Lest we forget WHY we did all that work. Harry: Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid today called on President Bush to convene a bipartisan summit to find a new direction in Iraq. After yesterday’s historic vote for change at home and abroad, the time has come for the President to listen to the American people and work with Congressional leaders of both parties for a new direction. “Yesterday’s message was clear: Americans want change. It is time to put partisanship aside and find a new way forward — at home and in Iraq. Today, I ask the President to convene … Continue reading Our Leadership Gets Down To Work

So I had to file the column before I knew what the election results would be, and rest assured next week’s installment of Inside Athenae’s Offline Brain will consist of nothing but the words “whoo” and “pwned,” but given all the bipartisan jibber-jabber going around yesterday, here’swhat I think of all that horseshit: There’s plenty going on in America today that deserves to be talked about in partisan terms and talked about with the passion due its importance. Six years of near-unfettered Republican rule have brought this country to this point — mired in an unpopular war, shortchanging our military, … Continue reading Partisanship

Let’s see, lastFriday I predicted that the Democrats would net 22 House seats and 6 Senate seats. I missed the House total by 7, but nailed the Senate — much like the Democrats. Continue reading How Did I Do?

Hardlysurprising. Citing a lack of time, Focus on the Family founder James Dobson withdrew Tuesday from the team overseeing counseling for the Rev. Ted Haggard, the evangelical pastor who was fired amid allegations of gay sex and drug use. “Emotionally and spiritually, I wanted to be of help – but the reality is I don’t have the time to devote to such a critical responsibility,” Dobson said. Continue reading Dobson’s Cut-n-Run

..to nominate Joe Lieberman as his new SecDef, thus tipping the Senate back to his party. Oh well. Continue reading Chimpy Forgot…

Ah, what a smorgasbord of K-Lo angst to choose from today, fromscreaming at Bush for praising Senator-elect Casey to agreeing with reporters thatBush is a liar. But here’smy favorite. Colorado [Kathryn Jean Lopez] AP calls for Tester Posted at 12:42 PM AH, The Corner. I visited for the despair but I stayed for the stupidity. Continue reading K-Lo Post of the Day

FP/Getty Images/File And perhaps an assist in Virginia as well. UPDATE: I forgot Maryland. Thanks, Limpy. Continue reading Thanks for Missouri, Asshole!

“Stoopit God, Told Me I Would Be A Senator.” Peter Muhly/Reuters At leastKatherine Harris was gracious in defeat. “We fought a good fight,” Harris told about 150 of her supporters. “We knew it would be tough going against an incumbent.” Her supporters? Not so much. Bob Waechter, chairman of the Republican Party of Sarasota County, called it “a brutal election,” filled with negative campaigning. He blamed some of his party leaders for not fully supporting Harris after a divisive campaign. “There was a failure to come back together,” Waechter said. Ken Keating, of Sarasota, who spent weeks campaigning for Harris, … Continue reading Father God Lied To The Juggernaut

Ouch: They got to vote on one-party rule. They rejected it. They got a chance to vote local. They voted national. No matter what name was on the ballot, to many voters it read “George W. Bush.” And for Republicans, for the first time in six years, that was very bad news. A toxic stew of a war gone bad, politicians gone corrupt and issues not addressed left voters in vengeful mood, clearly voting more against Republicans than for Democrats. A. Continue reading Chi Trib: PWNED

This is what winning was like: ErinPDX: Tonight, surrounded by wingers who yell “under God”, I’ll shout “Indivisible” extra loudly Apprentice: White House trying to “rally the troops”. Um…I dont’ think angry troops coming at you with grenades with pulled pins in their hands is a good thing Moonbootic: i’ve drunk a whole bottle of wine in honour of your mid term elections 😉 TJ, ready: oh we are prepared, alcohol-wise. we are always prepared. we might freeze to death or run out of toiletpaper but we will NEVER run out of booze. Karin: MSNBC saying “raining cats & dogs … Continue reading Chat Excerpts

Read them losing ithere. Maybe we shoulda just used some nukes early on. I’m not crying over spilled milk. I’m buying ammo. Making plans for what is to come. Maybe we have wimps in this Nation, maybe we have allowed corruption in our government. On another thread I saw CAIRS candidate won in MN. You know what? I’m not gonna cry. I’m gonna fight what comes. The hand wringing about our fraudulent voting is over for me. If Terror wants to fight, if the dems want to help them, well. BRING IT ON! A. Continue reading Freepers Go Nuts

So there’s 400 squirrels, and they’re all given crack, and they all have a bad experience, and that’s whatthis is like: Are we allowed to say it now? Can we drop the happy warrior schtick? In the past six years, we’ve seen the deficit explode like never before in the history of the country. A flaming bra-burner nominated to the Supreme Court, only to be replaced by a (hopefully) stealth conservative. The most inept State Department in the history of the United States. (Clinton’s wasn’t incompetent; they were flat-out fifth columnists.) 20 million new illegal aliens, and barely-contained glee that … Continue reading Another Good Freepi Thread

I’ve had about four hours’ sleep, which is more than most people here have had. We were up all night, watching returns, figuring out all the angles, and I’ll post excerpts from the chat later because that was one fat fucking PARTY, and if you missed it, you at least need a taste. But I wanted to get something out there ASAP today. Don’t fall for the Republican spin. Don’t let yourself get caught up in the idea that if we don’t take the Senate, it’s all worthless. Don’t let yourself make this whole race about one seat, or two … Continue reading What You Did

