Well, that was just fantastic, wasn’t it?

It’s not that we didn’t see the Republican takeover coming from a mile away — we did.

It’s not that we were naive regarding the effectiveness of our efforts to contribute some semblance of pragmatism to the whole process either. People were very crabby with this recession mess we’d gotten ourselves into, and we knew it was going to cause a dramatic, right-sided swing in our politics when it was all over. It’s what happens if our country’s “I want it now” mentality isn’t satiated with immediate results to, say, the worst recession since the 1930s.

That might make us cynical, but at least we can say we told you so.

It seemed like this election was the dying breath of a generation so desperately clinging to an ideology their old politics used to stand for. The wave of conservative thought has been riding an ever-growing wave of fearmongering and do-as-I-say legislation, and in some cases outright bigotry that, as we’ve seen for the last 10 years, has been effective.

Controversial as he may be, Clinton made it work, and he’s far less fly than the man sitting in the Oval Office. He’ll have to cross a few items off his to-do list, but we’ll give Obama credit here: He got it done.

We’re better off than we could be, folks. Uninformed diatribes on Obamacare need not object here. You’ve already forgotten about the oil catastrophe, even if others haven’t; health insurance got a much-needed kick in the rear for the oppression it had shoveled onto the general public; and the banks were kept from falling apart.

It’ll be interesting to see how Obama handles the next two lame-duck years.

Back home, we’re inclined to think the people who sat on the Supreme Court were doing a fantastic job, but what the hell, let’s throw ‘em out. Who’s the governor who nominated those “clowns”?

Oh, right, he’s back in office. That’s awesome. I guess this means he’ll know a few people looking for those kind of jobs — over-qualified folks politicked right out of their well-deserved positions. Because people think “the gays” are “icky.”

We would like to see Culver go ahead and get on the fast-track with a judicial nominating committee and put some quality folks back into the positions, or even just re-appoint the judges — Strait and Turnus were appointed back in the day by Branstad.

There are people who are ashamed to live in this state right now.

The funny thing about the other day was that the folks who hopped on their Rascal power scooters and made it to the polls — in droves, mind you — probably didn’t understand that their votes weren’t keeping Iowa from becoming the “gay marriage Mecca” social conservatives sensationalize it to be.

Have you been outside? Do you think people really want to come here at this time of year? Even the farmers leave.

Aside from that, Iowa wouldn’t be, by any means, the first state to have legalized same-sex marriage. Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont and Washington, D.C. — that’s right, our nation’s capitol — all recognize and will actually perform marriages between same-sex partners. In addition, Rhode Island, Maryland and New York all recognize the marriages as legitimate, although they won’t be performed in the state.

If you’ve got something to say, do us a favor and tell us about it. Let’s get some nice, public discourse going on the matter — or forever hold your peace.