Dude.

So, George Allen and Michael Steele went down hard. Democrats inched back into relevance, taking over the House and possibly the Senate (Virginia! Montana!), a holyfuckingshit development of the shut-the-hell-up! variety.
It's like the Democrats should have carried brooms with them the way fans do at the end of baseball sweeps. Would that the Orioles made the playoffs this year, or, heh, any of the last six to ten years. Life woulda been that much sweeter.
Anyhow, today's an important day. After recounts and election talk, it'll be a delicate Democrat dance. And as infectious as optimism and momentum is, there's a little voice in the back of the world's collective unconcious that's askin all kindsa questions, like:
Will they govern with credibility and authority? or with reactivity and partisanship? Will they be snakes in the grass; Republicans in sheep's clothing? because with some "Democratic" candidates, Lucy's got some 'splainin to do.
They'll change course in Iraq, sure. (Who the hell knows if it will be for the better.) That's the whole reason the've regained some measure of power. But what about healthcare (Aetna should really be pronounced Nyet, as in Russian for "nothing" as in they fucking suck.), poverty, social security (my 401K has gotta mortal wound, is bleeding from its belly), and adjusting national priorities as regards the environment, globalization and international relations, i.e. getting the hell out of countries we don't belong in-- both fiscally and in other ways?
Can they make habeas corpus John Yu -proof or will they emulate Republicans and try to straddle the red and blue divide like spineless dickheads? Will they embrace a truly liberal base or will they look the other way when so-called "conservative Democrats" attack the rights of gays and immigrants and pro-choicers? Will they restore civil liberties or embrace the morality-free military industrial complex in attempt to shed their "weak" reputation? Will they fall prey to war-mongering defense contractors whose money they could surely use in 2008?
What about privacy, the broken immigration and prison systems? And in the international realm, is there the slightest chance they'll rethink our preposterously uncritical alliance with Israel? In other words, will they lead -- lead with moral goddam authority and liberal goddam ideals?
The Green Party represents many of these liberal -- true left -- ideals, but former Naderites for years have been soundly rejected by the liberal intelligentsia. Mainstream media have ignored and marginalized the Greens for so long, it's gotten fashionable in the coffeehouses. After they were blamed -- in what I believe is a shameless and cowardly argument -- for the 2000 election, it became official: it ain't easy being Green. (Didn't that poor little bastard Kermit speak the truth.) But, for the most part, they represent something -- they represent souls that aren't for sale, and this gives me hope.
What I'm saying is, I hope the Democrats follow suit and don't fight their battles on Republican territory as they've done with gay marriage-ban apologists, bigoted immigration concessions, chest-heaving security initiatives. I hope they fight on their terms. It should be a no-brainer: people follow when you stay true to your ideals unapologetically and don't waffle to please everyone. Everybody respects balls.
Now something tells me I may be asking too much, expecting too much. Whatever. All I'm saying is that this is important. I just hope that all this optimism and momentum doesn't wind up in a trail of disappointment, which would turn quickly I expect into disaster.
Because the world can't -- and won't-- wait.