The writing on the wall

It only took a sweeping mid-term defeat and an obvious public outcry at the polls, but Donald Rumsfeld has resigned as Secretary of Defense. The names have changed, but will his successor keep up with more of the same in Iraq?
Also, I think the reaction from outside the US is interesting. This being one of my reasons for wanting to get rid of Bush and his cronies, since I see the effects they have on how the US and Americans are seen abroad.
From CNN.com:
Regardless of the effect on world events, global giddiness that Bush was finally handed a political black-eye was almost palpable throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
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 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."

Post-election musings

What a great night! It finally appears that people are seeing the light about the Republicans and their corruption, ill-conceived wars, and scare tactics. The party that has been so quick to judge everybody else on moral values showed that they are not quite as worthy of the moral high-ground as they thought. Hopefully we will also gain control of the Senate as well, given the current state of the vote count in Virgina and Montana. What remains to be seen is if the Democrats can use this new-found majority to really put pressure on Bush and Rumsfeld to change their failed policies, end the domestic spying programs, and find an effective way to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Although today, the Iowa Republican Chairman was quoted in teh DSM Register as saying this election was a "victory for the terrorists". Apparently, he didn't learn his lesson from last night. People are not buying the "a vote for a Democrat is a vote for terror" song-and-dance anymore. Finally. As if anyone is going to let terrorists waltz right in and attack us. The Democrats believe that we can stop terrorists without taking away all rights from citizens and giving the president total, authoritarian power to do as he pleases. Our rights as Americans do not have to be sacrificed in order to keep us safe, no matter what the Republicans say.
On the state level, we kept that crap-weasel Jim Nussle out of office and his former House seat goes to a Democrat also. Yes, despite how hard the GOP tried to paint Bruce Braley as the spawn of Satan who liked to kill puppies and eat them, the Dems won the 1st district seat as well. Another surprise was the 2nd District. I respect Jim Leach and his independence from his party. Hell, he was an anti-war Republican and in any other election, I actually might have considered voting for him. However, the fact is he is an incumbent and a Republican, which meant that voting for him was voting for more of the same, and this was an election that was clearly set on changing the course of things in Washington. His votes for leadership roles in Congress alone could be damaging (Dennis Hastert). So bye-bye Jim-bo, thanks for playing. And really, 30 years is enough in Congress.
Terrace Hill stays with the Democrats, and now the state House and Senate are in Democrat hands as well. Hopefully this will mean good things for education, alternative fuels, and health care in our state.


And in keeping with the theme of kicking sleazy, no-good, worthless people to the curb, Britney Spears filed for divorce from Kevin Federline.

Where does the time go?

This term, I have been the gracious host to a student teacher. She is outstanding and has done an amazing job in my classroom. This has given me much free time during the day to work on things, such as curriculum details and doing lots of work for school that I normally don't have time to do. I have been researching ideas for a new measurement tool that we are implementing at school as well as working on things for my masters degree reading list.
Surprisingly enough, I still can't find time to update this blog as much as I would like (or as much as Jenniffer would like).
Looking forward to the trip to Minneapolis in two weeks and also looking forward to the last home football game next weekend. This season seems to have gone quickly, and mercifully so. Please God, let it end without too much more misery. Here's to next year!