Enough to last till 2006

I am posed with a serious question:

Do I present the recent tidal wave of GOOD political news in alphabetical order, arrange by issue, or come up with my own color-coded system to organize this?

Let's start with dear California...

I think the New York Times headline sums it up pretty well: "Not on ballot, Schwarzenegger still rebuked"

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's carefully honed image as an Olympian above politics, the people's governor, a man too wealthy to be bought, the invincible independent, all came crashing down Tuesday as California voters delivered a verdict on his four ballot measures: No, no, no and no [...]

Mr. Schwarzenegger, to whom humility does not come easily, sounded a note of limited contrition on election night, as he thanked his supporters and expressed gratitude even to those who voted against him. After a year of attacking Democrats and what he called their union bosses, he promised to sit down with his opponents to find common ground to break the bitter stalemate in Sacramento, which has the Republican governor and his allies locked in a test of wills with a Legislature controlled by Democrats.

"I also recognize that we also need more bipartisan cooperation to make that all happen," Mr. Schwarzenegger said. "And I promise that I will deliver that. The people of California are sick and tired of all the fighting and they are sick and tired of all those negative TV ads."

Exactly. But that's okay, Governor. We can wait until 2006 to send you packin' to Hollywood. Until then, we will still have fun mocking you on YOUR own negative TV ads.

Refer to Montague's Guide to The Biggest Waste Of Money Ever for the background information on the propositions... But I'm not sure that'd be necessary, since the results were: No, No, No, No, No, No, No, and... No.

Speaking of our Gubernator... Over in New Jersey + Virginia... two Democrats won the gubernatorial elections. Actually, the Washington Post endorsed Tim Kaine for VA.

LT. GOV. TIMOTHY M. Kaine's triumph in Virginia's gubernatorial race is a watershed -- the victory of a Southern Democrat who prevailed despite his principled opposition to the death penalty and his refusal to rule out new taxes.

Certainly his campaign was helped by the Bush administration's stumbles and setbacks this fall and the Republicans' resulting malaise. It was also Mr. Kaine's good fortune that the popularity of his principal Democratic ally, Gov. Mark R. Warner, peaked just as Republican fortunes dipped. But Mr. Kaine, by running a relatively positive campaign, also managed to convey his integrity, decency and intelligence -- as well as his faith as an observant Catholic -- while fending off fierce, and at times cynical, attacks by his chief opponent, former attorney general Jerry W. Kilgore.

Thank you, Governor Kaine (wow, it feels so good typing that), for proving that a politician can have integrity, strong and principled beliefs, and intelligence ALL AT THE SAME TIME! (Unlike Bush, for whom Karl Rove has to switch on one of those aforementioned traits at the same time)

And to make this even sweeter, Corzine won the NJ race:

With 97 percent of the vote counted, Mr. Corzine had 53 percent of the vote to Mr. Forrester's 44 percent. Mr. Corzine's victory allowed the Democrats to hold on to both of the governor's seats that were up for grabs nationwide.

Now, that's enough warm fuzzy feelings on the regional/state level. Moving to Congress (I think I've established that the Bush White House is a failure) the Democrats showed 'em that they aren't in Washington just to look pretty...

House GOP leaders agreed last night to strip plans to permit oil drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and in the offshore continental shelf from their massive $54 billion budget-cutting measure, probably securing the votes to pass the measure today.

At least 22 Republicans had told the House leadership they would not vote for the sweeping bill unless the drilling provision was removed and they are given assurances that it will not return after House and Senate negotiators hash out a final measure. Even then, several moderate Republicans have said they still would oppose the bill, which would allow states to impose new costs on Medicaid recipients, cut funds for student loans and child support enforcement, trim farm supports, and restrict access to food stamps [...]

This budget is still up to no good, but at least ANWR is safe for now! YAY!

Assuming it does pass, the budget measure's future is still not assured. The moderates' firm stance, especially on Arctic drilling, has put GOP leaders in a bind. A few conservatives may vote against the bill without the drilling provisions.

The Senate negotiators on a House-Senate conference committee will include Sens. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.), who have made it clear they will not agree to any final measure that does not include Arctic drilling.

Hahaha. Senator Stevens. The worst that could happen here is another temper tantrum by the grumpy Alaskan and another hillarious Jon Stewart clip mocking it.

And now, this administration's favorite topic- TERROR.

And by that, I do not mean Ann Coulter, Rick Santorum, my sister, and the study guide for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. I mean Abu Gharib, Guantanamo Bay, terror "outsourcing" kind of TERROR.

Cheney for some reason supports it, especially when done by (cue sarcasm) his favorite government agency: the CIA.

A leading Republican senator said Sunday that the Bush administration is making "a terrible mistake" in opposing a congressional ban on torture and other inhuman treatment of prisoners in U.S. custody.

Sen. Chuck Hagel, considered a potential presidential candidate in 2008, said many Republican senators support the ban proposed by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War.

I know that Karl is a little busy... But can nobody in the White House figure out that torture is a NEGATIVE word, and that just because it's done by the U.S. does not make it acceptable?

And the same holds true for the Brits:

The House of Commons on Wednesday soundly defeated an anti-terrorism measure championed by Prime Minister Tony Blair, dealing him one of the most significant political setbacks of his eight years in office.

The lower house of Parliament voted 322 to 291 against a proposal to allow suspects in terrorism cases to be held for as many as 90 days without charge, up from the current 14. It was Blair's first loss in a major vote in that house since he took office in 1997.

It must've been the "cool thing" to do among leaders of nations: to torture prisoners of war and "enemy combatants" in the name of national security. Well, Mister President, you can always sit with Tony Blair during reccess if the other kids (you know, from the oil rich nations and such) won't play with you.

So, this has been a good week, both politically and personally. I cannot wait until 2006. I finally got a sense of what a GOOD election feels like.