Well if nowt else I am a lousy pundit.
After months of predicting that Romney would win the US Presidential election, I was proved wrong. Unlike a number of other pundits (Barone, Morris usw) who not merely expected a Romney win (well actually a landslide), but wanted to see one, I am happy (but not ecstatic) at the outcome. The US will continue to recover slowly, there will be growth in areas other than the work of bankruptcy lawyers, and who knows, Europe might get carried along with it.
I also noted that the Democrats received more votes overall in races for the House of Representatives and lost by a wide margin. This can happen in "First past the post" systems and similar. Blair handsomely won the UK election in 2005 with 35% of the vote, while the awful Margaret Thatcher permanently wrecked the economy of the North of England and did considerable harm to that of Scotland while never getting more than 43% of the vote. Which speaks volumes for democracy (cough, cough).
Both Obama and I were in Thailand this weekend. The difference is there were no cheering crowds for me. I actually spent 3 weeks being dragged round all my wife's relatives. More chore than holiday, and more an exercise in seeing how she can waste money. I set a personal record in not spending a cent from my own pocket in the entire period. That we both have to spend the next 11 months living a Spartan lifestyle to pay for it .... enuff said!
Sounds a bit like some political thinking that I have heard over the years. Tax breaks and party for a month, and 11 months paying off the bill (well actually keep partying and not paying off the bill thinking about it - just run up the debt, you may have grandchildren who might eventually cough up for it).
Still not sure, dear regular reader, that I will be writing any more incidentally. We will have to see!
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