Election Results: BOO-YAH!

It's sort of a weird feeling: I have been so down on anything the government (either federal or state) has done lately that I hear "Today, in Washington" on the news and I automatically cringe. But in the wake of the sound electoral beating about the head and neck that the Democrats just laid on the Republicans, I actually feel something now that I haven't felt in years.

Hope.

• I've watched as the big money has influenced the government to lie about the realities of global climate change and to cease enforcement of envivronmental laws that have given our country clean air and water.


• I've watched as big oil businesses have coerced our country into putting more of our country's hard-earned tax dollars into getting them rich while abandoning attempts to find other sources of energy that would be cleaner and give us real energy independence.


• I've watched as religious zealots have attacked our country's freedoms, both from inside our borders and outside.


• I've watched as our president told bold-faced lies about another country to the United Nations and us in order to get us to declare war on them, then watched as he let big businesses use our troops as muscle while they set up shop to make money off that poor country.


• I've watched as our status as a greatly respected nation in the world has dwindled to that of a third rate banana republic.


• I've watched as our president has attempted to take benefits away from the veterans of the very war he started.


• I've watched as state officials have tried to devalue our democracy by pushing through attempts at voter suppression and coercion.


• I've watched as our president tried to take away the money we've so honestly put into the Social Security Administration and give it to Wall Street.

But now, we have hope. I was listening to the comments of Senator-Elect Sherrod Brown of Ohio today, and he gave us a message of hope - that real economic relief, smart spending, balanced budgets, real environmental enforcement, and a timetable for ending the Iraq War are all coming.

Today, I feel good. We'll see what tomorrow brings, but for today I'm happy with the world.