November 11, 2006 07:19 PM UTC

The Road Ahead

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• by: tmgt

I’d like to take a moment to honor our veterans.  Thanks to those who serve this nation.  Thank you for all you have been through, and to all those who are serving now, are all going through still.

They say this past election was a referendum on the Iraq war.  For many voters, I am sure that played some part.  Maybe a large part.  But not all.

There was so much more.

Let’s not forget Katrina.  Let’s not forget the venomous talk radio spots by wing-nut Neocons who insisted that if you were too dumb, too poor and too transportation challenged to get out of the way of the storm, you deserved to die.  Let’s not forget that as a Nation, we were appalled and embarrassed by such blatant and bigoted Social Darwinism.

Yes, Darwinism is alive and well, in of all places, the Bible Belt.

Let’s not forget the loss of our freedoms instituted by our Über Emperor, the Unitary Executive Bush. Civil Rights have been trashed by this administration and scandalously supported by a fearful public.  Maybe I am wrong, but I really thought that our armed forces were charged with the responsibility of securing our freedoms.  Yet under the Executive Office of this land, and instituted by the Pentagon and the Attorney General of these United States, we have been spied upon without warrant.  We have lost the right to habeas corpus, and violated with impunity, the Geneva Conventions.

So, with Rummy’s resignation and with a new legislative body installed, what are my predictions for the next two years?

Not much will change.  Most policy issues will remain the same.  The culture of power and corruption will ease. 

There will be a number of investigative hearings.  I don’t really expect any jaw-dropping revelations.  We know about the no-bid contracts.  We know about shameless earmarks attached to bills in the middle of the night.  We know about the collusion of  corporate interests with the office of the Unitary Executive and his minions.  We even know that the evangelicals were lead down the garden path, right into a brier patch.

Any hearings held will basically be a giant group therapy session- an opportunity to bitch, vent and attach blame. The GOP will be taken on a well-deserved trip to the woodshed. We’ll all have a National “good cry” and hopefully get it out of our collective system. 

But, will there be great changes ahead?  Probably not.  Welcome to gridlock folks.

If the Democrats overreach, and move too far to the left, they will be out in two years.  This will set up the GOP for a massive 2008 election victory. 

If the Democrats govern from the Center they will certainly be the targets of the “100% purists” on the left – i.e. Lamont v. Lieberman.

If the lefties don’t learn the difference between compromise and capitulation, these newly elected Blue Dog Dems will be one term wonders.  The liberal leadership had better get a grip on creating a real working majority, and must be willing to let go of the purist push, or they will be pushed right over the edge and pitched out the door.

Members on both sides of the isle had better take a good hard stare at what fiscal responsibility should look like.  They should hold down deficit spending.  They should address the trade deficit with China.  They should eliminate pork-barrel projects.  Getting our financial house in order should be the first order of the day.