The Election, In General

Ballot Initiatives:

Here's a listing from CNN of the results on various ballot initiatives in the states. On same-sex marriage, there is an interesting trend: Arizona defeated a constitutional amendment handily (please note, this was without the participation of the national organizations, which leads me to wonder if perhaps HRC should just stay in Washington where they can't do any harm). Of the remaining seven states with similar initiatives, only two -- Tennessee and South Carolina -- were within the ranges of previous vote totals on this question. The margins on the other five were much narrower, mostly in the 50+/40+ category. That's significant.

Add in this report from the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund:

The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund today reported unprecedented success in electing openly gay candidates this year. Sixty-seven Victory-endorsed candidates were elected to federal, state and local offices, with some winning historic races that make them the first openly gay or lesbian candidates ever elected in their states or legislative bodies.


Rending of Garments, Wingnut Style:

OK -- Just in case you thought anyone at Townhall had all their marbles, this should help you figure it out. Hugh Hewitt has it nailed:

Handed a large majority, the GOP frittered it away. The chief fritterer was Senator McCain and his Gang of 14 and Kennedy-McCain immigration bill, supplemented by a last minute throw down that prevented the NSA bill from progressing or the key judicial nominations from receiving a vote.

You see, it's all McCain's fault.

Here's the prizewinner:

Senator Santorum is now available for a seat on the SCOTUS should one become available.

I mean, do I really have to say anything? Anything at all?

The summation:

The GOP couldn't recover from Foley's repulsive conduct, and the enemy was willing to kill randomly in the run-up to the vote in order to demoralize an American public.

If it sounds incoherent, is that really a surprise?

The comments on this piece are interesting. Several people had giggle fits over the idea of Santorum on the Supreme Court. What's most disturbing is the repeated characterization of Democrats as the "enemy." What can you do with a mindset like that?

Glenn Greenwald, as usual, hits it right on the head:

Hewitt took the data that he didn't like, literally changed it in his own mind to make it more pleasant, and then embraced the fictitious data as his reality. And he expressly acknowledged doing so by insisting that data is biased.

I'm still trying to figure out how polling data can automatically and by definition be biased in favor of Democrats.

The really scary thing is that the far right takes this sort of shit as gospel.


Speakinng of Santorum:

Yes, I'm overjoyed that bigoted prick is out of the Senate. I like Dan Savage's gloat, particularly this part:

It would have been a lot easier to be a total dick about Santorum’s defeat if he hadn’t made such a gracious—and apparently sincere—concession speech last night. I almost fell off the couch when Santorum asked the crowd to give a round to applause to Bob Casey.

Where was this graciousness and respect for political differences while Rick Santorum was in the U.S. Senate? And where was this graciousness during the actual campaign? Santorum stopped just short of accusing Bob Casey of flying off to Pakistan twice a week to rim Osama bin Laden. If Santorum had spent the last 12 years in the Senate being the person he was for 12 minutes during his concession speech, well, he might not have made so many enemies in Pennsylvania and all over the country.

Santorum thinks that the pursuit of happiness is bad:



Maybe the Republicans as a whole should take that to heart. Why don't y'all just try being reasonable people? Why don't you stop playing politics with people's lives and just do your effin' jobs?


Rumsfeld:

He's resigned. Dubyah knew last week that he was out. You can read all about Bush's lying about it on the lefty blogs, about how Our Leader is no longer saddled with a liability on the righty blogs, but I wonder.

The election was a repudiation of Bush and his policies, and, I think, if you look at things like the numbers of openly gay candidates who were elected, the figures on the "values" ballot initiatives, and the like, of the religious right.

Given Bush's history, I'm betting that he will see it as all fixed now that Rumsfeld is gone. You see, it wasn't about him at all.


Bipartisanship (Yawn), Again:

I love Glenn Greenwald. He usually voices my questions just as I get them formulated. The preznit is all of a sudden conciliatory, and looks forward to working with the Congress.

You know as well as I do that it's a crock.

But what the Bush administration really means by "bipartisanship" -- as they are already making quite clear -- is that the Democrats in Congress do nothing to stand in their way and, most especially, that Democrats recognize that there will be no looking into what the Leader has done or subjecting his Decisions to any scrutiny. From Time's Mike Allen, today:

Advisers expect a battle royale over the balance of powers if Democrats use their new subpoena power to try to conduct what the White House is already calling "witch hunts." Bush and Vice President Cheney have made the expansion of executive power one of their hallmarks, and advisers say they do not plan to give up any of the ground they have won without a fight all the way to the Supreme Court. "We're going to have a fierce constitutional showdown over the boundaries of power between the executive and legislative branches," one adviser said. "The executive usually wins those battles, so we think we'll consolidate our gains."

Think about that: "consolidate our gains." What kind of administration thinks like that?

Oh, and the "executive usually wins those battles"? Have you read the Hamdan decision? (And of course Greenwald brought up that point as soon as I thought it.)

The next couple of years should be really, really interesting. I just hope the Democrats don't fold. I think most people in this country have the same attitude I do: I want transparency in government, I want openness, I don't want energy policy decided by power and oil companies behind closed doors, I don't want James Dobson dictating AIDS policy, I don't want ranchers and logging companies deciding environmental policy, I don't want the administration lying about everything and the Congress going right along with it.

"Witch hunts" my ass. Nail the bastards.


Epilogue:

And after all that, something to level us off a bit. If you want to saturate yourself with something beautiful, weird, and totally fascinating, visit Orchid Species Photographs by Eric Hunt. They are great photos, and there are pages and pages of them, eveything from Aa to Zygostates. Out of respect for the work Hunt has put into this, and for his rights as the creator of these photos, I'm not uploading a picture here, but check out Cyprepedium kentuckiense. It's a native ladyslipper, and he has several juicy shots.

Later -- I'm on deadline again. . . .