I'll give you a few thoughts on the election the morning after.  First of all, we should all be congratulation Barack Obama for his win.  He out campaigned, out fundraised, and outperformed John McCain.  It is truly a historic moment for African Americans in this country as well.  He showed that equal opportunity does already exist for people of all races.  He showed that someone with desire, drive, and initiative can already achieve much.  He is proof of how far we have already come.

As I have blogged about almost continuously for the last few months, John McCain is a failed Republican.  He should have never been nominated by his party.  Hopefully, he will lose his next Senate race, or he will choose not to run again.  The same goes for most of the Republicans currently in Congress.  While many are talking already about Sarah Palin in 2012, I hope this never comes to pass.  While she excited much of the Republican base, she turned out to be a rather poor Vice Presidential candidate.  Her gaffes regarding her knowledge of the job she was campaigning for were inexcusable.  While she may make a fine governor of a low population state, she showed that she was not ready for the national stage.  I don't see that changing in 4 years.

Regarding Paul Ryan on Fox News last night.  I have said it before, and I will say it again.  Paul Ryan is a feckless coward who should have been kicked out of Congress last night.  The unmitigated gall that he showed last night, talking about the need for Republicans to get back to their roots of small government is truly astounding.  This comes from the man who not only voted for, but fought for the $700 billion bailout, that was filled with an extra $150 billion of pork.  This from the man who has fought for the partial nationalization of our banking industry.  This for the man who has handed unparalleled control of the financial industry to the Executive branch with hardly any oversight.  He has no right to say word one about small government and personal responsibility.  If he truly believed in personal responsibility, he would take responsibility for his actions, resign from Congress, and write a letter to his constituents to be published in every major newspaper in his district begging their forgiveness.

As for the 3rd party turnout this election cycle, it was obviously very disappointing.  Bob Barr received around 0.4% of the vote, and Ralph Nader received about 0.5%.  I don't feel bad about my vote for Bob Barr at all, even given those results.  My only regret is that more people did not follow my lead, so that Republicans would be properly signaled regarding the direction they need to take in the next 4 years.  They need to move towards small government and personal responsibility, not large government solutions.  A vote for Bob Barr would have been such a signal.  Sadly, too many people bought into the false notion that it was a "throw away vote".

As for what the future brings... Democrats and Republicans need to calm down.  For Democrats, this was not a revolution, this was an election. For Republicans, the sun did come up this morning, and talk about re-education camps are beneath you.  Shame on those who talk that way.  Obama has more of a challenge ahead of him now that the Senate did not move further to the left that some hoped.  The House also did not move as far as many thought it would.  Clearly, Republicans got their asses handed to them, and maybe not enough.  That is yet to be seen.  If Congress and Obama do follow through on some of the things that Republicans have feared most, then expect a major shift in 2010 to bring parity back to Washington.  If Obama leads more from the center, then expect at least 6 years of full Democratic control.

One thing has not changed today.  My rights have not changed.  My right to life, liberty and property has not changed.  My right to control my life as I see fit has not changed.  Any proposals that do come forth which seek to alter those rights will be fought against with as much power as I can muster.  Barack Obama being elected does not change those rights.  They are enshrined in our Constitution, and cannot be changed at the whims of the majority.

And with that, I'm taking a blogging vacation.  I've been writing up a storm lately, and I'm tired.  I'll still post Flickr Friday and Monday Music for a while, but don't expect to see anything of any substance here for a few weeks to a month.  We'll see how long I last...