1

Hey you got a mention at Christianity Today, that should warm the cockles of your blogging heart.

2

Congratulations to Speaker-elect Pelosi and Senator Reid.

The burden of leadership is heavy, and I am grateful they are willing to shoulder it for the next couple of years. Hopefully the Congress and President Bush will find a way to work well together and get good things done.

And congratulations to all the Democrats and divided-government folks who frequent the E.O. You've spent a long time in the woods, I'm glad you can savor your victory and a greater measure of national power again.

3

Hopefully the Congress and President Bush will find a way to work well together and get good things done.

Again, ROTFLMAO.

If I needed a good laugh any morning - it's today.

4

The Dems aren't my leaders of choice, but the results are what they are. Regardless of whether they win one or both houses, let's continue to pray for ALL our leaders. They (like all of us) can use it. It's not a funny or snarky comment, but still needs saying.

But I did like the line about toiling away in the pork factories...

5

We've been overdue for some kind of change.

One-party rule is not a good thing in our system of government. I wish I could gloat, but the Republicans have basically driven us off a cliff and now, with the car hurtling down toward the rocks, you've slid over, handed us the wheel, and said, "OK, you drive."

Let's see how we do.

But as we move forward, I hope that you finally get it out of your heads that Democrats are bad people. We're your neighbors, we're 50 percent of the country. The only difference between us and you is that we want the terrorists to win. Other than that, we're exactly the same.

6

Raven,

The primary conservative sentiment is that most Democrats are not so much bad people as they are foolish people. The American people made a choice last night. Maybe the choice will serve them well, and maybe they will regret it in time.

There are times when the best that can be said about Democracy is that the people know what they deserve and ought to get it fast and hard (H.L. Mencken's sentiment). I have learned in my lifetime to have very little pity for the American people because we rarely have any excuses for ourselves. I am never ashamed of my country, but there are times when I am bitterly ashamed of its choices. This is one of those times.

The Democrats have won for now. Let's see if they have the will to live up to their threats to impeach the president and abandon the Iraqi people just like they did the Vietnamese. If the Democrats do as they threatened, I believe the American people will eventually regret their choice, but they will have no one to blame but themselves.

7

Raven The only difference between us and you is that we want the terrorists to win. Other than that, we're exactly the same.

That is by far the most clever (and funniest) thing I've ever heard you say. ; )

8

It is with great relieve that I declare it is really, truly, morning in America.

Put down your spin for a millisecond, and focus on what I'm writing here, without whatever either CNN, Time, Rush Limbaugh or Hugh Hewitt or anyone else.

The fact is, control of our Congress would never have been an issue - for either party, 1994, or 2006, if the incumbents hadn't been so corrupt.

The fact is, control of our political system would never have been an issue if the Republicans had realized that the Democrats represent Americans, too. And that Republicans in office represent Democrats.

Now we can proceed towards making things right, to finding out what the Republicans have hidden for so long. If what we find merrits impeachment, so be it. If what we find does not, so be it. In either case we have entrusted our public servants to do the right thing by the law.

I congratulate our new Senate majority and our new House, and I look forward to seeing true leadership from Speaker Pelosi, without the incendiary tactics we've seen over the last 12 years.

I also hope that righties will consider finally dropping their rhetoric impugning the morality or patriotism of those to the left of them; they are in no position to insult the American people who elected our Democratic majorities.

9

Personally, I think all of this emotional reaction is ridiculous. First, Joe, although Pelosi is a secular liberal, a lot of the Dem's elected yesterday are serious Christians. You should celebrate that, not mourn it. Second, to all those partying over Dem victories...well, remember all the partying four years ago when the Republicans swept, but little did the Right know that we'd elected a large number of incompetent, corrupt, and "Christian" politicians who then stole, lied, and produced little in the way of good policy.

Dem or Repub, it doesn't matter! What matters is good leadership, competent policymakers, good character, the ability to forge compromise & consensus, and respect for the laws & institutions of the republic. And those can & should be found on *both* sides of the aisle. Seriously, would you "elect" your heart surgeon based on his party or religion, or would you just choose the best heart surgeon?

10

Morality and patriotism are easily visible and our new form of government will reveal whether it's really there. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't believe the average American has the courage or the moral integrity to make choices that are right for the American people. I believe they will try to appease the world, placate our enemies, allow the corruption to continue. I believe our society is sliding quickly into decline. And as Christians, our freedoms (as Americans) are also going to swiftly disappear.

All week I've been thinking of William Bradford and the Journal that he wrote.

11

I'll continue to pray for our leaders, specifically that God will give them wisdom. I haven't seen a lot of that in evidence from either side of the aisle.

I fear that my son will inherit a poorer life as taxation moves us deeper into slavery, a darker world as freedoms our lost to encroaching terrorism and appeasement. But God never promised us heaven on earth through political victory.

So, I'll pray, and vote, and study to strengthen my faith that we'll make it through.

12

Now the left can complete its conversion of America to the version of social liberalism they so desire. The Politically Correct indoctrination of our nation is still underway, but now the transformation will quicken under Democratic leadership. I, for one, shall continue to blog the words of truth during this dark age, hoping that someday Republican revival will come to hand. Until then I shall sit here, in my red state chair, buried in a blue state, eating red meat, red licorice, and red words.

13

It is of little consequence to me. I've not seen much difference between Reps & Dems for quite some time now. Both are for increasing size & power of the government and sacrificing individual liberties & rights.
I fear for the future of our country.

14

Funny Simpsons' moment, though I thought it was "underground sugar caves." Either way pretty funny.

15

All I can say is that, after six years of Republicans in Congress acting like Democrats, at least we'll know what to expect for the next few years.

16

Pelosi made a bold statement last night: "the Democrats intend to lead the most ethical, most open and most honest Congress in history."

Is she setting herself up for failure? Or are Americans going to have a chance to feel good about their government in 2008.

Democrats should see 2008 as THE big dance and the next two years as a kind of "probation".

17

Thanks for the laugh, Kent Brockman! Can't go wrong with the Simpsons.

Hey, maybe Bush will finally veto something.

18

Mumon,

I don't believe for one minute the Democrats will give the president a fair trial. It will not be a matter of judgment, it will be a matter of will. Any trial to which Bush or any other member of this administration will be subjected under Democrat domination will be a kangaroo court.

I am interested to see, however, whether the cynics and moderates will dominate the Democrat House or the crazies will. At the end of a year's time, I and my fellow conservatives may not be able to smirk at the Democrats, but we may still be able to smirk at Kos and his fellow nutroots.

