Sunday, November 7, 2004

Whining on the bright side

In my cruising around the Blogosphere since 3 Nov, I've noticed a lot of bloggers on the Left complaining about the vote count in certain 'battleground states' (FL & OH), and whether all the votes were counted or not. My 2 cents? Shut up and quit whining. We had a corps of lawyers that was division strength, how come no suits were filed, no restraining orders were filed, nothing? What would be the point, even if there were voting irregularities, to attempt a recount now? The best we could hope for now would be that Kerry actually did win, probably by less of a margin than Bush took Florida in 2000. What would be the point?

Do any of my Left-wing colleagues think that Kerry could actually have gotten anything done with a Repub majority in both Houses of Congress? Don't you think he would have been ratfucked at every turn? Don't you think that four years of gridlock and partisan squabbling would do anything for this country? A draft will be necessary, unless Bush just leaves Iraq and lets it completely degenerate into anarchy. Do we want John Kerry (or any other Dem) to be linked to that? Have we forgotten what Vietnam did to the Democratic Party? No, what we got last Tuesday was a gift, and we just have to look at it that way.

Bush has no excuses, and the Congress neither. If Iraq degenerates even more (and you know it will) do we want a Dem being accused of "screwing up what Bush had started"? You know the Rovians would play that hand. No, now that I've gone from wanting to turn Jesusland into an Air Force (Nellis 2) bombing range, to as much rational thought as I can muster, I see now that the results of this election were the best gift the Dems could have received. Early Christmas. Our hands remain clean as we heckle from the sidelines. And heckle we must, loudly and frequently, to anyone who'll listen.

We have to start framing the issue now (think Newt and the boys when Clinton was elected in '92 and what happened in '94), set up now for a run at the Congress in the '06 midterms. "Look at what the Republicans have done. Iraq, Iraq, Iraq. Deficit, deficit, deficit. They've had X years, what do we have to show for it?" Beat them at their own game. We have to raise an issue and beat them over the head with it. If we keep 'em looking over their shoulders for the next few years, they're bound to make mistakes.

Tell the reality-based folks the truth, but keep it simple for the Jesuslanders, 2 issues for them. Iraq. Do you want one or more of your 12 kids going there as cannon fodder? Deficit. You work 2 jobs to make ends meet. If it keeps going like this, how many jobs will your children have to work in order to keep their heads above water?

So, quit whining and forget about the past. What's done is done and it's time to look toward the future. Remember THE MISSION. By the time we put a Dem in the White House in '08, we want a Dem majority in Congress to welcome him/her. Don't tell me it can't be done. Think Boston and Philadelphia 1776, think Paris 1812, think Appomatox 1865, think MLK a hundred years later. We do want a mandate in '08. Not a Bush (51%) mandate, but a Reagan-Mondale mandate. A thorough beating with at least half of Jesusland receiving redemption in addition to all of Realitystan. That's what we want and will settle for nothing less.

Because it's on.

Update: 07:15:

And one of the talking points for '06 will be the housing bubble, which will surely burst before the end of Bush's reign. When that goes, so will mortgage interest rates, straight up. Let's see what all of these defaults will do the the banking industry. You see, folks, most of the people buying new houses while interest rates were low were just barely affording it. When higher interest rates (thanks to the deficit) blow their budgets out of the water, the banks will be left holding the bag. (Never mind those who have refinanced at variable interest rates.) Let's hammer this too, as hard as possible.

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