Don't Just Sit There. Do Something!

Joe Lieberman (left) and Olympia Snowe consummate the deal on DADT.

Ezra Klein has a nice litany of all the the things the 111th Congress has done.  While Nancy Pelosi is a polarizing figure (because doing things is more polarizing than NOT doing things), the fact is, she has been a remarkably effective Speaker, and since dispatching Crazy Cat Lady Sharrrrrrron Angle, Harry Reid has been pretty kick ass his own bad Mormon, boxer self.

In the lame duck session alone, the Congress has passed the tax deal that - love it or hate it or tolerate it - is still a major accomplishment.  In fact, if you look at the entire legislative legacy of the 8 years of Dubya, he has three things: No Child Left Without a Number 2 Pencil, Medicare Plan Deficit and tax cuts.  So, by extending the tax cuts, the Congress matched 33% of Bush's agenda over 20% of the time period (carry the four...) which equals... FREEDOM!

The Congress passed a Food Safety Act, because the Terrorists hate us for our salmonella laced marshmallows.

Oh, yeah, maybe you heard that they passed the Military Fabulousness Act of 2010, repealing DADT.  Because when they finally pull Obama or Zawahiri out of their hole, I want it to be by a homosexual, a lesbian and a Jew whose parent worked in the Trade Center.  That's MY dream act.

If they pass START - and why the hell wouldn't they - the lame duck session will equal most Congresses entire output.  Which is good, because the GOP has already signaled a return to the three day work week, so Congress will mostly pass the "Hey, Who's Up For A Nap Act of 2011" and the "Gardengate" investigation of Michelle Obama's vegetable patch over the next two years.

Oh, but that's not all the Do Something Congress has done!

There was Health Care Reform.  You may have heard that it was a "big fucking deal".

There was Financial Reform.

Those two went about 60-70% of the way towards being awesome.  But almost awesome is better than "meh" any day of the calender.

Then there's other stuff: Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay act, the expansion of SCHIP, the Depression Prevention Act (unfortunately titled the Stimulus Bill) and student loan reform.  We can throw is helping save GM and Chrysler while we're at it.

Yes, the DREAM act - not to mention serious, sane and compassionate immigration reform - would have been nice and needed.  Yes, a national energy policy - as opposed to the laudable but ad hoc measures adopted by the administration - would have been nice.

But as we head into the legislative equivalent of a coma, we should pause and thank the people who made real change happen.  Maybe not all the change and maybe not the change a perfect world could have provided.

But real, substantive and compelling change of the like we haven't seen in a long, long time.