I feel a little like the former bomber pilot in the movie The Best Years Of Our Lives. After a stretch of riding on the edge, of pouring all your energy into something, it’s a little jarring to switch back to the humdrum of daily life.
And my daily life isn’t even all that humdrum these days. New job (yay!), all sorts of family shenanigans – the usual stuff.
The run-up to the election was incredibly exciting; there is no feeling quite like the one you get when you know you’re fighting the good fight at long odds for a just cause.
Election night was, of course, an epic rush – six and a half hours of pure talk radio adrenaline. And the news – seeing that our efforts were being rewarded, mostly, and our just cause was on the roll nationwide – was enough to keep the adrenaline going. And the event – election night at the Sheraton – was one of those things I’ve loved more than just about anything, since I got into radio; talking with the movers and shakers, being where the news is happening – booyah!
And today’s the morning after. It’s a good morning after; the day after the ’06 and ’08 elections were a lot more disappointing. But still – as the need for energy has waned, so has the energy. Or maybe it’s just the “morning after the morning after” kicking my butt; I got three hours of sleep after the election, and suffice to say that today, the adrenaline has worn off.
There is much to do, of course.
- Get our new GOP majority to go on the attack.
- Investigate the Minnesota and HHH polls. This is going to be a very serious project.
- Keep asking the questions of Mark Dayton that the media just…couldn’t…bother with before the election.
- Oh, yeah – the recount.
But for today? Family. New job. Clothes shopping.
Sleep.
Readjust.
If you went dark for a coupla days (have a guest host, run some Greatest Hits, that sorta thing) for some reallife/RnR, I for one wouldn’t hold it against you. It’s not like you owe us anything.
So what is the new job?
Now that the election is over, we can focus on “Environmental Justice” and “Food Justice”. The second was really said by a San Francisco council man/women/non-gendered-person after banning Happy Meals.
Get our new GOP majority to go on the attack.
Subset: Get our new GOP majority to commence the Ritchie hearings.
I would disagree with “go on the attack.” Given the fact that things are still highly divided, I think it’s important that the GOP lead by showing more class than the Democrats–a LOT more–and lead by getting basics taken care of. Revive ethics panels. Eliminate pork and earmarks. Mandate roll call votes–no voice votes or “deemed passed” kinds of games. Write it into the House rules if possible, daring the Democrats to stand FOR voice votes, earmarks, “deemed passed,” and such.
If the Democrats don’t allow it, make it unofficial–get the whip to say “no, you don’t allow ANY pork or earmarks or voice votes”, and stick to it.
Then, when you’ve got the press understanding that you’re actually delivering the framework for a far more ethical Congress, THEN you go for the solar plexus and start really advancing the agenda.
Put gently, the press will cover for the ethical lapses of Democrats, but will not for Republicans. To overcome this, the change must be so obvious, that even the AP will notice.
It’s good for the soul to take a little break now and then.
Echoing MoN, “So what is the new job?”
I like Bubbasan’s ideas.
To get us out of the entitlement mess we are going to need both budget cuts and tax increases. For this to happen politically we need to restore confidence that congress is acting on the nation’s behalf. No more Jack Murtha’s or Duke Cunninghams.
Humdrum is a good word for the post election. But it was a victory for all, and that will not change.
I just ran across this re Bush’s book:
“He has an abiding confidence in how this process will roll out,” Rove, who talks to Bush every week or so, said in an interview. “At the White House, I’d be steamed up about something, and he’d say, ‘Listen, history will get it right, we’ll both be dead, who cares?’
It is impossible to imagine those words coming out of Obama’s mouth.
There is a lot about Bush I didn’t like, but sometimes I miss him.
I, too, like bubbasan’s ideas, except for being nice.
It has never done the GOP any good to get along with liberats and I do not see that changing. In fact, Lindsay Gramnesty is already talking that smack in D.C.
That’s not humdrum. That’s afterglow. Relish it. And congrats on the new job!
Now boss, I didn’t say “be nice”; I’m thinking simply to cut the trash talk and being a gentleman on the lines of, say, Joe Louis. Not too many people he fought would call him nice, but all would call him a gentleman, I think.
That’s a horse of a different color. Thanks for ‘splainin’ it to me.