GayPatriot

The Internet home for American gay conservatives.

Thoughts (before turning in) on the Democrats’ Victory

by

As I prepare to head to bed, I do so with a certain sadness.* I had thought the GOP would hold onto the Senate, but it looks like the Democrats ran the table on the close races. I think in the end, you had a standard 6th year election, yet had Republicans held onto their principles, they could have minimized the damage and limited their losses.

One thing which had not entered into my somewhat optimistic forecast on Monday was something that one of the panelists on Fox pointed out — that in the past year, four Republican Congressmen resigned, two of them (Foley and Ney) within the past six weeks. (Interestingly, Ney’s seat was the only House seat Republicans lost in Ohio, so the “Taft curse” only extended to statewide races.) People felt that congressional Republicans had become too smug in their power.

I think perhaps the Foley scandal slowed any Republican momentum. Had he been the only Republican Congressman to resign, it might not have registered on people’s minds, but his resignation followed that of Duke Cunningham and the former Majority Leader, Tom DeLay.

And the Democrats did a great job of recruiting candidates, many of whom ran on conservative platforms. So, it’s not all bleak for our ideas. While the House leadership will be left-of-counter, the House Democratic caucus will be more conservative than its current makeup, something which may put a check on the excesses we might otherwise expect.

It’s a good night for the Democrats. They did a great job in tapping voter discontent with a complacent GOP majority which has lost its moorings. Now that they have won an impressive victory, they have before them the more difficult task of governing. And they may well succeed.

The silver lining in this all is that at least it proves wrong some Democrats’ claims that President Bush is a fascist. For a fascist leader would have prevented the opposition from winning such a victory.

And another silver lining is remembering that the tension in 1995-99 between a Republican Congress and a Democratic president produced a consensus domestic policy with a number of notable reforms. Perhaps now with a Democratic Congress and a Republican president, we may see similar progress.

One can only hope.

* I guess I have some sense how Democrats felt two years ago.

Comments

  1. Enjoy a big slice of humble pie before you got to bed pal.

    You and your rude, hateful, self-righteous wingnut rants as well as this blog are now IRRELEVANT.

    Good luck bashing the Democrats on supporting equal rights for all.

  2. Ah, but you see, David, the Democrats DON’T support equal rights for all.

    That much was made plainly obvious this evening, when several of their candidates, with national support, were elected — by running on a platform that included support for antigay state constitutional amendments and legislation.

    Your Speaker supports legislation and amendments stripping gays of rights.

    Your Senate leader supports legislation and amendments stripping gays of rights.

    Your past three Presidential candidates have supported legislation and amendments stripping gays of rights.

    Your party head has made it clear that the party platform really believes that gays do not deserve equal rights.

    And, as I enjoy pointing out, your argument of “equal rights for all” apparently includes state constitutional amendments, the FMA, and DOMA, all of which have been supported by Democrats.

    You’ll simply have to come up with better than that.

  5. 2: really? Please provide proof for all those statements (and verifiable proof – not links to other conservative sites). While not all politicians (either republicans and democrats) support equal rights for gay citizens, it is Republicans who have led the charge in trying to exercise social control over the population through legislation.

    All this talk about loving freedom by the Republican party is nothing but smoke and mirrors. The Republican party has allowed itself to become controlled by neo-conservatives and (more importantly) religious nutcases. Let’s face it folks – strict christian religious dogma isn’t compatible with democracy; it’s based on a strict authoritarian rule entrenched in the bible.

  6. Some closing thoughts I have are as follows…

    Bush cooperate with the Democratic majority? Don’t bet on it. Not if Vice-President Cheney’s statement last week is any indication. On Iraq, I expect the Administration to turn a blind eye to the electoral results.

    Of course, a major difference will be the Republican caucuses open rebellion. With Bush a lame-duck, there will be no loyalty in the GOP to the President anymore. President Bush is simply a one-termer who road 9/11 to 2 more electoral victories than he otherwise would have got. He’s not a good speaker, not a particularly deft politician and those flaws will now be on display for all to see.

    Thus, the GOP would be smart to not ignore yesterday’s results. For if the Administration continues to just maintain the status-quo in Iraq, refusing any substantive change in direction, they will only further anger the electorate. To do so will imperil the Republican hopes of holding the White House in 2 years time.

    Finally, we should remember how fortunate we are that political change can come in this country without any violence. It was always over the top to compare Bush to a fascist or a Nazi. That comparrison was just silly.

