Dark Days Ahead?

If I'm honest with myself, these are dark days for liberals. Hell, if I'm brutally honest, these are dark days for anyone to the left of Genghis Khan.

The corporations - especially the oil companies and defense contractors - essentially run the lawmaking apparatus that supposedly represents we the people. The Republican controlled House passes a budget that cuts Medicaid and student loans, the court is packed with conservative Neanderthals intent on setting our rights back to the 13th century, especially for women, minorities and gays, and corporate bosses are essentially moving us back to feudalism. Conservatives have made sure that anything that might smack of "big government" is so underfunded or poorly managed that their results can only disappoint, providing even more ammunition for their argument that the private sector is the answer to everything from healthcare to halitosis.

Where does that leave us, those of us on the left, who hope for something better?

In dire straights. No doubt about it.

Returning Congress to something approaching balance, if not Democratic control seems an impossible task from out here in the hinterlands. The individual races are too hard to keep track of if you're not a professional blogger or somehow in the business. The aggregate of these races could make the difference between a new Medieval Age in America and a continuing Renaissance.

And if you think the choice is not that stark, you haven't been paying attention.

I have to admit I'm in a bit of a funk right now. Where do we go from here? Sometimes I think the answer is "Canada." And, although the conservatives just won themselves a government there, most Canadian conservatives would be considered quite liberal here. In my clearer moments I know that abandoning ship is not the answer, but those moments are fewer and fewer these days.

So there's my rant, there's my dilemma, there's my disgust. I'd welcome any and all advice, any consolation, any words of encouragement right now...