I believe the Dems will not make good on their threat to impeach Bush. I don't believe they have it in them. It is more likely, however, they will abandon the Iraqi people as they did the Vietnamese.

With respect to impeachment, I believe the Kossacks are in for a rude awakening, and I hope it demoralizes and discourages them--it couldn't happen to a more deserving bunch.

If the Dems do make good on their threat to abandon the Iraqis, the consequences for America and the world will be bad, but the ultimate result will probably be more offensive to the left than to the right. There will most likely be a new rise of the isolationist right (e.g., Buchanan).

19

Personally, I think all of this emotional reaction is ridiculous. First, Joe, although Pelosi is a secular liberal, a lot of the Dem's elected yesterday are serious Christians. You should celebrate that, not mourn it.

Errr why? If someone good is elected then I think that's a cause for celebration. A person can be a very serious Christian but also an incompetent.

Other than that I don't see any reason to celebrate a 'serious Christian' getting a job unless you just want to celebrate the achievments of 'serious Christians' the way some celebrate the achievements of women, African Americans, gays etc.

Pelosi made a bold statement last night: "the Democrats intend to lead the most ethical, most open and most honest Congress in history."

Is she setting herself up for failure? Or are Americans going to have a chance to feel good about their government in 2008.

After this Congress I think Pelosi set the bar very low...or should I say it was lowered dramatically for them.

20

I believe the Dems will not make good on their threat to impeach Bush. I don't believe they have it in them. It is more likely, however, they will abandon the Iraqi people as they did the Vietnamese.

What Democratic threat to impeach Bush? There was no such thing hence it would be bizaar to knock the Dems for failing to deliever such. As for 'abandoning the Iraqi people'... when exactly did Iraq get signed on as the 51st state by this President?

If the Dems do make good on their threat to abandon the Iraqis, the consequences for America and the world will be bad, but the ultimate result will probably be more offensive to the left than to the right.

I'm not sure what eightgun means by this? Is he saying deep down the right doesn't really care as much about human rights (I assume the consequences of leaving Iraq would be massive human rights violations as the various militias and terrorist groups duke it out)? That's kind of an odd thing to advertise about yourself.

21

One-party rule is not a good thing in our system of government. I wish I could gloat, but the Republicans have basically driven us off a cliff and now, with the car hurtling down toward the rocks, you've slid over, handed us the wheel, and said, "OK, you drive."
___
What a great metaphor!

22

If there is any reason at all that the Democrats have sweeped the elections it is because the Republicans wasted what moral capital the might have had on the war in Iraq. I for one know that myself and my friends are tired of seeing our friends come home minus an arm or leg or with massive burns up one side of their body.
Some have paid the ultimate price and for what?
No WMDs
No more safety.
And now their is a country in chaos bordering on ethnic cleansing.
Saddam was a jerk and needed to be taken care of but it was a job better done by the UN

23

Boonton,

"What Democratic threat to impeach Bush? There was no such thing hence it would be bizaar to knock the Dems for failing to deliever such. As for 'abandoning the Iraqi people'... when exactly did Iraq get signed on as the 51st state by this President?"

These statements are so idiotic I will not bother to answer them. You know what I am talking about and so does everyone else.

"I'm not sure what eightgun means by this? Is he saying deep down the right doesn't really care as much about human rights (I assume the consequences of leaving Iraq would be massive human rights violations as the various militias and terrorist groups duke it out)? That's kind of an odd thing to advertise about yourself."

I'm not thinking of only the immediate consequences (massive human rights violations), I am thinking of longer-term ones, such as a new rise of the isolationist right. I wouldn't like that, but I imagine the left would like it even less.

24

"the Democrats intend to lead the most ethical, most open and most honest Congress in history."

It is not possible for the Democrats to be anything other than that.

25

I am a resident of the North Carolina house district that weathered the Heath Shuler/Charles Taylor race, and I think I speak for a lot of my fellow NC-11 residents when I say that a dominant feeling here is just being glad the race is over. Hotly contested, nationally charged races like Shuler/Taylor highlight the inherently, irreparably dysfunctional and broken nature of the political system and, more broadly, of human nature. It should come as no surprise that we always come up with a mess when all us sinners organize into ideologically-driven groups, choose leaders for those groups, and help those group leaders fight for power over the other group leaders using money, media, influence, and/or just plain bluster. Shining a bright light on that reality causes great fatigue in the electorate.

Descending from above the forest into the trees, I think it will be interesting to see how newly-elected conservative Democrats like Shuler fare in the Pelosi House. Will they hold their ground, or will they get steamrolled by the liberal secular humanists? Shuler says he'll hold his ground, but as he's an utter political novice in a House led by experienced politicians who hold radical views that they (mistakenly) believe have been endorsed by the country, I have my doubts.

As for impeachment, part of me actually hopes that Conyers et al. do attempt impeachment just so the blue half of the country can see the gruesome underbellies of those they put in power before the '08 cycle heats up.

Finally, I thank God for giving the framers of the Constitution the wisdom to create a system of government that is deliberately designed to prevent politicians from getting much done.

26

I am thankful for the following:

1) RINO Lincoln Chafee is gone
2) same-sex marriage bans won in 7 states
3) no more congressional political ads on TV for awhile :-)

Now it is time to return to praying for our elected political leaders.

27

Democrats are not going to impeach Bush... unless they think they can remove him from office -- i.e. some overwhelming non-nuanced evidence that he has broken the law. Impeaching him to make him look bad will only make the Democrats look bad.

Democrats are also not going to abandon Iraq. A withdrawal in Iraq is an attempt to choose the lesser of two evils. Iraqis may even be encouraged by the absence of US troops (and US corporations) to band together and share a common victory.

In any case, the Democrats don't get to make this decision, Bush does -- for the next two years. And one has to believe that if the situation in Iraq has not improved two years from now, "stay the course" will CERTAINLY not be viable to any of the candidates in 2008.

28

'Pelosi made a bold statement last night: "the Democrats intend to lead the most ethical, most open and most honest Congress in history."'

It's hard to believe Pelosi could say that with a "straight face. Who was the last person to enter office with those words? Anyone...anyone? That's right, it was Bill Clinton. I'm sure Pelosi will do just as well as Clinton.

