"Waterboarding Wins" (EN)

(UPDATE after the jump)

Exactly one year into Obama's mandate, the Democrats are losing Ted Kennedy's Massachusetts Senate seat, which they had held for 57 years. Just as Obama's election was the most improbable thing to happen, so is this huge upset by Scott Brown.

Yesterday's debacle in Massachusetts, most observers agree, was wholly preventable for the Democrats. A combination of ineptitude, overconfidence and complacency from the state party, combined with the perceived ineffectiveness in Washington and the resurgence of culture wars, made it possible for the Republican underdog to campaign as the change candidate and win against a totally uninspiring Democratic opponent, notwithstanding her 30-point lead in some polls just weeks before the election (!!!).

But this also speaks of America's confusion and very volatile emotions these days.