It's fitting that on this day that John Kerry conceded defeat to George W Bush, I should wake up to a day of thunderstorms, lightning, and hail in the Bay Area. Talk about "HAIL to the Thief". Except, this time, you might argue that he has not stolen the election, but surely America's hopes and dreams. It is a metaphor for the next phase we are entering. Businessmen are happy - they have NO idea what's coming. Well, some of them do - the ones who will profit from war.
This is America's perfect storm. We had a second chance. We started the millenium on a bad footing, and we had a chance to step back and say "Hey, this is not the way we want to go", but the mistake was repeated. This time, there's little excusing it. People have seen what George W Bush can do, and they like what they see. My guess is they'll whine and bellyache when they end up where it leads, but they won't see any connection to this choice that they have made. And thus an empire crumbles.