WOW !!!! How decisive can it be? "Throw the bums out" was the call of the day.
I never expected the full "run of the board" that occured.Then the swift removal of Donald Rumsfeld was another welcome surprise. As the latest inept move by Bush his letting Rumsfeld go after the election rather than much earlier probably cost the Rs at least a couple of important seats. Additionally it pleases me to see the repudiation of Rove, as the Napolean of politics, being humiliated. Another "nasty",
currently under investigation for some irregularity, who deserves humiliation is Grover Norquist, of the Americans For Tax Reform club. His quest for "tax reform" is to give the big money people carte blanche to keep their ill gotten gains and to hell with everyone else.

Now it is up to the Dems to produce some worthwhile legislation and help Bush find a more useful course to follow. Analysts have been talking about the need for each party to move toward the center. If that is where the majority of citizens are that is a good place to be. Moderate Rs and moderate Ds should be able to work together to accomplish good legislation rather than ideologic head banging. Time will tell.

It is imperative that the ME situation be resolved at least to the point of stability. It is in the interest of all countrys, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq to find a stable state of affairs. The Israeli, Palestinian problem requires outside influence and pressure to come to a viable solution also so there is much opportunity for sagacious heads to prevail and get past the deadly tit for tat that goes no-where.

I would like to see a thorough examination of the U.S. position and evaluation of our interest in the ME. Obviously oil is the prime concern but it is also our achilles heel. As long as we remain shackled to our dependency on oil from the ME, and the continuing felt need for our presence there, we will be faced with the dire consequences of being "occupiers" of sacred lands and for whom many jihadists are willing to give their live to drive us out. We have the basic technology to utilize alternative energy sources, what we lack is the poitical will to pursue it. That has to change. Hopefully the new Congress and Senate will face this challenge

In the New York Times of Nov.6,2006 there is a lenghty article by Dexter Filkins entitled "Where Plan A Left Ahmad Chilabi". It printed out at 22 pages. It is well worth the time to look it up as it gives an authoritative report of the rise and fall and influence of Chilabi, a key player in the Iraq War. Previous blogs of mine have mentioned the prominent goverment officials who had dealings with him and how he manipulated them and how they used him, first as a source then as a scapegoat. He has his side of the story also and the Bush team doesn't come out smelling too good.
His main promoter was Richard Perle, serving on the Defence Advisory Committee. Recently Perle has denounced the Bush administration for its incompetence and poor judgment. The story has legs, as Chris Matthews might say, and it comes into clearer focus every day.

Tomorrow will be the big referendum on how the country feels about our govermnment, or lack of it. Because it is such a catastophe, because it is entirely the result of the ideologic hubris of the Bush administration, I will NOT refrain from saying-"I told you so". Right from the race for the Republican presidential nomination I figured Bush was hand picked by the big money interests and this turned me off from him. Then the campaign his people ran, under the direction of Karl Rove, and the way they slimed Sen. John McCain in S. Carolina I was even more disgusted with them. There has been one thing after another that has confirmed my distrust in the Bushies.

One of my main concerns is the devastation they have visted on the environment. The cynical disregard for water and air quality all in the name of protecting the bottom line for large corporations. Bush has proven his allegiance to big money. The total disregard for energy conservation, actually encouraging profligate oil consumption by not increasing gas mileage requirements. His recent discovery that "we are addicted to oil" is laughable if it weren't so pathetic.

The real tragedy of 9/11 is the role it allowed Bush to assume as a "war President". Naturally the country rallied around the flag under such an onslaught. Then he betrayed the trust of our nation by embarking on his ideologic mission of toppling Hussein on the pretext that Iraq posed a threat to us. All this is now unravelling as more and more facts surface to expose the fiction spun by the Administration to convince the country to go to war.

So tomorrow the people will voice their disaproval and disappointment with those who led us into such a costly debacle. It will take much time, if ever, for the U.S. to regain the trust of the world and our good name. Bush has much to answer for. If they had just asked me six years ago all this could have been avoided.

Now if they want my advice, and probably no one does, I say let the Democrats have a go at it the next two years and while they are doing their own screw-up the Republican moderates can get their house in order so's to be ready for the mext presidential election in 08. Unfortunatly John McCain is so enamored of retaining Bush's "base" that he may just lose the Independents who can't stand the religous right. John better start saying some "moderate" things and distancing himself from the Bush agenda or I won't accept responsibility for the outcome. Just remember--"I told you so".