Just back from 2 weeks in Italy. What's been going on?

[CTyankee]

I'm not really kidding (only a bit!). Who can summarize the BIG stuff on DU about the election? I always get inside scoops from you guys.

I know the highlights. Amazingly, the International Herald Tribune had the listing on the key CT congressional races, albeit a day or so late. CNN, when I could get it, did some coverage but of course it was amidst a lot of international news.

So, now what? Will the press stop being so friggin' biased now that we have the House and the Senate? Is the new guy, Gates, gonna be any better than Rummy?

Your comments and insights will be most gratefully received by me, as I feel totally out of the DU loop!

[babylonsister]

1. Carville went after Dr. Dean for a failed strategy, believe it or not,

Steny Hoyer beat out Murtha for the House seat, Sen. Dodd is going to get habeas corpus reintroduced, Senator Leahy is looking into the torture that the US takes part in, and is also going after Laura Ingraham (sp?) for suggesting her listeners jam Dem lines during election day, and I'm sure there's a bunch more if you check out the Greatest and Home page.
November 7th was a trip here; the Dems did fabulously!
Welcome home, hope your trip was great, and we want a trip report! :hi:

[CTyankee]

6. Great feedback! It must have been a festival here on the 7th!

I celebrated with a little victory dance in the Campo in Sienna and ate a custard flavored gelato to mark what I knew of the victory. Later we had a Tuscan wine toast at dinner (that continued on throughout the trip, needless to say! Wine is cheaper than Coca Cola in Italia). Some of the news was slow in getting to us. I was agonized waiting for the Senate races report and was so relieved when I heard "6 Senate seats won by Dems." But I didn't know which ones for a while. I guessed of course at PA, RI and OH, but then heard about MO and was nervous about MT and esp. VA. When they came through I was ecstatic.

I was sorry to miss the excitement. It's hard to maintain it when you are repeatedly thrust back into Medieval and Renaissance art and architecture (mine was a Smithsonian Art program). But I must say it does give you perspective!

[NCarolinawoman]

2. The TV press had been treating the Democrats with much more respect.

Of course, the press always gravitates to where the power is. I was particularly taken with the deference in which they treated Howard Dean during his first press conference,

Now, however, the press is making a big deal out of the "Murtha/Pelosi/Hoyer jockeying for power" story. The press loves making a soap opera out of everything and is once more in "overkill" mode.

Personally, I am looking forward to seeing John Tester and Jim Webb on MEET THE PRESS this Sunday.

[CTyankee]

4. Yeah, I caught the Pelosi boo boo overkill

as little of it that I did get! There is a letter to the editor in today's NYT written by Bruce Morrison, my former congressman, who pointed out that the Pelosi thing just highlighted the fact that the Democrats don't just "fall in line" and do what they are told, they act with their consciences, unlike the rubber stamping Republicans. Great point!

Thanks for the heads up on Tester and Webb on MTP. I'll watch it. It should be great. What breaths of fresh air they are!

[POAS]

3. The conservatives won-at least according to

the conservatives.

[Zodiak]

5. Some highlights

1. election night was wonderful, but not 24 hours passed when the corporate Democrats started trying to marginalize the grassroots, netroots, and the liberals of the party. This battle was personified when Carville attacked Howard Dean for not winning 50 seats and suggested that someone like Harold Ford wuld be a good replacement.

2. There was a little matter of the Majority leader position. Murtha and Hoyer came up for a vote. Pelosi, because of a 30 year working relationship with Murtha, openly back him. He lost to Hoyer, who is a more liberal, but corporate connected Democrat in favor of continuing the war. At the same time, Trent Lott narrowly won the minority whip position in the Senate (no pun intended) in a narrow 1 vote margin. The news is totally focused on Pelosi "screwing up" for backing a loser, but ignoring the Lott issue altogether.

3. The DLC war has erupted anew on the DU. Also, we are talking about populism, as well, because a number of new Democrats in Congress have populist ideologies.

3. Leahy, Reid, and a few more Democrats have announced their intention to reverse a number of egregious Bush policies. Everyone is cheering that, of course.

