Across the blogsphere – especially for those on the, ahem, “right” side of the political aisle – everyone seems exhausted. And with good reason – it’s been an incredibly long haul over the past year trying to gain the attention of the Republican leadership of the iceberg lying dead ahead, only to have our message fall on deaf ears. For the professionals out there who do political commentary for a living – paid bloggers, political operatives, TV & radio talk-show hosts and their guests, etc. – the show must still go on, and it’s the professional within each of them that keeps the flesh going, even when the spirit is weak.

But for those conservative bloggers who do it as a hobby and in their spare time – boy, these are fallow days, indeed, following such an emotionally-charged lead-up to Tuesday’s election. For our blogger friends (or perhaps not-so friends) across the aisle, life is good and there’s much to look forward to and speculate on: what will the Dems’ priorities be, how will they go about it, who will be the leadership team, who will be, or should be, subpeona’d and/or impeached etc. Y’know, good stuff. For conservative bloggers, what the heck is there to cover? That riveting race for House minority leader? Ken Mehlman’s replacement as national party chair?

(crickets chirping) My thoughts exactly.

Just a week ago, things were really humming – bloggers were blogging, speculators speculating, the tapping of desktop and latop keyboards reaching skyward towards a magnificent crescendo. Now, Raven over at And Rightly So! sums up the feelings of some conservative bloggers:

I’m tired of it. Politics. Trying to bring up the issues that every American should be concerned with. My assessment of the majority of American people, my fellow citizens, isn’t overly sweet. I respect how they vote. But I don’t trust their judgment because most people get their information from highly liberal media sources. These sources have the Democrats agenda right up their asses. Bloggers have pointed out example after example of blatant media bias and misleading stories and articles. The world of blogs isn’t big. We think it is in our own little groups and we think we make some difference. Fact is- not enough people care to read what we’re writing. They’re too busy watching episode after episode of American Idol; they’re too busy reading the tabloids and People Magazine and fondling the Hollywood lot.

…There isn’t much else I can add to this. I’m disengaging for awhile. I need to get away from politics and that is what this site has been about. I’m burnt out from it all. I’m pretty pessimistic and I don’t have a lot of hope for my country. If I continue to do this I will become even more negative, and I can’t let that happen.

This will be the last post here for awhile. From time to time I might have something to say. I’ll do my non political rantings over at my other site. For now though, here, things are on hold. Everyone has a time where they decide enough is enough. That time has come for me.

Fortunately, Raven has her own personal blog she can retreat to; I wonder what others will do in the days and weeks ahead. As for me, fortunately, I’ve never been enough of a political animal to drink too deeply from the political well, blog-wise. Am I a passionate conservative? Absolutely. Do I care that the Republicans got hosed? Sure do. But, in my world and world-view, my concerns about what happens in and around the Beltway have never risen much above the status of interested observer (as it is with most other things).

Actually, I feel as if this is kind of a special time. The holidays are just around the corner, there’ll be a crazy Presidential election campaign to look forward to less than a year from now (and with the prospect of dino-media darling Hillary running, if you thought 2000 and 2004 were wild, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!), and just being able to take a breath and let the political winds go where they will feels kinda nice right now. So, this “citizen of the world” will just continue on blogging as usual: on politics – where and when the spirit moves, sports – whenever the Sox make news (and there could be BIG news soon) or Cubby submits another gem, and religion and culture – well, let’s just say there’s plenty to write about there.

Yesiree, the “great election of 2006” may be over, but these remain both interesting (and potentially dangerous) times, with no shortage of exciting and mundane things worth blogging about. Please know that I appreciate and thank everyone who stops by the ‘Nation for a peek from time to time. It might be at any time intriguing, obnoxious, strange, or just plain abysmal, but it is a labor of love, and I thank y’all for your patronage.