What to expect

Over the last few days, a ton of emails have hit my inbox, mainly expecting immediate resolution and betterment of all the ills brought on the country by the defeated republican majority. It's expected in some quarters that the Democrats will now wave a magic wand and make all the evil magically go away.

That would be nice, but it's not going to happen.

I wonder sometimes if people even grasp what a deep hole this country is in; it will take years to reverse the damage that has been done, and some of it - like the 3,000 dead in Iraq, and 20,000+ maimed - is beyond resolution.

Instead, the Democrats - who, media reports to the contrary notwithstanding, do have an agenda - will first focus on implementing the plans that got them elected. That includes a minimum-wage hike, funding stem-cell research, implementing the 9/11 commission recommendations fully, lobbying and ethics reform, getting started on energy independence, and launching a good number of targeted investigations into some Bush administration abuses relating to the 'energy policy', pre-war intelligence, Iraq contractors, and other things of considerable interest. Impeachment may or may not happen; I'm certainly open to it, but I'd advise that that is a political process above all, and some Americans still love Bush more than they love their country.

What we're not going to do is waste time on debates over flag-burning, marriage equality, or Terri Schiavo. That's over. This Congress has work to do, and they will do it.

What remains, of course, is that illegal resident Bush remains ensconced in the Oval Office, fully free to continue to soil the laws. What's blessedly different now is that a muscular and aggressive Congress is in place to stop or at least hinder his illegal depredations. That means, among other things, that no more wingnut judges will be confirmed - they will die in committee. After all the talk about nuclear options, sorry, don't expect any forbearance. We also expect that veto pen to be handled lightly; after winning an election by a 10% margin, yeah, that's kind of obvious.

The elephant in the room, right next to the dead one, is Iraq. Here, again, it's instructive to note the depth of the abyss we're in; three years of 'stay the course' - or more accurately, 'shut up and sing' - kind of limit our options. If there are any good ones left after three years of incompetence, arrogance and failure, I don't see them.

In short, things will now become much better, but not perfect. The signs are also pretty good that the Democrats aren't going to engage in payback for all the procedural pettiness of the vanquished majority, and will work to craft legislation that will garner at least some republican support. It may be that we'll see and end, or at least a lessening, of the vicious partisanship of the last decade.

Keep your fingers crossed.