It's A Sweep! (yeah, a week late, I know)

I know I'm a bit late in writing about this, but I have been quite busy of late. Last Tuesday, the American people spoke loud and clear that they want to see a change in the government and how we're going about things (Iraq, in particular). The Democrats went from the minority in both the House and the Senate to the majority in both houses of congress. They also won the majority of governorships. Not only that, but the day following the elections, Donald Rumsfeld "stepped down" as Secretary of Defense and was replaced by Robert Gates.

Yeah, it was a great night for Democrats and not so great a night for the president. How many changes will we see in the next couple of years, though? Will there be more cooperation between the Democratic majority and president than there has been in the past? Will the president maintain his stubbornness on "staying the course" or will he truly be open to new ideas? How much of a wild card will Joe Lieberman be? These are all questions I've very curious to watch out for in the upcoming years.

I have found it rather humorous that some Republicans have declared the sweep on election day may end up being a positive for their party. It's not often that I hear a baseball coach claim that his team getting swept in the ALCS will end up being a positive for his club. I know what they're thinking. If the Democrats don't follow through with the "changes" they promised, then Republicans can concentrate on that in the '08 elections. I'm sure they will regardless of what does and does not get done.

I'm curious about what will happen. While the Democrats can bring forth new ideas, propose bills, and pass them enough to send them on to the president, but these ideas, proposals, and semi-passes aren't going to alter our course greatly. The president will have the final say. Last time I checked, he hadn't vetoed a bill during his tenure, but this was a Republican majority during his first six years. It'll be interesting to see if Bush's veto trigger fingers finally get into action.

Outside of the given that we need a change of course in Iraq, there are a few things I'd like the Democrats to attempt in the next couple years. First off, I'd like to see more of a balance between liberty and security. In Bush's first six years, the scale has been tilting more and more in favor of security and while we need to focus on our safety, we mustn't lose sight of our freedoms. I'd like to see the Democrats propose some revisions to the Military Commissions Act, the Patriot Act, and Wiretapping Commissions Act. I'd also like to see some investigations on pre-war intelligence to the Iraq war, war crimes committed by the Bush Administration, and an independent investigation on 9/11. Many ideas will be raised in the next two years for the Democrats. The only question is, how many of these ideas will get put into action? Yeah, it was a great day for the Democratic Party last Tuesday, but it's time to make use of the majority and not sleep on it at all. They haven't had this much power in Washington for quite some time and need to make the most of it. I sincerely hope that they do.