So my blogging vacation is pretty much over.  Two weeks isn't a bad break, but as some might comment, I didn't take much of a break anyway.  I tweated quite a bit, and some of you probably saw me commenting on your blogs more often.  I took the vacation for a couple reasons.  First of all, I was tired of all the reactionary blogging leading up to the election.  Second, I wanted to force myself to read other blogs, and participate in comments more, if for no other reason than to see what others were saying a bit more deeply.  Generally I don't read comment threads very often, and this served as a good way to remind me why I generally don't read comment threads.  Far too much vitriol.

One of the things I saw pop up repeatedly after the election was the idea that with Barack Obama's election, fiscal conservatives would retreat and refuse to work, or would work less.  People might tip less, because, after all, with Obama in the White House, the government will take care of people.  Pictures of signs were being posted which asked the question, "Who is John Galt?"  For those who don't know, John Galt is the main character is Ayn Rand's novel, Atlas Shrugged.  One of the things that John Galt does is to withdraw his talents and "stop the motor of the world".

Upon some reflection with regards to the last few years however, I think it's actually pretty easy to see that the Republicans are behind the learning curve when it comes to John Galt.  However, the Democrats did a fantastic job of learning the lessons of Ayn Rand well.  Irony, it would seem, has few limitations.  Whether this was by coincidence, or masterful planning, is a decision I leave to the reader, but at least allow me to lay the ground work of my thinking.

Two years ago, a "wave of change" swept over the country as Democrats took control of both houses of Congress, and found a majority there for the first time in more than 10 years.  But if you look at the policy decisions that were coming out of Washington D.C. for that last two years, would you really know it?  The Democrats never really pushed for any bills that were very extraordinary.  They didn't fight against the Iraq War very much.  In fact, because of this inaction, Cindy Sheehan actually ran against Nancy Pelosi this year (and lost).  For all intents and purposes, the Democratic majority in Congress acted like John Galt.  In fact, they played the part so well, that when quizzed, many Americans think that Republicans control Congress.

This of course was a brilliant tactical move, because they had their eyes on a larger prize... the White House.  They were able to take control of Congress, and only do just enough to act as a foil to the White House, without attempting any major policy changes that they could be blamed for.  By keeping up a steady diet of inaction, they were able to continue to shift blame to George Bush for two more years, which set up a perfect narrative when it came to the Presidential election this year.

You might say that Democrats were loud when in the minority, yet quiet when in the majority.  And now they have more control.  Something to keep in mind.