"Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it and to institute new Government" 

I barely slept last night. Yet for some reason, I feel … jubilant!

But seriously, this was a tremendous victory for the Democrats at a time when they sorely needed one. Considering the GOP’s rampant gerrymandering, this was not only a rout, it was a tsunami. We will likely get our first Madam Speaker, and 2006 will mark the year that a woman has been closer to the presidency than ever before. Moreover, the nation’s governorships are solidly Democratic and at this point I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see the Senate swing after the recount. I’m biting my nails for Bush’s press conference. Will he learn some humility and try to salvage his legacy, or will he use his podium and pen to petulantly obstruct progress for the next two years.

With every election, the American people take control of their government anew. And this time they sent an unambiguous message to the White House and the world that we want change. We should celebrate our victory today, we’ve more than earned it. But tomorrow we have work to do. The GOP has a plan and they will use their time between now and recess to their advantage. We must use the power of our mandate to staunch the bloodflow. And come January, if we get complacent, if we stay the course at home and abroad, we will have squandered a monumental opportunity. But if we can follow our success with prudent action, if we can spend the next two years turning it all around, then no future is too optimistic.

Yesterday was a victory for conservatives as well. Seriously. The Republican Party long ago abandoned them. They may not know it yet, but the new Democrats stand for fiscal responsibility, strong national defense, and limited government intrusion – solid conservative ideals. The Democrats have gained majorities – razor-thin perhaps – in some fairly solid red districts. The red / blue divide has always been little more than myth; most people are not that one-dimensional. But we would be deluding ourselves if we doubt there were a great many who checked the ‘Not Bush’ button this time around. Many of these people went against their better judgment and long-held beliefs in voting Democrat because they are hoping for change. Let’s be sure to stay on top of the new leadership and demand proof that they were worth the effort.

To be honest, I’m far too emotional today to post much of anything.  I mean, it’s not like I have any piercing insight into the electoral process, nor do I have any prognostication worthy of any substantial consideration.  The day has arrived and all I can do is sit on my hands, ride it out, and hope that tomorrow will bring change.  I have no sagacious advice.  I am overseas and helpless.  I am tense and alone.  I am nobody.  But I am an American and I have hope. 

I have hope that the Democrats and Republicans alike learn the lessons of history can start addressing the growing litany of Bush’s failures. 

I have hope that voting machines, even those manufactured by partisan Republicans, prove more reliable this time around (though the morning has barely begun and already all four machine types have reported errors favoring GOP candidates).  I have hope that our election officials have learned from 2000, 2002, and 2004 and that voter intimidation, long lines, discrimination, threats, dirty tricks, and vote tampering will be nothing but a distant memory of an ugly time. 

I have hope that if the Democrats take congress, cooler heads will prevail and not rush to turn Bush into a martyr.  The best thing for this country is to let him – and us – ride out his miserable failures through the next two years of impotence.  Let Bush leave office as he came in – the worst president in US history.  Let him stand as a lesson to future generations as to how fragile our democracy is, and how dangerous and self-destructive we can be when we let fear guide our actions. 

I have hope that the White House and the GOP get the message from this election, and use the next two years to atone for their sins.  I hope that the GOP learns humility and bipartisanship so that they can begin to reconcile with those they have victimized at home and abroad.  I hope that this election will send a clear and resounding message to the world – we are sorry, we want peace, we want justice, and we will work our fingers to the bone to make it happen. 

I have hope that a Democratic victory will put an end, once and for all, to the negative campaigning, fraudulent phone calls, and power-hungry gerrymandering – not because these are all morally bankrupt in a democracy, not because of some sudden epiphany of light, but simply because we as Americans stood up and sent the message that they just don’t work anymore. 

I have hope that a Democratic victory will not usher in another era of partisanship.  Split government is an important facet of democracy and one-party rule, no matter who is in charge, is just another pig on two legs.  Liberals need Conservatives, Socialists need Libertarians, and Anarchists need Institutionalists – because true wisdom is only in knowing that you know nothing.  None among us has all the answers.  Our government needs to once again become a forum in which to debate ideas, not slogans. 

Like many of you, I wish I had more than my hope.  But I am only one man.  I am only one vote.  The outcome of this election is not mine alone to determine.  And so I wait and hope for all these things and more.  But above all, I am hoping for hope.  I am hoping that tomorrow morning the sun will rise and I will awaken to a government of ideas, a government of sanity, and a government acting in the best interests of America - today and in the future to come. 

Because hope is one thing I’ve been devoid of for nearly six years.  And it’s breaking me.

The Republican Party in Washington has sponsored a nationwide campaign of robo-call harassment.  You know, those phone calls that pretend to be real people but are actually recorded messages. 

Well, politicians have been using these for years, so there’s really not much surprise there.  Moreover, if they want to risk pissing people off in order to save a few bucks on the campaign staffer, I say more power to them.  Except that these people are pretending to be Democrats when they do it.  And that spells trouble – right here in River City. 

As if that’s not bad enough, their system is designed to call you back unless you get all the way through the message.  When people hang up (usually before realizing it’s not really the Democrat), they are called back again.  And again.  And again.  Sometimes in the middle of the night. 