Boonton wrote:

"What Democratic threat to impeach Bush? There was no such thing hence it would be bizaar to knock the Dems for failing to deliever such. As for 'abandoning the Iraqi people'... when exactly did Iraq get signed on as the 51st state by this President?"

boonton, you are either lying or ignorant. John Conyers has been threatening impeachment for at least a year. Though the Dems have been very smart to keep their kooks as quiet as possible lately. John Kerry screwed up big time, but he can't help it. All the leaders of the Dem party have been very quiet lately. They can't afford to let Americans know what they really think right before election time. It's just people like Harold Ford, Bob Casey, James Webb, etc. who've made a propitious move to the right just before the election--they've been allowed to speak. Harold Ford even invoked his "Lord and Saviour" at some bar in Tennesee a couple days ago.

I'm sitting here looking at your last post and it's so stupid I don't even want to waste my time commenting on any more of it. I have to agree with eightgun's opinion on your post.

29

"the Democrats intend to lead the most ethical, most open and most honest Congress in history."

Lets post this all over the web, so that every Democratic (and Republican) congress man and woman does not forget what this election was about. This is one way we (the internet rabble) can hold our politians accountable.

30

Congrats Dems! You managed to win, even with all the voter fraud commonly perpetrated against you in the broken electoral system, along with my two votes ;-)

My observations are thus:

~This is what happens when a party disengages from its core values, and portrays a perception that bad policy (big government spending) and scandal are OK, or not serious enough to fend off.

~Some who post here may be hoping for investigations of the endless variety, and impeachment proceedings, but this will be the quickest avenue toward handing that wheel back to the Rs, and ensuring the Ds have no shot at the Whitehouse in 08'. Fix social security, and you may have a chance.

~If it is to be believed, several Ds elected ran on rather conservative platforms, supporting a strong 2nd ammendment, and pro-life positions, etc. The big question is: will this be embraced in the larger party? Will their views be respected, and will they be encouraged to vote on their principles, and based on what they told the folks that elected them; or will they be squashed by the take all the guns away crowd, and the abortion on demand coalition? Everyone is watching..

I hope that my President, and my new Speaker and my new leaders can get something constructive done for the American people.

31

These statements are so idiotic I will not bother to answer them. You know what I am talking about and so does everyone else.

You mean when Pelosi stated that she would refuse to allow an impeachment vote? Or by Democratic threats do you mean that happen to be individual Democrats that have said they would like to impeach Bush? I'm sure there are, during the Clinton years there were individual Republicans (some of them actually elected members of Congress) who implied they would have liked to have seen Clinton killed. Yet when Republicans took Congress in the 90's I don't think it really would have been sensible to ask if they were going to carry through on their 'murder threats' or chicken out. At some level parties are collections of individuals and some things are more unique to the individual than the group they happen to belong too.

I'm not thinking of only the immediate consequences (massive human rights violations), I am thinking of longer-term ones, such as a new rise of the isolationist right. I wouldn't like that, but I imagine the left would like it even less.

And why wouldn't you like that? You seem to like the right so what's the beef with isolationism? Do you really need US troops getting blown up every day by suicide bombers as they try to direct traffic in Baghdad or can we live with having the Iraqi's direct traffic in their own country?

So far any rise in isolationism on the right seems to me to have little to do with the left but with the clear failure of nation building.

32

Boonton, learn some history please.

Our "nation building" in Iraq has gone head and shoulders better than our nation building in Germany and Japan.

It's the perception, not the reality. That will all change now, as the american media will once again be on our (Meaning the United States) side since there team leads now in Congress.

33

Let's assume you're correct and 20 years from now Iraq is a friendly, cool MTV type place like Japan or Germany. Why would voters feel positive about extending this multi-hundred billion dollar effort to countries like Iran, Syria and so on?

34

Doomed. We're all doomed. Out of the frying pan and into the fire. From questionable conservatives to the American Fascist Party. I really hope the people responsible for this realize what they've done to the future of this country.

Oh well, at least maybe the Republicans can get their act together for '08. But I doubt it. It'll be a McKane vs. Hillary. A loss either way.

35

Well, it's too bad, but not that bad. We are a democracy for a reason, no?

This is just what it will take to get the Republicans to go back to their core beliefs and re-invigoriate themselves. It's too bad that this is what it takes, but let's face it: they were getting way too comfortable in there.

36

Eric & Lisa,

Huh? I don't know Germany, but I do know Japan. By what metric has our nation-building in Iraq outperformed that of Japan. There was little violence, relatively rapid reassimilation into the world economy, a decline in religious tensions, economic growth, technological innovation...where's all this in Iraq? Or is the liberal media covering it all up?

37

"We are a democracy for a reason, no?"

We are a democracy for the moment.

38

judge not lest thee be judged?

Can someone quote to me where in the bible it says that homosexuality is evil and where it says gay marriage should be banned.

Studies have shown that homosexuality is anything but unnatural. I occurs in almost all species on the planet.

Look it up and don't let your cognitive dissonance get the best of you.

Gay marriage bans passing in seven states means we are making people second class citizens based on something they are not in control of, their sexuality.

We have done this before...blacks and women have been second class citizens. It was not right then and this is not right now.

39

Before we Democrats get too excited, let's not forget that George W. Bush is still president. If the US had a recall provision, I have no doubt that he would have gone the way of Gray Davis. This is one of those times I wish we had a parliamentary system.

The harsh reality is that Bush still has the steering wheel in his hands even as we sail over the cliff. Even with control of both houses, there is little that Democrats can do to affect events in Iraq. They can't halt funding without being vilified by 90% of the country. The most they can do is bring the military brass in to testify under oath and on TV.

Anyone who thinks the Democrats will try to impeach Bush is a paranoid Republican who thinks that the party controlling Congress is obligated to impeach a president of the opposite party for political gain, just like they did.

Still, we can be very glad that the American people have seen the light regarding Bush's failures. Some firsts worth cheering: America will have its first female Speaker of the House and we elected the first Muslim to Congress. Two more barriers have been knocked down.

40

"Some firsts worth cheering: America will have its first female Speaker of the House and we elected the first Muslim to Congress. Two more barriers have been knocked down."

This is absolutely right. Some really great things happened yesterday for this country.

41

I think God must have answered Ted Haggard's prayer from his last sermon on October 29. Mr. Haggard was praying for the upcoming elections-that "lies...and deceptions would be revealed", so the electorate would have clarity.

John W.

