There's Hope! (Sort of...)

This article is a fascinating read. It talks about every two-term president's second term from the 20th century, and how badly it went for him. And then it delves into the pile of crap that Bush has to face over the next four years.

Check out their description of Woodrow Wilson, and tell me it's not a little eerie...

A historian examining America in 1918 and 1919, expecting to find a nation basking in military victory, instead finds a people roiled by debates over civil liberties, women's rights, influenza epidemics and idiotic nostrums intended to restore a sense of prewar tranquillity (Prohibition). While embroiled in the League debate -- a fight he lost because of his unwillingness to admit mistakes or work with the opposition -- Wilson also surrendered his administration's prestige by tolerating an abusive attorney general willing to suspend civil liberties in order to bully critics.

In any case, there are plenty of reasons to think that Bush will have neither the time nor the ability to enact any of his reactionary domestic policies because he's going to be so buried in foreign affairs over the next four years. And as Iraq sinks deeper and deeper into oblivion, so will Bush's political capital. Unfortunately, as Bush's rep goes, so goes America's standing in the world. Perhaps it's the price we have to pay to rid ourselves of a tyrant.