Wednesday Morning Coming Down
...and as the great Kenny Rogers wrote, and the greater Johnny Cash so daringly (*gasp!*) sang on the public airwaves, "Lord, I wish that I was stoned".
Not really, but I thought it somehow appropriate after "Black Tuesday". I even consciously chose a black shirt today to wear out of mourning.
And yet, I'm not really that depressed, or sad, or upset, or angry, or anything. I can't help but see the light of the Ramesh Ponnuru/Dean Barnett school of thought that says maybe, just maybe, this is a good thing. Conservatives that we elected into office have been behaving as anything but. I am a social-issues voter, and I cannot recall a single social issue that has truly been addressed at the federal level in my favor (i.e., in favor of my viewpoints) over the last six years, with the indirect exception of a handful of (ostensibly) conservative judgeship appointments, and the two new SCOTUS members. Even that was very nearly a disaster with the "Gang of 14" nonsense and the Harriet Myers debacle, and considerably less effective than it could have been, given the sheer number of truly good candidates left unconfirmed prior to election day. And forget about my small-government sensibilities! That bird flew the coop a long time ago.
But I must comment on one bright aspect of the whole post-election situation. Republicans and conservatives have been handling this with laudable tact and grace, almost entirely across the board, at least at the blogospheric level. We are not screaming "fraud!" like our competitors even preemptively did, we are genuinely wishing them the best, and we are taking in a stride the screaming hordes of the lefty fever-swamp are incapable of managing. It feels lousy to be a conservative today, but it feels great to be a sensible, rational, graceful human being.
Just imagine the outcry, the recount demands, the accusations of election fraud, the wailing and gnashing of teeth, and the finger-pointing if the Democrats had failed to win either house. I hope somebody goes back and tracks the recent history of Dem fever-swamp reaction at their own losses, and compares it side-by-side with ours. I suspect the contrast would be... startling.
Not really, but I thought it somehow appropriate after "Black Tuesday". I even consciously chose a black shirt today to wear out of mourning.
And yet, I'm not really that depressed, or sad, or upset, or angry, or anything. I can't help but see the light of the Ramesh Ponnuru/Dean Barnett school of thought that says maybe, just maybe, this is a good thing. Conservatives that we elected into office have been behaving as anything but. I am a social-issues voter, and I cannot recall a single social issue that has truly been addressed at the federal level in my favor (i.e., in favor of my viewpoints) over the last six years, with the indirect exception of a handful of (ostensibly) conservative judgeship appointments, and the two new SCOTUS members. Even that was very nearly a disaster with the "Gang of 14" nonsense and the Harriet Myers debacle, and considerably less effective than it could have been, given the sheer number of truly good candidates left unconfirmed prior to election day. And forget about my small-government sensibilities! That bird flew the coop a long time ago.
But I must comment on one bright aspect of the whole post-election situation. Republicans and conservatives have been handling this with laudable tact and grace, almost entirely across the board, at least at the blogospheric level. We are not screaming "fraud!" like our competitors even preemptively did, we are genuinely wishing them the best, and we are taking in a stride the screaming hordes of the lefty fever-swamp are incapable of managing. It feels lousy to be a conservative today, but it feels great to be a sensible, rational, graceful human being.
Just imagine the outcry, the recount demands, the accusations of election fraud, the wailing and gnashing of teeth, and the finger-pointing if the Democrats had failed to win either house. I hope somebody goes back and tracks the recent history of Dem fever-swamp reaction at their own losses, and compares it side-by-side with ours. I suspect the contrast would be... startling.
Labels: politics
posted by Benjamin at 11:49 AM
8 Comments:
You're right, Republicans ARE handling this calmly. I'm a bit depressed today, but the great fight will resume tomorrow, and life will go on as usual.
The difference will be that the Dems will now need to *govern*, rather than just snipe, and that will be a spectacle to watch. And is things get really crazy, Bush still has veto power.
I guess I'm most depressed about the Senate, because of the SCOTUS implications.
On the other hand, the one thing that bothers me about the "Republicans lost because they weren't conservative enough" argument is that it doesn't explain Santorum's loss. There's a guy who stood steadfast by his conservative principles, yet got trounced.
Yeah, I can't explain that one either, and being a current Pennsylvanian, that one stings especially hard. My best guess is the whole "repudiation of Bush" meme.
Then again, he seemed to toe a fairly Scriptural line in his politics, and we know, Scripturally speaking, that to be God's friend is to be the world's enemy. So perhaps it's the ostensibly well-principled individuals with raging popularity about whom we ought to be most cautious...
Ben, you're starting to get spam comments. Sign of a growing blog.
Well, I've actually been getting those for at least 6 months now. I had just been better about hastily deleting them until just now.
Bush is not a conservative on social and economic issues, except in a few cases (stem cell research, for one). But these are important issues. I think the most important implications of the loss of Congress are: appointments: SCOTUS, Bolton, etc.; foreign affairs: Bush looks like a gelding and these are dangerous times.
I think we can weather the storm of a Democratic Congress. The Senate is in our grasp and could actuall flip back if we bribe Lieberman enough. The House might take a couple of cycles to get back. The Dems can be counted on to make asses of themselves. The country has not turned "blue".
I think the thing that most makes this not as bad as it seems is the fact that it's a sixth-year election, and in terms of those types of elections, it was remarkable only in how small the margin of victory for the Dems was.
Minor point: it was actually Kris Kristofferson who wrote "Sunday Morning Coming Down".
That is all.
Thankyoudrivethrough.
you're right, and I apologize, humbly embarassed and embarassingly humbled. In fact, it was Mr. Kristofferson's image in my head as I wrote that, and for some reason, The Gambler's name came out of my fingers.
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