Big Changes Ahead
As this week comes to an end, it's time to take a look back and think about the changes we're facing as Americans and citizens of the international community as a whole. First and foremost, according to CNN and the other news channels, the most important change that happened was the end to the talentless Britney Spears' marriage to some other talentless loser. Also, apparently she hired a personal trainer, so that's big news too...but seriously, these elections were a great sign that the American people only took about 5 years to figure out that they'd elected a stupid and dangerous regime. Out are people like Katharine Harris, George Allen and Rick Santorum in favor of liberal candidates. Also gone is Donald Rumsfeld, who was inexplicably supported by the White House up until after they lost control of Congress. But what will these changes really affect in the next two years? Is it two years too late?
With the Democrats taking over the house there are many changes looming. First and foremost is the replacement of a conservative speaker with Nancy Pelosi, a San Francisco liberal, which should change the whole tone of the lower house. Not only that, but Senate is now blue as well. With both houses being liberal (well, centrist liberal) George Bush will have to placate to his opposition instead of intimidating them. The Democrats were incredibly weak as the minority, will they be able to step up to the plate now? I think there is some good leadership in their ranks, but there are probably not enough strong-willed liberals in there to make much of a difference. People like Ted Kennedy, Barney Frank and Barbara Boxer will be much more powerful now with their majority backing, but I cannot see the Democrats being capable of the kind of manipulation that the Republican party was known for. It's still too early to tell.
So what else is new? Many powerful Republican congressmen lost a whole lot of influence simply because the majority party is not their own anymore. People like Duncan Hunter lose their chairmanships over powerful committees (thank god) in favor of Democrats. That is where the changes will be felt most, within those committees. Congress will no longer be controlled by right-wingers, it will be controlled by left-wingers. The centrists will do what they always do and fade into the background in favor of their more outspoken colleagues. I hope that they do what they promise and go after securing health-care and social security for all Americans, protecting our civil liberties and bringing the war in Iraq to a close, but they will likely not accomplish all that much.
As for the other changes, the end of Rumsfeld's career does a lot for our foreign relations. Rumsfeld was the architect of the war and it was nothing but a house of cards. When it came crashing down on us all, he should have been fired like Mike Brown...instead he was given constant votes of confidence from the president and congress never did anything to oust him from power. The timing was strange though. Why would they wait until after the election to get rid of an unpopular person? Wouldn't it have helped the Republican party if Gates had been named as a successor before Tuesday? I am also not mourning the loss of bigoted Rick Santorum from the Senate. His entire term was spent bashing those who were not closed-minded Christian right-wingers. He promoted a connection of church and state, criminalizing homosexuality and did nothing to improve life in this country. I say good riddance!
The results of this election will be apparent very soon. The nation has shifted to the left thanks to the failed policies of the right. But it's only a matter of time before it shifts back, so it's up to us liberals to push for as much change as we can while we have the chance. Santa Cruz decriminalized marijuana, will San Francisco follow suit now that one of their own has real power in Washington? Could we finally see an end to the war on weed? Probably not...but it could be a start. We've spent too many years living in fear of an opponent who has attacked us on our soil just once in 5 years...maybe now we'll learn to fear those who have been attacking our civil liberties through the use of irrational fear of terrorism. I see big changes for the US ahead, but it's up to US as the voters to make sure we continue moving in the right direction.
One anti-media note...below are the headlines after the announcement of Rumsfeld's resignation
On CNN "Rumsfeld Resigns"
On Fox News "Bush: Stay the course means get the job Done"
With the Democrats taking over the house there are many changes looming. First and foremost is the replacement of a conservative speaker with Nancy Pelosi, a San Francisco liberal, which should change the whole tone of the lower house. Not only that, but Senate is now blue as well. With both houses being liberal (well, centrist liberal) George Bush will have to placate to his opposition instead of intimidating them. The Democrats were incredibly weak as the minority, will they be able to step up to the plate now? I think there is some good leadership in their ranks, but there are probably not enough strong-willed liberals in there to make much of a difference. People like Ted Kennedy, Barney Frank and Barbara Boxer will be much more powerful now with their majority backing, but I cannot see the Democrats being capable of the kind of manipulation that the Republican party was known for. It's still too early to tell.
So what else is new? Many powerful Republican congressmen lost a whole lot of influence simply because the majority party is not their own anymore. People like Duncan Hunter lose their chairmanships over powerful committees (thank god) in favor of Democrats. That is where the changes will be felt most, within those committees. Congress will no longer be controlled by right-wingers, it will be controlled by left-wingers. The centrists will do what they always do and fade into the background in favor of their more outspoken colleagues. I hope that they do what they promise and go after securing health-care and social security for all Americans, protecting our civil liberties and bringing the war in Iraq to a close, but they will likely not accomplish all that much.
As for the other changes, the end of Rumsfeld's career does a lot for our foreign relations. Rumsfeld was the architect of the war and it was nothing but a house of cards. When it came crashing down on us all, he should have been fired like Mike Brown...instead he was given constant votes of confidence from the president and congress never did anything to oust him from power. The timing was strange though. Why would they wait until after the election to get rid of an unpopular person? Wouldn't it have helped the Republican party if Gates had been named as a successor before Tuesday? I am also not mourning the loss of bigoted Rick Santorum from the Senate. His entire term was spent bashing those who were not closed-minded Christian right-wingers. He promoted a connection of church and state, criminalizing homosexuality and did nothing to improve life in this country. I say good riddance!
The results of this election will be apparent very soon. The nation has shifted to the left thanks to the failed policies of the right. But it's only a matter of time before it shifts back, so it's up to us liberals to push for as much change as we can while we have the chance. Santa Cruz decriminalized marijuana, will San Francisco follow suit now that one of their own has real power in Washington? Could we finally see an end to the war on weed? Probably not...but it could be a start. We've spent too many years living in fear of an opponent who has attacked us on our soil just once in 5 years...maybe now we'll learn to fear those who have been attacking our civil liberties through the use of irrational fear of terrorism. I see big changes for the US ahead, but it's up to US as the voters to make sure we continue moving in the right direction.
One anti-media note...below are the headlines after the announcement of Rumsfeld's resignation
On CNN "Rumsfeld Resigns"
On Fox News "Bush: Stay the course means get the job Done"
posted by Dan Pasternack at 4:10 PM
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