Since this board is so international, I thought I'd start this off with a great article about how glad everyone around the world is that the Democrats have dominated yesterday's elections:

World sees vote as start of new foreign policy
'The end of a six-year nightmare for the world,' EU parliamentarians say

MADRID, Spain - The seismic shift that midterm elections brought to Washington’s political landscape was welcomed by many Wednesday in a world sharply opposed to the war in Iraq and outraged over the harsh methods the Bush administration has employed in fighting terrorism.

From Paris to Pakistan, politicians, analysts and ordinary citizens said they hoped the Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives would force President Bush to adopt a more conciliatory approach to global crises, and teach a president many see as a “cowboy” a lesson in humility.

But some also expressed fears that a split in power and a lame-duck president might stall global trade talks and weaken much-needed American influence.

On Iraq, some feared that Democrats will force a too-rapid retreat, leaving that country and the region in chaos. Others said they doubted the turnover in congressional power would have a dramatic impact on Iraq policy any time soon, largely because the Democrats have yet to define the specifics of the course they want to take.

The U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, said American policy would not dramatically change, despite the Democratic election success.

“The president is the architect of U.S. foreign policy,” the ambassador said in a videotape distributed by the U.S. Embassy. “He is the commander in chief of our armed forces. He understands what is at stake in Iraq.”

'Beginning of the end'
Regardless of the effect on world events, global giddiness that Bush was finally handed a political black-eye was almost palpable.

In an extraordinary joint statement, more than 200 Socialist members of the European Parliament hailed the American election results as “the beginning of the end of a six-year nightmare for the world” and gloated that they left the Bush administration “seriously weakened.”

In London's Guardian newspaper, commentator Martin Kettle wrote: "The cheering can be heard not just in America itself but around the planet."

In Paris, expatriates and French citizens alike packed the city’s main American haunts to watch results, with some standing to cheer or boo as vote tabulations came in.

One Frenchman, teacher Jean-Pierre Charpemtrat, 53, said it was about time U.S. voters figured out what much of the rest of the world already knew.

“Americans are realizing that you can’t found the politics of a country on patriotic passion and reflexes,” he said. “You can’t fool everybody all the time — and I think that’s what Bush and his administration are learning today.”

Democrats swept to power in the House on Tuesday and were threatening to take control of the Senate amid exit polls that showed widespread American discontent over Iraq, nationwide disgust at corruption in politics, and low approval ratings for Bush.

Bush is deeply unpopular in many countries around the globe, with particularly intense opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq, the U.S. terror detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and allegations of Washington sanctioned interrogation methods that some equate with torture.

In Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez said the Democrats won the election thanks to a "reprisal vote."

'Bush is no longer acceptable'
People across the Mideast also reacted swiftly, saying it appeared the U.S. president had paid the price for what many view as failed policy in Iraq.

Most governments across the region had no official comment, but some opponents of the United States reacted harshly. “President Bush is no longer acceptable worldwide,” said Suleiman Hadad, a lawmaker in Syria, whose autocratic government has been shunned by the U.S.

Iranian state television blamed U.S. strategy in the Middle East for the change. "Experts believe that Bush's wrong strategy in the Middle East, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as financial corruption in the United States, was the main reason for the failure of Republicans in the midterm election."

Even some Iraqis voiced hope for change.

“We hope American foreign policy will change and that living conditions in Iraq will improve,” said 48-year-old engineer Suheil Jabar, a Shiite Muslim in Baghdad.

In Copenhagen, Denmark, 35-year-old Jens Langfeldt said he did not know much about the midterm elections but was opposed to Bush’s values. He referred to the president as “that cowboy.”

In Sri Lanka, some said they hoped the rebuke would force Bush to abandon a unilateral approach to global issues.

The Democratic win means “there will be more control and restraint” over U.S. foreign policy. said Jehan Perera, a political analyst.

Passions were even higher in Pakistan, where Bush is deeply unpopular despite billions in aid and support for President Gen. Pervez Musharraf.

One opposition lawmaker, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, said he welcomed the election result but hoped for more. Bush “deserves to be removed, put on trial and given a Saddam-like death sentence,” he said.

But while the result clearly produced more jubilation than jitters, there were deep concerns.

Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen told broadcaster TV2 he hoped that the president and the new Congress would find “common ground on questions about Iraq and Afghanistan.”

“The world needs a vigorous U.S.A.,” Fogh Rasmussen said.

Worries in China
Some also worried that Democrats, who have a reputation for being more protective of U.S. jobs going overseas, will make it harder to achieve a global free trade accord.

The accord, said European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, “is very important for the future of trans-Atlantic relations.”

And in China, some feared the resurgence of the Democrats would increase tension over human rights and trade and labor issues. China’s surging economy has a massive trade surplus with the United States.

“The Democratic Party ... will protect the interests of small and medium American enterprises and labor and that could produce an impact on China-U.S. trade relations,” Zhang Guoqing of the state-run Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said in a report on Sina.com, a popular Chinese Internet portal.

The prospect of a sudden change in American foreign policy could be troubling to U.S. allies such as Britain, Japan and Australia, which have thrown their support behind the March 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Democrats campaigned on a platform that demanded a change of direction in Iraq, and the war has lost the support of the majority of American voters.

