There's no logic, no logic at all

The Bering Sea threatens the beach at Kivalina.
Photo from University of Alaska Fairbanks journalism

    "There's no foundation, no foundation all the way down the line." — from The Time Of Your Life © 1939 by William Saroyan
    
 Get this. On the northwest coast of Alaska there's a small village named Kivalina. For years the shoreline in front of the village has been eroding to the point where the village is in danger of falling into the ocean and a very expensive effort is being undertaken to move the entire town to higher ground, Tuesday the village voted 51 to 20 for a congressional candidate who is a noted climate-change denier while ignoring his opponent who has openly advocated for measures to curtail the effects of global warming. As Bette Midler said, "why bother."
     In a state that largely relies on salmon for commercial fishermen, sports fishermen including a large number of nonresidents whom guides depend on, and subsistence fishermen, voters rejected a ballot measure that was largely opposed by resource extraction industries. Just the commercial fishing portion employs 57,544 people. The proposal would have protected salmon habitat in watersheds and streams around the state. All that measure would have done was codify conditions for permit applications that had been already in use for years. The proposition lost by more than 5,000 votes.  Let this sink in: ALASKANS VOTED AGAINST SALMON.
     In fact just about every state showed some inroads by the new wave except Alaska.
     Elsewhere this sort of thing happened: A Nevada brothel owner who died a few weeks before the election won a seat in the state's legislature.
     The list probably goes on and on. For instance, pundits are heralding the fact that about 50 percent of senior citizens (frankly I would rather be a dirty old man than a senior citizen) voted for candidates who vowed to protect Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. This they said was a massive movement from one side to the other. You have to wonder why the other 50 percent would vote for a party determined to cut into those vital services for the nation's elderly.
    Two candidates for the US House, one in New York one in California, who are currently facing felony trials were re-elected.
     On the other hand: A gay Native American female MMA fighter won a Congressional seat in Kansas. 
    Meanwhile across the country voters continue to support the very people who are committed to do those voters the most harm by supporting the richest two percent of the population. 
    It all recalls the comment that political science teaching assistant wrote on my paper giving  logical explanation for a political campaign and election in South America:                                                          "There is no logic in politics. C– "
    At least we have half a Congress that has the opportunity to turn things around. One can only hope.

Better Midler. "Angst on a shoestring"