    That being said, Bush and his allies do share one thing in common with the Nazis. After the last election, Karl Rove, Tom Delay and all the Republicans spoke of a permanent Republican majority, one that was to last a generation or more. The Nazis also spoke of political dominance. They were supposed to have a reich of a thousand years. In both cases, the length of the supposed dominance was greatly exaggerated.

    Still, the speed with which the Republican majority collapsed, after its so thorough victory just 2 years ago, is one for the history books.

    And that’s the world we live in today.

  7. Don’t give up yet! How long do you think it will be before Conrad Burns or George Allen goes running to federal court to ask some activist judge to decree him the winner? It can still happen!

  8. If you think Dems are now gonna admit America is a real democracy….think again. If you think they can admit Lieberman’s victory disproves their “referendum on Iraq” crap….think again.

  9. “I expect the Administration to turn a blind eye to the electoral results.”……….rumsfeld soon to be gone. the subpeonas are gonna fly. the corruption remains but will be exposed. if bush gets in the way of the middle class, he’s gone. republicans in the minority for the foreseeable future.

  10. Please provide proof for all those statements (and verifiable proof – not links to other conservative sites).

    Kevin, Kevin, you just don’t get it, do you? Case in point, Pelosi and Reed’s vision:

    I believe marriage should be between a man and a woman. I believe in our federal system of government, described to me in college as a central whole divided among self governing parts. Those self governing parts—the 50 states—have already decided this on their own in state after state. For example, in Nevada the constitution was amended to prevent same sex marriage.

    Or do you need more reminding of this?

    Or maybe this as well, especially that part about:

    The Democratic Party platform from 2004 says that marriage is between a man and a woman. That’s what it says.

    Meanwhile, no less than forty-five states now have laws explicitly constraining hate-filled leftists like yourself who claim that Republicans want to put gays in concentration camps — and who unfortunately also argue that being gay gives them the right to make that slander.

    Furthermore, several of those states just elected Democrats who support Pelosi and Reed’s beliefs above — that gays are a malleable and desperate electorate who will gladly defend any position Dems take as “pro-gay” and “gay-supportive”.

    I’ll give you them this, Kevin; with you as a typical gay Democrat who can’t even admit that amendments stripping gays of rights are antigay when Democrats support them, we can see why.

  11. I actually would like to say thanks to Dan. For once, I appreciated one of his posts. While you do know what Democrats have now gone through, losing close races that change everything, your post was congratulatory and for once, not so filled with hate for Democrats, many of whom aren’t so different from you and Bruce. It was nice to read it. And frankly I agree that while the balance of power has shifted, it hasn’t shifted that far to the left. No one will be pulling out of Iraq tomorrow and frankly I don’t think you’ll see much change in the next two years short of a minimum wage increase.

    What you will get though is a Congress that will not waste its time demonizing you for your sexuality. There will not be a Federal Marriage Amendment discussion again. Maybe, just maybe, DADT will come up for discussion and can be overturned. I wouldn’t hold my breath.
    At least now many of us gay Americans can breath a collective sigh of relief that our sexuality will no longer be a target for discrimination on a federal level and we can focus on things that matter to all Americans.

    In any case, appreciated your post. While I know it sucks to be on the losing end, I hope even you see that our government is a better place without people like George Allen and Rick Santorum who demonize gay people. Hopefully not only will the Democrats continue on a moderate course for the next two years (with some changes that are long overdue), but hopefully your party will cleanse itself of this hypocrisy and most to the center so that gay people can make choices on real issues without concern over their sexuality.

  12. #8:

    republicans in the minority for the foreseeable future.

    I hadn’t realized it but a shift in majority from one party to another in the House is quite rare. Before yesterday, it had only occurred once in the previous 50 years.

    Poor old NDT – ranting so hard he’s virtually incoherent. Probably off his meds.

  13. Wow, instead of being gracious winners, all I see from most of the lefty commenters is the same vitriol they throw in our faces every day.
    You guys have a lot to learn from Dan, The Dems won, and he congratulates them. It is time to learn some civility.

  14. Though I will say to Leah, if you haven’t bothered to read any other comments on this blog, then don’t bother us with your diatribe on Democratic vitriol. In fact, just go one post above Dan’s and read exactly the response you get from the other “patriot” on this blog. That is a sore loser. I, as a Democrat, graciously thanked Dan but of course you ignore that. Not all Dems are going to choose not to say nanny nanny boo boo to these “patriots.” Some of us will. Just like some “patriots” are gracious losers and some are not.

