Odds and Ends, Rants and Raves

OK--it looks like a number of progressive bloggers are sorting things out right now--including yours truly. I've been reading the usual websites, and have found any number of posts expressing, quite eloquently, many of the thoughts going through my head. Regarding said thoughts, yes, like anyone hoping for sanity and the end of Bush's reign of error, there's been quite the range...

Hubert Humphrey High lets the anger flow--and no, there's nothing wrong with that. Kerry can be commended and condemned, and hell yes I've done my share of both. Trying to win the election was a steep hill to climb under the circumstances, but Kerry made plenty of mistakes--not the least being that he, and the party leadership, still seem to think there's some sort of "gentleman's honor" in the game of politics. If I ran the Kerry campaign, for instance, I would have personally promised to kick John O'Neill's fat, flabby ass on national television if it could be arranged--right after shoving a copy of his book and video down his lying throat.

If I was running the Kerry campaign, I would have run television advertising placing George W. Bush next to Osama bin Laden, a la the smear campaign against Max Cleland in 2002. I would have run television advertising noting that if everyone in the National Guard did what Bush did back in the 70's, we would already have lost in Iraq (not that we're going to win--Iraq is OVER except for the withdrawal of the troops). I would have run the dauphin's flight suit stunt over and over--and maybe juxtaposed it with Robert Acosta's statement.

Instead, Kerry tried to stay above the fray. That works fine for people who think, i.e., Kerry's, and, by extension, the Democratic base--but red state types (that is to say, red staters who are true believers) require a diet that includes a little bit of professional wrestling. It doesn't have to be the candidate himself--proxies work just fine--but you need to promise some smack down. I don't like that, but it's the way things are.

I've also seen several posts of this variety from Steve Gilliard. Bush got his re-election--and he's got majorities in both houses to boot, not to mention the chance to pack the Supreme Court with lord knows whom...and, on that note, let me thank the younger voters who DID turn out. It looks like a number stayed home, unfortunately. Note to them: if/when a woman's right to choose is REALLY taken away--not just rendered impractical thanks to the paucity of abortion clinics--don't say you haven't been warned. Also, when you are called up for military service--to become cannon fodder in the Iraqi meatgrinder--likewise considered yourselves informed. Getting killed can really ruin your day. So can losing a limb, or your eyesight, or control of your body thanks to nerve damage.

And don't think you can simply refuse an order because it's too dangerous.

Sorry, I got sidetracked. Anyway, Bush no longer has anywhere to run. He no longer has anyone to blame. What happens in the next twelve months, not to mention the next four years, will be all his.

Something tells me that it's not going to be pretty.

David Corn tries his best to look at some positives. For instance, 49% of those who voted saw through what he termed "the buck naked and butt ugly" emperor. Yes, that's a good thing. Corn goes on to note what Gilliard does: that Bush will have to clean up the mess he's created. But he ends feeling like most of us--"I can't stand [the] "good" news. Same here, David. I don't care if dealing with Bush's mess is the ultimate sour grape--I wanted to see Kerry pop it into his mouth.

Ian McGibboney captured a lot of what I felt while watching the returns with this post--hell, as late as yesterday afternoon conservatives were looking for targets to blame. Well, let 'em gloat, I guess--because when the shit DOES hit the fan, it's gonna splatter all over them.

I saw something over at Pandagon suggesting that the left avoid the mistake of demonizing the South as a region of racist homphobes who only stop beating people with baseball bats long enough to catch what Brother Swaggert barks about on Sundays. To which I'll say "amen." Hey, there ARE progressive voices in the South. For instance: not that it's a gigantic victory, but last night Baton Rouge elected Kip Holden, a progressive Democrat, mayor. There were untold numbers of Kerry/Edwards signs in evidence here, and not just around LSU.

Are there complete creeps who have more toes than teeth, and less upstairs than the average invertebrate? Of course--apparently they comprise more or less 57 percent of the voting public. However, there are a large number of progressive Southerners who have to wince not only when the grass eaters win, but when the rest of the country thinks they speak for us as well. No, we're actually fighting hard to overcome these folks--it will just take time--and education.

As for myself, tonight will be a day off from the news media--the first in a long while, even if I don't post on weekends. Instead, I'm going to treat myself to a nice dinner, a few glasses of my favorite alcoholic beverage, and go from there. The sun will rise tomorrow...

And when things start going badly thanks to Bush's utterly insane policies, I'll be watching, noticing, organizing--and posting. He may have won, but he's still wrong.

Later.