The worst part about all this?  The GOP is not even denying it!  According to NRCC spokesman, Ed Patru, “All of our political calls are in compliance with the law.”  I’ve no doubt that the NRCC is following the letter of the law.  But they’re certainly slapping the spirit of the law with a big, fat, wet, smelly fish.  They own the last six years and now that they can’t run from it, they’re trying to lie, cheat, and manipulate people.  Shameful. 

So far, the GOP has been caught in the act of a disgusting and dishonest attempt to steal votes in the following states: Philly, Kansas, NH, CT, and NY.

Great article.  With a twist at the end: 

It should surprise few readers that we think a vote that is seen—in America and the world at large—as a decisive “No” vote on the Bush presidency is the best outcome. We need not dwell on George W. Bush’s failed effort to jam a poorly disguised amnesty for illegal aliens through Congress or the assaults on the Constitution carried out under the pretext of fighting terrorism or his administration’s endorsement of torture. Faced on Sept. 11, 2001 with a great challenge, President Bush made little effort to understand who had attacked us and why—thus ignoring the prerequisite for crafting an effective response. He seemingly did not want to find out, and he had staffed his national-security team with people who either did not want to know or were committed to a prefabricated answer. 

As a consequence, he rushed America into a war against Iraq, a war we are now losing and cannot win, one that has done far more to strengthen Islamist terrorists than anything they could possibly have done for themselves. Bush’s decision to seize Iraq will almost surely leave behind a broken state divided into warring ethnic enclaves, with hundreds of thousands killed and maimed and thousands more thirsting for revenge against the country that crossed the ocean to attack them. The invasion failed at every level: if securing Israel was part of the administration’s calculation—as the record suggests it was for several of his top aides—the result is also clear: the strengthening of Iran’s hand in the Persian Gulf, with a reach up to Israel’s northern border, and the elimination of the most powerful Arab state that might stem Iranian regional hegemony. 

The war will continue as long as Bush is in office, for no other reason than the feckless president can’t face the embarrassment of admitting defeat. The chain of events is not complete: Bush, having learned little from his mistakes, may yet seek to embroil America in new wars against Iran and Syria. 

Meanwhile, America’s image in the world, its capacity to persuade others that its interests are common interests, is lower than it has been in memory. All over the world people look at Bush and yearn for this country—which once symbolized hope and justice—to be humbled. The professionals in the Bush administration (and there are some) realize the damage his presidency has done to American prestige and diplomacy. But there is not much they can do. 

So what’s the twist?  This article was published by The American Conservative!  (much more, full article here ) 

I’ve been expressing surprise for a while about the curious duality of the modern conservative movement.  Small government, fiscal responsibility, and military prudence have always been the hallmarks of the conservative philosophy.  Yet it is laughable to apply any of these criteria to the Bush administration.  By all rational accounts, this president is the anti-conservative.  And yet over the past six years, I’ve been repeatedly dumbfounded, scratching my head at the torrent of hypocritical conservative adoration as each colossal failure follows the last.   

We’ll see how far this goes beyond election season.  But for now, I can hope that maybe the voice of reason is in the ascendancy.

Sincere apologies to all for missing Guy Fawkes day yesterday. 

You cannot kill me.  There is no flesh and blood within this cloak to kill.  There is only an idea.  And ideas are bulletproof.

I know this like I know the sun will rise tomorrow and beneath that new sun, our work will begin.

Sting operation reveals that military recruiters are lying to enlistees:

ABC News and New York affiliate WABC equipped students with hidden video cameras before they visited 10 Army recruitment offices in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

"Nobody is going over to Iraq anymore?" one student asks a recruiter.

"No, we're bringing people back," he replies.

"We're not at war. War ended a long time ago," another recruiter says.

Last year, the Army suspended recruiting nationwide to retrain recruiters following hundreds of allegations of improprieties.

One Colorado student taped a recruiting session posing as a drug-addicted dropout.

"You mean I'm not going to get in trouble?" the student asked.

The recruiters told him no, and helped him cheat to sign up.

I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. Operating under an impossible quota can put unbearable pressure upon anyone, much less someone trying to convince people to place their lives in danger. It’s just another sad commentary on the complete dearth of righteousness in Team Bush’s foreign policy.

Fellow nerds delight!  This may be the funniest damn pie-chart joke ever invented by mere mortals.

She died a hero:

Our Dear Leader says we do not torture. So why are we destroying records of our interrogation techniques? What do we have to hide? What kinds of techniques require the aid of a psychologist? Do the Bushies honestly believe that the definition of torture is somehow restricted to the physical? Are they stupid or merely obtuse?

Also, let’s not forget to feel a wellspring of sympathy for the other victim of this torture. Let’s not forget that the guards are prisoners themselves. People like Alyssa Paterson may be the ones with the guns, but they are stuck there like all others. Stuck in a lie. Stuck in a state of denial. Only the most perverted minds would fail to count her among the growing casualties of this ill-begotten nightmare.