Election lessons learned

Lest the Election Day train wreck that derailed America have been in vain, let us look at how it came to pass that a man growling such vile words and emitting such ugly vibes could seize the U.S. presidency.

First and foremost, blame the media - on at least two counts. For one, right from the start America's commercial as well as 'public” news sources couldn't get enough of Donald J. Trump's rude, too often crude, even grotesque utterances and antics. No wonder the man hardly had to buy ad time till near the end of his meteoric political career: Virtually every TV and radio station, newspaper and countless social-media outlet practically laid at his feet for the 'honor” of transmitting or printing his every thought and threat. Only too late - like, the night of the election, with the shocking polling results pouring in - did our self-prostituting anchors and editors, politicos and pundits realize what evil genie they'd set loose.

On a more complex and concealed level, however, America's parasitic media has served to protect and perpetuate the political status quo by focusing only on party favorites. Thanks to Wiki, we unequivocally know that the Democratic National Committee intentionally sidelined Bernie's valiant efforts, even as the Republican National Committee played with fire in pimping itself to a non-Republican in exchange for ratings born of rants and ridiculousness. To cite three local examples, the Des Moines Register failed to include in its pre-election poll 60 percent of the candidates in the Iowa U.S. Senate race - presumably out of fear of crossing presumed winner King Charles or slighting slumbering Patty Judge - and Sioux City's KTIV did the same in its unrepresentative senate-race debate: Both bodies later refused to declare their poll or debate as illegitimate for being unrepresentative of the choices facing the electorate. Similarly, Iowa Public Television also enacted policies meant to mute alternatives.

Going forward, what might our battered nation do to avoid repeating such a sordid race? Enact term limits of 12 years in any office, in tandem with limiting campaigning for national races (presidential or congressional) to no more than ten months, state-level races to five. Why? Because only fat cats with deep pockets (or [corporate] friends with same) can sustain interminable races - and that's exactly why these unending campaigns are happening: Only the rich can run; ordinary folks don't stand a chance!

Restore the Fairness Doctrine and Equal-time Rule, both gutted in the 1980s by cynical conservatives. More than ever, the increasingly urgent and complex issues facing the country (think climate change, frozen or falling standards of living for a shrinking middle class, etc.) require more than two dovetailing parties can offer in terms of perspectives, personalities and possible solutions. (Soviet Russia had, and so-called Communist China has, only one party less than the US' calcified, archaic two-party system!)

And, slay the slavery-era-serving Electoral College once and for all. As there's no redeeming rationale for maintaining that anti-democratic, elitist 'electoral star chamber,” make all elections direct, one person = one vote. And, shift voting to a sensible Sunday schedule (as in almost all Western democracies), using exclusively paper ballots, which then serve as visible, countable documentation of actual votes cast.

If we do not take such steps, our country will continue to unravel politically, economically and socially. For the good of the nation, it's time to stop wringing hands and shouting from our armchairs; we must put fists in the air and stand up to be seen, heard and counted in what needs to be a true democracy.

' 2016 U.S. Senate candidates Michael Luick-Thrams (independent) and Charles Aldrich (Libertarian).