gavel

Okay, I won't pretend I'm not bitterly disappointed that lying evil worm Joe Lieberman managed to pull a win out of his ass.  We all worked so hard together to try and push Lamont over the top, and we came very close.  Now we have six more years of Holy Joe's sanctimonious ass on the Hill doing everything he can to undermine real Democrats and spread his poison like some kind of Amazonian toad.  Hell, he'll probably push through the Stevens bill just to be the hateful bitch we know that he is.  Dwarf troll from hell.  Little trail of cat-sick.  If the balance of power in the Senate actually goes to the Dems, he'll probably cross the aisle and declare himself a Republican.  I wouldn't be surprised.  Would you?

The Senate is still up in the air at the time of this writing (11:55 EST), but I am peeing myself with joy that we took the fucking House.  And we all know what that means.  Let's say it together, shall we?

SPEAKER PELOSI!!
SPEAKER PELOSI!!
SPEAKER PELOSIIIIIII!!!

Suck it, Reich Wingers!! Cos now that means we'll have some real honest-to-god oversight in Washington.  Subpoena powers!  Go, John Conyers!!  Give em hell!!

Here at Tryst, the cigars have been lit and an air of boozy conviviality is reigning.  I've strapped on my over-the-ear headphones so I can concentrate on my message to you kids.  It's been a roller-coaster week.  I can't believe that tomorrow will only have been a week since I came out on this mission.  It seems like a million things have happened.  I was telling my Dad and step-mom about voting last Monday and I had to stop myself because I was describing it as two weeks ago, then I realized it was only a week. 

I was just on CNN pipeline talking about Blue America and the tremendous headway progressives have made just in the last few weeks.  Pinch me.  Is this real?  This is the first Demcratic House since 1994.  Ohhhhh, it's going to be a whole new world in Washington.  I hope and pray we can take the Senate as well, but I could go home now and feel like we've accomplished enough to make it worth the price of admission.

So, take a bow, gentle readers.  You've all been a part of this, whether you've donated time, money, encouragement, or pumpkin muffins. (Thanks, egregious!! They were delicious, and a huge hit tonight.  I ate three.)    

Gawd, my brain is melting and flowing out of my ears.  When I get home, I'm going to sleep for a week.  I can't wait to see my kitties.  I know they're probably missing me as much as I miss them.

Once again, I want to thank everyone who contributed to this trip.  One day maybe I can find a way to repay you all for all the great things you've done for me and for this blog.  I was talking to Abbi Tatton for Pipeline and she asked me for the quick and dirty story of FDL and how I came to be one of the gang.  I told her about how I was a blogger in 2003 at the outset of the Iraq War and how blogging at that time was basically an extension of Right Wing Talk Radio and how after a couple of years I rode into the blogging sunset with one middle finger raised behind me and swore that I was through with Blogistan forever.  Through!  DONE!  FUCK 'EM!!

And then in the fall of 2005, I came to the shores of the Lake.

"Oh, my god," I thought, "I'm NOT crazy!  There's people who feel just like me!  Oh, thank god."

I hung out in the comments section and then during Yearly Kos, Jane handed me the mic and said, "You're on, kid!" and the rest, as they say, is hysteria.

But even then, I couldn't have predicted how utterly thrilling my life would become as the result of my involvement with FDL.  I mean, I'm not the kind of guy who does these things, who charges off to other parts of the country at the drop of a hat and meets new people and does things I've never done before.  It may seem like small potatoes to many of you, but this is a whole new person who's walking around in my shoes to me.  It's nothing short of a miracle.  I'm a deeply lazy man who haaaaates to get off the sofa, but not anymore.  I'm a world-travelling, jet-setting famous writer.  And that's all because of you guys.

So, once more, I have to thank you.  And you, Jane, Christy, and Pach.  You're my angels.  You're helping me become a braver, better, stronger man.  This blog has changed my life, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Okay, I'm getting a little verklempt.  Talk amongst yourselves.

Good night.