Withdrawal
No polls. No rallies. No attack ads. No gaffes. No debates. No outrageous statements by the opposing campaign. No nervous worrying about the election outcome.
In a word, boredom.
Well, not exactly boredom. It's more like the day after Christmas. The presents were wonderful but you can't look forward to them anymore. It's emotional exhaustion, after the soaring high it's not exactly a low, but it's impossible to stay high forever.
Or maybe it's a little like the end of a war. You always knew the war would end one day, and you always believed the good guys would win (and you always believed you were one of the good guys). Now the fighting is over and all the men and women in uniform are out of a job, suddenly they have to find something else to do. It's time to stop building guns and bombs and switch back to peacetime production.
Victory is sweet, ever so sweet... but the damage is extensive and it's going to take an awful lot of effort to put things back in order. Maybe things don't look so bright anymore now that the euphoria has subsided a little.
There is a silver lining though... what was damaged can be fixed, what was destroyed can be rebuilt. Not only that: It can be made better than it was ever before! A once in a generation opportunity.
The future has arrived. We'll have to live in it, so why not try and make the best of it.
In a word, boredom.
Well, not exactly boredom. It's more like the day after Christmas. The presents were wonderful but you can't look forward to them anymore. It's emotional exhaustion, after the soaring high it's not exactly a low, but it's impossible to stay high forever.
Or maybe it's a little like the end of a war. You always knew the war would end one day, and you always believed the good guys would win (and you always believed you were one of the good guys). Now the fighting is over and all the men and women in uniform are out of a job, suddenly they have to find something else to do. It's time to stop building guns and bombs and switch back to peacetime production.
Victory is sweet, ever so sweet... but the damage is extensive and it's going to take an awful lot of effort to put things back in order. Maybe things don't look so bright anymore now that the euphoria has subsided a little.
There is a silver lining though... what was damaged can be fixed, what was destroyed can be rebuilt. Not only that: It can be made better than it was ever before! A once in a generation opportunity.
The future has arrived. We'll have to live in it, so why not try and make the best of it.
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You know what? I totally disagree. My brain is my own again; I have space for all the projects I'd been putting off. Sweet, sweet, sweet recovered memory. Nothing allocated to worrying about a possible V.P. Palin anymore. Nothing allocated to worrying about McCain's rash decision-making. Nope. All gone.
And a good thing, too. Because I've got lots of postponed and delayed projects waiting to slip into those spaces. Heck, I even have time to see my friends again! I'm lucky they remember me at all.
November 6, 2008 6:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
(I just realized I commented before I finished reading. So to be clear: I am not experiencing a feeling of withdrawal or boredom.... But I completely agree that it's time to figure out what to build next.)
November 6, 2008 6:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
You're not going to be spending your every waking hour (and all your money) putting the country back on track? I'm shocked, shocked!
November 6, 2008 7:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry, country. It's ME FIRST time! :-D
November 6, 2008 8:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Can't stand down quite yet. At corners of the republican blogosphere they are already talking of mounting impeachment efforts against President Obama!
We are taking the keys to the family car away from the GOP and even if Obama follows Grenville's lead and gives us an "Administration of All the Talents", the GOP will do its best to obstruct and defeat any truely progressive initiatives.
I have never more wanted to be wrong in making a prediction, but I predict Obama will have just as fierce opposition from the GOP as did Clinton.
November 6, 2008 7:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Fierce yes... the question is how effective the opposition will be. For the first two years at least, probably not very.
As for the corners of the Republican blogosphere - that's where the loonies are clinging. Taking them too seriously is a waste of time.
November 6, 2008 7:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
You can be sure the Right wing is still looking for dirt.
Show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser.
They will try to rub the supporters of Obamas nose in the crap they'll be dishing up.
"See we told you so" "We were Right and you were wrong" will be they're mantra.
November 6, 2008 7:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well as Keith the O-Man says "who care what O'Reilly, Limbaugh or Hannity think! They lost! Their candidates lost. They are losers who's programs are listened to and caters to dumb white losers!
The right blogs and talking heads need to go suck and egg as I was told in 00 and 04.
Now that the shoe is on the other foot, how's it feel to be told that "your side lost, get over it"...not so much fun is it. When republics win elections, its all about them but when a Democrat wins then we're all Americans first.
I say govern as if you were only elected by Democrats because I seriously doubt any republics who voted for Obama had thought he would govern as a conservative republic because he isn't and the Democratic Party isn't. If they voted Obama then they voted Democratic ideas and principals.
Maybe the next time a republic is elected President he/she will not be as calloused and partisan as Bush was. But I am all for payback for at least 2 years of his term. It's only fair...unless you're a republic in which case fair only applies when you are not in power.
November 7, 2008 11:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
Bored? Well maybe there's a cure for that. Intrigue, mystery, and outrage.
For instance, what if I said, "Say, it's interesting that Code and Ben are both commenting and posting blogs after long absences. Coincidence? I think NOT."
November 6, 2008 7:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Conspiracy Chicken pecks again.
November 6, 2008 7:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not to mention that we're both coders and both have a Germany connection…
November 7, 2008 9:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
I thought this post was going to be about troop withdrawal from Iraq, not withdrawal symptoms. Oh well.
Personally, I am having a great time. I am listening to Super Ape by Lee Perry, and after I catch up on politics I am going to read Maze of Death. I have resumed ownership over my time.
I look forward to the coming year. Drawdowns of troops from Iraq will begin to reduce the budget constraints. Already, at least in the Marine Corps, sanity is returning. Our career planners are letting us know that boat spaces and competitive reenlistment has returned, and the needs of staff non-coms and officers have been substantially cut... this means a return to a more peacetime mindset. Capitalism will revitalise under conservationism and energy independence... a return to a labor-centered economy instead of a consumption model with peaks and valleys that resemble manic-depressive disorder.
I believe this nation has begun to repudiate Reagan conservatism which was nothing other than corporate feudalism run by the orthodox church of free markets. The key is for all of us to discuss new ideas and develop a cogent philosophy that will underpin our future. We progressives have largely devolved into reactionaries... we REACT to conservative ideas and DEBATE conservative concepts... a kind of devil's advocate that serves to reinforce the credibility of conservatism... this is why John McCain could argue for Bush tax policy as a cure for economic bad times in spite of the fact that Bush's tax policies helped create the bad times.
Obama brings us change... but we the progressives must define the change in a manner that conservatives must be forced to argue. In that way we are providing the premises and conservatives debate the conclusion. That is the nature of majority/minority government.
So, take all that energy that remains after the election klieg lights have dimmed and funnel it into the realm of ideas. Find which leaders, US and otherwise, grappled with similar situations facing us today... for example, I believe that Teddy Roosevelt's domestic polices from trust-busting to conservation offer us a clear precedent for our modern times. I would also argue that Obama's campaign is most clearly a throwback to Andrew Jackson. We have a vast wealth of positive ideas and ideals from which we can forge a progressive and patriotic identity... then we can take off the yoke of Nixon/Goldwater/Atwater/Rove/Bush/Buckley/Kristol/Cheny and usher in an era of unbridled optimism.
November 7, 2008 2:02 PM | Reply | Permalink