| 08 November 2006 Staying the Course? I was savoring the delicious feeling of unemployment in the lobby of Big Pink. If you have not felt it recently, it is composed of equal parts elation and nausea. I stopped to dissect the election results for Amare, the Eritrean man who has the evening shift at the Concierge desk at Big Pink. “The incumbents went door-to-door,” I said authoritatively. “They controlled the board from the inside. They had a good mailing list and saturated the electorate with advance solicitations, They had the absentee votes well in hand. The challenger never had a chance.” Amare looked at me passively. I had the distinct impression that he did not particularly care who had won the Condominium Board election. I left him to go upstairs and see who else had been elected. I don't know whether the mid-terms contributed to my strange mood. I haven't felt this way in a long time. At the office, we used to joke about which heating grate we would pick to spread our war-surplus blankets, and what symptoms of dementia we would chose to display to the frazzled commuters on their way to the 14th Street Bridge. It was grim humor, and now that the moment had finally arrived, I felt pretty good, and not demented at all. In fact, I had a pretty busy day outlined. I don't know how I had the time to work before. I haven't had a vacation in years, so a little break is good. I have been in sensitive negotiations with several firms with which you are familiar, and believe that I have secured a favorable corner on which to position my hot-dog cart. My business case includes a fresh concept: I am going to wrap the Hebrew National-brand frankfurters in a new, original homeland security memorandum, printed daily. My plan is to include either chips or a drink, and I am betting that my clientele will take both. Like the man said, profits are in the mustard the customer leaves on the plate. I watched the returns until I saw the dimensions of the Democratic victory. It was a convincing win in the House, some twenty-six seats, where they only needed fifteen. The Senate won't be settled for days, even though one of the question marks will be resolved shortly. Montana's Conrad Burns is probably going to go down, although it will be close. Since only eight people live there, it shouldn't take long to do the recount. The Virginia Senate race is more problematic. It is going to be razor-close, with Webb just shading incumbent Republican Allen. The Senate majority hangs on that one, and it is one in which I was honored to participate. The Dems rode a wave of public anger to victory. Everyone has adopted a little of the “POI” attitude. My friends in the war zone call it the “Pissed Off Iraqi” syndrome, people fed up with the fact that nothing works. No power, no water, no nothing. Not that we have a great deal to complain about here, from a creature comfort perspective. I sense a lot of POAs out there- pissed-off Americans. Corruption, incompetence, and hypocrisy seemed like the main issues. I am not sure it was completely about the future. Because of the extensive Gerrymandering of the last decade, in which the Democrats were complicit, the Republicans who lost were largely replaced by solid conservative Democrats. The districts may have changed their colors from Red to Blue, but they certainly did not change them to lavender. The new Dems are going to be disoriented when they come to town. The new Leadership is going to be a real surprise to them, since it is composed of some rock-ribbed Progressives who stayed their own course through the last twelve years in the wilderness. It will be interesting to watch their reaction. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker. Jane Harman or Alcee Hastings, Select Intelligence, Harold Waxman, Government Reform Committee. Charlie Wrangle, Ways and Means. Barney Frank, Financial Services. Dave Obey, Appropriations, the Queen of all the Committees of the House. They have been roughly elbowed out of the process, insulted and patronized every step of the way. There is going to be some pay-back, big time. If they can resist the temptation to go over the top in the bloodletting, it may set the stage for the real debate on which direction the country will go. The New Democrats seem to be inclined to fiscal responsibility, and other traits that used to be the sweet-spot for the GOP. The old Democrats will be inclined to commence a circus of hearings and subpoenas, and the new Mr. and Ms Smith's going to Washington are going to have an eye-opening experience. It is also close to Karl Rove's worst nightmare. It is curious that the one thing everyone, loyalists and POAs alike seemed to agree on: Secretary Don Rumsfeld has been designated as the poster-child for the war effort in Iraq. The President said he could stay on to the end of the administration, though he did not use he words "staying the course." I wonder if he will? That is all I have time for today. I have to start printing the wrappers for the hot-dog cart. I wonder if I factored the cost of the ink-cartridge into my business case? That could affect my ability to stay this course, you know. Copyright 2006 Vic Socotra |