Say It Ain't So Joe

Republicans fear the terror of an election that produces a Democratic President with larger Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress. Think of all the horrors that could ensue:

Voters will be registered. Workers organized. Banks regulated. Health care provided for all. Government investment will drive a green revolution that generates millions of jobs. The wealthy will pay more in taxes. Guantanamo will be shut down; torture will end. Net neutrality will be mandated. Citizens may even be able to sue corporations that negligently do them harm. Tax benefits for moving jobs out of the US will end. The war in Iraq will end. The FDA, USDA, Justice and Interior will actually be funded to do their jobs for the public.

The horror of it all. Can the Republic survive?

But we need to go further if given the chance. Cut the military budget. End the privatization of the military and national security functions with cost plus contracts. Clamp down on the CIA and its secret budget. Stop the military arms brokers. Forge a national strategy for the global economy. Reverse the Commodity Futures Modernization Act. Repeal the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Services Modernization Act. Make college affordable for all. Provide the basics in education, from pre-school to small classes, to lifelong learning. Revive national service. Rebuild trust in government. Launch the unspeakable -- a true war on poverty. Revive the fairness doctrine.

The horror, the stark horror of it all. Can Americans -- after Iraq, Katrina, bankers run amok, gilded age inequality, Robber Baron corruption -- actually have the gall to vote the bums out? Say it ain't so, Joe the plumber, say it ain't so.