LOST Strikes Out Again

We know now that LOST lost again. It wasn't as close as last time, though still close. So apparently, as campaigns go, small, cheaper and quiet is no more, and perhaps even less, effective than big, spendy and loud.

Until I see some more specific numbers, it's tough to draw any concrete conclusions about what happened. Tomorrow, perhaps. But we do know it was defeated by a slightly larger margin than last time, even though fewer people bothered to vote. Turnout topped a whopping 22 percent. Supporters spoke softly, but I question whether they carried a big organization.

One conclusion I can draw at this late hour is that there is no conclusion. It's still all uncertainty and loose ends, as far as the eye can see.

The uncertainty surrounding the question of flood protection will continue to hang over this city like a fog that won't lift. The voters don't want to pay for it with sales taxes, clearly. Federal funding remains hazy. State legislation is cruising to passage, but now we don't have local dollars to match it. I've heard all about the alternative plan that can do better, which requires dredging. Don't get me started.

I still think we need flood protection, both banks, but that is, apparently, a minority viewpoint.

I also still think the east side protection system will eventually be funded and built, someday. The west side will sit largely unprotected. And that strange imbalance, one side fortress, one side vulnerable, will be yet another odd, unfinished and uncomfortable legacy of the flood. If the spontaneous, heroic effort to save the last city water collection well was the symbol of us coming together during the flood, that one-sided protection scheme will symbolize our deep divisions in the aftermath.

So I know opponents are jubilant, and supporters are dejected. Voters, they'll shower you with love or break your heart. God bless them.

But I'm frankly just tired. Tired of the same stories that never end. Perpetual outrage, perpetual uncertainty. To be continued.