It's Foley's fault, it's Hastert's fault. It's the GOP's fault.

* corn:

"Children, pay attention. If you're a president who misleads the nation into war and then mismanages that war, you might sneak past a reelection but then bring ruin upon your party. The Bush-wreaked reality trumped the Rove-designed rhetoric--finally. The voters chose not to stay his course. The market worked.

* blumenthal:

"The Bush kitsch warriors have created a cultural iconography that attempts to inspire deference to the radical making of an authoritarian presidency. These warriors pose as populists, fighting a condescending liberal elite. Wealthy, celebrated and influential, their faux populism demands that they be seen however as victims.

Having risen solely by association with sheer political power and economic force (News Corp., etc.), the cultural charlatans become the arbiters of social standing (especially in a capital lacking a secure and enduring establishment). In Washington, the more status-conscious elements of the press corps, aspiring to the shabby fringes of the talk-show media (the low end of the entertainment state), often serve as publicity agents in the guise of political experts, and it is from this platform that they then derive greater status. Indeed, the conservative kitsch cultural industry is centered in Washington, where Republican political power has protected philistinism from the ravages of cosmopolitanism, unlike in New York, Los Angeles or Chicago.
[]
With their fabrication of faux identities, Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld were of a piece with the other cultural warriors. Fashioning themselves in the image of historical characters was ultimately fashion. Rather than the real things, they were impersonating the genuine articles. And after the judgment of Election Day, they were revealed as historical reenactors without the costumes."

* Ace:

"Yesterday we lost our last, best chance for a majority consitutionalist court.
[]
This is the GOP's fault (with an assist from HRC, Democratic operatives, and the media, of course).

But the reaction to it was ultimately up to each individual voter. If some voters chose to punish the GOP by punishing themselves-- well, that doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
[]
And now (schumer) has the majority. He doesn't have to resort to anti-majoritarian trickery and obstructionism anymore. He can claim, credibly, to represent the majority of America when he insistst that only "mainstream" -- meaning liberal -- judges be appointed to the court.

It's Foley's fault, it's Hastert's fault. It's the GOP's fault.

All true.

But I can't help but think some spectactularly anti-strategic voting by outraged social conservatives has punished us all."

* some rightwingblogger:

"WINNER #1 -- THE TERRORISTS
Over and over the past several months, Americans were told that if they didn't vote Republican, the terrorists would win. The American people have now spoken. By a decisive majority, Americans say they'd rather wear be blown to smithereens than to see guys like Denny Hastert running the show. Having failed to export democracy to the Middle East, democracy now will import the Middle East. The people have spoken! Vox populi, vox dei!"

* everyone's excited about bill maher outing ken mehlman on larry king. me, i love this line:

' it's ironic - the republicans - the anti-abortion party is always trying to kill something inside of themselves"

* athenae:

"If you feel yourself starting to come down from the adrenaline rush, just repeat to yourself: Senator John Tester. Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

This is why we didn't give up. This is why we didn't back down. This is why we kept fighting and kept arguing and kept donating and kept calling and kept writing. This is what it feels like when you look the inevitable in the face and you tell it to go fuck itself. This is why you hang in, for years and years, and never quit, and never stop.

Not.
One.
Inch."

* me in january:

" i wonder how long till we hear, repeatedly, that 'all politics is local'?"