  15. NorthDallasThirty….

    I can think of one good result for the gay community as a result of the Democrats controlling Congress.

    The Federal Marriage Amendment.

    As long as the Democrats control Congress, the FMA won’t be getting a vote or any floor time for debate. Like NBC’s ill-fated, but aptly named, tv show “Kidnapped”, it’ll just disappear.

  17. #12. “Lefty commentators”? Don’t you mean MoonBatSockPuppetLeftLibGayBorgAmericaHatingDemPlantationLovingTerroristEnablers? What is this “lefty commentator” person you speak of?

  18. My post-election thoughts: the GOP will have to do some soul searching after this loss. They have become what they used to despise. What needs to be done now is stop spending like a drunken sailor, the ends to not justify the means, & try (just try) to admit that you were wrong in some cases. A few years in the political wilderness (& just a few – the Dems WILL screw up) will do you good. Any damage done by the Dems can be repaired. That’s the beauty of politics, nothing is permanent. This just wasn’t the GOP’s year. Tough noogies Republicans. Swallow hard & take your lumps.

  19. why all of this arrogance and anger? are we THAT childish? we’re in this together and we voted on it TOGETHER (Iraq I mean, after all it was the DEMS who eventually gave Bush the ok to invade Iraq). So why are we acting like two year olds
    Rachel, the Democrat

    ps Europe is estatic over the Dem control…since when do we need Their ok to do anything? They let Rwandans and Sudanese, Somalia and Serbia suffer, so why should I give a rat’s a$$ what they want out of our president?

  20. LOL!!! Twist and turn and triple lutz. The contortions are fascinating.

    LOL….and yet, backed up by completely-referenceable and linkable sources.

    I always find it amusing, jimmy, that when you and Ian are confronted with clear evidence of what you would call homophobia in anyone else, you can so completely ignore it.

    And that is why, as I posted a few days ago, gays will remain politically irrelevant.

  22. LOL….ah yes, “blind party hack”.

    As you’ll eventually find out, David, I pull no real punches in either direction, but I am twice as merciless on people who lie about their antigay bigotry — like the Democrats I cited — and the gays who, like you, mindlessly support them and their stances.

    The ultimate in hypocrisy is gay Democrats like yourself arguing that you are allowed to look past your own party’s homophobia for larger reasons, but refusing that privilege to gay Republicans. Were that to go away, we could have a more-meaningful dialogue — but you and your fellow gay leftists would have to accept us as human beings and admit that you were duped, and that’s not about to happen.

  23. look marriage, nuptual and spouse up in the dictionary. marriage is a religious institution. civil unions is what you go for(if you find a church that will perform a ceremony,so be it). you silly boys waste all this breath, time and money on a pipe dream. to top it all off, you want to spit in the face of goodhearted men and women who take seriously the vow: to death do us part. you can’t change the language with the wave of a fairy wand. grow up and learn to critically think. and btw can you say chairman pelosi.

  25. re markie and wedding vows
    I wonder what a gay wedding vow would be. Seems rather silly since there is no intention to be monogamous from the outset for almost all gay couples. Those that are silly enough to have that fantasy soon change their mind. So, yes, you have a point, there is absolutely nothing spiritual in a gay marriage. If one let’s other parties come into the union at will then I don’t see how it can be. Maybe the vow should be “till I find a new roomate”. When one thinks about the reality of gay life the whole subject seems utterly absurd. These unions do not in any way resemble anything like a marriage, they do not create anything that endures through the generations and are therefore merely two self indulgent individuals who want to be recognized as somethhing they aren’t. Isn’t it ironis how gay society has always had the “drag queen” and is now looking to have “gay marriage”. To me gay marriage is no more a marriage than a drag queen is a woman. More of a parody of it. The drag queen looks ridiculous trying to act femmine with a football players build stuffed into a dress and mincing about. The gay couple pushing the shopping cart in the grocery store with one scolding the other over something looks just as silly. Personally, the whole subject embarasses me no end. If some guys want to live that way tthen fine but let’s be serious, it ain’t nothhing but a thang, actually two thangs, two miss thangs. No way they are ever going to make society think it is respectable no matter what they do or call it.

  27. At long last… a gigantic wooooooooooshing sound…..

    as America, suffering a 12 year long bout of severe constipation, finally defecated and a huge “log”jam of Republican detritus was flushed down the toilet into the septic tank of history. Thank gawd for a major dose of Ex-lax.