Following President Obama's election to a second term, of most importance to everyone in this country is the aptly-named "Fiscal Cliff" over which this nation will fall beginning January 1st if congress (especially the House of Representatives) doesn't reach the highly-touted "grand bargain" between both parties that will prevent this nation from financial disaster far more dire than the most recent recession. Congratulations to U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner for immediately stepping up to the plate the day after the election to proclaim, in essence, "enough is enough" regarding not doing the job they were elected to do, i.e., serving the people, not themselves. Could the "grand bargain" between both parties have been achieved a few months, or even two years, ago? Of course it could, and in my opinion, that's one of the reasons President Obama was re-elected. My reasoning, shared, I think, by more people than not, is as follows: First, most of the "99 Percenters" aren't as stupid as many in political office think. In my opinion, the general voting population this past Tuesday saw right through the recalcitrance and petulance of the most vocal national leaders of the losing party, with one of their senators still proclaiming he would continue to stonewall the President's efforts to bring economic stability back from the brink of the pending January 1st financial Armageddon. The voters weren't stupid, and had enough of the schoolyard spitefulness from those in the House who crowed, "The public be damned " with emphasis on the middle-class. It was interesting to see those who crowed, eat crow this past Tuesday, which is historically mostly the case. "Pride goeth before a fall" might also be an apt observance here. Second, the presumed "stupidity" of this country's first voters was the reason The Electoral College was created, i.e., not trusting those voting to really be educated enough to know what they were doing. In the first Presidential election, the farmers were thought to need a vetting by the then aristocracy at the head of this country's fledgling helm, thus placing the electoral "stamp of approval" on those the "stupid" farmers had chosen to be elected with their votes. Even Thomas Jefferson stated The Electoral College was an insult (paraphrasing here) to the voting citizens of this country. Talk of abolishing this antiquated process has been rampant in every election since I was able to walk, i.e., from 1940 onward. But it never gets past the talking stage. Third, and again in my opinion, and the opinions of many, this election was a wake-up call to begin to change attitudes. One of Minnesota's elected national-office-holding politicians smugly proclaimed, for almost four years, President Obama would be a "one-term President". Well, apparently not. The voters have spoken, and President Obama will again take the oath of office January 20th. Fourth, and most important for those who still want to stonewall the President with no compromise, and that stonewalling results in a fiscal tailspin rivaling The Great Depression, voters in 2014 and 2016 will remember who wouldn't budge because their egos stood in the way, and "the bums will b e thrown out", to paraphrase an oft-employed political admonition. Time to grow up, for some of them. Only some, because the majority of them are not all bad apples, and actually do care about their constituents, but in this case of the light at the end of the tunnel being an oncoming train (and train wreck), I'm certain most of us hope the bad apples will realize it's almost past time to put the breaks on that train, and their compromise actions have to be immediate. Thanks for taking the time to read and share in my "geezer" opinions, and I hope, as always, you'll also see fit to join me in A SENIOR MOMENT at www.startribune.com/video when you can.