Bummer

Well, the election was a bummer. Last night around 2am EST, I had this one simple thought, and it's really a duh moment: Good grief, If I were Kerry, I wouldn't want such a close victory. Either I'd want it free and in the clear, or not at all.

I'm glad he conceded today. Not only was it gentlemanly, it probably added a few years to his lifespan. Taking such a close Presidency is probably bad for your health. Let Bush have it. The more terms he serves, the sooner he dies, I'm willing to bet.

And if this is the dude the sheeple want in office, well, let them have him. But heaven help us if Jeb runs next.

Here's what does make me sad: my students. They are so rah-rah for Bush, and they believe that he's not going to draft them. I believe he will draft them. That's a bummer and a half. But sometimes you have to live something before you learn it.

And, just for fun, I took a list from the book Education State Rankings, 2004-2005 and color-coded it according to who carried which states. We're starting with smartest and working down. States in black haven't been called yet:

1. Massachusetts
2. Connecticut
3. Vermont
4. New Jersey
5. Wisconsin
6. New York
7. Minnesota
8. Iowa
9. Pennsylvania
10. Montana
11. Maine
12. Virginia
13. Nebraska
14. New Hampshire
15. Kansas
16. Wyoming
17. Indiana
18. Maryland
19. North Dakota
20. Ohio
21. Colorado
22. South Dakota
23. Rhode Island
24. Illinois
25. North Carolina
26. Missouri
27. Delaware
28. Utah
29. Idaho
30. Washington
31. Michigan
32. South Carolina
33. Texas
33. West Virginia (tied with Texas)
35. Oregon
36. Arkansas
37. Kentucky
38. Georgia
39. Florida
40. Oklahoma
41. Tennessee
42. Hawaii
43. California
44. Alabama
45. Alaska
46. Louisiana
47. Mississippi
48. Arizona
49. Nevada
50. New Mexico

Plus, and it has new impact now, yesterday morning on some news channel I heard a weathergirl exclaim, "It looks like there might be *snow* in parts of Texas today!"

And then Tom said, "Hell's freezing over."