Joy and/or Relief

Well, I guess we are all breathing a bit easier this morning after the Democrat’s capture of the House of Representatives.  We finally have some leverage to try to re-balance our governmental machine.  We can now re-establish our Constitutional controls over the abuse of power by the Executive branch. 

But this change is only the beginning of this marathon. It is certainly a major victory to have overcome the 9% popular vote edge created by Republican gerrymandering.  The result: the arrival on the scene of over 100 women and younger representatives.  There was also the turnover of at least 7 governorships to Democrats.  There is now a more balanced division of Statehouses between Democrats and Republicans.  This is important because in 2020 there will be a new census and revision of gerrymandered district boundaries for voting.  And with new Democratic strength, the effort to change the gerrymandering will show positive results.  Hopefully we will see the retreat of crazy district borders that favor Republican victory when even the popular vote is in the Democrat’s favor.  In fact there were ballot initiatives passed in Michigan, Colorado, Utah, Missouri approving redistricting controlled by the citizens and not the statehouses.

The Democratic majority in the House will now be able to propose legislation to try to move initiatives forward that will benefit the average working middle class family, including a restructuring of Obamacare to insure protection for people with pre-existing medical conditions; infrastructure initiatives; even a workable immigration policy.  None of these issues were approached positively over the past two years.  And if they are met with obstructionism by Republicans, then those actions will be evidence supporting renewed voter approval for additional Democratic victories in 2020.

Additionally, the House will now exercise its subpoena power to investigate corruption, specifically from Cabinet appointments that abused their power and position in so many egregious ways for the past two years.  And most importantly, they will now be able to provide oversight and investigation into the actions of Donald Trump.  Perhaps we will now be able to discover who has financed him all these years, as his tax returns become the target of investigative subpoenas.  Also, it is now unlikely that the Mueller investigation will be aborted by an uncontrolled Executive branch.  Re-establishment of checks and balances will hopefully diminish the abuse of power with regard to Trump attempting to discredit the Justice Department and the instruments of national security, the FBI and the CIA.

Also, the Senate elections in 2020 will be much more favorable for Democratic seat pickups than were possible in 2018.  In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the worst Republican senators decide to retire before that election to avoid them having to serve in a minority position after 2020—think Mitch McConnell, who certainly wouldn’t relish being a minority leader after the being the majority leader for the last 8 years.  He would probably rather leave than suffer the indignity of having his arbitrary actions during his tenure be wholly reversed.  Maybe we will get lucky and people like Chuck Grassley and Orin Hatch will also pass into history.

I would like to congratulate the voting electorate in California District #50 and New York District #27 for showing how ignorant and stupid they are in re-electing two men who have been indicted for crimes, Duncan Hunter and Chris Collins!  Those voters deserve the representation they will be getting—perhaps from their chosen representatives while incarcerated.    Imagine parents trying to explain to their children why they voted for people who were indicted for criminal behavior.  God bless family values!  Perhaps those parents will say, "Yeah kids, don’t do any research on the candidates; just vote for people because they are pretty and say they are innocent."  

Let’s not forget the House’s greatest Republican white supremacist disgrace—Steve King—re-elected in spite of his anti-semitic and anti-immigrant rants.  Good going you voters in Iowa’s district #4!  As my mother would say, “He’s not from the ‘finest!’”  What do you think King meant by suggesting that two female Supreme Court justices should disappear and ‘elope’ to Cuba?

There were disappointments, to be sure, especially in Florida, Georgia and Texas.  But those races invigorated a somnolent voter base and introduced some new energetic personalities to the Democratic scene.  It also exposed the naked voter suppression being foisted upon the citizens by the Republican candidates.  

There were also some really positive moves against some negative people.  Scott Walker was defeated in Wisconsin.  Walker was anti-union and anti-healthcare initiatives.  He lied to his constituents that he favored protecting people with pre-existing medical conditions while he signed a lawsuit trying to do away with that protection.  Hypocrisy is sometimes so unabashed!  A bad governor was rejected in his re-election campaign in Maine in favor of a Democratic woman.  Darryl Issa is gone, and so is Paul Ryan.  No loss there for sure.

So, on balance, there is much to be thankful for in the results of this midterm election.  The slide toward autocracy has been blunted.  There is now a true opposition party in the mix.  Our two years of hog-tied impotence are finally over.

Let’s hope that the Democrats are judicious in their pursuit of justice and successful in bringing smart legislation to bear.  There is much work to be done, but now, at last, there is a repository of positive energy and action that we hope will re-invigorate our American ideals and spur progress on a whole host of issues too long ignored by the current administration and Congress.