Our big fat Hibbardendum emerges fully erect: If all them Democrats got beat, how did they manage this tax increase?

Surprised?

Shocked?

Me, too. With numerous themes of societal disaffection combining to produce an overwhelming local landslide for Donald Trump, who gathered almost 59% of the votes cast for president in Floyd County, the NA-FC school corporation’s Hibbardendum – a shiny object construction bond issue – sailed effortlessly past the post, with almost 54% in favor.

This result is complete flip of the totals from the corporation’s first toss of the beanbag in May of 2015, and as such, it’s the only genuine head-scratcher amid Tuesday’s election returns in Floyd County.

In fact, even the Hibbardendum’s staunchest proponents can’t explain its success against the tide of status-quo-wrecking sweeping the planet. The familiar sentiments prefacing Trump’s rise, Brexit and “change” uprisings occurring all around the world have usually been expressed in heated defiance of hoity-toity “expert” opinion; if the usual suspects are for it, then mad-as-hell voters are against it.

Locally, with every political and economic power elite expressing support for the Hibbardendum that verged on the erotic, voters rose up … and agreed.

Was it the sheer force of money and propaganda?

Was it some sort of inner harmonic balance restoration, in that having offered to tear the system down right here, perhaps voters thought it wise to toss alms in the direction of “those kids” over there, albeit without paying very close attention to the devil lurking in the details?

Beats me. Is there a sociologist in the house?

At the same time, accepting Monty Python’s timeless advice at face value and gazing resolutely at the bright side of life, an obvious effort to pack the school board with handpicked Hibbard toadies failed miserably, such that the superintendent might be wise to keep his back facing the nearest wall, at least until he bolts for greener pastures, an inevitability now likely to occur sooner rather than later in spite of his success at relieving rate payers of a cool $87 million.

The corporation was well prepared, and will appear next week before the Plan Commission’s pre-greased and appointed wheels to begin garnering the necessary preliminary approvals to build, build and build some more.

Okay; fine, but to me, these two years of Hibbardendum politicking represent a profound missed opportunity to stage a discussion about the future of public education in a time of social cholera.

Instead, we’re going to do what we do best: Skip the substantive chat, stroke the power elites and construct bright shiny objects in another orgy of campaign finance trickle-down cash.

I say the sooner Superintendent Hibbard leaves town, the better.

Go already. You’ve done enough here, so please, can you do it to someone else, somewhere else?