Burying the Hatchet. (Yeah, Right.)

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If these regional rituals of post-election comity convey the quaintness and innocence of a kinder-and-gentler America, there is also a deeply bitter irony to them in light of the coming battle royal.

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The individual pictures have their own twists to them, as well.  Not only is the Mark Kirk – Alexi Giannoulias toast reminiscent of the Obama “Beer Summit,” I’m wondering why Alexi never dressed like that during the campaign. Unless he was worried about looking too much like Zuckerberg, it could have made the difference with the youth vote.

And then, the sight of anybody from the Tea Party holding aloft a sharp instrument is cause enough to worry. (Was there an expansion of the “open carry” laws that I didn’t hear about?)  Luckily, Tea Party darling O’Donnell is just in it for the partying, as opposed to the party now. If that was McConnell, on the other (and, upper) hand, the issue would be who he was looking to bury the hatchet in.

(caption 1: U.S. Senator-elect Mark Kirk (R-IL) (R) makes a toast with democratic rival Alexi Giannoulias at the Billy Goat Tavern November 3, 2010, in Chicago, Illinois. Kirk defeated Giannoulias in a closely-contested, mudslinging race to win the U.S. Senate seat vacated by U.S. President Barack Obama. caption 2. Delaware Republican senate candidate Christine O’Donnell, left, and Democratic Senator-elect Chris Coons, right, pose with a hatchet that is symbolically buried at the end of each election season in Delaware at Return Day, Thursday, Nov. 4, 2010, in Georgetown, Del.)