Me: "What?"
Talk about your pleasant surprises!
No news yet about the ballot initiatives; I haven't done a search and don't care to on a pleasant day off. Why ruin my mood over shitcanning Quinn? I'll find out soon enough.
I'm pleased that the GOP swept both houses of Congress, too. I don't think it's going to mean very much, but it's nice to see that the electorate understands who is at fault for the current shitstack we're mired in.
I was surprised for two main reasons. The first was, as stated previously, "Illinois S.S.R." I figured that the Democrat machine would manufacture as many votes as needed to get their guys back in. This was supported by history and it is therefore surprising that I was wrong. The second, however--
The Chicago news media made a point of saying that the gubernatorial race was "a dead heat". Like an idiot, I took that statement at face value without considering the source, and because of that I therefore figured that the election would be well within the "margin of cheat" and the Democrats would pull it out with their usual tactics, like holding up the counts in certain districts until they know how many votes they need, then producing as many as are required.
Except that if I had thought about what I was hearing--and from whom I was hearing it!--I would have realized that the race was not, in fact, actually a dead heat, and further that honest polling would have shown Pat Quinn to be one step removed from having a fork stuck in his tenure as governor. "The only poll that matters" gave Rauner the win, despite the best efforts of the Chicago media at spinning the race.
In the "not so good" column, we have DICK Durbin winning his fourth term as Senator, which is itself an excellent argument for term limits--but he's been re-elected to a Senate which is passing to Republican control, and his power is therefore diminished. (Theoretically.)
Of course the media is throwing its usual temper tantrum, the one they have whenever the GOP wins big, and it's a sight to behold.
I don't make a habit of gloating over political victories, particularly ones which I expect to be utterly pointless, but I have to admit that I am gloating over this one. You can't get a much stronger repudiation of Democrat politics over the past two (or six) years than this. At least, it's unlikely.
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Vox Day suggests that Lena Dunhan's lawyer may wish to read her book before filing any lawsuits against people who quoted from it verbatim.
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ABC news: "Obama said he doesn't see red states or blue states, but the UNITED STATES..." OHHH OBAMA YOU ARE SO NOBLE
The Democrats are of course insisting that the GOP, having won control of Congress, must now reach across the aisle and compromise. (When Democrats win political power, of course, it's "I won," and the GOP can go scratch.)
My good mood is tempered by the knowledge that the GOP is not interested in upsetting the status quo.
But, what the hey. Play "Happy Days Are Here Again" and enjoy the victory as long as we can, because it'll be soon enough that the GOP starts bending over and grabbing its ankles, grinning like an idiot as the Democrats get lined up behind.
*sigh*