I'm thinking a LOT of people are going to be shocked/dismayed/rabidly angry about what their 'protest vote' [and especially their 'protest non-vote'] bought ~ Sooz

CULTURE WARRIORS PUT ON THEIR COMBAT BOOTS.... There's periodic talk from some Republican leaders about a "truce" in the culture war, and polls suggest most Americans want policymakers to focus on economic issues, fresh off their midterm victories, many Republicans are poised to invest time and energy into hot-button social issues.

Nearly all of the culture war focus is going on at the state level. In Washington, Republicans would no doubt welcome the chance to tackle these issues, but a Democratic White House and Senate renders most of the far-right wish list irrelevant, at least for now.

But at state houses, conservatives have grand ambitions. The AP's report noted that Wisconsin, for example, will take up measures to restrict abortion rights, expanding concealed-weapon laws, and strip gay state employees and their domestic partners of their benefits. Kansas will tackle stem-cell and divorce policies, while making the state "as close to an abortion-free zone as possible." The far-right is demanding similar moves from newly-elected Republican administrations in Michigan, Iowa, and Ohio.

The Washington Post, meanwhile, also reported recently that voters can expect related culture war fights elsewhere, including a battle of sex ed in North Carolina, and fights over gay rights in Minnesota and New Hampshire.

All of this is the result of voters giving Republicans more legislative control than the party has had since 1952.

Americans who thought they were voting on economic issues may be in for a rude awakening.

—Steve Benen 9:45 AM November 28, 2010

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archiv ... 026819.php

You get the government you deserve. If the voters had been paying attention this wouldn't have happened. But no... they wanted to worship at the alter of Saint Sarah and her bobble-head flock of sheep, heeding only her words to the exclusion of any and all reason. So... maybe a rude awakening is just what is needed. Afterall they've been asleep in front of Dancing With The Saint's Daughter and they will now reap what they have sown with their stupidity. As for the lazy-assed voters who didn't bother to cast their ballot because - gee - Obama didn't give them everything they wanted... well... now you're about to get a whole lot more crap than you bargained for. I don't feel sorry for the whiney-assed electorate from either side of the political spectrum - The Tea Party idiots or the Democrat voters who stayed home on election day. They both deserve what they get.

Problem is that these people have no vision for the nation other than through a distorted rear view mirror.
Under PM Harper, Canada is quickly falling into that lifeless, grey wasteland that the US has fallen into.
Where are the visionaries like Trudeau and Kennedy?
IMO, Trudeau is the best PM Canada's history. Though controversial as hell, he knew what Canada could and should be. Unfortunately, he was so far ahead of his time that very few others could grasp the concept of that type of Canada. I certainly didn't at the time.
A prime example was the NEP (National Energy Policy) and the philosophy that lay behind it - that Canada would be a completely self-sufficient nation and that once that was achieved we would be in the best position possible to assist other nations in achieving that very same goal.

NEP is a 4-letter word in Haprie country.