MESSAGE DELIVERED

The American people have spoken...LOUDLY. And the message could not be any more clear: "We do not approve of your war and enough is enough". The days of "Stay the course" are over, George.

What a night, what a night! After six years of Emperor Bush's unfettered reign, with both houses of Congress in his back pocket...a new day has dawned. Hope shines today not only all across this great nation, but also over the deserts of Iraq.

As we savor this sweet victory today (and it appears that not only will it be a sweeping one in the House, but also control over the Senate), we must be ready to hit the ground running with an agenda to respond to the mandate Tuesday's polling brought. All of us must be prepared to work for change, not just the newly elected majority.

These men and women we send to the hill are to be held accountable for the work we have chosen them to do. Get busy:

1. First and foremost: work to dig us the hell out of the hole that Bush has thrown us and the people of Iraq into. No longer do we want to hear that the Iraqi military and police are being trained and that perhaps in "the coming years" they will be ready to take control. Timetables. Troop withdrawals. We demand them. Start bringing our brave men and women home and END THIS WAR. NOW.

2. A living wage. The days of millions of hard working Americans struggling to scrape by working three jobs with a minimum wage that is not a living wage must end. Having to choose between putting food on the table or buying medicine for our families is NOT American and is no choice at all. This is unacceptable.

3. And speaking of medicine, prescription drugs must be priced so that those who need them can actually afford them. Crazy fucking concept, I know. Prescription reform and price controls. Immediately.

4. Protect Social Security. Franklin Delano Roosevelt knew a thing or two not only about leadership and guiding this nation through the hardest of times...he understood that it is our responsibility to take care of those who have taken care of us their entire lives. We neither need, nor want Republicans gambling with our senior citizen's well being...privatization of Social Security is just plain wrong.

5. And while it may not happen over the next two years...begin to lay the groundwork for universal healthcare for all Americans. Nearly fifty million citizens of the most prosperous nation on earth can't afford health insurance. That is absolutely obscene, and shames me...as it should all of us. The wealthiest Americans and the overstuffed insurance companies have engorged themselves long enough. It's time to take care of our own.

Enjoy this day and the victory...and then let's roll up our sleeves, and get to work fixing what's wrong. America spoke on Tuesday. Let's make certain that those we screamed at heard us.

Take a moment to contact your representation and let them know that we've all got work to do.

it ain't me...i ain't no senator's son.

The makings of a VERY good evening...

Although a cold Georgia rain falls on this seventh day of November, tonight is shaping up to be warm, dry...and most enjoyable, thank you.

With what is essentially a national referendum on W's debacle in the desert, the country finally appears to be on the verge of turning a corner. I know, I know...we all thought the same fucking thing back in '04 when Kerry absolutely could not lose to the Texas twit.

But ya know what? The rest of the country just might actually be awake this time, and we may be ready to turn this damn thing around. To bring back the days when we were looked upon without universal condemnation, and global disdain...it's time to be the good guys again.

And speaking of being the good guy...what may very well be the Game of the Year, Gears of War, dropped for the XBOX 360 today and I've got the collector's limited edition tin burning up my grubby little hands.

The early word of mouth is that the title not only lives up to all the expectations and the hype...it actually exceeds them. Gears may just be a war that we can all get behind.

This all-American cornerstone of the XBOX Christmas was developed by the homegrown guys and gals at Epic Games, just over the river and through the woods in Apex, North Carolina. Our family is more than a bit familiar with Apex, as the quaint little 'burb outside Raleigh serves as home to Wendy Lu's folks as well.

So, between bouts of MSNBC's Election Night coverage of our citizenry taking this country back from the monsters who've held sway in the Congress for a dozen years...I now also stand at the ready to beat back the Locust horde on this early Emergence Day.

Bill's beautiful box and Bush's blasted blunders...locusts and liberals. Only in America.

get up, stand up...don't give up the fight!

It ain't easy being green

With mid-term elections less than a week away...strangely I'm reminded of a little pixilated amphibian from my childhood struggling to reach safe haven.

America the frog, as it were.

The hazzards we find ourselves thrown in front of thanks to the clueless klutz of a kid from Texas at the controls, the ever increasing dangers we narrowly avoid...despite his valiant attempts to get us squashed at every turn.

While we may only just be hopping off the highway at this mid-way point of the game, with the thrills and spills of log rides on the rapids lying ahead...we can begin to see the light of harbor two years out. To know that we can in fact do something RIGHT NOW to make that ride just a bit more bearable, to bring some sanity back to our world...makes the game all the more playable.

Those in power are growing more fearful by the day because they know that it's nearly time to right the sinking ship, to bring us back from the brink and hold those responsible for the state we now find ourselves in, accountable.

Go, you feisty little frog, go!

froggy went a courtin' he did ride...sword and a pistol by his side.