Gloom and Doom
To be a Democrat in the Twenty-first Century is to be acustomed to failure. It's like being a fan of a perennially losing football or baseball team. Even when things look good, it seems likely that our candidates will whiff some crucial pitches, or drop that perfectly placed touchdown pass. The refs, of course, will miss those flagrant Republican fouls and spitballs.
Despite some promising signs, I can hardly dare believe we might get a piece of this government back, pass a couple of good laws, and, above all, start holding this reckless and foolish government accountable for its actions. Whatever happens, Bush will control the executive for another two and a quarter years, and thus will have great power to continue damaging our country. Maybe, though, the most outrageous recklessness can be checked. Maybe some of the thieving war profiteers can be brought to justice.
There are three guys in my head trying to sell me their predictions. The crazy optimist thinks that the American people will finally awake, throw out fifty or sixty Republican congressmen and six senators. The more rational guy says twenty congressmen and three senators, giving Dems a razor thin advantage in The House and a slightly better negotiating position in the Senate. The pessimist thinks it will all slip through our fingers, leaving the crooks in total charge of all three branches of government.
If the last happens, I expect the mood of the country to become far angrier. At a dinner party recently I heard two retired executives talking about it being time for a military coup. I was astounded. I don't think it can happen here, and I certainly hope it can't happen here, but the anger at the folly of our leaders is intense. If political seats were proportional to overall vote, the Dem's would win more convincingly than even my optimist thinks - but they aren't, and the two Parties have conspired to gerrymander safe seats for incumbents to a degree that makes much change very hard. The result is not good for the Republic.
Despite some promising signs, I can hardly dare believe we might get a piece of this government back, pass a couple of good laws, and, above all, start holding this reckless and foolish government accountable for its actions. Whatever happens, Bush will control the executive for another two and a quarter years, and thus will have great power to continue damaging our country. Maybe, though, the most outrageous recklessness can be checked. Maybe some of the thieving war profiteers can be brought to justice.
There are three guys in my head trying to sell me their predictions. The crazy optimist thinks that the American people will finally awake, throw out fifty or sixty Republican congressmen and six senators. The more rational guy says twenty congressmen and three senators, giving Dems a razor thin advantage in The House and a slightly better negotiating position in the Senate. The pessimist thinks it will all slip through our fingers, leaving the crooks in total charge of all three branches of government.
If the last happens, I expect the mood of the country to become far angrier. At a dinner party recently I heard two retired executives talking about it being time for a military coup. I was astounded. I don't think it can happen here, and I certainly hope it can't happen here, but the anger at the folly of our leaders is intense. If political seats were proportional to overall vote, the Dem's would win more convincingly than even my optimist thinks - but they aren't, and the two Parties have conspired to gerrymander safe seats for incumbents to a degree that makes much change very hard. The result is not good for the Republic.
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