I've been listening to a couple radio talk shows that are trying to determine what it is that sealed the Democratic victory over the the House and ( potentially at this point ) the Senate. Everyone seems to believe that it is the war in Iraq or the Abramoff/ Delay/ Foley scandals.
I decided to walk across the street today and get lunch at an Oriental restaurant. As I gobbled down my Korean spicy pork I listened as the hosts bickered back and forth and took calls from listeners. I couldn't help but want to laugh when people said, "Well we just needed change." Additionally, I couldn't help but shake my head when the host suggested that people, "just decided to vote entirely down the Democrat side of the ticket." in an absolutely disgusted tone of voice as if that was some sinful act deserving of no forgiveness.
I know I live in a red state, but it would be nice if the word, "Democrat" could be removed from the state list of four-letter-words.
Getting on to the purpose of this post . . . After I finished my main course I opened up my fortune cookie and set the fortune aside. I devoured the tasty little cookie and grabbed my glass of Code Red ( my favorite soft drink ) so that I could refill it. Since I needed ice I decided to take the fortune with me and read it on the way to the ice machine. I couldn't help but laugh when I read the fortune and recalled the events of the last 24 hours or so.
The fortune read, "Confucius say:show-off always shown up in showdown."
For me, this is why the Democrats control the House and ( quite possibly but not yet - as of the time I am writing this ) the Senate. It isn't the war in Iraq. It isn't the scandals. It isn't anything like that. It's everything. The talk show hosts are missing the forest for the trees. There is no one single item that brought about this change. It's the way things were done.
The last six years legislators and the executive branch have acted as if they had a free ticket to do whatever they wanted using whatever means they chose without fear of retribution. It is the war in Iraq ( or lack of reason for invading Iraq ). It is the way the scandals were handled. It is the way that legislators try to legislate morality. It is the Patriot Act and the fact that no one read it before they voted on it. It is the way the 911 commision was handled. It is the lack of oversight. It is the fact that there was no assistance for Katrina victims. It is record oil company profits and no alternative energy plans. It is turning people against each other on the basis of religion. It is the way that the executive branch can do things ( usually deemed illegal ) but get away with it anyway. It is the outing of a CIA agent. It is Social Security. It is NSA wiretapping. It is stem cell research. It is name calling and negative ads. It is taking away habeus corpus. It is using scare tactics. It is The Medicare Prescription Plan. It is illegal aliens and the lack of border control. It is eminent domain. It is the lack of representation of The People's interests and preference given to corporate interests. It is Halibuton. It is all of the money.
And when questions are asked about these things what happens? We aren't supposed to ask; We're supposed to worry about gay marriage. It is six years of the same old stuff.
In summary, it may have come down to a couple items of interest for individual voters. Perhaps some people are more interested in the war in Iraq or stem cell research. Regardless, the fact remains that a change has taken place. I believe the reasons are so wide and diverse that it effectively be termed, "The whole thing is a mess." Was it something special for you? Leave a comment and tell me.
Once again it is November and for the past ( to be honest ) I'm not sure how long, you, me, and every living creature has been subjected to political debate, radio ads, television ads, mailers, fliers and every other form of political campaigning.