“The problem for Arabs now is, an American withdrawal (from Iraq) could be a security disaster for the entire region,” said Mustafa Alani, an Iraqi analyst for the Gulf Research Center in Dubai.

And in case you wanted evidence of how much certain people wanted to get rid of the Republicans, here's a great story from South Dakota:

Dead woman wins county commissioner's race
S.D. candidate gets 100 votes; official says voters knew she was deceased

PIERRE, S.D. - A woman who died two months ago won a county commissioner's race in Jerauld County on Tuesday.

Democrat Marie Steichen, of Woonsocket, got 100 votes, defeating incumbent Republican Merlin Feistner, of Woonsocket, who had 64 votes.

Jerauld County Auditor Cindy Peterson said she believes the county board will have to meet to appoint a replacement for Steichen. Peterson said she'll check with the state's attorney to be sure that's the process.

Peterson said voters knew Steichen had died.

"They just had a chance to make a change, and we respect their opinion."

Am I really partying alone here? :party

OK, so, how about everyone shares the things they are happiest about in terms of the election results. Of course, the obvious one is Bush getting his face slapped around. But more specifically:

1. We're going to have a female Speaker of the House! So if Bush and Cheney both die in a freak accident (or are murdered by a liberal lesbian New Yorker) we'll have a female President. Who woulda thunk it?

2. The abortion ban in South Dakota was defeated. This is amazing. Here the pro-life people thought that if you go to a very conservative state and let the people decide, that they'd make abortions illegal. But they didn't.

3. The gay marriage ban in Arizona didn't pass. Of course, similar bans passed in 7 other states, but Arizona is the first time when a state has voted against a gay marriage ban.

:party :party :party

abzug, I just got in from the bar and should not be posting after an uncounted number of cosmopolitans, but I needed to tell you that you are, indeed, not partying alone here!

I voted in NJ and we got rid of the Republican and, of course, I keep on thinking 'ding dong the witch is dead' with regard to the political life of Donald Rumsfeld.

Loving it! :party

Allie

Allie, you're a real mystery woman. Here I thought the C in your board name meant you were actually Canadian, and yet you seem to have managed to get American citizenship somehow or other!

I'm glad I'm not the only one elated about this whole thing. And did you hear? They just called Webb the winner for the Senate race in Virginia, so the Dems have a majority in the Senate as well! This is fantastic. It's everything we could have hoped they would win. Now they just need to actually be competent.

:party :party :party

Abzug,
You are definitely not alone.

I work at a University in Illinois. Whenever someone from
Illinois is killed in Iraq, the flag on campus is flown at half staff on Friday.
It flew at half staff every Friday last month, one time to honor
2 soldiers (who had been killed that week). A guy I work with lost his son in
Iraq in 2004. It's hard to believe this war has being going on for nearly 4 years.

It's time for some checks and balances.
I'm hoping the Democrats will use their majority to say
"no more" to the war in Iraq.


peace,
Carly

The name was chosen because I was living in Canada when I became a BG fan and only a handful of people in the US (mostly displaced Brits and girlfriends of Brits) knew what it was. I'm a West Indian American - you know, the people who have the big carnival parade on Eastern Parkway every Labor Day - but I was hired by a Canadian firm in NY, so they keep on transferring me to their Head Offce in Toronto.

Anyway, fantastic result. I have to admit a certain amount of ambivalence about the Senate. It sends a stronger message to the twats in the White House (Cheney, Rove and Bush in that order), but it also gives the Republicans the chance to blame six years of The. Worst. Government. In. US. History on the Democrats come the 2008 presidential election. As you said, the Democrats need to actively govern over the next two years to differentiate their time in power from the big Bush rubber stamp that has been the nature of the House and Senate in the last six.

Fingers crossed, but I really hope they realize that the Republicans lost this election - they did not win it. BTW, I see Allen is refusing to concede in Virginia...

A.

P.s. you have a pm.

Let's review those Republican "Highlights"
2001: Bush declares "We need a Crusade"
2004: No WMD in Iraq
2005: New Orleans swallowed by the Sea

Man, I get all misty-eyed

I came back with one T-shirt from 2006 Mardi-Gras - it said this:
FEMA Evacuation Plan
Run, MotherF***er, Run

Anbody else see the Jeanne Moos Rumsfeld piece on CNN?
People were literally dropping to their knees praising Jesus
when she told them Rumsfeld had resigned...

While I'm glad about Rumsfeld, it's about 3 years too late, so it's almost hard for me to celebrate it. Too many people have died unnecessarily, because they're fighting a war we shouldn't be fighting, without the equiptment they need (body armor, vehicle armor), etc. And that's not even beginning to talk about what the Iraqis have suffered.

I was reading some article or other which offered an interesting interpretation of Bush's demeanor during his speech yesterday. The writer thought Bush seemed almost relieved that he didn't have to pretend anymore that everything was going great.

In other news, I hear that Allen is going to concede in his speech at 3 pm today, which will make this all official!

