So as expected the Democrats got beat badly yesterday and the Republicans are going to take over the senate.  Given the mood of the country and the fact that the Democrats had to defend in so many red states in a midterm election, this result is probably inevitable.  But in a lot of close races, the Democratic candidate shied away from Obama completely.  I understand that Obama has low approval ratings.  But if the Republicans are making the election about Obama and you are running away from Obama, aren't you agreeing with the Republicans?  I believe that the best defense is offense.  I would have asked:  "Are you better or worse today than 2008 under the Bush administration?  Do you want to elect someone who will go back to the Bush policies that got us into recession and unpopular wars?''  Obama would have some impact to get out the minority vote.  All this may not have worked but by pushing Obama away, it only fed into the Republican message and made the Democratic candidates look weak.

So now what?  Nothing changes.  The Republicans are not going to agree among themselves what agendas to push forward.  They can waste their time trying to repeal Obamacare.   But Obama still has the veto.  Things like immigration reform, which Obama would sign if presented with a bill near what he wants, will not pass Congress even now because the Republicans won't be able to agree among themselves.  So we will continue to have a do nothing Congress and a lame duck president.  The only thing that this election may make a difference is if there is a Supreme Court opening in the next two years.  The Republican majority will make it more difficult for whomever Obama will nominate.

Praying for a speedy recovery for Mr. Hockey!

The Republican conservatives are siding with Obama while liberal Democrats are attacking him?  Justice Breyer sides with the conservatives while Justice Saclia sides with the liberals?  What is going on in D.C.?  The first part is easy to understand.  With revelation of the intelligence program PRISM keeping track of vast amount of phone calls and internet communication, Obama being called "Big Brother" by liberals is easy to understand.  It is also obvious why Republicans come to Obama's defense.  This type of program was put in place by the Bush administration.  So while saying that Obama is hypocritical for embracing the program now after attacking Bush's policies, the Republicans have to say that Obama is right for continuing the program.

I would have to agree with Obama and the Republicans.  (That is a weird sentence).  It is easy to attack the government for infringement of freedom as an outsider.  But once you are the government and responsible for security, you are going to try to get as much legal power as possible.  If Obama had stopped PRISM and an attack occurs, he would be fried.  Now he can say there is Congressional and court oversight of the program.  He is still hypocritical but he would rather be hypocritical than a failure at national security.  For all those people who cry about privacy, how many of you have facebook and other social media accounts?  How many of you buy things over the internet or use membership cards at a Costco?  You no longer have much privacy.  Companies all over the world know what you like or dislike and how best to sell you stuff already!  So at least for now the invasion of my privacy by private sources is more annoying to me than any government monitoring of my communications.  (You are welcome, Big Brother who is reading this).

Regarding Scalia and Breyer reversing roles, I don't understand how that happened.  This case was about whether the police can obtain DNA from anyone who was arrested as opposed to someone who was already convicted.  Breyer voted yes and Scalia voted no.  I agree with Breyer and the conservatives.  (Again, a weird sentence).   I don't see how this is anymore infringement than getting finger printed and a mug shot when you are arrested now.  Sure, DNA reveals more of you than the finger prints.  But this is hardly more intrusion to the privacy of someone arrested.  This law would increase the national data base to help solve crimes.  So I think the benefits outweigh the infringements here.