Daniel Ortega Returns To Power
Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader must feel as if he woke up trapped on the set of “Groundhog Day”. The problem for him, of course, is that no matter how many times he wakes up, he will still wake up to the same reality. No longer will be he able to steamroll Democrats in Congress. No longer will he be able to treat those in the opposition as mere inconveniences who can and should be ignored. Democrats have the House, and while control of the Senate is still an open question this morning, there is little doubt that voters last night blew up the remnants of their 1994 Contract On With America.
No reasonable observer can predict with any degree of certainty what the next two years will hold. Will Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader hold forth in mortal ideological combat against Democrats? Or will he recognize that a good part of his legacy depends on what happens between now and January 20, 2009?
To make matters even more entertaining, Daniel Ortega is back in power in Nicaragua. I’ll bet all you born-again red meat Republicans never thought that you’d EVER have to hear the word “Sandinista” again, eh? Man, is this a delicious irony or what? For the next two years, Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader is going to have to deal with the reality of Nancy Pelosi AND Daniel Ortega…or, as they’re known in Republican circles, Betelgeuse and Beelzebub- twin offsping of different mothers.
Pelosi has promised to work to “drain the swamp” in Congress after 12 years of Republican corruption, ineptitude, and self-interest. She’s gone on record about the first 100 hours of a Democratic majority in Congress, which in her mind should be enough to make a significant dent in the current culture of corruption. That may be an optimistic assessment, but even if Pelosi and her fellow Democrats fall short of their ambitious goal, it will at least be a major step in the right direction.
From where I sit, if Pelosi and her Democratic allies can enact all of her goals for the newly Democratic Congress’ first 100 hours, they will have accomplished more in slightly more than 4 days than Congress has done since Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader was sworn in on January 20, 2001.
I’m finding myself having to fight off the temptation to gloat, but the reality is that there’s too much work to be done. The mess Republicans have left is too big to waste time on enjoying their demise. Last night’s victory was only just the beginning of what promises to be a lot of hard, tough work ahead. You don’t just clean up 12 years of corruption overnight…but you can start.
Oh, and Daniel Ortega has yet to hold a press conference to disclose how he will spend the next two years tweaking Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader. VIVA LA REVOLUCION!!
Stay tuned….
