So we have Bush for another four years. Fortunately many of us enjoy a good fight. Assuming we are a free nation then, 2008 will reflect a backlash that is sure to follow four years of Bush's bungled public policy.

We've got a firm start toward a liberal base that we can build on. Of course we will have to purge our party of the Zell Miller wannabes first, but if we keep in mind that almost half of the electorate voted for the "most liberal senator in history," we should do well.

Meanwhile, wouldn't it be funny if - after all the soul searching by wavering Democrats who buy into the Republican spin that we need to embrace God to win an election - it turned out that the election was rigged? (Call me paranoid, but I think it quite plausible.)

So, we are beaten but not down. We can afford to take a bit of time now and again to snicker at Bush. It's fine spectator sport. If he continues in the same vein of courting the religous radicals, his own party may beat us to the task of tearing him down.

So don't forget our mantra for the next few years: backlash, backlash, backlash. If I've learned anything in a lifetime of watching American politics, it's that every extreme movement produces an extreme backlash. Get on its tail, donkeys!