Mission Accomplished
Picture the Decider in Chief landing on the deck of that carrier, beaming with satisfaction. His armed forces had conquered Iraq, and all that remained was the small task of putting the country back together. Bush didn't know that Iraqis and insurgents studied Muhammad Ali's rope-a-dope. Now think about the Democrats winning back the Congress. Their job won't be any easier.
For all the self-congratulatory gloating of the past two days, the Dems have an immense, if not impossible, job ahead of them. Holding power in Congress doesn't guarantee them anything. They cannot override a veto. In the Senate, they cannot cut off a filibuster. The predictions of gridlock are sound.
And the expectations run high. The new Speaker announced a 100-hour plan. It will take that long just to rearrange the chairs. If the Democrats screw this thing up, they'll be vulnerable in 2008.
The real net gain is that the political culture is moving back toward a theoretical center and away from the extremism of the right. I still yearn for some of the extremism of the left, but that's why I live in Gotham. Far left is center here.
Clearly the Dems ran smart for a change, choosing good candidates and targeting winnable races. They received a huge helping hand from a Republican machine that had broken apart. The GOP candidates backed away from the White House, and the White House, like Dick Cheney, turned the old shot gun on them and "Bam!" hit their good buddies in the face.
It was a clever strategy to fire Rumsfeld the day after, diverting attention from the electoral fiasco. But it was very dumb for Bush to have lied about it last week, stating that Rumsfeld's job was safe. He didn't want to distract voters. What a statesman!
For those who consider themselves Democrats or old-style Republicans, like a few of the good apples that got tossed out with the bad ones, Election Night was like waking up from a long and terrible nightmare. But really nothing has been accomplished yet. The problems are enormous, and it's now time for candidates to show that they know how to do something other than win elections.
For all the self-congratulatory gloating of the past two days, the Dems have an immense, if not impossible, job ahead of them. Holding power in Congress doesn't guarantee them anything. They cannot override a veto. In the Senate, they cannot cut off a filibuster. The predictions of gridlock are sound.
And the expectations run high. The new Speaker announced a 100-hour plan. It will take that long just to rearrange the chairs. If the Democrats screw this thing up, they'll be vulnerable in 2008.
The real net gain is that the political culture is moving back toward a theoretical center and away from the extremism of the right. I still yearn for some of the extremism of the left, but that's why I live in Gotham. Far left is center here.
Clearly the Dems ran smart for a change, choosing good candidates and targeting winnable races. They received a huge helping hand from a Republican machine that had broken apart. The GOP candidates backed away from the White House, and the White House, like Dick Cheney, turned the old shot gun on them and "Bam!" hit their good buddies in the face.
It was a clever strategy to fire Rumsfeld the day after, diverting attention from the electoral fiasco. But it was very dumb for Bush to have lied about it last week, stating that Rumsfeld's job was safe. He didn't want to distract voters. What a statesman!
For those who consider themselves Democrats or old-style Republicans, like a few of the good apples that got tossed out with the bad ones, Election Night was like waking up from a long and terrible nightmare. But really nothing has been accomplished yet. The problems are enormous, and it's now time for candidates to show that they know how to do something other than win elections.
posted by Evan Sarzin at 6:12 AM
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