Yes, there is something to celebrate... The Democrats have taken back our Congress and the American people have spoken.  Literally, the days seem a bit brighter... But let us be optimistically cautious. We cannot afford to act giddy and arrogant like those on the right did when they were on top. (control your overwhelming urge to smile like the the Cheshire Cat in Alice and Wonderland)

We need to hope the Democrats will break out of their political paradigm of fear... Self induced apprehensions, that made them behave like conservatives... They have, for too many years now, gone into the proverbial liberal closet and emerged as right-wingers. Why, one might ask...?

Well, they thought that was the only way to win... They were mislead by the right-wing-Rovian types to believe the only strategy for victory was to become republican impersonators.  And did this, course of action, bring them success? We all, painfully know the answer to that.

 We true Liberals did not have a voice... our best interests were put on back burners. Corporate greed and Corporate need were the only demands listened to.  I hope we progressives will have a voice now... even if it is just a whisper, to begin with... Later, when the dust settles, IT HAS GOT TO TURN INTO A COLLECTIVE PRIMEVAL SCREAM...  that is,  if we want to survive.

Please, click on the theater picture of Amy Goodman and watch the very enlightening broadcast of Democracy Now, "DEMOCRATS WIN"... of November 8, 2006... Thank you thinkingblue

PS: Also read below, about Bernie Sander's remarkable win in Vermont.
 A SALUTE TO BERNIE,
A TRUE LEADER OF THE PEOPLE.

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The day after: Sanders prepares to take fight to Senate
By David Gram, Associated Press Writer | November 8, 2006

BURLINGTON, Vt. --Preparing to crash the gates of the world's most exclusive club, self-described socialist and senator-elect Bernie Sanders on Wednesday vowed to continue his fight for the middle class and poor in the Senate.

"I believe that right-wing extremist policy is now dead in America. That is a big deal," said Sanders, I-Vt.

The 65-year-old Brooklyn native easily won election Tuesday, setting the stage to become the first socialist in U.S. Senate history. He vowed to "demand that the Senate focuses its attention on the needs of the middle class and working families."

Sanders beat millionaire businessman Rich Tarrant, winning 65 percent of the vote to 32 percent for the Republican.

Sanders, who ran for the Senate as a member of the fringe Liberty Union party twice in the 1970s, joked that he also would be the only senator in history who ever got 1 percent of the vote in a statewide election.

Sanders said Tuesday's election marked a turning point in American politics, but how far the nation will turn is an open question.

He said he would call on Democrats, which whom he will caucus, to "begin to stand up to the powerful corporate interests and the moneyed interests in Washington."

"Are the Democrats going to do that? I don't know if they will or not. I don't know how far they'll go. I hope they do."

Sanders' relations with Democrats have a long and checkered history. During his nine years as mayor of Burlington in the 1980s, he often argued that the two major parties were little different from one another, sometimes calling them "tweedle-dum and tweedle-dee."

But he said he was happy to have joined forces with Vermont Democrats for his successful Senate bid. Democrats didn't put up their own candidate for the Senate, nominating the independent Sanders instead.

At the same time, Vermont's Progressive Party -- seen as closely allied with Sanders, even though he doesn't belong to it -- declined to put up a candidate for the U.S. House. That unified the left, clearing the way for Tuesday's victory by Democrat Peter Welch, who will now succeed Sanders in Vermont's lone U.S. House seat.

On policy issues, Sanders said any new proposal from President Bush for partial privatization of Social Security would be "dead on arrival" on Capitol Hill.

He said the U.S. should craft a timetable to withdraw from Iraq within the next year, but has a "moral obligation" to do so in a way that doesn't create a bloodbath for the Iraqi government and military.

He said he would push legislation that would set up Vermont as the pilot test for a universal health care system.

And he said he would push for reform in the media to encourage greater diversity and encourage a more thorough examination of complex issues.