We, the People

It's now 36 hours after it became clear we'd done it Tuesday - we'd won the House and were on our way to capturing the Senate. But the magnitude of what we accomplished is just hitting me.

Do you realize what we did on Tuesday?  

We took our country back. We took it back from the most extreme, venal group of ideologues who had pledged to wipe out their opposition forever. They foresaw a permanent Republican rule, and they were changing the system to make it so. They began dismantling checks and balances. They started changing laws so that they'd never need to worry about oversight. They gerrymandered districts so that even if constituents started to wake up and get pissed off, their power would be safe. They controlled the messaging from the media, whom they had intimidated into doing their bidding. They have been completely out of control, and they were well on their way to dismantling the foundations of our government to ensure that they stayed that way.

We didn't just "pick up seats in a mid-term election." We did far more than that.  

We took our government back.

An America numbed by consumerism, popular culture and despair woke up and said, "Enough."

It took all of us. Every one of us who diaries and comments here, and even those lurkers who take what they learn and express that outrage to their family and friends. It took the courage of average people like Harry Taylor, the North Carolina man who was jeered last April for telling the president: "I, in my lifetime, have never felt more ashamed of, nor more frightened by, my leadership in Washington."

It took the bravery of those military men and women who have begun speaking out, and of lifelong Republican voters who had the humility to realize that they were wrong. It took the determination of working people and single parents who had to struggle to get to the polls and vote for change.  And to vote for change despite the growing suspicion that the powers that be have rigged even the voting process to maintain their grip on power.

It took every dime that was contributed, every bumper sticker affixed, every yard sign erected, every phone call placed, every door knocked, every envelope licked, and every flyer printed.  It took every letter to the editor -- even the unpublished ones, since those give the media a sense of the depth of outrage in the community.

The outrage was deep, and visceral. Collectively, it was enough to move a mountain.

This was an uphill battle, asymmetric warfare, David vs. Goliath. This was the power of the people against an entrenched elite that has shown it will stop at nothing to stay in charge.  

We did it, folks. We the People. We set this listing ship of state back on course.

The Framers would be so proud.