Last wek, the Daily Show had a photo of a homeless man, pushing his grocery cart containing all his possessions, dressed in that red jacket, black skirt, and red high heels...

... when all a cartoonist or comedian needs to do is simply quote our ruling Republican elite. Then again, if We the People had listened to what they said the first time around, the cartoons wouldn't have been necessary.

I'm hoping for a day when writers have to WORK to produce comedy, dammit.

Walter Shapiro has an article "How McCain Ran Against Himself" here in Salon which notes the policy and persona reversals that Sen. McCain implemented, in his ruthless, at all costs drive for the Presidency.

McCain might have gotten away with them all, if only he'd kept schmoozing his captive journalists. But he jilted them, for whatever reason, and now, several are starting to see - and report - his many faults.

As Bob Herbert observed in his excellent NY Times column about Today's Republican Party, "The mask has slipped."

Marc Pengryffyn is right. While Dems celebrate, the Repubs are plotting how to wreck Obama's administration and destroy him and his family on a personal basis. Thanks to John McCain's prompt concession, they got an early start and probably spent most of Election Night brooding, grousing, and plotting.

Obama supporters, liberals, progressives, and Democrats ought to be doing the same - going over how the Republicans and their supporters will try to disrupt the Obama presidency, and what to do about it. I suggest studying the Clinton years - these people have lately just been re-using the same tired old attacks on one Democrat after another, as if their movement is old and tired, or maybe just by the bottom of the barrel (and led by the scum). Take advantage of it!

Also, it's imperative to break up the Half-Vast Right Wing Slime Machine. Some possible means (not all equally good) include

• Tighten media ownership rules; bring back the Fairness Doctrine
• Prosecute the guilty, whether it be war criminals in the White House, wire tappers, practitioners of election fraud, law-breakers on Wall Street, or whatever. Get them off the streets. Remember that the Bush admin was staffed not only by Reagan appointees but also some of Dick Nixon's (Watergate) crew.
• Improve election management - easier, more precise voter registration, auditable and recountable ballots, more access to voting by more voters. Crack down hard on intimidation, voter roll purging, and caging.
• PUSH BACK! When the right wing (aka "mainstream") media distorts or prints out & out lies, don't just sit there screaming at your screen. This ain't (yet) 1984; they can't hear you. You still have to phone, write, or email, so do it.

All of this will require keeping politically active. If you feel like one of the Obama-zombies, start making your own list, pick one or more areas that interest you where you think you can do some good, and go at it. The next big election is 2010 - and it's a lot closer than it looks now.

Let's not just sit back and bask, as Mr. Keillor suggests, for the next few weeks. The right wing didn't celebrate Election Night, and they're sure not basking. They're hard at work plotting out ways to destroy President-Elect Obama, his administration, and his family. It's what they do.

Already, the wingnuts have come up with

• Obama is setting up a Gestapo-style "national security force"
• The Democratic Congress is holding hearings on how they will seize everybody's IRAs and 401Ks
• The Democrats are planning to bring back "The Fairness Doctrine" - funny how "fair & balanced"™ used to be a GOOD thing?

I remember 1992. Within a week of the election, all you could hear on the airwaves and op-ed pages was about "the failed Clinton presidency." By the time the man actually took the oath of office, he'd been finished for two months.

In the last 16 years, the wingers have grown even more powerful, entrenched, ubiquitous, and accepted. Limbaugh not only shows his made-for-radio face on television, he's a respected commentator! It's time for a change in America's mass media. As Joe Biden said (in a different context), "At some point, you need to stop bailing and start plugging the hole in the bottom of the boat." Media reform needs to be a continuing effort.

Like many others have said, cruise on over to Change.Gov, contact your current and incoming Congress critters, and get back to work! But happily. Keep the celebration going as long as you can.

I left out

• American is a conservative nation

Yeah, and we want "conservative" things like consumer protection, health care, regulation of financial institutions, a higher minimum wage, privacy rights, reproductive rights, ... Well, add your own.

"Conservative"?!? If Americans call themselves "conservative," it's only because the word "liberal" has been so demonized by the wrong-wingers for the last 40 years.

Speaking as one who really wants to see Bill Richardson as SoS, and Hillary Clinton as Senate majority leader, this worries me. At this point, I'm hoping that the conflicts with Bill's clientele cause President Obama move on to (the other) Big Bill.