to deal with some of the issues instead of simply making the other guys look like buffoons, not that the other guys needed any help in that department.

I'm also celebrating the defeat of Tea Party rapists. Three white guys, all rabid right-wingers, all Tea Party darlings, got their collective asses handed to them by the voters after making intemperate comments about, well, something they shouldn't in good conscience have anything to say about at all.

First and foremost, of course, was Todd Akin, a 65-year-old white guy. Running for the Missouri senate seat held by Claire McCaskill, Todd was agin' abortion regardless of whether the fetus was the result of rape. Why? Well, as Todd explained last August, some "doctors" had told him, "If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."

McCaskill whipped him by a bigger margin than Romney won the state.

In Indiana, state treasurer, Richard Mourdock, a 61-year-old white guy, defeated Dick Lugar in the Republican primary earlier this year. Mourdock was touted by the Tea Party and beat Lugar, who'd held the seat since 1976 and was a moderate Republican, by branding him as not conservative enough.

Mourdock was expected to trounce his Democratic opponent, Joe Donnelly, who'd represented Indiana in the House since 2007. But last month, Mourdock, a staunch opponent of abortion, just had bring God into the race by saying a pregnancy as the result of rape just might be "...something God intended to happen."

Donnelly whipped him in a state Romney won easily.

Of lesser note, Tom Smith, a 65-year-old white guy, lost his senate race in Pennsylvania to incumbent, Bob Casey. What was expected to be a close race turned into a blowout when Tea Party backed Smith just couldn't discern a difference between women who became pregnant because they were raped and women who got preggers out of wedlock.

Casey's margin of victory was way bigger than Obama's over Romney.

Anyone with half a brain would look at Tuesday's results and realize the Republican party is dying off quicker than old white men. Women abandoned them, minorities have never been in the tent, and the right-wing crazies are writing their own obituaries. But with any luck, they'll decide their real problem was the that Mitt was just too moderate and they need to double down with the whackos... in which case, reason may prevail for elections to come.

But all was not good news. In what can only be seen as a real threat to Whistler's viability as a world-class ski resort, our neighbour to the south, Washington, and, even worse, Colorado, passed referenda to legalize pot. Not just for "medicinal" use but for good ol' fashion recreational use. Roll 'em if ya got 'em.

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