398 thoughts on “Live Blogging the 2006 midterm election results”

1. OH SHIT….this is amazing. What will SM do to celebrate? You guys need to throw a big macacagate party!!

2. It’s over! Webb wins.

   Hakuna macaca!

3. yeah! this news has inspired me to buy an “i’m not your macaca” t-shirt! 🙂

4. Tash (# 322),

   IMO, the ‘saffron balls’ part thrown in casually is not appropriate. I’m sure you don’t mean offense, but that is for the SpoorLams of the world. Not all Indians have the same views and not everyone who disagrees with SM is a nagging auntie type.

5. yeah! this news has inspired me to buy an “i’m not your macaca” t-shirt! 🙂

   I have a “Macacas with Attitude” tshirt and every time I’ve worn it some random white dude will get into an apologetic conversation with me during which he will attempt to convince me that he is progressive, knows about brownz and hangs with them! Never fails. Sales guy at Ikea, Mail man, Guy reading the paper next to me on the train, Park Ranger upstate NY etc etc. You should get it, makes for interesting conversation, mostly blabbing from others!

6. I have a “Macacas with Attitude” tshirt and every time I’ve worn it some random white dude will get into an apologetic conversation with me during which he will attempt to convince me that he is progressive, knows about brownz and hangs with them!

   🙂

   by and large, we live among decent people. really. all of us. even in red states – as long as we reach over the hedge and shake hands.

   tho’ i confess – i chanced into fremont once and it creeped me out. -shudder-

7. Awesome news!! Would like to thank the SM bloggers, Subodh Chandra and numerous commenters who covered Macacagate,articulated the issue & options, & inspired brownz to represent.

8. It’s over! Webb wins. The Dems take the Senate!

   I have been waiting for this for so long 🙂 Can’t believe that it finally happened. I only hope the Dems dont screw up like the Republicans did after 1994. This country cannot afford another Republican President in 2008.

9. by and large, we live among decent people. really. all of us. even in red states – as long as we reach over the hedge and shake hands.

   🙂 Yes very optimistic. Chances are also high they were just looking at my chest and making conversation about it and I was stupid to think it was about Macacagate!

10. i chanced into fremont once and it creeped me out. -shudder-

    hairy, what happened?

11. Tash, Can you please stop calling INDIAN nationals nagging aunties? I donÂ’t think Kritics comment was nagging at all. He made a valid suggestion because this site claims to be about South Asians and Americans. And Indian-American deal interests both group of the people even other south asians. He didnÂ’t ask Abhi to write about some local issue from India.

    Also for 20% readership of this blog which comes from India, a prospective from a blog which knows both sides better than any would have helped those readers understand it better.

12. Can we get back to Gujudude’s point for a moment?

    Having read some opinions around, if it were upto me, I’d put the whole AO (Iraq) under the specific command of US Army Special Forces (Green Berets), not even SOCOM (which is dominated by Rangers and SEALS at high officer level positions). Kinda like the SOG group of Vietnam (Green Berets and local forces who operated independently of big Army with great success, unfortunately Big Army never took a page from their techniques and skills to do much). All infantry, support, Airforce, Marines, Navy etc. would be designed around to support the mission of Army Special Forces for unconventional warfare and Foreign Internal Defense missions (UW/FID). Unforntuately, for the big generals and politicans, unconventional warfare isn’t glorious nor sexy, it is a long and hard job that requires very skilled people trained in the languages, culture, and art of negotiation.

    I should admit, I’ve thought roughly the same thing. Though I think Army Special Forces is not exactly geared up for occupation. Unconventional warfare, yes. Nationbuilding, no. And while you have a point about the “what’s done is done” thing, I would like to point out that Dubya said “we don’t do nation-building” about 50 times before embarking on a course of…everyone together now…nation-building.

    (Of course, it was nation-building general-housing-contractor-style. Nation-building using the shittiest fixtures, substandard materials, the worst tools, and mortar made mostly out of sand)

    Anyway, I digress. I would like to think that the Army SF, and the Marines, and certain other branches of the military who have great track records with counter-insurgency tactics, would do the trick when it comes to fighting this war. I don’t really see them doing much beyond that. But I’m all for letting them take their gloves off and fight the way they want to. I mean, we’ve already fucked that country up but good. We’re already killing civilians by the al-Boatload, we’re NOT setting up a democracy, and we’re not even getting the goddamn oil. Fine, shoot the place up, go boot-to-door-to-door even more, broadcast propaganda from loudspeakers, park more tanks in the streets, see if any of that helps.