42

RE Gay Marriage

I am a christian. I might be considered evangelical, but I don't like this label anymore, as it's been co-opted by people with right-wing political agendas. Anyway, I just want to say this. In terms of the government, homosexuals should be allowed to enter into a marriage, or civil union or whatever you want to call it. In fact, maybe it should be encouraged. Despite what Mr. Tony Perkins, James Dobson, et. al. say, the government is not going to force churches to perform marriage cermonies they don't approve.

Let the gays and lesbians have whatever civil arrangements they want-I thought America was a free country. Frankly, I'm tired of hearing these preachers focusing on homosexuality, and ignoring important issues such as the Iraq war, Torture, and contempt for our civil liberties. I'm sorry to say this but, I think Tony Perkins and James Dobson are doing more harm than good with their political agendas.

43

Rummy is resigning!!! Hooray!!! Now if only Bush and Cheney would follow suit.

Other encouraging news: signs of sanity from unexpected places - South Dakota, Missouri and Arizona.

44

Arizona actually defeated a gay marraige ban. The total ban on abortion in another state also failed. Interesting.

Idiots in CO still re-elected Musgrave though. It proves there are still some monkeys left in the barrel. Oh wait, those guys aren't fond of Darwin, bad analogy. Nuts left in the fruitcake?

Still for the most part the GOP concentration on religious conservative voters worked against it this time. The Rove get-out-the-vote machine worked well, the problem is just that they people it got out voted democratic this time around.

The number one issue on people's minds was apparaently Iraq and the economy. Instead the GOP's campaign largely focused on gaymarraigegaymarriagegaymarraigegaymarriagegaymarraigegaymarriagegaymarraigeDemocratsarebadgaymarriagegaymarraigegaymarriagegaymarraigegaymarriagegaymarraigegaymarriagegaymarraigegaymarriagegaymarraigegaymarriage....

A classic case of being "out of touch". Its not that people don't care about gay marriage, they just care about other things more.

45

"Idiots in CO still re-elected Musgrave though."

Score one for us. But I can't believe we've got a Democrat governor.

Anyway, I'm actually not very religious, but I don't see why gays should have special rights to make medical and financial decisions for their sexual partners when non-gays have to be married, or do without. Either anyone should have the ability to transfer those individual rights to whomever they choose, or no one should. Like it or not, gay marriage makes anyone who isn't gay a second class citizen.

46

Anyway, I'm actually not very religious, but I don't see why gays should have special rights to make medical and financial decisions for their sexual partners when non-gays have to be married, or do without. Either anyone should have the ability to transfer those individual rights to whomever they choose, or no one should. Like it or not, gay marriage makes anyone who isn't gay a second class citizen

I'll give you a secular answer. Because stable gay couples give exactly the same benefits to society that a straight married couple does. Stability, a good environment for raising children, the self-reliance on family instead of on society at large, more likelihood of elders being taken care of by their children instead of by the state, longevity of residence, etc. The gay couple living next door to a straight married couple are exactly the same in terms of their worth to society as a whole. Only prejudice says otherwise.

However, that aside, I do think that any individual should be able to transfer those "rights" you speak of to another.

47

Nathan says: "Like it or not, gay marriage makes anyone who isn't gay a second class citizen."

Huh? Non-gay opposite sex couples can already marry. Are you under the impression that if gay marriage is allowed, heterosexuals will no longer be able to marry?

48

I'm wondering about the Christian reaction to this election/downfall.

For a couple weeks, I've noticed flaky Christian rants (recognizable by certain Christianese phrases such as "Coming One World Government") showing up on completely-unrelated blogs (such as real-estate bubble blogs). The disturbing part is most of them have a distinct aroma of Left Behind Fever, i.e. Apocalypse and Predestination.

With the current election defeat, will Christians once more "turn on and drop out" into Personal Pietism and End Time Prophecy?

(Internet Monk's Essay Archives has one titled "A Marriage Made in Hell" about how the current Christian PMD Apocalyptism dovetails very well with current Islamic Twelfth-Imam Apocalyptism in a predator/prey relationship. Aggressive Islam + Passive "Beam Me Up, Jesus" Christian Pessimism.)

49

Ken:

That last paragraph....What??

Actually, all that one world order stuff is a big deal on the kooky left, too. I listen to this left wing radio nut Thom Hartmann (until my head explodes) rant about the new world order. He is all about multi-national corporations taking over the world--corporatism, the Carlyle Group, corporate media (it's not liberal, it's corporate). This guy talks like so many liberals here. Much smarter than the rest of us. No sense of humor. Moonbat central.

50

Limbaugh helped the Dems take Missouri. : )

51

I was happily surprised to see some of the reasonable and pragmatic comments here. They were far superior to the harsh imagery of the entry itself...I mean really..."conquered" "master race" "consume the captive" "enslave them" "overlords" etc.????
Jesus would be apalled at such a divisive, vitriolic and narrow perspective from one of his own. The author should be ashamed.
Oh, and Ted Haggard. Enough said.

52

I think gloating would be a bit premature; there is much to be done.

Also, I still remember how bad I felt a couple of years ago. If my republican counterparts feel as bad, I'm more inclined to sympathy than salt in the wounds.

Finally, I don't know why people enjoy gloating. I would only enjoy it if I hated someone and thought they were truly evil. I don't think that of even the most strident conservatives. I could think of other, milder pejoratives for them if required, though. ;-)

53

Not one Dem incumbent lost — not a Gov, not a Rep, not a Senator. The Dems handily took the House and after some recounting will have the Senate too.

Joe has it right. Repubs must flee the country before they are rounded up. Those that avoid the round up will be faced with a terrible situation:

Soon homosexuality will be taught as — not an equal but — the preferred lifestyle in the schools. Atheism will become the national religion. Churches will be taxed as business operations. The words "I believe in evolution" will be added to the Pledge of Allegiance and "one nation under God" changed to "one nation of multicultural diversity." Sex education will be mandatory and any student practicing abstinence will get a failing grade.

In Iraq our troops will be asked to turn over their arms to the Iraqis and apologize for invading their country. Those web pages GWB had put up describing how to make WMD's — in Arabic — will be put back on the server along with step by step instructions. Terrorists will be invited to San Francisco for hugs and the love they never got as children. Prisons will be renamed Institutes of Compassion and offer massage therapy, hot tubs, and poetry readings.

The national debt will, of course, be run up to record highs... Oh, wait, GWB already did that one.

The tax rate will go to 100%. All drugs will be legalized. A new cabinet position will be created: Secratary of Self-Esteem.

