Election/Anniversary Take-Aways

A little system theory explains why the Republican party is in disarray. Any system requires a feedback loop that’s appropriate to the function being controlled; otherwise the falcon cannot hear the falconer. That’s what’s happening to the Republicans these days. Fox News is telling conservatives that they’re more influential than they actually are, and encouraging Republicans to move farther away from the voters.
Cancer cells have the wrong feedback loop – they continue to multiply despite end-of-life signals. In a sense, cancer is the result of failure of the body’s information systems. It should not be a surprise that the rise of Fox News has accompanied a decline in Republican prospects in general.
Money serves an information function in a political campaign. How many voters contributed $50 or less to Obama? Michael Bloomberg’s astounding personal wealth short-circuits the feedback loop, creating the perception that he’s more popular than he actually is. He’s going to have a rough time governing after an election that’s widely perceived as no more legitimate than that of Hamid Karzai.
Bloomberg was elected by people who are going to resist changes. He’s already shown he’s despotic enough to throw political opponents in jail – he did that during the 2004 Republican convention. The police swept the streets of potential troublemakers, and the D.A. released them without charge when the convention was over.