    By the way, the whole fear of Vietnam thing that various others keep bringing up? Enough. Vietnam, as it turned out, was just fine after we left. A little crazy, but they sure didn’t herald the end of the world, democracy in Asia, and the American way of life, the way the State Department and the Pentagon said. Likewise, an Iraq controlled by insurgents would be bad, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world. It’s scary, but it’s time we seriously considered that as an option.

13. Vietnam, as it turned out, was just fine after we left.

    Whoa there. Fine for who?

14. because this site claims to be about South Asians and Americans.

    Now, now…play nice.

    Also for 20% readership of this blog which comes from India, a prospective from a blog which knows both sides better than any would have helped those readers understand it better.

    That’s just it– we can’t win. Do we know both sides? According to some on your side, we don’t. In any case, would it be possible to end this bit of threadjacking? Your point of view is duly noted.

15. i

    chanced into fremont once and it creeped me out. -shudder-

    hairy, what happened?

    was being facetious… peripheral to my earlier point – it is healthy for a community to have interactions – walking neighborhoods – neighborhood convenience stores – produce stands on the street – open doors to bakeries – a library – a seniors center- green space with trees – i hope you get the picture… – admittedly i’ve not spent much time in that part of the world – but i was uncomfortable in the cities that lie at the ends of bart (i think yellow and the blue lines) – truth being told – i get creeped out in markham and mississauga (toronto suburbs) as well – it’s like meeting someone who’s wearing dark shades – if i cant see his eyes it makes me uncomfortable. reach out people. touch somebody. (but be careful though – i was once demonstrated an uppercut on my person by a guy who wanted to show me he’s still tough in spite of hitting 64. it’s a funny world).

16. But I’m all for letting them take their gloves off and fight the way they want to. I mean, we’ve already fucked that country up but good. We’re already killing civilians by the al-Boatload, we’re NOT setting up a democracy, and we’re not even getting the goddamn oil.

    You assume that the US is actually fighting a permanent, postured enemy, an enemy that existed before the US arrived, an enemy that is discrete and exists today, and an identifiable enemy that will exist tomorrow. This enemy you speak of are Iraqi’s, the average Jameel’s that institutionalists needed on their side for nation building.

    Leave. Eat crow. And for godsake be astute with statecraft which means be a two-faced bastard and open up back channels with Syria and Iran to negotiate the mess ye sowed.

17. Anyway, I digress. I would like to think that the Army SF, and the Marines, and certain other branches of the military who have great track records with counter-insurgency tactics, would do the trick when it comes to fighting this war.

    Army Special Forces is not only proficient at counterinsurgency, they are essentially battlefield ‘diplomats’ They have the unique ability to teach and create forces (it takes time, but a reduced footprint helps). Unconventional warfare isn’t as much as ‘taking the gloves off’ – that is the direct action approach of Army Rangers and Navy SEALs. SF does have that mission, but they are uniquely situated to do much much more. They aren’t geared for occupation, but they are geared to teach those who will govern/fight/defend the skills necessary to achieve stability on local levels (building the pyramid upto more central power structures).

    You are right though; an insurgency and nation building takes more than the military. However, starting off on the right foot or at least approaching one phase of war (the military part) can be done more effectively. Diplomacy, economic means, etc -ALL need to be used to win wars. Each tool supports each other and amplifies the effect of the other. Reduction of US military footprint, if we’re not going to commit resources for attrition warfare (way more troops than now) is a way to go, but change the nature of the personnel there (and who calls the shots). Afghanistan in its first few years was primarily a Army SF mission, which they did pretty damn well. When the enemy started to go more unconventional, the Pentagon ramped up more Conventional forces and pulled SF back (essentially poured in more Direct Action door kicking elements). The more I read about US Army Special Forces, the more I see they need MUCH more involvement, particularly on the strategic level and decision making processes.

    Vietnam and Iraq are different animals. If there is anything close in US history, as I’ve read on military forums, suggestions of the insurgency in the Phillipines comes up. Plus most of Vietnam was a conventional (though jungle warfare) fight against NVA regulars. The insurgency part worked in combination with the conventional forces to achieve a victory (convincing the US public they had lost after Tet, though VC/NVA sustained unrepairable damage). LBJ and McNamara’s linearity in approaching the war and micromanagement sure helped screw things up, too.

