To the editor:

I avoid saying anything political in this newspaper for obvious reasons. One comment though: Election results rarely reflect people’s actual wants.

Imagine there were only two cars for sale in our area, both four wheel drive. You can buy a four-door, 4 cylinder “Blah-mobile” with a decent trunk. Or you can pay much more for a two-seat, fast, sexy car with a tiny trunk and lousy gas mileage. Let’s call that “Sexy-mobile”. Imagine is 87% of Saranac Lakers buy the Blah-mobile. Are they “resoundingly rejecting Sexy-Mobile”? Or is it they can’t afford Sexy-mobile? Have 2 kids? Gas too high? Didn’t buy Sexy-mobile but want one?

Do the policies of the elected reflect those who voted for them? Obama won in 2008 mainly as a rejection of Bush. Is a winner sometimes just the lesser of two evils?

Our electoral process often is socialism. Two choices: right or left. The elites decide what you may have and may do. “Free” elections in reality are the media together with powerful money to steer people to one side or the other. When asked why his Model-T car was not available in other colors, Henry Ford said “You have choice. It’s available in any color … as long as it’s black…”

“So-and-so won by a huge margin!” says very little. That’s not necessarily a “mandate from the people.” Election results are distortions of voter demands. “87% bought Blah-mobile” doesn’t prove people want it.

Just a thought.

Ira Weinberg

Saranac Lake