Rainbows and Clouds with Silver Linings

Yesterday morning, when I went outside to feed the chickens and ducks, I saw this rainbow. We've been having steady rains, there was a break in the clouds. Here are the photos I took.


Rainbows make me think of silver-lined clouds. With the election results in, and things looking so dismal, I had to wonder if some good things might come out of it.

The following are some excerpts from a few of the commentators I read daily (I wanted to publish these yesterday, but blogger was acting up and I couldn't).

From Tammy Bruce:
Ballot Initiative Results by Issue and State

When we look at the initiatives that passed, moderate and conservative America was out in force last night, evidenced primarily by the passing of a ban on gay marriage by almost every state that had the initiative. Even Charlie Rangel admitted that people didn't vote for Dems because they're liked, but as a protest against the current situation.

McCain noted several times last night that the Repubs "lost their way" and compromised their "principles." I think that would include maniacal spending and increasing the size and involvement of government in our lives. All of those things occur when religious politics trump authen conservative political values. Let the religious values be permeated through society via community, church and synagogue.

From Neal Boortz:
A WELL-EARNED KICK IN THE GUT

[...] When I got up at 4:00 this morning and started to look at results, I can honestly say that I was neither surprised nor disappointed.  I've been saying this for weeks ... and I'll say it again right now ... this may be the best possible outcome for the future of our Republic.

This is good news .. and bad news.  Good news because of the message it sends to Republicans.  Bad news because of the message it sends to Islamic jihadists who are dedicated to the destruction of our culture.

One thing is certain.  The Republicans worked very hard for this defeat.  They've earned every lost seat.  The Republican majority that was sent packing yesterday bore little resemblance to the Republican majority that rode to power 12 years ago.  In 1994 we were promised less government.  Over the next 12 years the Republicans more than doubled the size of the government.  We were promised control over runaway spending.  In the last six years discretionary spending has doubled. 

We were promised fiscal responsibility.  We got a bridge to nowhere in Alaska.  We were promised the elimination of the Department of Education.  After all, educational achievement had been on a steady decline since education was federalized under this Department.  In no time at all the Republicans doubled funding for the Department of Education.  In the meanwhile America continues to slip on the international scorecard of educational achievement.

The Republicans, in full control of the government, couldn't even manage to stop the Mexican invasion.  How many Hispanics invaded our country across the Mexican / American border in the last 12 years?  Twelve million?  Twenty?  Funny, but I don't remember pressing 1 for English in 1994.  [...]

(bold emphasis his) Will the Republican's learn anything from this?



From Michelle Malkin:
Conservatism did not lose

[...] The GOP lost. Conservatism prevailed. "San Francisco values" may control the gavels in Congress, but they do not control America. Property rights initiatives limiting eminent domain won big. MCRI, the anti-racial preference measure, passed resoundingly. Congressman Tom Tancredo, the GOP's leading warrior against illegal immigration--opposed by both the open-borders Left and the open-borders White House--won a fifth term handily. Gay marriage bans won approval in 3 states. And as of this writing, the oil tax initiative, Prop. 87--backed by deep-pocketed Hollywood libs, is trailing badly in California. [...]

I'm shocked this morning to see that the Republicans have now lost the senate, too. With that news, the push for impeachment begins:

From Michelle Malkin:
The impeachment drumbeat begins
I'm not suprised. And wether they succeed or not, I'm sure we are going to here this in the media non-stop for the next two years.


As for Bush's speech yesterday, it had it's low points:

From Tammy Bruce:
And President Bush Wonders Why They Lost

[...] when asked how Republican losses would affect his "immigration reform" plans (i.e. "guest workers," amnesty and an open border), President Bush says this:

"Yes, I think we have a better chance of getting immigration reform now with a Democrat-controlled Congress."

Republicans did not vote for Democrats dressed up as Republicans because they want an open border and amnesty. They did it because the Repubs in office refused to secure the border. Further, Republicans in the Senate voted with the Dems on this issue, making a mockery of supposedly representing the interest of the citizens and homeland security as opposed to the short-term interests of business. The president refused to listen to the people, smeared the Minutemen, and was more worried about what Vicente Fox was thinking than what we were thinking.

Well, now he knows what we think. Despite this, how dramatically revealing it is that he's actually excited that the Dems are in control, and how dare he so aggressively embrace them right out of the gate. Republican leadership should now be taking stock of why they lost, not getting excited about being able to continue failed policies with the help of the Dems.

(bold emphasis mine) In Europe, polls have shown that more than half of native born citizens in all European countries have consistantly said they think their governments are letting in too many immigrants too quickly. Yet their governments to not respond to this at all; the elitists who run Europe do as they wish. Are we facing the same thing here? Neither party seems willing to secure our border or to inforce our immigration laws.

Republican's may have wanted to punish Republican leaders for not securing the border, but by allowing Democrats to assume control, I think we are likely to now see a worse outcome regarding amnesty and open borders, because it is what the Democrats WANT. And they will push very hard for everything they want now:

COMMON GROUND WITH BUSH
Neal Boortz maintains that Bush and Pelosi have a lot in common, and could work together to bring to pass some things the Democrats have been pushing for.

I think this is why we are seeing the impeachment drive starting already; it will be a sword over Bush's head. The Dems can simply say, "Do as we say, or else". They will have his head on the chopping block. The Republicans have always been too friendly with the Democrats, because that friendliness is NOT reciprocated. There used to be a tradition of the "loyal opposition", but Democrats stopped being that a long, long time ago. The Republicans have yet to wake up to that fact, and once again, they are going to pay the price for it.

It would be nice if I was wrong about this, but I'm not holding my breath.

With Rainbows come rain, and often storms. It looks like we are going to have our share of both, literally and politically. We are supposed to have a break in our storms here in Oregon today, but it will start again tonight. We have roof repairs to do, so I'd better get going here.