18. 🙂 Yes very optimistic. Chances are also high they were just looking at my chest and making conversation about it and I was stupid to think it was about Macacagate!

    🙂 bad macaci.

19. well said hairy. so by extension, we need to kill off the stationary PC and mandate worldwide wireless.

20. The Coalition for Partnership for India. A US-India friendship lobby with substantial support, had this to say about the deal prospects during the lame duck session in their email blast today:

    The implications the Democratic takeover of the House – and possibly the Senate – hold for U.S.-India civilian nuclear cooperation is a topic of much current discussion. While the Coalition for Partnership with India recognizes that many legislative initiatives may be affected by the change, we are optimistic that the India bill will weather the shift in political climate. Very possibly, the new dynamics may enhance the prospects for early approval as both parties, suddenly in balance, seek to demonstrate comity. Senator Reid and Senator Frist has each stated publicly his desire to pass S. 3709 during the lame duck session. President Bush, in his remarks this afternoon, voiced the same position, mentioning the India bill among his top legislative priorities for the upcoming session. The broad, bipartisan support for the bill is evidenced by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s 16-2 vote to approve it. When the bill comes to the Senate floor, most experts believe it will win by a margin similar to the landslide House vote of 359-68. Indeed, a solid majority of Democrats and Republicans alike support the strategic, nonproliferation, and environmental benefits embodied by U.S.-India civilian nuclear cooperation. With none of the Senate opponents of the bill indicating an intention to block it, the challenge now becomes balancing the need for dissenters to voice their concerns with the scarcity of floor time during the lame-duck session.

    This could just be their game face, though I remain cautiously optimisitic. The Times of India, on the other hand, has already gone into mourning. Congratulations to the Democrat supporters! Its been a long time coming.

21. Vietnam, as it turned out, was just fine after we left.

    Whoa there. Fine for who?

    Well, I was being semi-facetious, as usual. But after a decade of fairly crazy behavior, Vietnam did embark on some serious reform in the 1980’s, and it’s now a fairly decent place. It has a strong economy, it’s got some interesting industries, and it’s a part of what I think of as “modern Asia.” I’d say that America’s war there didn’t really accomplish much. It sure didn’t steer Vietnam in this direction, before anyone tries to jump at that particular brass ring.

    While Vietnam and Iraq aren’t parallel, they are similar in one way: America fears what might happen in Iraq, just America feared what would happen in Vietnam if it just up and left. And America (both its politicians and its citizenry) is allowing that fear to color its decisions in Iraq again.

22. WaPo just declared Webb the winner.

23. You assume that the US is actually fighting a permanent, postured enemy, an enemy that existed before the US arrived, an enemy that is discrete and exists today, and an identifiable enemy that will exist tomorrow. This enemy you speak of are Iraqi’s, the average Jameel’s that institutionalists needed on their side for nation building.

    NVM: Well, no, no, no, yes, and yes. Every enemy is discrete and exists. We just have some trouble being able to tell. Semantics, I know. But your point is taken.

    The thing is, just about ANYTHING other than leaving the US military in Iraq without any real plan but “let’s hope the Iraqis get their act together fast!” is a good option right now. I mean, more SF forces, reduced conventional army footprint as Gujudude suggests? Sure, sound good. Pull out altogether and eat crow? Can’t be worse than leaving American kids there to get killed, and still collectively eating crow.

    Let’s hope that Rummy and Bush’s Big Adventure can be fixed, or at least steered somehow, or maybe just turned into a reality show in 2008.

24. If I had superpowers and could be a unilateralist preemptive nation building missionary of democracy I’d consolidate forces to the bases, protect the pipelines, finance nation building, but leave the brainstorming & riff raff to some stooges and expats. Hmmm? What? That’s Saudia Arabia you say? Oh.

    As for Iraq, well…

    They say the first 200 year old person is an infant today. Perhaps Saddam’s successor has just been born.

25. erm … i know this is a very dumb question, but … who exactly is the “official” reporting body on election wins? i know various news outlets have reported webb’s victory, but i am always reminded of thomas dewey when i read victory headlines. (al gore, for that matter, as well).

26. erm … i know this is a very dumb question, but … who exactly is the “official” reporting body on election wins?

    Not a dumb question. The Secretary of State (of each state) has the final say and “certifies” the election results. This result has not been certified.

