What Tuesday means

I'm probably the last person to write this sort of post, but hopefully I can add some new insight to the discourse.

This election means that the idea of an unaccountable executive branch is once again dead. This election means that oversight will return and we will have answers to justified questions. This election means that reform can finally begin to take place. This election means that George Allen and Rick Santorum will no longer be presidential contenders. This election means that there is no permanent Republican majority, that the majority existed because of the politics of smear and fear. This election means that many new members of Congress are people who will not be bought, people like the Jon Testers, the Jim Webbs, the Patrick Murphys, the Tim Walzs, people who are not lifetime politicians, but instead farmers and combat veterans and teachers, people who know how real life goes.

This election means that opposing viewpoints will be heard. This election means that the American people will be protected better, because there will be true debate on issues. This election means that Congress will be the dominant branch of government once more, as our Founders intended. This election means that us here in the blogosphere do matter, because many of those we supported won their races. This election matters because the elected officials who help determine the future of our foreign and military policies will include many people who have served in uniform recently, such as Walz, Murphy, Joe Sestak, Chris Carney, Brian Lentz, and more.

This election means that this nation saw through the smears, the fear, and the lies that Republicans put forth the last two years. They weren't interested in Terri Schiavo's well-being, they were interested in the political gain (which backfired). They weren't interested in small government, because several of them took major bribes to increase government's size. They weren't interested in the average person, because they dodged TV cameras, reporters, liberal constitutents, and tough questions in general. They weren't interested in a culture of life, because they did very little to improve the quality of life for millions of Americans. They weren't interested in defending the Constitution they swore an oath to, because if they were, they would not have been the President's rubber stamp to gut civil liberties to keep us "safe."

This election was change. These new Congressmen are not conservatives. Some are moderates, but many of them are downright progressive, who believe in the progressive cause, and who will lead us into a new age.