Since I'm sure someone out there won't get it: This is merely an extension of Joe's satirical post. The sad reality is not much will change. Corporate America will remain in charge. The trend toward fascism will simply be a bit kinder and gentler.

54

People need to take a closer look at who won and who lost. With few exceptions it was moderate republicans who lost to relatively moderate democrats.

This was not anywhere close to a victory for liberalism, it was a vote against GWB, Iraq and a lack of Congress getting anything done.

55

AndyS,

Corporate America will remain in charge. The trend toward fascism will simply be a bit kinder and gentler.

Fascism?

What'choo talking about there, Mr. S?

56

OK, Andy deserves a response.

"Soon homosexuality will be taught as — not an equal but — the preferred lifestyle in the schools. Atheism will become the national religion. Churches will be taxed as business operations. The words "I believe in evolution" will be added to the Pledge of Allegiance and "one nation under God" changed to "one nation of multicultural diversity." Sex education will be mandatory and any student practicing abstinence will get a failing grade."

Andy, I'm your next-door neighbor. When I'm mowing my lawn, I see you and I wave Hi.

I voted straight ticket Democratic Party because I felt we needed Pelosi and Reid in charge and by God, we got 'em. House and Senate. A clean sweep.

We get investigations of contractor abuse in Iraq. You are aware that some $8 billion we know is missing was just stolen. Chances are good that the actual total is much, much higher. Without oversight, the invoices aren't being checked. That had to stop and we all knew it.

Spending. We're all adults. We know that the credit card company comes around one day and says, "Pay me." We know that we've been deficit spending for a long, long time. Conservative values tell you that we have to pay our debts. But we've been going into debt, debt, debt. China's been buying it, Europe's been buying it. And you know, and I know, that we'd better balance the books. Your guys were not doing this.

Foley. Haggard. These two cost you a lot. Not because they were cheap and tawdry sex scandals. In the scheme of things they were meaningless. But in terms of what they said about your values, they screamed out 120-pt. type in blood-red headlines. You are selective in your prosecution. You can't do that.

Personally, I'm not particularly attached to any idea concerning the gay lifestyle. I'm not gay. But I can imagine being gay. I'll bet it sucks. Glad I'm not gay. Fewer problems in my life. But if I were gay I'd be vilified by the Evangelicals and that gives me the willies. So when I vote, I vote in such as way as to cut gay people some slack. I'd hope they'd extend me the same courtesy. That's the American way.

Atheism has always been the American religion. Here, let me quote you:

"The words "I believe in evolution" will be added to the Pledge of Allegiance"

Silly. As a secular humanist, I'm fine with the Pledge. It's a tradition. My kids can say it just like I was taught to say it. The point is that I'm always free to teach my childen what I think is right, and you have the same freedom. That's America. It just isn't cool when you try to inculcate my child with your beliefs. We find some kind of happy medium here. How about you send your kid to the church of your choice and they addle his brain with whatever weird ideas float your boat, and I try to give my child the gift of reason. Seems fair to me.

Sex education should be comprehensive. Americans across the country have delivered an opinion: Abstinence only is a really stupid idea when it's a curriculum. The idea is unimpeachable. The practice is unlikely. Of course, you might have forgotten what it's like to be 14 years old, but the rest of us haven't and we think maybe our kids ought to know how to avoid an unwanted pregnancy - might cut down on abortions.

Ultimately, we've got to live together. You have a God, I have the western canon and the Enlightenment. You'd prefer to enforce your ideas upon me by force, I'd prefer to leave you alone. The country trending blue suggests that maybe the "leave each other alone" idea is popular.

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Here is to hoping that the Republicans can now get back on track and return to their roots. One good thing about this election is that we got rid of Lincoln Chafee. Maybe six years from now we can get rid of Snowe in Maine.

Hopefully this spanking will mean someone like Tom Coburn leading the minority in the Senate. I'm also hoping it means my dream ticket will come up in 2008, that is, Mitt Romney for President and Michael Steele as his running mate. Two strong conservatives who appeal to a lot of different sorts of folks.

It will be good to hear Republicans talking about fiscal responsibility again, cutting back on spending, and fighting for judicial nominees instead of the gang of 14 allowing conservatives to be walked all over.

I'd also like to see how these supposedly conservative democrats work out. Would be nice to see 20 or 30 conservative democrats in the House working together with the Republicans to keep our economy strong, keep our troops funded in Iraq and keep amnesty from falling into the hands of Illegal aliens.

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"Andy, I'm your next-door neighbor."

Yes, you are, Raven. I think Andy's comment is satirical. Read it again, and don't be so darn serious!

That said, sometimes good satire can be mistaken for earnest expressions of opinion.

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Umm...Raven. Before you unload your whole ammunition clip on Andy S, STOP!!!! He's one of your guys. Didn't you read the last sentence of his post?!?

Seriously, after this election no one, and I mean NO ONE put out public statements to the effect that they were leaving the country on account of this election (I guess we would have to go to Australia instead of Canada). No one came up with maps of North America showing the United States of Canada and "Jesusland". No one credited the election of a bunch of Democrats to rigged voting machines or voter intimidation. No one talked about civil war or the dissolution of the union. All of the aforementioned things happened when the tables were turned.

Mummy tried his hardest to be magnanimous. It went quite well as long as he was trying to channel Ronald Reagan, but then every time he started out to say something reasonable the sentence ended with an attack on anyone who disagrees with him. Oh well, at least the sentences started out reasonable. Sadly I suspect that rather than this being the first unsteady attempt at being civil which will only grow and mature, we have probably witnessed the high point of civil discourse from Mummy and his fellow travellers. If you doubt this, look at the way Raven went off half-cocked on one of his buddies who was trying to be funny.

On the big picture, the country I love and am thankful to be a part of has once again elected its leaders in a peaceful and orderly way. Thus it has been for two and a quarter centuries, and I pray thus will it always be. In this election no one "took their country back," just as no one "had their country taken away." About 79 million people turned out to exercise the rights that have been conferred upon them and preserved by the sacrifices of millions of their countrymen over the span of a couple of hundred years. People died for our right to peacefully select our leaders and later turn them out of office. For this we need to be thankful, and for this we need to honor those who served and are serving. Any service members past or present reading this, Thank You.

