At 6:30 this morning, an hour before my alarm is set to ring, my eyes popped open and it was as though I’ve never been so refreshed in my life. I went out on my balcony and the stinky Shanghai air was fresh again. The sky was clear, the sun was slowly making its way up the buildings. It was a beautiful morning. I came back inside, made some coffee, and checked the American news. Everything became so clear–the fresh air, the beautiful early sun, my rare burst of morning energy. While I was sleeping, the Democrats had taken control of the Senate, and in doing so, took control of Congress and in doing so, took control of the catasrophy that is the Bush government. As Simon Jenkins of London’s Guardian wrote so eloquently:

Overnight, six years of glib European identification of ‘American’ with right-wing fundamentalism is over. The gun-toting, pre-Darwinian Bushite, the Tomahawk-wielding, Halliburton-loving, Beltway neo-con, damning abortion as murder and torturing Islamo-fascists has been lain to rest, and by a decision of the American people. Americans should be proud and the world should take note.

Uh, yeah, what he said. When it was declared that Democrat Jim Webb had defeated Republican incumbent Senator George Allen, the Democrats officially claimed the majority in the U.S. Senate. While there will be 49 Democratic senators and 49 Republican senators, the two independents, Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Bernie Sanders of Vermont have both pledged to caucus with the Democrats. Which means in the most sophisticated political language, “Suck it, G.O.P., party’s over.” While for the Democrats, it is party time, excellent, the Democratic congress now carries the burden of digging America out of the deep and dark hole that Bush has created. America has been in a haze since 9/11, allowing fear to steer its foreign policy and greed dictate its economic agenda. Yesterday, it woke up. And even 6,500 miles away, everything seemed a lot nicer.

•A.P.: Democrats Win Control Of Congress
•Newsweek: ‘End Of A Six-Year Nightmare’