Some bad news for you -

George Bush is your President.

I'm sorry if that causes you to grow anxious. Head between the knees... there you go. Come on, say it with me: George Bush is my President. It's liberating in its own way, to surrender like that. Now, don't get me wrong, I in no way approve of the reality I've just stated. But reality has a nasty way of not consulting us as it unfolds, and George Bush - I speak your name.

"Why, Chief of Staff, why must you confront us with this horrible truth?" Because there's something insidious happening to the anti-Bush crowd, which transcends being just merely anti-Bush. It smacks of a Bushiastic refusal to face facts, a refusal to deal with reality as it is rather than as we wish it would be. Because it's flat out un-American to deny your President.

In over 200 years, in 43 instances where Presidential power changed hands, that power was voluntarily passed. There were no coups, we don't face soldiers in the streets every fourth November. There has never been a President who refused to quit the Oval Office when his time has come. In short, we have a civil society that has agreed to a certain set of ground rules regarding how it will operate, and the most basic one is that we abide by the results of the elections.

And Al Gore conceded in 2000. As did John Kerry in 2004. I personally feel that Gore was robbed, and Kerry... well, Kerry cut and ran. We put our faith in him and our votes behind him, and less than 24 hours after an election as contentious and close as we have ever experienced he bailed on us. It's hard not to credit those who claimed Kerry was no true warrior as when it came to the political fight of his life he chose not to glove-up. But as much as I despise Kerry's choice, the fact is he conceded as well.
And that makes George W. Bush our President.

Overheard on the N-train: "He's not my President, I didn't vote for him..." Alas, that's not how elections work. And the system does work - but it stops working when one party decides to take their toys and go home. Can you believe that it's the Democrats that are the sore losers? For years liberals have been forcing their progressive anti-God, pro-women, pro-minority, pro-poor, pro-science, secular agenda on a country that largely disagrees with them. Come on now, look at the accomplishments generated primarily by the blue states: emancipation, de-segregation, labor rights, equal rights, a woman's right to choose, gay -- well, everything... the list goes on. Whose idea was all that? No one in Alabama was complaining about too much prayer in the schools - it's been the blue states, the perennial troublemakers.

And I'm proud of it; being progressive is a good thing, and I feel that it's the right thing, but it's not aligned with a vast number of Americans. America since its inception has been healthiest when upsetting the status quo, electing representatives who do what is necessary to drag a recalcitrant nation forward - be it via grand declarations in 1776 or civil wars and unrest in the 19th and 20th centuries. Forward-thinking progressives have prodded America a ponderous three steps forward despite every conservative two steps back, and good for us. So temporarily we must deal with a backward-looking government nostalgic for the good 'ole days that never really existed. Conservatives have felt under-represented for years, and now the progressives get to know what it feels like to have a President that disdains you, disagrees with you, and is destroying all that you hold dear. That's what's so; if you don't like it enough, you'll take action and remedy the situation, but for better or worse George Bush is still your President.

And if you want something to feel smugly superior about, try that on for size: there's no greater nation in the world than this one, a country where more than half the population can hate a leader so completely, yet still accept the reality and consequences of our grand democratic gamble.