republicans get what they deserve

So the Republicrats have lost control of the house in a big way. They're struggling to hold on to the Senate via Cheney's tiebreaking power. It seems that even if they manage to hold on for a split they'll have lost any momentum and sway needed to accomplish much. Add to that the Rumsfeld resignation -- which I'm not convinced was necessary but the GOP needed a scapegoat and Rummy was too easy a target -- and it looks like total chaos in Washington. If you're a Republicrat, at least.

Big deal, I say. It's not like our home boys were doing much of anything great up there anyway. They did manage to run up sizeable budget deficits and keep quiet about immigration, and that was more than enough to earn my disdain. I guess they did also stay behind the effort to take the war to where it belongs, regardless of how bad that's going and how much fixing is needed there. But as a whole I'd say they didn't do much the Democraps wouldn't be proud of.

Yet many insist we should be upset that suddenly the other guys are getting behind the wheel? Come on. It's not like the direction of the country will change dramatically or anything. Okay, they might step on the gas a little more and approach that cliff of America's demise a little quicker, but the change will likely be too slight to notice. Like frogs in warm water, "conservatives" (I use the term loosely here to represent those that claim to be conservative) get all uptight when the water starts warming too fast but are content to let you destroy what they stand for slowly. Just don't make any fast moves or you might wake them from their slumber of ignorance.

To that end, I think it could be a good thing that the Republicrats got the solid a$$-kicking they needed. The country was certainly going down the tubes before, though I admit that much won't change in the short term. But I can think of two reasons off the top of my head to not only not join in the pity party but be happy with the results of yesterday's beat down.

First, the GOP has needed the wake-up call for too long. Even lukewarm conservative Americans have been getting tired of their spineless appease-them-all crap. That came out in this election in the form of droves of moderates flocking to the Democrapic camp and many conservatives either not bothering to hit the polls or voting for outside candidates with real values. In a better world it would snap the current GOPers out of their funk and bring them back around to the ideas they claim to stand for. In today's world I don't hold much hope of that happening. But at least they've been temporarily derailed from that moderate, "let's focus on emotional issues and be careful not to address any real problems" crap. Whether or not the impact reached their principles remains to be seen.

Also, since most things our government does these days are bad, a deadlock in Washington could mean less bad stuff gets shoved down our throats. Neither major party is reliable to abide by the Constitution or keep the feds from further encroaching upon our lives. Neither seems to care about the regular 99% of Americans without huge money or influence. Neither seems eager to make any substantive changes to the status quo. So if they just sit up there and bicker and argue about who's better than who, and fail to pass new laws or spill their ideas over existing ones, America wins. When it comes to federal power and greed, nothing is better than something.

So let there be much rejoicing!