Posted by
Bob on Friday, November 14, 2008 6:32:20 PM
The Democratic Party now has a hold on the executive branch and both houses of congress, not a happy situation for those of us who look to divided government for checks and balances on govermental power. The fools and knaves of the Democratic Party (not to be confused with the fools and knaves of the Republican Party) now have almost unchecked power, save for a divided and erratic Supreme Court which may yet fall under their sway.
Fortunately, the Democrats did not win the 60 Senate seats which would have given them a filibuster-proof majority. This is good. The filibuster may be our last best protection from the worst excesses of the party's idealogues. But while the final tally is still incomplete due to recounts and runoffs, it appears they will garner at least 57 and maybe 58 seats, leaving the Republicans a margin of perhaps two - the Republican Thin Red Line .
The metaphor comes from British army formations of the 19th century. The British line, typically four deep, was designed to withstand warlike hordes of Zulus, Cossacks, Russians, Fuzzie -Wuzzies, the French . The term was coined after the Battle of Balaclava in 1859 when the badly outnumbered British thinned their line to two deep. Discipline and luck saved the day. The line held.
Will a Republican Thin Red Line have the discipline and luck to prevail? The audacity of hope.
The metaphor comes from British army formations of the 19th century. The British line, typically four deep, was designed to withstand warlike hordes of Zulus, Cossacks, Russians, Fuzzie -Wuzzies, the French . The term was coined after the Battle of Balaclava in 1859 when the badly outnumbered British thinned their line to two deep. Discipline and luck saved the day. The line held.
Will a Republican Thin Red Line have the discipline and luck to prevail? The audacity of hope.