As you’re going about your day today, you’re probably going to put up with a little gloating from your lib friends if you haven’t already. Or, more likely, a lot. And that’s fine. That’s part of the process. Face it, you’d be doing the same thing if it had gone the other way. I sure would be.
But there’s an odd tone to a lot of it. Obama said voting is the best revenge, but that’s only half of it. After liberals vote, and the vote goes their way, then they need to get revenge against the people who somehow still dare to disagree with them.
It reminds me of a wonderful HuffPo column from Nov. 5, 2008 by a guy named Evan Handler. You might not recognize the name, but you recognize the face:
He’s a character actor who’s done a lot of TV. He had a recurring role on The West Wing, he played Hurley’s imaginary friend on Lost, and lots of other stuff. He’s a good actor and I’m sure he’s a terrific guy, but…
Man, he cannot handle winning.
Hi! My Name is Evan, and I’ll Be Your Buzz Killer this Evening
It’s good! It’s great! It’s all fantastic, and I’m thrilled! Really. I do mean it. But something seems to be escaping our attention amidst the exaltation. In spite of the wars, the lies, the torture, the stacking of the courts, and the rollbacks to civil liberties; in spite of the religious fundamentalism, the fanaticism, and the utter disdain toward the population that’s been expressed; in spite of the Katrina fiasco, the wire tapping, and the raping and pillaging of our economy for corporate gain (not to mention the ridiculousness and horrendous idiocy of the Republican campaign, including the Palin monstrosity) 56 million, 378 thousand, 316 Americans still voted for the other side.
To humanize that just a bit, that means that 56,378,316 individuals waited in line just as long as you did, and worked just as hard as anyone else, to try to make sure that Barack Obama would not become president of the United States. I don’t know about you, but that scares the shit out of me. It means — for reasons that go way beyond any immediate financial crises — we’re still in very deep trouble.
To which I replied: Dude. You won. Get over it.
I don’t know how Evan Handler feels today, knowing that Romney convinced 57 million, 98 thousand, 650 individuals to wait in line and work hard because they’re wrongheaded enough to disagree with Evan Handler.
I can only hope it scares the shit out of him.
Update: Handler was kind enough to reply in the comments:
It does. So does this…
Mitch McConnel’s “congratulatory” message to President Obama, on Election Night:
“The voters have not endorsed the failures or excesses of the president’s first term, they have simply given him more time to finish the job they asked him to do together with a Congress that restored balance to Washington after two years of one-party control.
Now it’s time for the president to propose solutions that actually have a chance of passing the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and a closely-divided Senate, step up to the plate on the challenges of the moment, and deliver in a way that he did not in his first four years in office.”It should scare everyone.
Glad you’re watching,
Evan Handler
LOOK OUT!!!
Update: Beyonce’s ticked off too.