What’s with all the hysterical overreaction to the Massachusetts special election?

The NYT talks wildly of “a drastically altered political environment”.

Is it so hard to keep things in perspective?

One year ago, as Obama assumed the presidency, the Democratic caucus had 58 seats in the Senate, plus Al Franken in the incubator. After holding 60 seats long enough to prove to everyone that 60 is nowhere near a magic number when it comes to getting things done, the Democratic caucus how has 59 seats. That’s one more seat than it had a year ago. So why is the-world-as-we-know-it suddenly about to come to an end?

Yes, the Republicans have been terribly obstructionist of late. But back when the Democratic caucus had 58 seats, substantive legislation was still getting passed, was it not?

By the summer, Congress, with “only” 58 Senate Dems, had passed a recovery package that rescued the economy from a depression, the most progressive budget bill in a generation, a national service bill, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, new regulations of the credit card industry, and new regulations of the tobacco industry.

Governing, in other words, is still possible.