Let's face it, this strategy worked for them before. Clinton dealt with the most obstructive Congress I've ever seen, 6 years of blaming everything possible on an administration that'd just taken office & then endless picking through nits--remember Travelgate? all that crap--until they found something they could kinda/sorta make stick. So I see no reason they mightn't try it again.

:lol:

Doesn't it just set you all aglow with fond memories?

Yes, Congratulations to the Democrats on their fine win. Now they have a Shakespearean dilemma at hand. To impeach or not to impeach Dick and Dubya!! :eek

Happy about the democrats getting in, Happy about a female speaker of the house...but NOT happy that all but one state were voting on a progressive bills such as "defining marriage" was successful and banning gay marriage seemed to be a good idea!! Think its digusting!! Are we not living in the 21st century??

Very pleased that Mark Green did not get win in Wisconsin and that Pawlenty is DONE in Minnesota!! WOOHOO

Hi Abzug. I didn't spot this post and, just to give you a flavour that, while Blair will be 'in deep shit' this side of the pons is celebrating. I pulled this off the British Respect site. This pretty well says it all. I put a post up on the Hyde Park Corner but hadn't had a bite.

Feel free to come back on this one, Abzug.

In a word or two, yippee, yippee. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

......................................................................................................................
Bush is down - Now get Blair out!
09/11/2006

First Aznar, then Berlusconi and now Bush have received a hiding at the polls on account of the disastrous Iraq war. And there's not a single commentator who doubts that the drubbing Bush's Republicans got in the mid-term elections this week is a result of anything other than Iraq. While joining the US anti-war movement in demanding a reversal of policy from the White House, Respect is also firmly turning the spotlight on Blair and the British government.

Respect MP George Galloway says:
"The sight of architects of the invasion of Iraq, leading neo-conservatives, falling over themselves to distance themselves from the decision to go to war is something to behold. Kenneth "it'll be a cakewalk" Adelman, Richard "prince of darkness" Pearle, and finally Donald Rumsfeld, not apologetic but forced to fall on his sword. I know the bible talks of greater joy in heaven when a sinner repents but I'm afraid I don't have the forgiveness of a St. Francis of Assisi: all I see is grotesque faces splattered in the blood of the 655,000 Iraqis who have most likely been killed by the war and occupation.

"And none is more grotesque than Blair's. We in the anti-war movement in Britain have a task of historic proportions. The desperate search by sections of the US and British establishments for an exit strategy does not guarantee a decline in violence. It could portend a major escalation before bowing to the inevitable. In Britain we face a supine parliament. Just 12 MPs of the governing party rebelled last week and voted for a mild motion calling for an inquiry into the Iraq war. If the monumental blunder of Iraq can start to claim political scalps in the US it should encourage everyone here to redouble their efforts to force MPs to break with this criminal policy.

"In every college, school, neighbourhood, place of worship, workplace and community we need to recreate a surge of active opposition to the war that can shatter the complacency and arrogance of this decaying government."

It's sad to think the opposition in the UK has been even more anemic than in the US! We've been lamenting the ineffectiveness of the Democrats for years now, and there are many of us (some of whom have mentioned this in the thread) that fear the Dems will be completely ineffectual, even in the majority.

But only 12 MPs called for an inquiry into the war?! That is shameful! Hopefully our little democratic coup can be an inspiration for the UK opposition....

Sorry to be late to the party. Having a woman as Speaker of the House is HUGE!!!! I saw her in an interview the other night and she remarked about having to use her "mother of 5 voice."

It just saddens me so much that we have states voting on whether or not to *ban* gay marriage. For a country so enlightened in other areas, this is just so painful.

On a more positive note we were dancing around the office when news of Rumsfeld trickled in.

BTW, as Veteran's Day has come and gone here in the US, I just want to say thanks to all who have served or who do serve. I have great respect for those who have chosen this path.

Hi abzug. I watched the debate on TV and both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown weren't there which says everything about them. The weird thing is that the Conservatives were arguing (and voting ) for an enquiry, no doubt for opportunistic reasons to finally saw through the branch to which Tony Blair is precariously clinging onto and the vote was only lost by 25 votes.

Margarett Beckett (Condoleeza Rice's opposite number and also my local MP) was her usual disgraceful self as main spokesman. I was pretty disgusted when I heard how few Labour MPs had the courage of her convictions. One of America’s finest citizens, the late Phil Ochs, a long time absolute hero of mine got it right by contrast in excerpts from two songs

“You can do what’s right
Or you can do what you are told”

And that also

“We own half the world, so say can’t you see
That the name for our profits is democracy
So like it or not, you will have to be free
‘Cos we’re the cops of the world.”

Your democratic coup is definitely inspirational to the opposition outside Parliament which on both sides of the pond, are the antiwar movements and military families against the war.

By contrast, it exposes see Tony Blair’s utter moral corruption in calling for Syria and Iran to be engaged in efforts to seek peace in Iraq and the Middle East , of the consequences of failing to help ‘ and ‘making clear the basis on which they can help the peaceful (???) development of the Middle East rather than hinder it and ‘warning them of.. the consequences of not doing it.’

As if either national leader is in the position to make conditions. OK rant over……for the time being.