We as a country have chosen to entrust control of Congress to the Democrats. It is a huge and awesome responsibility we have entrusted to them. For the sake of my children, my country, and the world as a whole I pray that they will govern judiciously and rightly. I pray that they will truly present us with the most ethical Congress in history (a history, BTW, that includes many, many decades of Democrats in control by large margins). And if they do not act in the best interests of our country, I pray that they will peacefully and speedily be turned out office by Americans of good will.

The interesting thing to observe now will be whether the Democrats will cater to the America hating shills who populate the moonbat left or whether we can return to a healthy two party system wherein both parties share a vision of protecting and enhancing our country but have different ideas about how best to accomplish that goal. From what I have read about the Democrats before my time we used to have that sort of two party system, especially during the first 60 years of C20. It is time for the Democrats and their constituencies to stand up and do what is right for the country. Don't let us all down.

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Raven just proved my point about libs not having any sense of humor. And that's in the face of the fact that AndyS has been posting here as a rabid lefty for many moons (multi-culti lingo).

On a related note, that satirical post by AndyS ended with a completely cynical, left-wing jab:

"The sad reality is not much will change. Corporate America will remain in charge. The trend toward fascism will simply be a bit kinder and gentler."

Lefties can't help it. They make attempts at being funny and satirical, but their hearts are truly heavy almost all the time. I honestly don't know what keeps them from killing themselves...unless it's the prospect of coming to places like this and beating up on evangelicals.

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I don't usually miss satire - my apologies for being boorish, Andy.

And my compliments to you, Cheesekopf, for writing something that had me nodding my head.

As we all go about the business of digesting this rather dramatic turn of events, I think the overriding sentiment is one of hopefulness. Hope. What Emily Dickinson called, "a thing with feathers."

The reason I say that is because I understand that most Americans aren't fanatical politics junkies like many of us here. There should be no doubt that many of the soccer moms and NASCAR dads who cast votes of rebuke did so without knowing much about the Democratic Party or its platform. They just wanted something different and they wanted to feel like tomorrow could be, would be, better than today.

Conservatism has a lot going for it. We need it as a corrective measure when liberal policies run amok. But left to its own devices, it can metastacize into a grim, overbearing harshness that punishes more than it uplifts. The average American, I dare say, was starting to feel punch drunk. What new spying and surveillance program would be revealed next? How high were fuel prices going to go? Was Selective Service going to come for the kids? Were the drug companies going to double their prices? Was the boss going yank the health coverage like he's been hinting? Was tuition going to keep spiraling out of sight?

The trends to these and many other issues hit most of us personally. Hope is gradually replaced by worry. Then you try to get through the airport and they seize your shampoo. Fear and dread are tolerable in small doses, but not as a steady diet. Then President Monkeypants comes on TV and lectures you and you just want to turn it off because his words fail to rally your spirits the way Reagan's used to do.

Put all that together and you get a collective expression of discontent. What we do know is that the Democrats have an excellent record of tuning into issues and policy that benefits the middle class. We'll see how well they execute - but consider that the only foreign country that expressed dismay over our electoral choices Tuesday was China. Their version of Pravda, Xinha, said that this was likely to result in policies that would "strengthen America's small and medium-sized businesses." That worries them.

Heh.

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Matthew: "Fascism? What'choo talking about there, Mr. S?"

Merely a reference to the conflation of political and corporate power found in fascist states and increasingly in the USA. I'm quite aware that we are not yet a fascist state in the true sense, but until the recent election of a Dem Congress the trend in that direction appeared quite strong -- especially considering the idealization of GWB and his attempts to expand the power of the executive branch, cut taxes of the rich, engage in unnecessary war, and transfer public money to businesses (e.g. oil companies, pharmaceuticals).

It remains to be seen if the these midterm elections are a lasting change in the trend or a mere hicup in the process.

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Raven,

I trust that problem with your knee — the jerking of it — is better now. :-) I periodically suffer from the same affliction.

That you were a little quick on the draw is a sign of how deeply many of us feel about what has happened in the last six sickening years, and I'm glad you and I are on the same side. I always find your comments here insightful and to the point.

All,

My comment was intended to be satirical — in the same spirit as Joe's post with it's extreme language — but not funny. There is nothing funny about what's going on in the USA.

Unlike Eric&Lisa I hope the Republicans in the Senate elect a good minority leader rather than a Coburn who passes all the tests for partisanship but fails the one for sanity. We need a functioning legislature. Some of us are old enough to remember when the two parties disagreed but found ways to work together and even — can you believe it? — showed mutual respect. Even under Nixon, Carter, and Reagan that happened.

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jd
Lefties can't help it. They make attempts at being funny and satirical, but their hearts are truly heavy almost all the time. I honestly don't know what keeps them from killing themselves...unless it's the prospect of coming to places like this and beating up on evangelicals.

I'm very light hearted but I also enjoy beating you up here whenever I get the time.

Cheesehead
Seriously, after this election no one, and I mean NO ONE put out public statements to the effect that they were leaving the country on account of this election (I guess we would have to go to Australia instead of Canada). No one came up with maps of North America showing the United States of Canada and "Jesusland". No one credited the election of a bunch of Democrats to rigged voting machines or voter intimidation. No one talked about civil war or the dissolution of the union. All of the aforementioned things happened when the tables were turned.

I'm going to come back to the issue of gay marriage here because I think it illustrated a little bit of why you didn't see as much of the above from the defeated GOPers. I watched Dick Morris on Fox telling us that the gay marriage issue was fostered on us by 'liberal judges' blah blah blah. Yet the reality is that it was a lie from the beginning. The anti-gay marriage proposals were all over the top if the goal really was to simply avoid having a judicial decision force gay marriage down anyone's throats. Supporters told us, for example, that they were defending the right of the people to make decisions rather than judges yet they were pushing something that said the people would have no right to vote for gay marriage if they wanted too. Some of their proposals would have ended benefits for domestic partnerships and even voided laws against domestic violence when a gay couple was involved....laws and policies 'the people' voted for whether you agree with them or not. Moderate proposals that would have simply affirmed the right of legislatures to set marriage policies or make it clear that 'full faith and credit' couldn't be used to force gay marriage recognition were shelved to cater to the most extreme element out there. It didn't help when it was revealed the real players in DC had no sincere bias against gays. Kous did confirm what most already knew, the pandering to the religious right was strategic and not sincere.

