Radio Silence: Apologies for hitting the undisclosed location for a stretch without at least a coded message through my usual agents. I really hadn't meant to be away for so long, but I got caught up in a bunch of stuff and, hey, two and half years just slid past.

So, the 401k tanked, my employer (health insurance) started laying folks off, and I jumped ship for a union job back in '08, which now seems like the best move I could have made -- now that the health "reform" law has essentially put my old company out of business. Other than that, we're still kicking up here in the Poeple's Republic.

I look back on some of my later writings here, and I realize that politics and blogging had become a one-two punch of ennui and frustration. Even my kid's hamster was blogging at that point (though I still had more readers). Now that the cool crowd has landed at Twitter (ugh) and Facebook (don't get me started), insisting that all must be said in 14 words and an emoticon or two, I felt like jumping back on here and airing some thoughts.

I'll alert Flyer and Razor, just to shock them, since I doubt they check FauxPolitik daily anymore. Beyond that, I think most of our links are dead, our referrers have moved on, and our corner of the sphere has gotten more than a touch cobwebby. In fact, I feel a little like Tom Petty in the "You Got Lucky" video, stumbling upon the disused old video arcade and kicking over the machines for a hoot.

Razor and Flyer, I've missed you, and I've missed exchanging thoughts on the monumental happenings of the times, to wit:

• Roger Federer got old quickly, did he not?
• That new type of politician Obama said he was looks a lot like that new type of politician Bush said he was.
• Lady Gaga -- I just don't understand the fuss.
• Tiger Woods goes "night putting."
• Cheddar cheese -- should it be orange or not?

Anyhoo, quick question: What will happen tomorrow at the polls and what will it mean? Is the country throwing a tantrum? Are white males feeling threatened by a black president? Is this righteous rage, long overdue, against a government gone off the track? And finally, how long (over/under in months) before any tea party goofballs elected this cycle take us back to a status quo ante of the petty corruption and slimy hangers-on that follow politicians like flies after a garbage truck?