Nov. 7, 2006, one of the few times prayer failed me, and Princess (Sen. Nancy) Pelosi will doubtless wrest the speaker’s gavel from other Democrat contenders. Worse, I may have to live out my life with her and, God help me, Queen Hillary (Clinton) as president … a terrible blow to my male ego.

I have no problem with the Senate takeover; mostly they are pompous and serve as audience to lobbyists. Buoying me is the fact that I have lived through half a dozen of these &uot;change&uot; cycles that had no telling effect on my life. My conservative attitude has allowed me to weather every national storm since 1925, and only one war entrapped me.

So, like other smarting Conservatives, I will record how few campaign promises are kept and not be surprised if there remains status quo on the &uot;Hill.&uot; Don’t look for the troops boarding return ships, but do expect several months of attempted terrorizing Bush’s people as they face House committee inquiries.

There will be many interesting daytime &uot;trials&uot; on TV for we retirees to watch … the subpoenas are in the mail. There may be a few suicides committed by extreme right-wingers and fist fights between fellow Republicans blaming each other.

Be thankful that campaign mudslinging will cease. Karl Rove will investigate why half of his base stayed home … it is not that difficult. But watching Harry Reid dance a jig really hurt, that and George Allen proving he is not presidential material.

One campaign TV ad was laughable, that painting (Senator-elect Jim) Webb as a purveyor of smut due to several &uot;hot&uot; paragraphs in books he authored. All information media in the land, with the exception of some newspapers and radio, has for years used human females as sex objects for no other reason than to sell darn near everything. And far too many American women sit still for it, many younger ones going out of their way to comply with the theory that sex sells.

It used to be merely a sentence or two in a novel, well marked so they could easily be found again and again. Now it is difficult to avoid … see the checkout in any grocery or drug store. Not that I mind, mind you; my kids are grown and I can handle it. But I digress.

Only Chesapeake had a better voter turnout than Suffolk. Forty eight percent of those registered found the right polling place and few complained of troublesome levers or buttons. This election might be factual proof that election of our mayor, if it ever comes about, should be in November. May is abysmal for voting; springtime is for birds, bees, flowers, fishing and golf. Mothers are working, preparing kids for school and spring-cleaning, no time available or inclination to vote. And it saves the cost of a second election.

A form of litter worse

that campaign signs

Nearly everywhere you go you see cheap looking signs stuck here and there by realtors who want to make their lives easier.

One really grates me, &uot;new home for sale&uot; with an arrow pointing in the general direction. It is awkwardly nailed on a rural church sign. Then an identical sign is on every turn in the road leading to that house.

Now with a zillion realtors having trouble moving very inflated-price homes, you will see more and more of this form of litter — some on sticks, some on trees, several on one corner, put there by insensitive realtors who jump out of their car, pound a stake then jump back in and go. Obviously they cannot afford to provide potential buyers with a map. Some of these firms have first class ads on TV, but resort to second-class peddling. Do you suppose our mayor can get four of the seven on our Council to end this form of littering?

robert.pocklington@suffolknewsherald.com