At the end of the day it wasn't just that the GOPers were telling lies they also knew they were telling lies. When it feel apart they shrugged and why not? If you are trying to pull a scam and it doesn't work that's just goes with the game of trying to scam people. The people that said they were going to Canada or thought the machines were rigged when Bush got elected may have been radical, may have been foolish but they weren't liars. They felt strongly that Bush was a horrible choice. Back when Clinton was elected there was a portion of the GOP that felt the same way (aka the 'Clinton haters') and back then there was no end to the supply of insane theories spun about Clinton (my favorite was by Steve Mossberg who predicted that Clinton was going to use the choas from Y2K to declare a state of emergancy, void the Constitution, and then be able to remain in office beyond 2 terms).

Here, though, the cynics were right. The faithful like Joe did really, really try hard but it isn't even to muster fake sincerity. Everyone knows the Republicans were essentially covering for Bush and when they got slapped most of them did indeed shrug and probably said thank God we didn't take worse losses.

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Matthew: "Fascism? What'choo talking about there, Mr. S?"

The classic definition (a political philosophy justifying various dictatorships of the 1930s)?

Or the modern definition (anything that says I Can't Do Whatever I Wanna! I WANNA! I WANNA! I WANNA!)?

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That last paragraph....What??
-- JD
Here's a link to it.

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"Then President Monkeypants comes on TV and lectures you and you just want to turn it off because his words fail to rally your spirits the way Reagan's used to do."--Raven

"Some of us are old enough to remember when the two parties disagreed but found ways to work together and even — can you believe it? — showed mutual respect. Even under Nixon, Carter, and Reagan that happened."--AndyS

Here are two examples of the silly nonsense that has been going on now ever since Ronaldus Magnus entered his reward--liberals who hated and opposed President Reagan at every turn now wanting to throw him into the pantheon of non-partisan departed but fondly remembered presidents who cannot be pressed into service of either party, like Washington, Lincoln, and of course Millard Fillmore ;) . If anyone reading this is too young, too old, or lived in too much of a drug- or otherwise-induced haze to remember the '80s, these were not halcyon days of Democrats peaceably and respectfully engaging in give-and-take with President Reagan or conservatives in general. Their goal was to destroy the Reagan Adminstration by any means, and their differences with him did not end at our shoreline. These are people who made common cause with Ortega and Andropov.

Nor did these people think of Reagan as a great or inspiring speaker. Rather they bought into Clark Clifford's sneer about the "Amiable Dunce" who parlayed a B-grade movie career into an acting role pretending to be intelligent and pretending to be President.

You can paint a chunk of lead to look like it is balsa wood, but that doesn't mean it will float; and neither will your rewrite of history.

Boonton: I understood the meaning of every word you wrote, but when strung together you comment made absolutely no sense. Get back to us when you pull that thought together.

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Boonton: Your second attempt has the not inconsiderable advantage over the first of being concise. Its very concision leads to the second advantage of putting a much finer point to the fact that it is void of any real, demonstrable point. Thanks for breaking it down for us. If there is anything more unattractive than an ungracious loser, it would have to be an ungracious winner, like the string of brilliant tennis champions everyone loved to hate until they just grew tired of the whole game.

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Hmmm, I didn't win or loose anything Cheesehead. Just keeping it real. Today right wingers like Rush Limbaugh are coming out and basically saying they held their nose often sticking up for this Republican party.

They didn't really believe in their slate and for good reason. The voters knew that and acted accordingly.

My suggestion is that you shouldn't take this so personally. Unless you happen to be a Congressperson or work seriously in politics this all has to be taken with a grain of salt. All that happened was Congress went from being slightly Republican to slightly Democrat.

While this does make for a dramatic change in speakers and committee heads its policy implications are less dramatic. It's rare that the parties stand with 100% uniformity. On most issues there will always be members bucking their party so the shift is small.

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Hey Cheesekopf: I stand by my remarks on Reagan. But you may have misinterpreted them.

Was Reagen an excellent speaker? Depends. But one of the jobs of the President is to be able to deliver a really good speech and knock it out of the park. No, that may not always have been a key element of the position, but after Nixon, yes. The TV age changed everything and the Internet makes it even more critical.

Now, personally I loathed Ronnie. I had - proabably still have somewhere - a book titled, "RWR-Straight from the Hip." It was a collection of Reagan howlers, like the bit about trees causing pollution and ketchup being a vegetable and all those classic boners.

Being a Californian, growing up there, I remember Reagan as Governor, tear gassing the students at Berkeley who were holding a demonstration on the steps at Sproul Hall. What kind of man would set a tear gas spraying helicopter to attack university students? I remember him shutting down the state's mental health facilities and flooding our streets with crazies. Lotsa fond memories of the old Cold Warrior.

But I give you this: The man could deliver a speech and rise to the occasion when needed. "Mister Gorbachev, tear down this wall," was pretty good. And "Morning in America" was quite stirring, even to an America-hating liberal. That line, "America is back, and standing tall" still brings a patriotic lump to my throat. That's exactly what a President must be able to do if he's going to leave any kind of legacy.

It's why Bush is so miserably bad at his job. The sneer, the snicker, the half-held laugh, he holds his audience in contempt. For all of his faults, Ronnie very much did have the capacity to make you feel emotions other than fear and horror. I give him that. But then, he was a professional actor and he had charisma. Those were good things to bring to the job.

Resquiat in pace, RWR.

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Cheesehead,

My remark was about there being leaders in Congress on both aisle who respected each other and worked together despite their ideological differences. It had nothing to do with showing respect to the Reagan as president and everything to do with legislators understanding their job.

Here's one example of how current Repubs have changed things. Other examples abound.

BTW, One of the stupidest things Reagan did — based strickly on his ideological beliefs rather than any notion of reality — was to dismantle every alternative energy program established by the Carter administration. Consider the position we might be in today if we had had 25 years of serious research and development of alternative energy in the USA.

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Cheesehead:

Reagan was a disaster. I said it then and I'll say it now, even though Webb's on our team now.

Ortega? We committed acts of supporting terrorists against his country. We supported those in Nicaragua and El Salvador who murdered Christians in the name of "fighting communism."

And as for Reagan being an excellent speaker, I bid you watch re-runs of his State of the Union addresses. If I ever see one again, I'll be sure to be convulsed with laughter as he does his imitation of an oscillating fan. And I'll never forget his flub at the '88 convention "Facts are stupid things" (trying to emulate Stalin's "Facts are stubborn things"). Conservatives then thought it was cute to ape Stalinist ideologues.

I never got why it was cute.

