A year ago, Democrats from Long Island flooded Penn Station like panhandlers. Heading them was Tom Suozzi, the deposed Nassau County Executive who stood front and center of "too little, too late" and the anti-incumbent groundswell that began on Long Island and reverberated across a nation as citizens look for a focus to their dissatisfaction.
Democrats were swallowed by the great school of commuters who were on their way home one year ago, just as they have been swallowed by this economic hole. It does not matter who made the hole, for it is the Democrats who are now stuck in it like a Chilean miner, unlike them, there is no light peeking in or rescue forthcoming anytime this year.
One year ago, frustration at the United States malaise peered out, and still they have not been able to quantify an answer or solution. Moreover, they have been completely unable to shift focus,
While the Republicans still have failed to cultivate a national identity, still fielding posers for presidential notions, they have been able to ride a tide plucking on that anger, dissent and dispirit.
As another election day comes to pass, neither has any answer to the languishing post-9/11 woes, housing crisis and economic fallout. There has been no clear vision or call to arms on anything.
A muck and mire of lethargy has seemed to entrench those who touted change. They, like the citizens of a nation, seem victimized by the realities of the situation. This has shredded any hope, optimism and skewered expectation.
When those that lead falter, even due to the former leaders who faltered, it does not matter who is to blame overall. Neither have had any answer, and though the guards might change once again some places, there is not much joy or celebration.
We change now for change's sake, hoping that somehow it is not insanity for us to repeat ourselves but that one of these new leaders will provide anything besides rhetoric and/or going through the motions.
One year ago, hope faded and has not been found since. May it be found again in between the cast votes that denote this nation's disturbed consciousness and dissatisfaction.
B.D. is a NHL credentialed sports writer who dabbles in political commentary. He runs a well-known hockey blog called HockeyIndependent.com.