27. Thanks, Abhi. I lived out of the country during the time I think we are supposed to learn these things and later on conveniently circumvented the state requirement of studying both American govt. and constitution. It was a serious oversight I never bothered to point out (or correct personally).

28. No problem Milli. I recommend you rent all the seasons of The West Wing on DVD. It teaches you everything you forgot from high school plus it was a kick ass show 🙂

29. Tashi ji, Namaste. I am very saaaawry that they [aunty types] shit on your parade now and then. They are just uncoth, you the type of people who eat food with their hands***.Maaf Kriya ga. Please let me know if Indians ever be wet blankets again. Please be assured they will be never even dare to question. Pranam.

    *** It is possible that tef and kritic have been living in States (since the exchange happened live during the day) longer than you in NZ, but those are details, details.

    Kritics, tef Bhagoo saloo, Saheb, Memshaheb ko pareshan kar rai ho. Pata nahi kaha kaha see ah jata hai [Shooo, Don’t harass Sahib and Memshahib. I do not know where you guys come from]

30. Kush,

    Aunty-ness is not a measure of fobness for me. Anyone can be a nagging aunty, for me it’s about an holistic approach and viewpoint to a situation:

    a) am I going to guilt trip other people and accuse them of things while taking no positive actions to change what I see as a problem?

    b) am I going to voice my opinions but then find solutions for what I see as a problem?…

    for me nagging aunties come under a). I’m v proud to me Indian and occasionally eat with my hands and shake my head from side to side and other such measures of Indian-ness which the patriotism brigade seem to throw around here.

    I think it’s great that 20% of SM readership comes from India. I don’t think it’s great when anyone makes destructive rather than constructive points of criticism on a privately run blog which we are all invited to visit provided we are respectful, both in agreement and dissent.

31. Janeofalltrades,

    What will SM do to celebrate? You guys need to throw a big macacagate party!!

    And what do you think will happen then ? What always happens at desi parties. Everybody will smoke. The Punjabis will all get drunk. All the guys will ogle the hot women but will be too chicken to do anything (apart from the handful of “class studs”). The “bad girls” sitting in the corner will get bored after a while and will discreetly sneak out to the nearest club in order to “find some men”, while the mass of sozzled, horny, chain-smoking desi guys left at the party will stare after them wistfully and think “Damn, not again”.

    Same old same old.

32. Salil & GujuDude,

    Likewise, an Iraq controlled by insurgents would be bad, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world. It’s scary, but it’s time we seriously considered that as an option.

    Jai applies some lateral thinking but chooses his words very carefully

    There would also be a positive byproduct to that awful scenario. As we all know, one of the biggest problems currently faced with regards to decisively taking out Al-Qaeda is the fact that they are not a national army in the conventional sense of the term. At least having large numbers of them localised in one country would give you a specific target to aim your weapons at, especially in terms of old-school warfare.

    Which is, of course, tragically still going to be very nasty indeed for the mass of ordinary Iraqi civilians who get caught up in the crossfire if their entire country really does end up being completely hijacked by the fanatics.

    ---

    Applying some more lateral thinking, another possibly-unforeseen but positive consequence of Rumsfeld being fired and the Republicans being so soundly defeated is that it shows the Middle-East that democracy really can “work” (even more so if the Democrats now really go after the guilty parties in the current US administration). So this could indeed inadvertantly help the aim of “bringing democracy to the Middle-East”, or at least play some part in convincing the sceptical/cynical parties over there. We hope.

33. The “bad girls” sitting in the corner will get bored after a while and will discreetly sneak out to the nearest club in order to “find some men”,

    Nothing maketh a brown party like the 12 pm exit to go find some hot white/Polynesian/Latino boys 🙂

    Thanks Jai for the deja wu 😉

34. *am, am. oops.

35. I recommend you rent all the seasons of The West Wing on DVD. It teaches you everything you forgot from high school plus it was a kick ass show 🙂

    I second that. I love love love that show and bought the DVDs so I can actually refer back to them sometimes.

    Same old same old.

    Awwww I don’t necessarily know if the average “older” Indian who would be at these “usual” parties really is into American politics because they don’t necessarily feel connected to this country. The depth of triumph over a bigot who was too obvious might resonate more with those that feel affinity to this country and were born and raised here.

