I Wake Up in a Changed America

Democrats have majority control of the House. We're on track to taking the Senate (as long as Joe "Mortal Kombat is destroying our children" Lieberman votes with the Dems, not something I'm optimistic about), and Donald "Waterboarding isn't Torture" Rumsfeld has resigned.

It is a changed America.

Do I think that we're going to be pulling out of Iraq, raising the minimum wage and issuing socialized health care in the next few weeks? No. But what this does, is offer what could very well be the best part of our American system of government: checks and balances. Our government works best when one party controls the legislature and another controls the White House (Reagan and the Dems in the 80s, Clinton and the Repubs in the 90s), only because it tends to keep the kinds of shenanigans that come with a representative electoral process to a minimum. They know that they can't act without reprisal, because the balance of power is delicate. When the balance tips, we have problems.

I do expect some progress to be made. Depending on how well the Democrats do, it's conceivable that a Dem could win the White House in 2008 - but what would that do for the balance of power? Depends on the Dem, I suppose. Hopefully it's Not Hillary. Then I won't be able to enjoy Grand Theft Auto 5. But things will probably change, albeit at the typical glacial pace of democratic politics. More importantly, America's image as a democracy stands a chance of being restored in the international community - something that's far more important.