Republicans Have Their Lips Slapped Off; and Et Cetera / “Lincoln’s Tomb” Research Update / BrianWise.com Update

Not sure if I’ll be able to carry on, now that Brit and K-Fed are splitting up. But I’ll give it my best.

I hadn’t made a point of saying so, but Tuesday was my birthday, never an occasion for celebration in my book. So upon staggering home Tuesday morning, I walked across the street to vote, and then fell into bed for the vast majority of the morning, afternoon, and evening. About 430pm I rose to check the controversies; machines down here, alleged voter suppression there, a voting machine smashed somewhere else. Otherwise, I didn’t get up and get motivated toward the various elections until about 9pm.

It’s amazing, by the way, how quickly controversies disappear when Democrats win. It’s also amazing how few controversies, if any at all, Republicans hatch when they lose. This is because Republicans can lose without believing a hidden, nationwide conspiracy is turning against them. But that is an aside to the overall point, that the Republican party was punched in the mouth all day Tuesday and well into Wednesday morning.

And as for my predictions, well, I was also punched in the mouth all day Tuesday and well into Wednesday morning. As to my saying Democrats would gain no more than 20 House seats, it’s looking like closer to 30; as of this writing (about 430am Wednesday), Democrats are plus 26. As for Democrats winning no more than three Senate seats, they are holding at plus four as of now, threatening to break even. Talk about someone getting his lips slapped off. Did manage to pull off the few individual races I called: Lieberman won; Ford, Santorum, and Chocola lost. (For those who don’t regularly read this blog, Chocola is from my hometown district, which is why I made a point to predict the race.)

As for the new Democratic leadership – well, well, well! One would do well from this point forward to imagine the Democratic donkey replaced with a Soviet flag, so far Left will the new leadership ride. Begin with Nancy Pelosi as Speaker, move to Charlie Rangle at the Ways and Means, move then to John Conyers at Judiciary, then to Henry Waxman at Government Reform, and finally John Murtha as majority leader. There isn't one properly functioning brain in that bunch. As I said about Republicans two years ago, there are 100 ways for Democrats to turn this election into the greatest circus America has ever seen. And with these nitwits at the fore, I have no doubt they'll find them, and 100 more.

That is precisely the sort of roundup that may force a retired opinion columnist to meander back into the scene sometime early next year. Wouldn’t you think that would be just too much fun for someone like me to ignore?

Seeing Rich Lowry on the Fox News’ late panel reminds me of a visit to Barnes and Noble last Saturday afternoon. Proceeded, did I, to the checkout with nothing more than a copy of the latest National Review, as I do every other week; Rick Santorum happens to be on the cover. The older man working the register scanned the magazine’s barcode and learned he had to enter the price manually. This is the biweekly routine between myself and the B&N; and you’d think they’d get around to fixing that problem. But in fairness, NR does seem to go out of its way to hide the price, printing it in black against a dark blue border.

Anyways. Said the man, in the process of ringing up the purchase, “Rick Santorum is not one of my favorite people.”

Replied I, “Huh. Imagine that. An old liberal working at the Barnes and Noble.”

As you would imagine, this was the exact moment our conversation ended. Note to register jockeys across this country: You ring up the merchandise, I’ll pay for the merchandise; you vote in privacy and I’ll vote in privacy. And never the two transactions shall fucking cross, lest you get called out right there amongst the magazines and knickknacks for being a smug, bitter, 65-year-old liberal cash register slap.

Research for Lincoln’s Tomb at Notre Dame University will officially begin next Tuesday, 14 November. The plan is to set up figurative camp there at Notre Dame every Tuesday through Friday. I haven’t decided whether to employ an elongated Friday session or a half-day Saturday session. Obviously I am leaning toward longer Fridays. As previously stated here, I anticipate work at ND continuing through the winter.

The “Columns” section at BrianWise.com has been completed and posted, with complete archives of all opinion columns written from 2004 through 2006. The rest of the site is still under a reasonably lazy construction; there is no official relaunch date.