Via TPM and Scout in chat, evangelicals decide that “not stealing shit” commandment is important: In a sign of a dispirited GOP base, most white evangelicals said corruption was very important to their vote — and almost a third of them turned to the Democrats. A. Continue reading Corruption for Jesus

This issome funny shit. A former [Republikkkan] state representative from Dripping Springs [Texas] has been accused of assaulting the man who defeated him four years ago. A witness said Rick Green shoved and then punched state Rep. Patrick Rose, D-Dripping Springs, while both stood outside a polling place this morning at Sunset Canyon Baptist Church east of Dripping Springs. Rose, who is running for re-election today, said Green shoved him, but didn’t land the punch. “Rick lost his temper,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that something like this happened on election day.” Green turned himself in this afternoon at the Hays … Continue reading A Little Local Soreloserism

Henry Waxman is going toinvestigate the shit out of Halliburton. A Halliburton subsidiary charged the Iraqi government as much as $25,000 per month for each of as many as 1,800 fuel trucks that were to deliver gasoline to Iraq after the 2003 invasion, but the trucks often spent days or weeks sitting idle on the border, says a report released yesterday by an auditing agency sponsored by the United Nations. Continue reading Another Reason to Elect A Democratic Congress

If you do not vote, do not expect me to listen to you bitch. If you did not help at least one of your favorite candidates, do not expect me to listen to you bitch. If you did not talk about politics with your family and friends, even if you disagreed, ESPECIALLY if you disagreed, do not expect me to listen to you bitch. If you did not do everything you could think of to do, find to do, had time to do, wanted to do, do not expect me to listen to you bitch. Look. We’ve only go so … Continue reading Today, Today, Today

No, I’m not talking about the closet. But I am predicting that if the Republikkkans lose both houses of Congress Ken Mehlman will lose his RNC chairmanship. Losing Congress will be their cover story, but the real reason is that Mehlman is a closeted gay man and they can’t afford to have him in the Chair’s chair as Foley revelations trickle out after today. Buh-bye Ken. AFP/File/Brendan Smialowski Continue reading Mehlman Is Out!

Wow, they didn’t even let her on the stage with the president. Damn, what row is she in, anyway? AP Photo/Mari Darr~Welch So, the politician who will head the Republikkkan ticket in tomorrow’s election has to sit in the stands with the volunteers and phone-bankers, and then she is only mentioned as an afterthought in the Chimp’s remarks along with the candidate for Florida Secretary of Agriculture. Now that, my friends, is asnub. I’m proud to be here with Senator Mel Martinez, one of the fine United States senators. (Applause.) Tomorrow you get to vote for a new governor, and … Continue reading Juggernaut Update: OUCH! Edition

Road Kill AP Photo/Chris O’Meara Continue reading Juggernaut Update: Final Edition

How long beforethis Pony Blow statement is proven to be a lie? I’d say weeks, not months. MR. SNOW: To begin, some non-election related news out of Iraq. First, there were stories yesterday that Zal Khalilzad would be leaving as ambassador after the elections. Not true. No imminent plans for departure. The President is glad Zal is an effective ambassador. Consider yourself officially on the shit list, Charlie Crist. Q — hear from Charlie Crist at all yesterday? MR. SNOW: No. Q Did anyone from his campaign reach out? MR. SNOW: Don’t know. Continue reading Today on Holden’s Obsession with the Gaggle

Turnabout is fair play. Go make a phone call. Ask them why they hate veterans, while you’re at it. A. Continue reading Disgusting Creeps

Fromyesterday’s Froomkin, which was uncharacteristically delayed. Here’s Bush in Greeley, Colo. , on Saturday: “No doubt — let me say to you, if you’ve got a relative in the military, I wouldn’t have your loved one in the theater if I didn’t think we’d win. (Applause.) I can’t look at the mothers and fathers and husbands and wives of those who wear our uniform who may be in Iraq, and say, it’s noble, but not think I can — we can win the — the only way we can win is if we leave before the job is — I … Continue reading The Only Way

Go read. Then vote! A. Continue reading Happy Howard Photo: GOTV Edition

Pony Bow and the President are inFlorida where the Republikkkan gubernatorial candidate refuses to be seen with the Chimp. Q What about Crist? Is that — do you regard that as a snub? MR. SNOW: No. Look, he says he wants to go around and go for votes around the state. The President is going to be campaigning for Charlie Crist today. He will mention him in the speech, and he’s also going to be talking for other candidates. You’ve got to keep in mind, these events are not only important for revving up Republicans who are in the vicinity, … Continue reading Today on Holden’s Obsession with the Gaggle

Otherwise known as the“how long after tomorrow before we forgive them and allow them room in the debate again?” question: But let’s not get distracted. Point is — questionable hook-ups. We, as ordinary citizens, all know how we get out of this: you stop returning the crazy person’s calls. We promise never to bring it up when drinking. Several years from now, when everything’s scabbed over the two of us can joke about our mutual lapses in judgement while sharing a fine Rolling Rock beverage. Don’t return their calls on Tuesday. It’ll suck for a while, and they may bomb … Continue reading The Hookup

Evangelicals have anodd sense of humor. In a separate letter, Haggard’s wife drew laughter when she promised to remain with her husband and said church members no longer had to worry about her marriage being so perfect she couldn’t relate to them. Continue reading Gayle Haggard, Comedian