The Inevitable Election Post

Okay. Apologies for not posting in awhile. It turns out that working a full-time job and writing a book in my 'spare' time is time-consuming. Who knew? I mean, I barely have enough time left to play video games. Tragic, I know.

So. The election. What does this have to do with Blue Line? Only this: Addie had some trouble getting home last Thursday (police blockade in Watts - I had to pick her up there) and Monday (run-of-the-mill mechanical delays). On Tuesday my plan was to vote after work, and I had my concerns that I might be disenfranchised by LA Metro. Didn't happen, thankfully. Anyway...

The Dems surpassed anyone's wildest hopes or fears (depending on whether you paint yourself Blue or Red). That the Party of the Donkey actually has a legit shot at the Senate is astounding. I thought they'd barely scrape the House (Headline I saw: Extreme Makeover: House Edition). Last night my plan was this: go to Dollar Taco Night, drink beer, hope the Lakers were on - Kobe and Co. didn't even have to win if they didn't feel like it. I was simply trying to avoid turning the apartment into an election-watching equivalent of Mission Control. But then the early exit poll data came out before I left work. That was all she wrote. We had two computers and the radio going for about 5 hours. The whole time I'm thinking: Be cool. This could be John Kerry in '04 all over again, when he jumped to an early lead, but then the polls in the very Red middle of the country came round and squished it all flat, and it like, sucked and stuff... But of course, that didn't happen this time. The Dems won: the House and very likely the Senate. Now I have to deal with how I'm feeling versus what I'm thinking.

My visceral Lizard Brain is positively giddy. Both houses of Congress in the hands of Dems? Whoa. A female Speaker of the House? Fantastic - Pelosi says she wants to bring honesty and transparency to Congress. But what's going to happen? Was this election a 'referendum' on anything? No, it was a referendum on everything, especially Iraq and corruption and wire-tapping the innocents of America. The Lizard wants to get the bastards!

Meanwhile my Rational Brain is fending off the Lizard with the clever use of skepticism. It is ready blast the Dems twice as hard as it blasted the Re-Pubs for the last decade or so. Now the Dems are in the crosshairs, especially the centrists. (Centrists make me cranky. I'm sorry, but it just feels like they didn't do their homework or something.) Are the Dems ready? Do they really have a workable plan? We've been hearing that they don't, hell, we've been noticing that they don't. A female Speaker of the House seems like a nice change. Is there going to be a misogynist, Bubba Backlash because of this? (Short answer: yep.)

I can't see the future, and this is not for lack of squinting. But for now, I'm going to let the Lizard romp be glad the corrupt bums are on the way out of power. I can be glad that there's a possibility that Bush and his gang might actually be held accountable to the people for his assault on civil liberties and his causal waste. I'm glad that they might be punished of making us the most laughed at, the most hated nation on Earth. I'm glad federal minimum wage might actually go up. I'm glad that taxes will likely go up. Can't have a nice society if we don't all chip in. (I mean, wouldn't it be a shame if taxes were fair and we could get more people over the poverty line? General nationwide happiness might just ensue and we wouldn't be as divided as we are.)

So for now, I will let the Lizard frolic and rollick. We'll see what the Dems do with the opportunity we've given them. And in the meantime, I can sharpen my skepticism so it is ready when needed.

[UPDATE: The AP just called Virgina for Webb (D)! The changeover is complete.]