36. Janeofalltrades,

    I was just joking about the party — just describing some desi events I’ve been to myself in my younger days 😉

    I love The West Wing too (the show actually inspired me to go off and do lots of background reading on the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, the Gettysburg Address and so on).

    Martin Sheen Zindabad.

37. What will SM do to celebrate? You guys need to throw a big macacagate party!!

    Good suggestion. SM should throw a huge party macaca style.

38. I have a question…I received an email about the passing of the Marriage Amendment in VA:

    …the Marriage Amendment was approved in Virginia. Many people thought this had solely to do with gay marriage and it was wrongly referred to as the Gay Marriage Amendment. In reality, it is already illegal for gay couples to be married in VA. This amendment was a redundancy in that aspect. In actuality, it has more significant and negative repurcussions in the community for heterosexual couples. Now that the amendment was passed, women who are being abused (emotionally, physically, financially, sexually, etc.) in relationships with partners they are not married to will not be protected. A similar law was passed in Ohio and thousands of women (and some men) could not be protected by the law.

    Is this true? does anyone know off hand…I’m looking into it, but google searches right now seem to focus on the fact that is passed, not on what it is or what it’ll mean for heteros (and battered spouses esp).

39. Awwww I don’t necessarily know if the average “older” Indian who would be at these “usual” parties really is into American politics because they don’t necessarily feel connected to this country.

    I’m just not sure that’s true – I think of my parent’s generation as a lot more politically conscious than mine, and that’s significantly a function of coming of age in a much more politically tumultuous time. One of my first childhood memory was how in the first grade, I had to support Walter Mondale and that Reagan would have us all be a victim of nuclear holocaust. My parents and their friends imbued the spirit of the 60s (which spread far beyond the U.S.) much more than my peers imbue any political consciousness.

40. Awwww I don’t necessarily know if the average “older” Indian who would be at these “usual” parties really is into American politics because they don’t necessarily feel connected to this country.

    Ms. JOAT,

    There is a Professor in Chemistry @ LSU (Louisiana State University)*. He must be close to 80 years old and is originally from India. During the height of civil rights movement, he did protest sitins in white-only delis, did marches led by MLK and his southern organizers. That is risking life and your well being.

    Our famous NP winner, Chandrashekhar used to do voter’s drive long before MTV [this info can be found any 1-2 page bio on Chandra].

    I don’t think you are in that leaugue yet. Not even close. They seem pretty average joe/ ramu to me.

    *He might be still listed on LSU Chemistry webpage as an emertius faculty.

41. My response was to the “funny” picture of the “average desi party” Jai painted. I have been to those parties mostly because I was forced to when I was young.

    Besides the women in the kitchen talking about recipes, kids, gossip and the men outside arguing about something very little to do with American politics it was a fairly uninvolved careless bunch.

    There will always be people that truly care in every generation. Older immigrants that came here in the 80s, 90s don’t necessarily feel as passionate about American politics as those that came here young in the 60s and 70s.

42. FYI – Apparently, Allen will be conceding the election at a 3pm press conference.

43. There will always be people that truly care in every generation. Older immigrants that came here in the 80s, 90s don’t necessarily feel as passionate about American politics as those that came here young in the 60s and 70s.

    I agree that its significantly generational – people coming of age everywhere (or learning a new political paradigm) in the 80s and 90s were less politically active than those in 60s and 70s

44. Is this true? does anyone know off hand…I’m looking into it, but google searches right now seem to focus on the fact that is passed, not on what it is or what it’ll mean for heteros (and battered spouses esp).

    Kenyandesi, its true. Dalia Lithwick covered this on Slate last week. You should check out that article.

45. JoaT,

    I have been to those parties mostly because I was forced to when I was young.

    I was referring to the sort of get-togethers desi college kids here in the UK had during my university years (and probably still have). At least in cities and colleges with huge desi student populations, of which there are many in Britain.

    Remember A Different World ? Well, imagine the same thing but with British South Asians instead of American black people, and you get the general idea.

46. Thanks Abhi, I had no clue, and I’m so very sure many other people didn’t either….damn 🙁

47. Democratic Maryland politician Jim Gilchrist has the most unfortunate coincidence of names ever. (If you wonder why I say that, try typing “Jim Gilchrist” into Google and hitting “I feel lucky.”)

48. Yours truly wrote in #250:

    Pelosi will be put in her place soon enough

    Boy, if only I could predict the stock markets with such uncanny accuracy…

    M. Nam