(Forty percent of) the people have spoken.
The bad news for the democrats is that they won both houses of congress. They therefore have no excuse for not repealing the patriot act, the « torture bill » and all the other bills that make living in the US so similar to living behind the iron curtain during the cold war.
I’m not speaking metaphorically. Stepping onto US soil has the same feel today as going into East Berlin 25 years ago. The same fear is palpable, even if you know you’ll probably be OK as long as you’re careful enough. Coming back to (western) Europe feels like breathing again after holding your breath (and your tongue) for too long.
Sure, they didn’t have free elections in Eastern Germany, but the democrats voted for most of the Bush admin’s scandalous bills, so what’s the difference? Where is the opposition, the voices of dissent? Not in the mainstream media which is by and large an unquestioning mouthpiece for the regime. At least, the eastern Europeans didn’t choose to have their freedoms stripped from them and didn’t vote their dictators in (like the germans elected you know who in the 30’s…)
So, will the US take steps to rejoin the (less un-)civilized world? I’m not holding my breath (ha ha), since again, the apathetic, mostly non-voting US citizens and the democrats are co-responsible for the coup d’état, and because the « progressives » are as instrumental as the religious right in curtailing free speech and freedom of conscience, and rewriting history and/or ignoring reality when it clashes with approved dogma or their inner fantasy-worlds.