Well my my my. It seems the whole blogosphere is in an uproar ever since I mentioned my wife having the need to have her rib removed. The outpouring of support from readers has been overwhelming. And I feel pretty certain I have heard from almost every reader out there, since I just talked to Graf and Nathan sent me an email earlier.

So hopefully we will look back and laugh after that is done, though it won't be done for another month. But when we do laugh, it will be one of those laughs that sound like you are missing a rib, at least coming from her.

Speaking of the power of the blogosphere, I never weighed in on the election results. I will confess that I thought about doing it for a while but was too dismayed. Then disturbed. Then physically ill. And that was all just the first night. Now that I have had a week or two to have it sink in, it is only getting worse. So all I will say is that I really hope that when Bush goes around crowing about how he was elected with more votes than any other president in history, he keeps in mind that more people voted against him than any other election in history, because it was just the ususal 51/49 split, only with more voters turning out than usual.

That said, I can't believe Kerry lost. I mean, I saw it coming as far back as the primaries, and watching Kerry try to form his image by consensus and focus group his way to victory I felt he was doomed. Even though there is no question in my mind that he is intelligent and statesman like and all that, if a little pompous and patrician. But really, I blame Bob Schrum. I mean, what kind of nimrod has a communications director, or whatever his title is, who approves a line like "we can do better"? That is a loser's election tagline if I ever heard one. Who wants to be reminded that we can do better? How about something with some simple power, like Kerry for Change or something? Anyway, since Schrum's main credential seems to be having been involved in signficant ways with about 11 losing campaigns starting with Ed Muskie, I have to blame Kerry for hiring and trusting him. Should have hired Erol Morris, who volunteered his time. Oh well, I guess now we just sit back and watch the perfect storm of Judiciary, Executive, House and Senate all rabid and single minded, change this country for the next 100 years or so by dumping mercury in the streams, undoing the New Deal and engaging most of the world in hating us. I believe it was Thomas Jefferson who said people get the government that they deserve, and I don't think he was being kind.