A month ago, on November 8th, the clouds broke over America and the rest of the world too. Hope shined through. The train wreck that looked like it was hurtling towards the end of democracy was stopped.

The right wing mentality and mindset was rejected by a strong majority of Americans, leaving the Reublican party with nothing but it's limp, faded, tired talking points of tax avoidance (which most now see as wealthy parasites living off the poor and the middle class,) Fear (which most now see as a ridiculous emphasis on terrorism, since the right has performed so badly in Iraq,) and hate, intolerance and xenophobia in the form of anti-gay, anti-immigrant mean-spirited activism.

Right wing radio could be dying as it's idiot talking bobbleheads have been proven by the elections and the Iraq Study Report to be totally wrong.

The centrist DLC/ Hilary dumbocrats/republicrats and the Republicans are trying to spin the elections as a win for moderates. That is bullshit. It is a loss for right wing extremists, as the middle and the independents, the Latinos, Catholics and even Protestant Evangelicals left them in droves, moving to the left. TO THE LEFT.

What the Left and Al Qaeda have in common.
The left is stronger than it has ever been. Part of the reason is it has so much new blood. In one way they have one thing in common with Al Qaeda. Both the American Left and Al Qaeda have been helped massively, in recruiting, by George Dubya Bush. Bush helped Al Qaeda by engaging in his Iraq idiocy. He helped the left by stealing two presidential elections, thereby awakening millions of previously non-political Americans to become activists.

Among these activists are some grizzled former peace protesters, supports of Abu Jamal Mumia, and Palestinian rights. There are a handful of socialists and communists, no doubt. But the vast majority of the new progressive base that is growing, that was essential to enabling the Dems, sans vertebrae, to win congress, was a new populist progressive movement that in most ways is very centrist. They are not right leaning DLC-type centrists. They support responsible government, healthcare for all, fair, living wages for Americans, decent treatment of prisoners, protection of democracy, the constitution and human rights, placing humans above corporations, protection of workers, the environment, US industries over global interests of a few hundred megacorporations.

These progressives are not extremists, not far left. They may not even be as far left as people who identify themselves as liberals. But they have become activists and energized and fully awake and they know what they want.

In a few weeks they will be watching closely. They will be watching how the Democratic run congress doees it's job. They know how politicians lie, spin and bullshit and they will see through it and absolutely not tolerate it.

The media is going to have to clean up its act too. Already we are seeing some signs that the mainstream media has smelled the coffee. The dems must do more, strategically and systematically to demand that the media do their job. That doesn't mean lean left. It means ask tough questions and not lean right.

Bush is like a pathetic character in a novel. He is also dangerous and must be neutralized. That will cme to pass if the congress does its job.

The clouds have broken. THe sun is shinging through. The rightwing rats are digging into their holes in the ground. Democracy and human rights are rising. We have work to do, ugly legislation to overturn, like the MCA act that wiped out habeus corpus and the bankruptcy act that handed gifts to the credit card banking industry-- the one that gave more money to republicans than any other.

We have a lot to be thankful for and to celebrate.