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Post-election thoughts�war doubts dominate but lack of choice is the real issue

November 08, 2006 ~ 8:27 p.m.

The midterm results are in. The result? The country is fubared.

But only partly due to the Democrats' gains. It would have been as equally bad a result if the Republicans had won both chambers of Congress. For let's look at the good side�the Republicans have been called into question for their power trip. Maybe the U.S. will now take steps to reduce its carbon footprint on the world, given an increase of environment-friendly Congressmen. Also, the Democrats' success resulted in the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld, who has done more to screw the war in Iraq up than anyone. Bye, Rummy.

However, there is no feeling of overwhelming joy that the Democrats have re-taken the House and tied the Senate. I marvel at the thought that, for a country that extols freedom to people who are so often unappreciative of it (or have no concept of it), we have so little of it ourselves. At least not political freedom. Sure, change was needed. Once they were in power, the Republicans had reneged on nearly every tenet of their Contract With America. It's going to be hard to trust them again. But it's unsettling that the party that got us into debt in the first place has quite nearly been given back control of Congress.

However, for all the talk of a great chasm dividing the country, the majority of people seem to have protest-voted only, not unsimilar to the British general election of 2005, when Labour was returned to power but with a greatly reduced majority. The Democrats have not steamrolled their way into Congress again. They only made the gains they needed to make life uncomfortable for Bush and the G.O.P.

Most people in the U.S. are starting to question Iraq. Not necessarily the war, but how it's been conducted. Let's face it, had Iraq not slided into civil war, the Democrats would not have stood a chance. But, for once, their negative, defeatist rhetoric finally started to click. So, the American people thought, let's try to stop the hemorrhaging. Now we see why the Democrats largely voted for the war�if it was a disaster, they could claim the high moral ground and toss around the "see, I told you so"s. And there you are. Due largely to Rumsfeld's failure to committ to more troop levels and to engage in more strategic planning, the war has not gone as packaged and sold to the public. Of course, the Democrats must be very thankful for the Shia mosque bombing last February. That was the tipping point into chaos and death-squads on the streets of Baghdad, and allowed the Democrats a sturdy foot on the ladder of protest politics. Their cynical raison d'etre for the war had just become reality.

At least most of us can take comfort in the thought that, if we supported the war, we did so in order that Saddam Hussein be brought to justice and his psychopathic sons never take power from him. Iraq was a problem that had to be dealt with sooner or later. The smashing of the Ba'athists left a power vacuum but the goal is to strengthen the Iraqi security forces so that they can back up the democratically elected Iraqi congress. Most Americans did not agree with Senator Botox that to be a soldier in Iraq meant you were stupid. Of course, he didn't really say that comment, he just didn't think it before he thought it�and then said or didn't say it.

But I suspect that a mounting debt and illegal immigration also came into people's voting habits this election and it was, admittedly, a good time for liberals as they could take full advantage of conservative in-fighting. The scandal over Mark Foley certainly didn't help things either. The pendulum was swung in the Democratic Left's favor. On this note, it'll really be interesting to see what happens in Bernie Sanders' Peoples' Republic of Vermont. Cheap Venezuelan oil to get through the harsh Northern New England winter, anyone? Good luck, Vermont�you get what you vote for.

An election dominated by protest voting and a new standoff between Congress and the White House. An election where one, and only one, party had to be elected to teach the only other party a lesson. The country is fubared.

� M.E.M.

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