The results of last night weren’t too surprising. I’ve seen this country in foul moods before and watch it give in to knee-jerk, stupid moves (electing a B-movie actor being one); I recall the stories my grandparents told about the Depression and I’ve read the history texts. However, I am with Eleanor Clift, the Past isn’t always Destiny. Many say to look at the silver lining FDR, Truman and Clinton had with what the French call cohabitation. I plan to retain my skepticism since this gaggle of Republicans are nastier and more confrontational than their 1994 counterparts. Even Dirksen would defect to the Democratic Party if he knew Rand Paul was in the future.
Overall, I think we should all enjoy the brief, deep breath we’ll get before all the 2012 nonsense starts anew. Plus, these Teabaggers will show their true colors and the Republican majority will get slowly whittled away. Americans don’t have the stomach for “purity,” when their pork is at stake. The post 2004 efforts to use Social Security to featherbed Wall Street proved my point.