anti:freeze

One week after the presidential election, I am still taking it all in. I will be posting more of my own thoughts soon, but for now, here are some articles and posts you simply must read:

Mourn by Katha Pollit.

Don't Mourn, Organize by Molly Ivins.

Democrats lost the battle, not the war by Joe Conason. This is a must-read for all the depressed, despairing progressives out there. Here is a snippet:

Only six years ago, the self-appointed guardians of "moral values" wailed their despair when midterm voters rejected the Republican impeachment jihad, and pundits pondered the political demise of the religious right. Paul Weyrich, architect of the modern religious right, described Bill Clinton's escape from judgment in near-apocalyptic terms, as a signal for the "godly" to withdraw from politics. The Republican House members defenestrated the outspoken proponent of "moral values" then serving as speaker, and his would-be successor, too. But in the next election two years later, the Republicans came back to win the White House (with the assistance of Florida state officials and the Supreme Court), and kept control of both houses of Congress.

Democrats Cannot Give Up by Howard Dean.

Meanwhile, those of us who demand a Democratic party with real backbone are thrilled to read this. To those who will resurrect the scream heard 'round the world, consider this: the DNC is all about organizing, fundraising, shaping the party platform, and firing up the base. Nobody can do that like Dr. Dean. (More on this soon. Does anyone else remember the pundits musing about how Dean ran a movement instead of a campaign? That's because they saw in him the makings of something more than a candidate. He not only sought to change policy; he sought to revitalize our whole process of civic engagement and democracy - and the Democratic party.)

blue oregon features a lively discussion about the failures of the DNC and where we might go from here.

More from The One True b!X on why the primary elections do not tell the whole story about Dean (or any particular candidate, for that matter).

Michael Totten on the concept of Zombie Hordes of Theo-Cons and immature Eighth Grade Caricatures.

Or is it all up to historical circumstance? Well, of course. Which is why the next several years will spell trouble for Republicans, beginning with the midterm elections. But that requires the Democrats to fight harder than ever. Which brings me to my final link.

One thing I know for sure (if I can really know anything for sure at this point) is that we lost this election long before 2004, despite the widely-held belief that 9-11 and the Iraq war bolstered the Bush presidency (or that Republicans are somehow better on defense, etc). The Democrats were already losing ground in 2000. Just look at the 2000 electoral map (and remember, in this map, the colors are reversed. Democrats are red; Republicans are blue. You have to scroll down a bit to see it.) Click the links to view 1992 and 1996, and you will see the grim pattern. Our party is sick. Time to take some serious medicine.