Open Forum: Get over it!

Though rarely acknowledged these days, but deeply embedded in those treasured values, virtues, morals, and similar tenets of honesty, decency, respect and integrity so often used to describe the eminence of the Founding Fathers or America’s highest standards of character and honorableness, is the humbling assurance of the elders “that there are some things money cannot buy.”

Despite the vast and enormous outpouring of financial support by the GOPalooza, plutocrat backers, and conservative mega-donors in the likes of billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, Forbes CEO and philanthropist Ron Perelman, and self-proclaimed wealth genius Donald Trump, it was the massive and enormously well-orchestrated ground forces of middle Americans effectively delivering the “Obama plan for the next four years” to communities throughout the nation, and helping them to clearly grasp the potentially tragic consequences of Romney’s agenda (except for the 2 percent) that made the difference on Nov. 6.

The sheer awesomeness of the Obama “grassroot volunteers” campaign strategy can only be deservedly portrayed when the mighty armory of the daunting character-slayer Karl Rove is put into the equation. As the kingpin and key strategist for three Romney-backing super-PACs, Rove and his cohort fundraisers amassed close to a billion dollars in campaign contributions to deliver one of the most vile, dishonest, and character-assassinating onslaught of TV ads, especially in the 13 swing states, to defeat President Obama.

Yet, it was the wisdom and voting power of the masses that proved the valiant road to victory for the president — winning both the Electoral College and popular vote by comfortable margins. (This certainly was not the outcome Republicans expected of the Supreme Court’s Citizens Unitedruling; they couldn’t steal this one — ah, just joking.)

There was exuberant confidence and resounding exaltation by Republican leaders, Romney, and his key campaign strategists over the stagnant high unemployment (thus the need to create jobs, which Romney unceasingly claimed he knew how to do), a still-struggling economy, the huge budget deficit and fiscal gridlock, assumed apathy among Democratic voters, perceived fractious relationship between Obama and Israel, along with turbulence in the Middle East and other Obama administration foreign policy blunders (by their assessment), all of which established an excellent case and climate for the need to rechart the direction of the country — thus giving Romney a clearly distinct advantage and opportunity to take the White House.

So it is absolutely understandable that President Obama’s indubitable victory was surely a shell-shocker to Republicans across the country. But the GOP’s response to losing the election has taken the blame game and sore losing to rarefied levels. It started with Romney telling his top donors that Mr. Obama had won by giving “very generous freebies to key constituencies, including blacks, Hispanics, women, and young people.”

Then followed a phalanx of unbridled finger-pointing led by Rove, who cited a pile of excuses why the Republicans lost the election, from the GOP’s problem with Hispanics to Hurricane Sandy and Chris Christie’s disgusting reception of the president. Other key Republicans placed such blame as: Romney wasn’t conservative enough; Americans are basically ignorant; Romney was too nice; the media selectively reported Romney gaffes; fact-checkers were biased; America’s white establishment is now a minority; and so on.

Not surprisingly, The Star’s Editorial Page joined the sore losers’ bandwagon, but what really caught my attention was the editor’s devotion of nearly a full page Dec. 1 to presenting his own views on the “Great Relearning,” accompanied by two supportive “thought pieces” courtesy of Star patrons Franklin Fogle (“Silver lining”) and Dan Flathers (“Avoiding the abyss”).

Commended by the editor, but just one example of the sigh: “Governor Romney fought nobly against unfair odds ... To all my friends who feel our country was lost Nov. 6, don’t despair.”

The truth of the matter, however, as to the winner of the 2012 election, is unmistakably obvious in the following details:

 Mr. Obama won the 18- to 29-year-old vote, 60-37, in spite of the fact that half of all recent college graduates are unemployed or underemployed.

 He won women by 11 points and unmarried women by an astounding 36 points.

 He won African Americans with 93 percent of the vote. Latinos favored him 71-27, and Asians voted 73 percent for him.

 Among those earning less than $50,000 a year, Mr. Obama won 60-38.

If you listen carefully, you may still hear that faint rumbling: “The Republican Party is ideologically out of tune with fast-growing segments of the population.”

Hopefully, the voters’ message for solutions will not be likewise tuned out. Did I hear somebody say, “Fool me once ...”

Guss Morrison is a resident of Frederick County.