Poll Dancing

I've got a serious Election Day hangover today. Not a hangover in the traditional sense, my serious drinking days behind me as at my age it's far too easy to pull muscles as you worship the Porcelain God the next morning and it takes far too long for them to heal. Rather, my hangover this morning is due more to sleep deprivation, having stayed up late last night to watch the election returns come in. Most political junkies like myself will be sleepily wandering around aimlessly today, looking for a Starbucks fix so that they can stay awake just a little while longer.

Here in Georgia the election results were disappointing but not unexpected. Sonny Perdue was re-elected as governor, handily defeating the Democratic challenger Mark Taylor. I still think Cathy Cox would have been a better match for Perdue, but hey, I just vote here. The Republicans won all the right elections in all the right places to consolidate their power in the state. Casey Cagle won the lieutenant governor's race on a platform of "hope and opportunity for all Georgians"...except for the gays who are still persona non grata with the Jesus Krispies here in the state. I didn't vote for Cagle but I'll give him a chance. Karen Handel won the secretary of state post. I'm not very encouraged by having someone with just a high school education under their belt being responsible for overseeing elections and professional licensing in the state. Talk about knowing all the right people! And everyone's favorite ripe jolly ol' elf, Kathy Cox, was re-elected state school superintendent. You remember Kathy, don't you? She's the one a couple of years ago who wanted to remove the word "evolution" from all the textbooks in Georgia and replace it with "gradual changes over time." With Georgia's continued lackluster performance in educational standings and SAT scores, all I have to say is "Congratulations, Georgia!" for re-electing someone who clearly didn't deserve it. I hope you enjoy wallowing in the mediocrity that you voted to retain.

As a resident and employee of the state I'm disheartened by what I see coming down the pike over the next few years now that there's nobody to stand in the way of the GOP agenda in the state. Four more years of lackluster state funding for the university system, meaning that I can't buy supplies for my department except when absolutely necessary and students had better get used to being taught by part-time instructors and graduate teaching assistants, not tenured and tenure-track faculty. Four more years of pathetic 2-3% raises, coupled with 8-10% increases in insurance premiums as the state dumps even more of its share of the cost onto state employees. Four more years of my wife and I buying classroom supplies for our daughter's classroom as neither her teacher nor school have the resources to buy them. Four more years of paying high property taxes because the county has to make up the funding for its school system the state pulled during the recession a few years ago and has conveniently not restored. Four more years of kids being creatively disqualified from the Medicaid and PeachKids health insurance programs. Four more years of discriminating against people because they're Hispanic or gay, or Hispanic and gay. Four more years of balancing the state budget by slashing state agency budgets to the bone, and in some instances into the bone. Four more years of Sonny Perdue. Four more years of mediocrity. Four more years.

On the bright side this morning, the Democrats took control of the U.S. House for the first time in twelve years. No more free passes to use the Constitution as so much toilet paper for our esteemed president, Halliburton. No, sorry, I guess technically our president is george w. bush--or dick cheney, depending on what day it is and who you ask. It remains to be seen whether the Senate will follow suit as there are two more elections in Virginia and Montana that are still way too close to call. It'll be days before they're decided, and I'm guessing it'll take at least a couple of weeks and will involved a lawsuit at some point. So while Georgia's looking quite depressing these days, the whole world at large is starting to look better.