Election Reflection
I'm feeling Shrub Dubya.
Both of us got censored this week.
I did an Oprah/Saddam Hussein satire on Monday that somebody in the Blogger universe decided wasn't fit for public consumption. Some of you may have seen it. It's gone into the cyber void.
Can't figure out why the Blogger administrators deleted my post.
Could have been the complaints of gays, Republicans, Oprah fans, Batthist sympathisers, Shia militiamen, supporters of therepeutic psychology, Catholics, the Irish, or neo-cons.
I'm betting on some Oprah fan in the conservatory with the lead pipe :^)
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Re the election my only comment is "What took so long?"
Actually, that's not my only comment. My other comment is, "Nice."
The Republicans got their butts kicked for reasons that were pretty apparent back in the 2004 election. Oh well, better late than never.
A few reasons to be glad:
--In spite of what the conservative chicken littles claimed during the election, the Democratic control of the House and Senate won't mean sodomy and sushi in the streets of Iowa City. Nor will it mean crazy protectionist trade policies or huge tax increases or vengeful witch hunts to ruin Bush and his cronies. And it certainly won't mean an irreponsible pull out from Iraq--Bush has created such a fiasco there that people on both sides of the aisle will be trying to figure out how to limit the damage and salvage something positive.
The D's will want to position themselves to gain the whole enchilada in 2008 so I think you'll see a constructive and common sense approach over the next two years.
The Republicans treated them like garbage in Congress for 12 years in an historically unprecedented display of animus and arrogance, so I expect there will be some reprisals. But I think self-interest will win out.
Also, Democrats had to run to the center to win. Colorado went from purple to deep blue because the Democrats here marginalized their crazies. Democrats now control virtually every significant public office and political institution in Colorado. Believe me, that couldn't have happened unless they proved themselves to be moderates. I think the national election followed that same pattern. The Demo victory around the country was largely a victory of moderation against ideological extremism and an inability to admit mistakes or compromise.
--Common sense immigration reform will probably pass now. Bush could never have gotten his sensible thinking on that topic enacted with an extremist Republican House.
--We'll get some accountability for the first time in 6 years. The Republican congress failed to play their constitutional role. With the change we'll see fewer lackies and yes men. Bush will have to actually listen and snap out of his 'unique' take on the world.
--As a nation we gained instant credibility around the world yesterday. In my travels I noticed that few people in other countries blamed Americans for Bush's first term even though people overseas largely loathe Bush. They chalked that election up to Republican elites stealing the election with bogus voting in Florida and a straight ticket partisan Supreme Court decision.
We lost major cred overseas with the 2004 election. People I talked to were shocked Americans would put Bush and the Republicans back in power. I was sort of shocked too at the time, but I tried to explain the power of fear post 9/11. My international friends were listening but they weren't buying.
I'm guessing a large percentage of world opinion thinks we came to our senses yesterday. That's a good thing for our future foreign policy and influence in the world.
--We'll have the first woman Speaker of the House in our history. That's no small thing.
--At one time Bush was an accomplished compromiser as Governor of Texas. That was the guy Americans originally elected back in 2000. Maybe he can regain his old rhythm and stroke and actually get some important stuff done.
--Karl Rove got his ass kicked down the block. Not just nice. Very nice. Good to see amoral people who damage the democratic process get some payback.
--Rumsfeld fell on his sword as a result of the election results. On one level I feel for the guy because I think he's quite a bit brighter and more talented than Bush but somebody's gotta be the scapegoat. We still can't quite bring ourselves to admit that we have a president that's in subtantially over his head.
On the other hand, given yesterday's election results, maybe we can. :^)
Both of us got censored this week.
I did an Oprah/Saddam Hussein satire on Monday that somebody in the Blogger universe decided wasn't fit for public consumption. Some of you may have seen it. It's gone into the cyber void.
Can't figure out why the Blogger administrators deleted my post.
Could have been the complaints of gays, Republicans, Oprah fans, Batthist sympathisers, Shia militiamen, supporters of therepeutic psychology, Catholics, the Irish, or neo-cons.
I'm betting on some Oprah fan in the conservatory with the lead pipe :^)
---------------------
Re the election my only comment is "What took so long?"
Actually, that's not my only comment. My other comment is, "Nice."
The Republicans got their butts kicked for reasons that were pretty apparent back in the 2004 election. Oh well, better late than never.
A few reasons to be glad:
--In spite of what the conservative chicken littles claimed during the election, the Democratic control of the House and Senate won't mean sodomy and sushi in the streets of Iowa City. Nor will it mean crazy protectionist trade policies or huge tax increases or vengeful witch hunts to ruin Bush and his cronies. And it certainly won't mean an irreponsible pull out from Iraq--Bush has created such a fiasco there that people on both sides of the aisle will be trying to figure out how to limit the damage and salvage something positive.
The D's will want to position themselves to gain the whole enchilada in 2008 so I think you'll see a constructive and common sense approach over the next two years.
The Republicans treated them like garbage in Congress for 12 years in an historically unprecedented display of animus and arrogance, so I expect there will be some reprisals. But I think self-interest will win out.
