Today is the First Day of the Next Four Years

Stayed up later than usual last night -- until midnight PST -- watching election returns. The televised displays by my fellow members of the Bar -- on both sides, but Democratic counsel seemed to draw the more frequent interviews -- galled me a bit: we seem as a profession to have concluded that the only mode in which to be interviewed is full-on aggression, never even remotely suggesting that our positions might be open to discussion or that any outcome other than annihilation of our opposite numbers might be acceptable. Sometimes, as an attorney, the best advice you can give to your client is along the lines of "Yes, the law would certainly permit us to try to do that, but it isn't likely to work, it will cost you a ton of money and aggravation, it will ultimately not enhance your position or your reputation or your peace of mind and I can't recommend it." There comes a time to stop the snarling and arm-pumping and to get real. I'm talking to you, John Edwards, but I'm rambling more than somewhat. If I weren't swearing off political weblogging for a decent interval [again?] I might go into this more clearly. As it is, I'll just change the subject:

This morning, when the clock radio flicked on, the first words I heard informed me that Ohio remained ostensibly undecided, though the likely result there is clear. For some reason, this made me think of a poem by George Starbuck, which has no bearing on our topic other than being mostly about Ohio. Conveniently enough, the volume in which it appears is one of the few not currently packed away in a box in preparation for a home-improvement project, so I can quote the opening passage that sprang to my mind.

from Magnificat in Transit From the Toledo Airport

The world has a glass center.
I saw the sign for it.

TOLEDO, GLASS CENTER OF THE WORLD

That’s what surprised me.
I mean that it was Toledo.
I knew the center was glass.
That’s why we’ve got this cleaning-and-polishing operation going.
There were bulldozers outside Toledo, working away.

Ah, irrelevance! I feel refreshed.

P.S., Do the right thing, Johns. You'll be glad you did. As will we all.

UPDATE [within moments of posting the preceding]: Well well. Looks as though at least one Senator took my advice. Good for him. (Update to the update, some 10 minutes later: Professor Althouse sums things up nicely.)