Kerry: down but not out.

Unlike Al Gore, who basically retired from public life after Bush stole his first election, John Kerry is not going to go out quietly. He kept his Senate seat, and he vows to give Bush as much hell from the Loyal Opposition side of the Senate as he can.

Let us remember: the Republicans do not have filibuster-proof majorities in either house. The GOP might be forced to moderate their most extreme policy ideas under threat of gridlock. Hopefully the Dems will hang tough. Bush might have won this one technically fairly, but we can make his second term a nightmare. And there's always 2006 to look forward to: hopefully the GOP gerrymanders will be struck down in the courts in time for the Dems to take back Congress.

I want to point out that there are a couple of new icons on the right side of my blog. One is an affiliate link for NoSweat.Com, which is an outlet for Union-made casual wear. Yes, it's a little bit more expensive than the Chinese Slave Labor-made crap you can get at Wally*World, but the fact that it's made by labor who are at least paid a living wage for their work should make you consider buying your next t-shirts through them. And if you do t-shirts for your band or your organization, you should seriously consider making your buys through them.

The other icon is for a Yahoo!Group called "takebackamerica." This is a group for those who want to keep politically involved now that the election is over. Things are kind of slow now but it should pick up.

Anyway, this fight isn't over. Not by a long shot. Think good thoughts for our boys and girls who are going through hell in Falluja right now. And don't give up. Kerry isn't.