What Now?

Well, that was fun. There was some election theft, but we pulled it out for the good guys. The Democrats took the House decisively, and the MSM is using some well advised caution in calling the Senate. However, the DSCC is taking the right approach in calling VA and MT for Democrats while still encouraging every voice to be heard through a recount; assuming they're right, and assuming Lieberman doesn't further betray us, we will have the Senate. So what now? The first question on the lips of any thoughtfully engaged civic participant is, of course, which Led Zeppelin song title best characterizes the story of this election?

• Communication Breakdown: Republicans are finally revealed to have nothing more to offer than their brilliant communications strategy, which finally breaks down.
  
• Gallows Pole: Republicans have been judged for all their crimes and will now face the brutal frontier justice of Congressional committee investigations.
  
• Good Times, Bad Times: Good times were had by some when the treason rhetoric and tax cuts were flowing freely from Republicans, who are now in for some mighty bad times.
  
• Heartbreaker: Republicans had their hopes up really high this time, but their hearts were broken when the results came in? This one doesn't seem too plausible.
  
• Ramble On: Bush's rambling, incoherent speeches will continue unfettered as Democrats continue to give him carte blanche to do whatever he wants. I'm not buying this one, either.
  
• Ten Years Gone: It has been ten years (give or take) since Democrats controlled the House, and now that those ten years are gone, we're back in action, baby.
  
• The Song Remains the Same: Democrats are the same as Republicans, all politicians lie and steal and cheat equally, nothing will change. I'm giving a big thumbs down to this one, too.
  
• When the Levee Breaks: When it rains, it pours. Voters' resistance to Republicans broke in a bunch of little spots, and it led to a landslide for Democrats. When conservative ideology threw poor black people overboard during Hurricane Katrina, the levees broke and there was no going back for Republicans. This is probably the most compelling.
  
• Your Time is Gonna Come: Well, the Republicans' time just came, actually. But directed at Bush, whose time to be investigated is going to come when Democrats finally get on top of those committees, this might be pretty apt.

In a somewhat more serious examination of metaphors, noted U. of C. alumnus David Broder remarks for the WaPo that the appropriate metaphor to use here is not tidal wave, but earthquake. An earthquake causes a lot of commotion when fundamental, underlying elements undergo dramatic shifts, whereas a tidal wave makes a big splash that doesn't leave much lasting impact when the water recedes and everything goes back more or less to what it was. But that's a topic for another post, which I will hopefully get to tonight.

For now, the most comprehensive way to describe this election may (somehow, if this is even possible) not involve Led Zeppelin at all. Perhaps the best way to describe this election is through Neil Young: "Hey hey, my my."