Outcomes

[flexibeast]

So the US midterm elections seem to have gone more smoothly than i feared; apparently voting machine problems were more about failure rather than fraud, although i have read numerous accounts of 'oddities' (e.g. this). But people have commented that this election was not so much a victory for the Democrats as a loss for the Republicans:

[Democrat House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi has 34 percent approval ratings, slightly better than Bush's 31 percent . . . 85 percent of Americans said the “major reason” was disapproval of the administration’s handling of the war in Iraq, 71 percent said disapproval of Bush’s overall job performance, 67 percent cited dissatisfaction with how Republicans have handled government spending and the deficit, 63 percent said disapproval of the overall performance of Republicans in Congress, 61 percent said Democrats’ ideas and proposals for changing course in Iraq. Tellingly, just 27 percent said a major reason the Democrats won was because they had better candidates.

-- Poll: Bush hits new low

Nevertheless, with the Democrats in control of both the lower and upper houses, it will be interesting to see what happens. In an MSNBC poll, 87% of respondents thought that Bush should be impeached (which i agree with - if you can instigate impeachment of a president for having an affair and getting a blow job in the Oval Office, there are clearly a multitude of grounds on which Bush can be impeached); but i'm yet to hear of any such moves by the Democrats. There have, however, been suggestions that they will try to restore habeas corpus for enemy combatants. And Nancy Pelosi has proposed a long-overdue set of rules regarding the behaviour of House members. It would be nice if the basic salary for House members was restricted to the average salary of US workers, or, at a minimum, House members could not keep voting themselves pay raises; but somehow i don't think either of those things are going to happen. :-P

In any event, i hope that the changed makeup of Congress will curtail Bush's enthusiastic embracing of the Apocalypse.
 

Comments

[tantric-pixie.livejournal.com]

It would be nice if the basic salary for House members was restricted to the average salary of US workers, or, at a minimum, House members could not keep voting themselves pay raises; but somehow i don't think either of those things are going to happen. :-P

Oh how I wish. For those who are honestly fiscally conservative, you'd think this would be first on the list. Biggest waste of tax money ever.

[flexibeast.livejournal.com]

*sad nod* Indeed - but how many truly honest people are there in Congress? i suspect that being truly honest and being capable of being elected to Congress are almost mutually exclusive . . . .

[xanthrant.livejournal.com]

it's just like a boxer. you never telegraph your punches. yes, bush knows that impeachment proceedings may come, concidering the calls for impeachment have been getting louder over the raging din of "uber-patriotism" we have been forced to listen to for lo these 6 years....

even if we get what we want, we still will inheirit a larger mess than what we have. staying the course isn't helping, time for some important leadership skills. see, this is the problem with anyone being able to run for president (unless if you're a foreign born or an ex-felon): there is no requirement for the president to be a true tested leader.

[flexibeast.livejournal.com]

*sad nod* And even if one has the leadership skills, one would have to be willing to piss off a whole lot of influential people . . . .

[moondark-lady.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, I don't think you can impeach a President just for being an incompetent asshole - and we'll never prove he knew that the WMD stuff was a complete beat-up.

Still, as FOX News said in a moment of unintentional hilarity, "Nancy Pelosi, now standing two heartbeats from the Presidency ... " ... makes you think, doesn't it?

[flexibeast.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, I don't think you can impeach a President just for being an incompetent asshole - and we'll never prove he knew that the WMD stuff was a complete beat-up.

True. On the other hand, he was very aware of the scandalous domestic spying program (an issue which i've not seen covered by the Australian media), and ultimately authorised various human rights abuses (e.g. Gitmo, the process of "extraordinary rendition") . . . .

Still, as FOX News said in a moment of unintentional hilarity, "Nancy Pelosi, now standing two heartbeats from the Presidency ... " ... makes you think, doesn't it?

Indeed, although i'd sort of been expecting Hillary Clinton to be the next Democratic President . . . .