It's Always Darkest Before The Dawn

As the end to one-party rule grows closer in this country, the desperation of the Republican Party to retain the stranglehold they have had over our nation grows stronger. These next six days will be unbelievable in terms of the shit that will fly and will make 2004 like a tour through the candy factory. For instance, the President said on Monday that a Democratic victory means that "the terrorists win and America loses." Yes, the President of the United States said that. I mean no hyperbole in stating that these people hold contempt for the democratic process, which has been evident in the way they have governed. And they will stop at no low to prevent themselves from being held accountable to it.

So don't be shocked at anything they say or do from now until next Tuesday. We've already mentioned the crazier-than-usual campaign ads. But there's another trick up the GOP sleeve. It's... Diebold ...the faux-scandal!!

The Republicans have been waiting for a chance to go on the offensive and Sen. Kerry unintentionally handed it to them with a comment about students needing to educate themselves and avoid mistakes later in life like 'getting stuck in Iraq' as the President has, which was misread as him attacking the intelligence of the troops. Kerry tried to make a decent point, worded it poorly, and ends up looking like an idiot. I believe that was called "2004". In a sane world, this gaffe would be worth mentioning on page 8 or 9 of a newspaper, but the GOP is treating it like it is the biggest scandal in months (just go to Michelle Malkin's blog tonight and watch the insanity unfold). Why is this getting so much hype? Because it's all the Republicans can do at this point-- get mad at a non-issue and attempt to use it to rally their base against those evil Democrats.

After all, would they rather be out there discussing the Iraq war? The Afghanistan war? Outsourcing? Stagnant wages? Torture? The dangers of one-party rule? The constitution? The Katrina aftermath? The deficit? Etc? No, none of those things are important to the GOP. They'd rather get mad at gays for trying to get married or at Democrats for daring to run for political office or at Kerry for putting his foot in his mouth.

After six years of rule, is this all they have left? John Kerry's verbal gaffes, Drudge says Jim Webb loves father-on-son pedophelia, the specter of Nancy Pelosi and her 'San Francisco values', and the nonexistent Democrats who wants to raise your taxes and surrender to the terrorists? If that is- and it is- then that is more reason to throw these bums out.

Faced with an obvious loss of the House (though now they are claiming that as long as its not by a huge margin it won't be a real loss) and a potential loss of the Senate too, they are pulling out all the stops. These are the last desperate gasps of a party that has been in power too long and yet still has no accomplishments worth noting to run on.

Every second we waste talking about this is a second we should be talking about the war, etc. For instance, this morning I read about an American soldier who has been abandoned in Iraq. There is some controversy over where the orders came from. This, apparently, pales in comparison to the Kerry gaffe.

John Kerry, who has a history of taking too long to say the right thing, did sum it up good yesterday after this 'controversy' erupted: "they're afraid to debate -- you know, they want to debate strawmen because they're afraid to debate real men. Well, we're going to have a real debate in this country about this policy. The bottom line is: These Republicans want to distort this policy. And, this time, it won't work because we are going to stay in their face with the truth. No Democrat is going to be bullied by these people, by these kinds of attacks that have no place in American politics. It's time to set our policy correct. They have a stand-still-and-lose policy in Iraq, and they have a cut-and-run policy in Afghanistan. And the fact is, our troops, who have served heroically, who deserve better, deserve leadership that is up to their sacrifice -- period."

Both parties would surely admit that this is one of the most consequential midterm elections in the last 50 years. But only one party is treating it like the serious national debate that it is. The incumbent party is treating it like a joke, beating every stereotypical campaign tactic into the ground and ranting hysterically about things that affect no one's lives. Is it working? I don't know, I can't imagine that, after all we've been through, that it is. It does genuinely seem that, this year, people are looking past the trees and seeing the forest.

6 more days, 6 more days...