Election Results: Slamming on the Brakes

And just in time!

There are many explanations vying for the "why" the elections results gave the House and Senate to the Democratic party. For me the only obvious reason is enough people in our country saw that party in power was driving us over a cliff. One party not asking for any direction was a very, very bad idea.

Sadly the vote was too close for comfort as a sizable minority still was ready to endorse:

...unprovoked invasion and occupation, torture, and imprisonment by fiat...cheating to win, war crimes, torture, and administrative detention.

Oh, and a shitload of corruption.

I think a lot of voters were fed up this year. The fear of terrorists, or Democrats, lessened in contrast to the fear of having to explain to future generations why they did nothing to stop America from being the most hated country in the world.

If in one area this administration has been very successful, it's been getting the rest of the world to hate us. To abuse John Donne - No nation is an island.

We need the rest of the world and they need us. They need us to be faithful to our original democratic beliefs, to our constitution and the concept of the dignity of man (women, too).

To follow the metaphor of Escaping From A Car Hanging Over The Edge Of A Cliff, we still need to get out of the car, call a tow truck and repair the damage done.

The list of damage is huge and (with a divided government I don't think it will be repaired quickly enough) it may be impossible to correct most of the egregious harms done before 2008. Gitmo may not be closed. The troops may not yet come home, and so on...As long as there is a presidential veto.

But there is hope - if we can keep the center of gravity from plunging us over the cliff.