a new morning in america!

Most of the day-after-election-days in the last decade have been profoundly sad events for me. Today is a delightful change in this trend: Guvna Dumbfuck (aka Arnold Schwarzenegger) saw all of his outrageous, stupid powergrabs lose in the utterly unnecessary special election. (And as an amusing aside, the stupid fucker almost wasn't allowed to vote.) Lucky for him, when he's denied his right to vote, unlike normal citizens, he merely has his handlers pull out a cell phone: "a quick call to the Los Angeles County Registar-Recorder Office confirmed that he had not voted previously, and he was allowed to vote by normal ballot, said Kristin Heffron, chief deputy for the office."

Despite Dumbfuck being able to vote, better informed and more intelligent California voters (where were these people when Dumbfuck was elected?) turned down his sillyass initiatives for a state spending cap, to restrain union politics, to lengthen the time it takes teachers to get tenure, and in a breathtaking power grab, to allow three retired judges to take over legislative redistricting (to get them DeeMoCratz out of running Cowleefornyuh.) All of the remaining four statewide initiatives were also rejected, including one requiring parental approval for a minor's abortion. Yay! Democracy! Really, the only bummer loss in California for me is Prop 80, which would have done a somewhat mediocre job of re-regulating the energy pirates.

In other beautiful news, Washington state voters passed Initiative 901, a change which will actually let me go into the formerly repulsively smoky bars of Seattle starting in thirty days. Called the nation's most stringent smoking ban in public places, the more I could ask for is: ban smoking entirely, everywhere, within state boundaries. No: I don't think it's okay for people to smoke in their cars or homes, around their children and friends. No: I don't think it's okay for the rude, disrespectful people who live in the apartment directly below me to smoke and blow it our their windows, into mine. No: I don't think it's okay for the people at the Tractor to smoke out on the sidewalk in front of TGS' squat.

In other great election news, the democratic gubernatorial (why has that word eluded the newscasters this morning?) candidate in Virginia won. Now, I don't much care that Democrats won, but the race was being cast as a referedum on President Dumbfucker's presidency, since he made a last minute campaign stop for the republican. (Note to strategists: stumping by the stupidest, least effective, most dangerous president in recent history: dumb idea.)