Did anybody see the episode of the Daily Show where Jon Stewart compared the wait between election day and the inauguration to the days leading up to Christmas?  He said it’s sort of like your parents bought you a bike and wrapped it before putting it under the tree.  Then the bike-shaped package sits under the tree and you have to look at it every day and wait until Christmas morning to open it, even though you can tell it’s a bike.  “Dear Santa,” he said, “PLEASE GIVE US THE BIKE!”

I have become almost completely numb when it comes to outrage over the current administration’s actions.  I was so frustrated and angry for so long, that I had to let it go out of sheer exhaustion.  I still yell at the TV every once in a while, but I’ve just learned helplessness.  In my Developmental Psych class in college, we learned that babies will cry when they’re in a noisy place.  If the noise doesn’t stop after they cry for a while, they go to sleep.  It’s a defense mechanism, and apparently young Democrats can learn to do something similar in the interest of self-preservation.

Karl Rove has apparently started a Twitter account, and last week he wrote this: “Send a farewell letter to President Bush [here he provides an email address] and I’ll give him your note on January 20.” One of my coworkers emailed me the link and told me she sent an email that said, “So long, Cowboy. The last eight years were absolutely terrible. Thanks for ruining the country.”

I don’t even know what I would say to him. I’m almost too tired to think about it. I want him (and his satanic VP) to be tried for their crimes, but I also completely understand the Gerald Ford theory of moving forward instead of looking back. I lived through it once – would reliving it do me any good? Would I really feel better if they were punished? I do think it’s important to make an example of them, but how much time and effort would it take? Would there even be any resolution before Obama’s first term is over? Is there a statute of limitations when it comes to this stuff? Because maybe I’ll be more gung-ho in a few years when my friends aren’t getting laid off left and right and my work day isn’t full of bad news.

At this point, I’m just ready for my bike. And it will be a long time before I’m ready to look back.