Okay, I'm NOT Supposed To Gloat ...

But what the hell.

I was dead right about the Senate and, if current totals hold up, I'll be pretty close to being right about the House.  Ah, the House, still to be led by Speaker Gerry Mander.  More about that later;-).

And then there was, and (thankfully) is, Obama.

To tell you the truth, I didn't think he would make it.  I hoped he would, but I was not optimistic.  Money talks in politics, as it does in other areas of our life.  And more money was spent attempting to kick him out of the White House than was spent against any other candidate in history.

Luckily, brains count, too.  And Obama and his people possessed enough brains plus money to stop the Romney-GOP-Super PAC onslaught of cash from the other side.

A lot of emphasis in the post-election coverage has been placed on the increasing role of women and ethnic groups in the Democratic coalition.  While there's a great deal of merit to that focus, it overlooks the fact that both groups are key components of a new generation, which I in turn felt is what would be the main story of this election.  Happily, I was right.  Happily not just for me, but for all of us.

I'll get to some more specific aspects of last Tuesday a little later.  There are, in my opinion, two big takeaways from election year 2012.

First, money is still a problem.  It will continue to flood the system and, in the process, embed it with the potential for corruption and destruction.  And nothing in this regard will change, until we cease tilting the playing field away from the afflicted and toward the comfortable.

Second, we are the problem.  When we don't show up at the polls, that is.

We did it in 2008, but not in 2010.  We are still paying the price for that failure.  We cannot let it happen again.  Ever.

In a democracy, where the people are the government, the burden of governing does not go away between Election Days.  It always rests on all of us.

To organize.  To protest.  To raise money.  To be active in the media, by any and all means.  And, above all, to vote in each and every election.

Not just when we feel like it.  Not just when our chances look good.  And not when the other side has nearly pushed us to the brink of destruction.

Eternal vigilance truly is the price of liberty.  And so, here on this Veteran's Day, I call on all of us on the leftward side of the divide to remember that reality, and live it every day.  Many pay the price for a better society with their lives.  You can do it by paying a smaller price:  stay involved.

Being a citizen is the greatest office anyone can hold.  Hold it as well as you can.  Be grateful for this year.  But be grateful enough to keep up the good work.