Stalin celebrates Democracy

We did it; Democrats regained the House and the Senate, against long odds and in the face of a withering campaign.

Interestingly, the same candidates that were being attacked just a few days ago as "Pelosi ultra-liberals" are now the vehicle for an attempt by the so-called 'conservative movement' to redeem itself. It seems they've belatedly discovered the 'conservatism' of some of our candidates; problem is, they're wrong. If this was, as some would have it, a conservative victory, then I for one would like to see many more such victories.

Be that as it may, it's over, and we won. That system of checks and balances within the government you might remember from high school civics? Expect it back. Democrats are ready to govern, and with a solid mandate, we intend to do just that. I like to think that we're not going to go down the path chosen by the defeated republicans, or embrace the hyper-partisanship that humbled them, or the blatant corruption of K Street's many, many Abramoffs. As it is, the new governing majority is broadly centrist, and since you can't govern this country from the fringes - the republicans seem unwilling to learn that lesson, but it's the oldest truism of American politics - the Democrats will work to create outcomes that even many republicans will embrace. There's remarkably little desire, as far as I can tell, for payback for the many petty slights inflicted over the last twelve years on Democrats by republicans; the new majority may surprise many by bringing back the comity that characterized Congress before 1994. But I doubt we're going to forget some things, such as this:



Remember that image when republicans start screaming again, which they will do pretty soon, I'd guess.