Good-bye to American Know-How?

“Competence” in our society has many meanings, from simple acts like fixing a toilet leak to the legal concept of being in your right mind. All are the ballot Tuesday.

Beyond Mitt Romney’s delusions of adequacy, voting machines will list people for high office most Americans wouldn’t trust as plumbers or babysitters.

In Connecticut, a woman with no political experience and no ideas has spent $100 million earned from pro wrestling in two bids to become a Senator and fix U.S. society. She has a chance.

In Missouri, a man who made moronic comments about “legitimate rape” and was shunned by the GOP nationally is now back in a close Senate race.

In Indiana, Republicans can choose a thinker who declared that pregnancy resulting from rape was “God’s decision.”

After a week that highlighted the value of competence in a natural disaster, the battle for control of Congress goes on with that issue under the radar, obscured by partisan ground games and a late barrage of TV commercials.

When the Tea Party took control of the House in 2010, the tide brought in ideologues who pushed the nation into near-default and damaged its credit rating in the debt-ceiling showdown.

How much worse will it all be, regardless of who is President, if Democrats can’t loosen their grip in both houses?

Those who think that Congress’ approval ratings can’t go any lower will be in for abysmal surprises if they don’t make a last-minute effort to keep competence of all kinds on the ballot next week.