Also, Democrats had to run to the center to win. Colorado went from purple to deep blue because the Democrats here marginalized their crazies. Democrats now control virtually every significant public office and political institution in Colorado. Believe me, that couldn't have happened unless they proved themselves to be moderates. I think the national election followed that same pattern. The Demo victory around the country was largely a victory of moderation against ideological extremism and an inability to admit mistakes or compromise.
--Common sense immigration reform will probably pass now. Bush could never have gotten his sensible thinking on that topic enacted with an extremist Republican House.
--We'll get some accountability for the first time in 6 years. The Republican congress failed to play their constitutional role. With the change we'll see fewer lackies and yes men. Bush will have to actually listen and snap out of his 'unique' take on the world.
--As a nation we gained instant credibility around the world yesterday. In my travels I noticed that few people in other countries blamed Americans for Bush's first term even though people overseas largely loathe Bush. They chalked that election up to Republican elites stealing the election with bogus voting in Florida and a straight ticket partisan Supreme Court decision.
We lost major cred overseas with the 2004 election. People I talked to were shocked Americans would put Bush and the Republicans back in power. I was sort of shocked too at the time, but I tried to explain the power of fear post 9/11. My international friends were listening but they weren't buying.
I'm guessing a large percentage of world opinion thinks we came to our senses yesterday. That's a good thing for our future foreign policy and influence in the world.
--We'll have the first woman Speaker of the House in our history. That's no small thing.
--At one time Bush was an accomplished compromiser as Governor of Texas. That was the guy Americans originally elected back in 2000. Maybe he can regain his old rhythm and stroke and actually get some important stuff done.
--Karl Rove got his ass kicked down the block. Not just nice. Very nice. Good to see amoral people who damage the democratic process get some payback.
--Rumsfeld fell on his sword as a result of the election results. On one level I feel for the guy because I think he's quite a bit brighter and more talented than Bush but somebody's gotta be the scapegoat. We still can't quite bring ourselves to admit that we have a president that's in subtantially over his head.
On the other hand, given yesterday's election results, maybe we can. :^)
posted by Wordcat at 12:35 AM
9 Comments:
WHAT?!?! First of all, I had no idea that they could exercise that sort of power. Second of all, I didn't know that they would. Finally, I can't believe they did it for that post. I'm agreeing with the Oprah-protectionism theory.
I agree with what you say about not having big tax increases, and I have hopes for better accountability, better policy in Iraq, and better clout on the world scene. And I feel like good immigration reform is almost assured now. But I have very strong feelings that the next two years are going to be defined by witchhunts. That's gotta be at least half the reason that Rummy's gone, and Cheney, Rove, and some of the house that aren't already gone are probably going to feel it too. They might even go after Rice. But oh my, wait till you see what they have ready for Bush.
(on a different note, for me the election was more about the propositions here, which went horridly. Two of my quite liberal friends said, "pretty much everything I voted against won and everything I voted for lost." The fact that I could feel the same way tells you how bad California voters are. How many times have approved something that would have significant negative impact? Have we even once approved something with significant positive impact?)
I enjoyed your take on Ophrah and Saddam... Made me want to try one with Tyra and Saddam trying out for ANTM!
"The year's biggest spenders — and biggest winners — were the oil and tobacco industries. In almost every contest, candidates and issues with the most money trumped the side with less, even if the losers raised bags full." - LA Times
I was saving that post for a good read. Sorry to have missed it. Well Texas stayed Red. The gov stayed Red. Kinky lost, came in dead last. I voted for change and thank goodness the rest of the states did change. I can smile and be proud to be American! But that censorship thing is bugging me. Who owns this blogger com anyway??
"The year's biggest spenders — and biggest winners — were the oil and tobacco industries. In almost every contest, candidates and issues with the most money trumped the side with less, even if the losers raised bags full." - LA Times
That's American politics for you. But the LA Times has got it wrong--this is always how it is; there is nothing special about this particular year.
As evil as some may think that the oil and tobacco industries are, I kinda agreed with them this time around...
Yes, the blogger folks can delete posts they deem too controversial. Readers can 'flag' posts they think are inappropriate and the administrators can remove stuff if they get too many flags.
I'm ok with that system because they usually give wide leeway and you'd hate to see really hateful stuff turn people off to blogging.
Can't quite figure out why that particular post was a problem. Maybe joking about an evil guy like Saddam just after he got a death sentence wasn't the best timing :^) I've got readers in a lot of places including the Middle East and even a half a dozen folks in Russia. I have no idea who these people are. The bigger the house the more the chance for offense.
I hope you're wrong about the witch hunts Jon, but it's possible.
Sorry to see Kinky lose in Texas, 3. The guy's hilarious. Sometimes the court jester needs to become king to bring some humility to the process.
Yeah, money holds the trump card, Eddy. But I think something healthier was going on in this election too.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
That's total weak sauce deleting your post. And if they want to go that far, they should send you an email so you know exactly what was objectionable. Absent that, totally weak sauce Blogger.
FWIW, I like the Oprah/Saddam dialogue. Thanks for bringing it to the peeps.
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