Quiet Declarations

Here’s a thought experiment for you: let’s imagine the Republicans had a large majority in the House and a personally popular president in office, and that they controlled 60 seats in the Senate.  Let us further assume that Republicans were on the verge of passing legislation that would enact a 17% flat tax, eliminate the capital gains tax and most corporate taxes, and end most of the regulatory apparatus on the health industry.  After clearing the House and Senate, the bill is nearing the end of reconciliation when suddenly Republicans are shocked by a surprise upset in Utah that throws Orrin Hatch’s seat — held by the GOP pretty much for eternity — into Democratic hands, scuttling the entire legislative agenda.

Regardless of how you normally vote, if you vehemently opposed the Republicans’ agenda in this example, how would you feel right now?

Seems to me the Brown victory is this, in reverse.

I went and got engaged, so I figured it was time to change my Facebook relationship status for the first time since creating my account back in 2004 or something.  In an earlier version of Facebook you could adjust your settings to prioritize certain kinds of profile changes, such as setting relationship status changes to max to get all the gossip as quickly as possible.  In a more-recent-but-still-earlier version of Facebook you would at least see the most recent changes on top.  But for some reason the current version of Facebook prioritizes wall posts and notes above profile changes, even when the profile changes are more recent.  Check out where my engagement fell on my Facebook page:

I’ve heard that the view differs depending on which user is viewing the page, but if so, I understand that even less.

Anyway, I’m engaged.  Go me.