...and the culture war rages on.

George W. Bush has won re-electioin with a popular vote advantage of 3% and 55 million Democrats and progressives are shaking their heads in disbelief. Not only did The Republican Party re-elect their president, but held their plurality in the Senate and gained seats in the House of Representatives. Peggy Noonan was gloating about the victory on Fox news and the mainstream press believes the vote was a mandate on morality - which dems believe is republicanspeak for disenfranchising gays and banning abortions. Eleven states paved the way for constitutional amendments to their respective constitutions to define marriage as only that between a man and a woman. We'll see if said morality will extend to the sick, the poor and the tens of thousands of civilians who die as "collatoral damage" during the war in Iraq. I'm sure there's plenty of scripture that can be used against the conduct and policies of this administration.

It became clear after hearing Nancy Pelosi's speech last night that this unexpected loss will force the democrats to re-examine their strategy. But after seeing the conclusion of her speech and several commentators who mourned Kerry's loss, it hasn't weakened the progressives, but further emboldened them and stiffened their spines. Not only is the culture war not over, but will heat up and possibly boil over within the next four years. Despite a traditional call for unity, I didn't see any convincing evidence last night or today of a desire to reach-out or compromise with the dems. The attitude seems to be, 'we welcome the democrats to join us' (i.e. you're either with us, or against us). More of the same.

Politically, one thing is quite clear: whatever we suffer as Americans, at home or abroad, will be the sole responsibility of The Republican Party who still ruthlessly control both houses, the presidency and some might argue, The Supreme Court.