Open Letter: The House that George built.

This letter is directed to all Democrats -- whether newly elected or re-elected: November 7, 2006 concluded with an historic (collective) vote for change and you have been handed control of the House. A hearty "congratulations" for your victory is in order.

This is not the time for pats on the back.

Many of us woke up after the 2004 Presidential election and half-expected to look upon a barren wasteland -- it felt as though the sun might not rise on that day. John Kerry's loss seemed like the end simply because four (more) years of George Bush with a Republican Congress was (to put it mildly) a depressing proposition. We thought: "Can America survive four more years of Bush?"

Reading the news this morning is a glimmer of light after being lost in the forest for two long years: Not only will the sun rise -- flowers will bloom as we dance in the streets.

Those of you now in office do not get to celebrate. (Leave the dancing to those who voted for change.) As a Democrat, the time has come to put on your game face. If necessary -- take five minutes and dance a private jig in your office.

Done? Now get to work.

Make no mistake -- that private jig and that office do not belong to you: You are in office because the Republican majority (and our Republican President) were not doing their jobs and most everyone in America could feel it. This historic vote was not a vote for Democrats vs. Republicans -- it was a desperate vote for change. One thing has been made crystal clear: Americans made good on their threat to turn this car around and go home.

Expectations are high.

This means that you now have to meet those expectations. You've just purchased a fixer-upper and your job for the next two years is to repair leaky faucets and patch holes so that this country is presentable when it is time to elect a new President. The previous tenants did not leave America in better shape than they found it and you now have to make lemonade from rotten lemon rinds. (No one said this was going to be easy.)

As expected, President Bush has extended a too little, too late Olive Branch (they apparently grow well in the soils of desperation): Shake his hand and then spend the next two years riding his ass.

Dana Periso had this to say of the elections:

"In all of those calls, I would say there was a strong spirit of good will and the president said `Congresses change, but issues don't,'" Perino said.

That's as good an indication as any that Bush is grimacing as he extends his congratulations. (You might want to check the olive branch for thorns.) He's wounded and he is doing what he has to do to stay alive.

A quote from Bush is appropriate in this situation:

There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again.

Periso is right -- but not in the way she thinks.

The issues haven't magically gone away:

• The war in Iraq is still a mess and Rumsfeld is still in charge of said mess.
• The global reputation of the United States has been flushed down the toilet.
• We are still facing an energy crisis.
• Embryonic Stem Cell Research still needs our attention.
• Wedge issues still occupy too much of your time. (This means fences, this means gay marriage amendments -- this means everything that distracts from the important issues that we need to be addressing.) The election is over -- the distractions need to go away too.

Your charge (and your obligation) is to address these issues. You've stated over and over that you are not the party of cut-and-run. It's time that you begin to back up all of the things you've said with things that you do.

We voted for change -- it's now your job to bring about positives changes. Good luck.

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