Well, How 'Bout That...

Everyone said they wanted change, and so they got together and made some.

As of right now, the balance is:

Electoral College votes: 349 Obama, 162 McCain
Congress: 254 Democrat, 173 Republican
Senate: 54 Democrat, 40 Republican

So, we have a trifecta of a Democratic President and both chambers, with a clear hold on power (oh, will Al Franken get in as the junior Senator for Minnesota? If he and a couple of others do, then it's a filibuster-proof Sneate majority.).

But what will they do with that power? How could one even begin to address digging Uncle Sam out of the enormous manure pile Bush & Co. have piled up on top of him?

Bear in mind also that while the Democrats have a clear preponderance of elected representatives, the popular vote is still deeply divided:

Democrats: about 63.2 million votes (52%)
Republicans: about 55.8 million votes (46%)

That's not a great popular mandate, and it shows how the American system can get just as skewed between popular vote and representation as ours can, but in a different way. (http://ltmurnau.livejournal.com/191373.html) That's less than eight million votes' difference of the total 137 million votes cast - which was only 64% of all the 214 million votes that could have been cast by all registered voters, and an even smaller percentage of the who-knows-how-many-million Americans who could have voted but did not even bother to register. (Though in fairness, good on the Yanks for getting as historically good a turnout as 64%, apparently the best in the last 45 years.)

Any-hoo, that's 56 million people out there who will just as energetically declare that Obama is "not my President" as fervently as many left-wingers denied over the last eight years that George W. Bush spoke for them, or for America as a whole, on anything. That's not a judgement, it's just the way things are, and if the Ewe Assay can't get its act together on this, then the Democrats will have frittered away what, on this day, looks like a chance for some substantive change.

Or Not.

LIFE DURING WARTIME

Heard of a van that is loaded with weapons
packed up and ready to go
Heard of some gravesites, out by the highway
a place where nobody knows
The sound of gunfire, off in the distance
I'm getting used to it now
Lived in a brownstone, lived in the ghetto
I've lived all over this town

This ain't no party, this ain't no disco
this ain't no fooling around
No time for dancing, or lovey dovey
I ain't got time for that now

Transmit the message, to the receiver
hope for an answer some day
I got three passports, couple of visas
don't even know my real name
High on a hillside, trucks are loading
everything's ready to roll
I sleep in the daytime, I work in the nightime
I might not ever get home

This ain't no party, this ain't no disco
this ain't no fooling around
This ain't no mudd club, or C. B. G. B.
I ain't got time for that now

Heard about Houston? Heard about Detroit?
Heard about Pittsburgh, PA?
You oughta know not to stand by the window
somebody might see you up there
I got some groceries, some peanut butter
to last a couple of days
But I ain't got no speakers
ain't got no headphones
ain't got no records to play

Why stay in college? Why go to night school?
Gonna be different this time
Can't write a letter, can't send a postcard
I can't write nothing at all
This ain't no party, this ain't no disco
this ain't no fooling around
I'd love you hold you, I'd like to kiss you
I ain't got no time for that now

Trouble in transit, got through the roadblock
we blended in with the crowd
We got computers, we're tapping phone lines
I know that ain't allowed
We dress like students, we dress like housewives
or in a suit and a tie
I changed my hairstyle so many times now
don't know what I look like!
You make me shiver, I feel so tender
we make a pretty good team
Don't get exhausted, I'll do some driving
you ought to get you some sleep
Get you instructions, follow directions
then you should change your address
Maybe tomorrow, maybe the next day
whatever you think is best

Burned all my notebooks, what good are notebooks?
They won't help me survive
My chest is aching, burns like a furnace
the burning keeps me alive
Try to stay healthy, physical fitness
don't want to catch no disease
Try to be careful, don't take no chances
you better watch what you say