4. Oh and you missed the impeachment debate. Basically (and correct me if I am wrong), the results of that debate settled on "investigations now, turn up evidence, impeach when the evidence compels everyone to action".

5. Welcome back. Europe eh? I'm jealous, but I hope you had a great time.

[CTyankee]

7. Grazie, grazie! I didn't know about the impeachment debate. Was it just

here on DU or a more national thing? I did read in the Herald Trib about Lott and of course Pelosi. Nothing on the Leahy and Reid stuff, which is great. And the Carville/Dean thing was totally ignored. The good thing was that the German lawyers pressing a law suit against Rummy and Gonzolez got covered in a lengthy article, probably because of its international scope. They said that Rummy will have a bit of a hard time traveling abroad in certain "old European" countries after he becomes an ordinary citizen! Heh, heh, stay the hell out of Italy buddy! I don't want you polluting the air!

[Zodiak]

8. I think it was a blogosphere thing as far is impeachment goes

It was precipitated by Conyers saying that impeachment was "off the table" in echo of Pelosi's statment. It caused a lot of trepidation.

Oh, and I forgot. Bushboy is now at 31% approval rating in multiple polls and he recently went to Vietnam where he stated (paraphrasing) "the lesson America learned in Vietnam was never to run away". That was a doozey!!!

[CTyankee]

11. O mio Dio, did he say that?

Wow, that's up there with his top inane statements.

I must say that I found no Italians who would give Bush the time of day. They were perfectly gracious, but they thought that "Boosh" was "pazzo" (crazy). One guy said he was glad that Bush "lost."

Mostly, tho, they were concerned about Prodi and his new government, after all the mess that his predecessor caused. I was really surprised to see uniformed soldiers cradling automatic rifles standing in public places around Rome, watching intently. It was as if they were expecting armed insurrection and those weapons were scary. They weren't in the smaller towns and cities I went to, just Rome. I wondered about that...

[Ninja Jordan]

9. You weren't invited to the TomKat wedding?

[CTyankee]

10. Damnit, the invitation was in my mail when I got back!

I was in Tuscany and Umbria, I could have swung by and attended!

I'll send them a gift certificate to Home Depot.

[DemBones DemBones]

12. So where did you go besides Siena? Firenze, I'm sure. San Gimignano?

Where else? And what was your favorite city, favorite artworks? Favorite food? Ah, the food!!! ;-)

[CTyankee]

13. Not San Gimignano, but Firenze of course

Also, we stayed in Montecatini Terme and traveled into Lucca, then down to Perugia, Assisi, Montepulciano and Orvieto. Lucca is very nice, a walled city whose streets (vicoli or allys) are so narrow that cars are not allowed into the town, exept around the perimeter. We had the most exciting meal there, a little tart made with truffle cream was the highlight. I had ribollita every place I could get it, what a wonderful soup! Back in Rome I got up my courage and had a dish of the pork cheek they make so well and also the tripe, called trippi (a little strange but OK once you get past the somewhat rubbery texture).

I had the best Sangiovese wine I ever drank. The wines in Tuscany and Umbria were better than Rome's. But it was in Rome that I fell in love with panne cotto, a creamy dessert that has a pudding look and texture but is a taste delight I have never experienced.

I loved Perugia. They worship chocolate there and not just Perugino's. I went to a chocolate bar, much like the Italian coffee bars, with the wait staff dressed in uniforms. The chocolate creations in the window would blow you away. I had a dark chocolate drink (with ginger and cinnamon) in an espresso cup with a tiny saucer of whipped cream on the side.

My favorite art works were the Pieta in Rome, the David in Florence, the Giotto frescoes in the Basilica in Assisi and two ceiling panels by Fra Angelico in a church in Orvieto. But the high point was my tour of Caravaggio's on my last day in Rome. I saw practially every one I had wanted to see that was in Rome, except for the ones at the Doria Pamphili which was closed on Thursdays. I had done an independent study on Caravaggio in grad school and wanted to see his works in person. The Matthew series in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi was utterly fabulous.

I am totally jet lagged still from my flight home on Friday. It was a great trip, tho!