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...back then there was no end to the supply of insane theories spun about Clinton (my favorite was by Steve Mossberg who predicted that Clinton was going to use the choas from Y2K to declare a state of emergancy, void the Constitution, and then be able to remain in office beyond 2 terms).

Bill's slickness (and Hillary's attitude) made that "crazy idea" not so crazy sounding.

I mean, every successful elected politician has to have a bit of the con man in him -- it's how you get elected -- but Clinton WAS primarily a con man.

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Step 1: Impeach Bush and Cheney for illegal wiretaps.
Step 2: Swear in President Pelosi.

Muaha-hha-hhha-hhaaa....

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Erica & Lisa, huh? Our "nation building" has gone better in Iraq than in either Germany or Japan? What were you smoking when you wrote that? As another commenter noted, the rebuilding in Japan went very, very smoothly, and within a decade, Japan was on its way to being a world power economically. In Germany, things went a bit differently, but that's because almost immediately, Germany was divided between hostile powers (the Soviet Union on the one side, and Britain, France, and the United States on the other), but there was very little post-war resistance in Germany (virtually none in Japan), and Germany's rebuilding went fairly quickly, at least in the West. Really, the big mess in Europe was in Austria, but it wasn't a matter of nation building there, but instead the beginning of the Cold War as the Soviets and the Western allies wrestled for control of that country (a great movie, by the way, that takes place in Austria during this period is The Third Man).

So, with a deadly and persistent insurgency, de facto civil war between Shia and Sunni, and actual reconstruction problems (say, in the area of electricity), all the sorts of things that didn't happen in Germany and Japan, what, exactly, is better about Iraq?

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Bill's slickness (and Hillary's attitude) made that "crazy idea" not so crazy sounding.

No the idea was crazy and crazy sounding even if you were one who suffered from hyper-sensitivity to Bill's slickness. (BTW, I buck the conventional wisdom regarding Clinton. I always thought his problem was that he was too honest. You could always tell when he was trying to lie or bend the truth. Someone like Bush, on the other hand, will lie so well that you'll think he was telling the truth, too stupid to know the truth or anything other than purposefully telling you a lie. Here's a hint, if everyone says you're a good liar then you're a very bad one.).

I mean, every successful elected politician has to have a bit of the con man in him -- it's how you get elected -- but Clinton WAS primarily a con man.

I think of it more as a salesman. He is trying to sell you something. You may want it or not but that doesn't make the salesman in himself bad or evil. For most politicians I think they are pretty clear what they are selling. No one was seriously shocked IMO by the Clinton administration nor even much the Bush admin. I think disappointment was the more common emotion with Bush. They thought he knew what he was doing and it's becomming clear he doesn't.

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The real winners of the mid-terms are certainly happy.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6137082.stm

This is the way we are losing the West. I expect cowardice and betrayal from the left, the "BushHitler" scum, the Kos "surrender now!" idiots, the ravens and the mumons who despise their own freedom and nation. But its sad to see it from a chunk of middle America.

Still, Pelosi's people have two years to show the American people their true color, yellow, and I expect we will pay for it in blood. Now that the Islamists think we are on the retreat (and they may be right if Pelosi gets her way) then expect more terrorist attacks on American soil.

One can only hope that reason and courage then prevail in 2008, and that hopefully it is not too late. But we have just sent al-Qaeda and every other Islamic terrorist group a big message, that we are weak and unwilling to go the distance as they themselves have always said, and make no mistake, we are going to pay for in blood.

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Shawn,

Still, Pelosi's people have two years to show the American people their true color, yellow, and I expect we will pay for it in blood.

Boy oh boy are your going to be surprised when Baker comes back from his "study group" with the message that we need to get out of Iraq and Bush immediately signs on.

Now that the Islamists think we are on the retreat (and they may be right if Pelosi gets her way) then expect more terrorist attacks on American soil.

This is the problem: you are letting your enemy determine your actions. Who cares what the Islamists think? Who even knows what they think? Let's act from the position of power and dominance we have! No one in the world can challenge our military might or economic power. That was true in 2001 and remains true today. It's GWB who has been acting from a position of fear and weakness and completely trashed the reputation and global political clout of our country in the process.

It is the FBI, the CIA, the NSA and the relationships between those agencies and the cooresponding ones in other countries that are doing the heavy lifting of preventing terrorist acts on the USA. Where do you see any serious threat that these people can not counter?

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[Sorry, hit post to quickly.]

GWB's most terrible act has been to get Americans to think of themselves as weak, to become a fearful people jumping at shadows, and to allow a small ragtag group of religious fanatics to dictate our foreign policy. Perhaps now that the balance of power has changed in DC we can get our government to return to acting from the position of strength and integrity that so many Americans have worked so hard to achieve and so many since 1776 have lost their lives for.

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"BTW, I buck the conventional wisdom regarding Clinton. I always thought his problem was that he was too honest."

This would be your jump the shark moment, Boonton, but it's nothing new for you, so I don't expect it to change the arc of your career any.

I guess it depends on what the meaning of honest is.

Absolutely incredible.

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AndyS:

Even though the Democrats want it, that's not how it will play out. And an argument can be made that's not how it ought to, although I think the American public is still way ahead of Congress here.

"Iraq Study Group" Recommendations? Do a Vietnam in 1970-72: Get mean, really mean, and illegal whilst you beat a strategic retreat. Bank on it.

Then like that other guy above, they'll use the same tried and true formula invented by the Nazis and perfected by the righties on Vietnam: they'll say the "liberals and the media stabbed us in the back."

But this is Bush's bloody mess, and he should personally go over there and clean it up.

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jd,

I stand by my statement. If everyone says you're a good liar then that can only mean you're a very bad liar.

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GWB's most terrible act has been to get Americans to think of themselves as weak, to become a fearful people jumping at shadows, and to allow a small ragtag group of religious fanatics to dictate our foreign policy.

Well put, Andy. What so many people fail to realize is that Bush policies have weakened us immeasurably and we are now hostage to any jihadist who could conceivably envision our withdrawal from Iraq as "a victory." We wouldn't want to embolden such a person now, would we?

Gee, just think what an "emboldened" terrorist might do. He might get on a plane and come to America and wreak havoc! We just can't have that. So, the idiots among us think it's a better idea to have our army shooting up the Middle East because that keeps the terrorist from getting on a plane and coming over here.

What nobody has been able to explain to me is how, exactly, a fortified Green Zone prevents terrorists from getting on planes. There must be a reason, because so many people believe this to be true, but to me, it seems like a lot of deluded hoo-hah.

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