alternitive title: "Running government is hard"
We are always asking if the Rs won, why are they still so angry?
I've been thinking about this, too, and I think I have the answer. For the longest time the R's were the minority party (talking Congress - after all that's where things get done). For decades that have said that things were going to hell in a handbasket and could only get better if they ran things.
In during Reagan despite a few set backs thing generally improved. thanks in no small part to the D house and Senate, jobs increased and the soviet empire fell. Then in 1994 they got back control of Congress, and again (thanks to the Big Dog) things generally improved. More jobs, better wages, peace and prosperity.
Meanwhile the Rs. Looking at their House majority, were saying to themselves: "This government crap is a piece of cake, I bet if we ran the whole thing, life will get even better!" Then 2000 came and the managed to control both houses and the presidency. What happened? Job losses, thousands of Americans dying, terrorists and no one brought to justice, and a war devoted to one man's Oedipal complex.
They had to defend torture, huge budget deficits, big government, lower military recruitment, and the Iraq clusterf*ck. And they don't like being held accountable. They criticize, they don't accomplish. They were in charge, yet everything was going wrong. What did they do? Lash out at any and everyone who did not proffer blind obedience.
Even after winning in 2004, they soon realized that they would have to actually, you know, govern. And they didn't like that. Things were still going to hell and they had no answers other than clap louder. After years of being able to blame their problems on Democrats now, way down deep in their black hearts, they know that they have screwed things up. Their ideas of tax cuts and war has really messed things up. An yet after a four year object lesson, they still went back and voted for C+ Augustus for another four years, without fully thinking through their actions.
Now looking back they realize that things have gotten worse, but rather than own up to their failures, just like the 80s and 90s, they look for someone to blame. You see, they're right about
everything and if things are going bad there must be someone other than them at fault.
Hang on, kids, it's only going to get worse in the next four years. Keep your heads low and poke them with a sharp stick as much as possible. After all when you bearbait the bear rarely comes out on top. We're smart, attractive and thoughtful. We run government better, we understand the benefits of critical thought - rather than blind obediance. We will, as we always do, clean up their mess soon enough and leave the world a better place than when we found it. Because that is what Democrats do, and we're damn good at it.