First!

I can't believe that we won!

I was so stressed out over this evening that I threw up twice. The 'exit polls' had me seriously concerned for quite a while.

51% of the people voted for President Bush. The first clear mandate (50%+) victory in 12 years.

With the seats we have picked up in the House and Senate and the Justices that should be retiring soon, we have a chance to undo some of the damage of the Clinton years and to truly make a difference in the world.

On a slightly different note; Thank you Bill for the ideas that you so beautifully scribe for us. Thank you for all your work.

With greatest respect,
Dan Spinelli
Orlando,Florida

God Bless America! Still some hurdles to get over the next day or so to convince John Kerry that he really DID loose, but overall, FOUR MORE YEARS for President Bush!

I have greatly enjoyed the essays of yours that I have read thusfar and I look forward to many more in the future. Keep up the good work!

Boo ya!!!!!!!

Wow. I can't believe it. What a night.

Mr. Whittle, you are a bigger part of this than you know. Your essays kept me inspired when I got down and know it worked that way for countless others.

Kudos to you. Any chance your book will be out for Christmas this year? You still have a month to pull that off! I will buy a bunch!

DB

I have to admit I'm a bit surprised we won, with everything in the media pointing to a huge momentum shift for Kerry just before the election. I think its very interesting to see how terribly wrong the exit polls were in predicting a winner.

Great to hear that more stuff is on the way, Bill, it's always a great pleasure to read your insights.

Thank all that is good. It appears (at least according to FNC) that the Ohio's votes are outside the margin of litigation. The Dems will have to pull some major legal tricks out of the rear portal to overcome a 130,000 vote deficit.

I can't wait to hear from you Professor Bill. I look forward to the imminent explosion... and isn't there a book due out soon?

Living in WA state, I knew that my conservative votes would be like throwing a hotdog down a hallway, but I did it anyway. And, if you squint, the blue color on our state looks a little warmer, a little bit closer to a nice shade of lavender. Aheh.

Any time you write, I eagerly read. Thank you for all you do.

xoxo

Bill, you may be many things, but I can assure you: you are not a small voice.

Your voice is large. How could it not be? You speak so well on behalf of so many of us who are nowhere near as eloquent.

Four years may not be enough, nor eight, nor twelve. But all we know we have is four, so let's make the most of it.

And yes, I will gladly enlist in any effort to do so.

Congrats from Australia.

More congratulations from Australia, and thank you for your excellent essays.

Thank You America

I will be able to sleep well tonight – and tomorrow night. Now I will not have to spend the next four years continuing to try to reveal the real Kerry. As a Viet Nam era vet, I am anxious to put him back into the past where he belongs. Thanks to all that helped make this possible.

I’m looking forward to where you are going Bill, and I hope I can help in some way. Thanks again for your inspiration and the genuine joy I take from admiring your skills as a wordsmith.

I'm lucky, I guess...I voted ten minutes after the real polls opened and slept through the exit poll leaks. By the time I got up tonight to get ready for work, the East coast was starting to return hard numbers, the midwest was closing, Bush was in an early lead that just kept getting wider and more obvious as I got dressed and checked my email. So not as much suspense and fear as some here had to go through.

I'm greatly comforted, though, that the margin of victory in what looks like every state worth suing in is too big to sue about without looking like even bigger fools than Gore did in '00. And even more greatly comforted that the risk of civil unrest appears to have been greatly exaggerated.

Being an American patriot in a state (and also a family) packed to the gills with die-hard leftists of the "Bush=Hitler" school can be a disheartening experience. Reading the essays on this site has helped me tremendously.

You may, sir, be a "small voice" in readership terms...but to those of us who have the honor and privelege of being regular readers, you are anything but.

All I want to know is... Has Ralph Nader conceded yet?

Bill,
I'm really REALLY drunk celebrating tonight - but i can still type good.

HA! lets see Stephen Green type good like wjhat I do after a pint of Wild Turkey Rare Breed ans a Romeo y Julietta No. 2...

Bill - Australia (thats me and Tim) and the world are happy tonight and you are part of the team that helped us there.

Next t8ime you in Melbourne, Australia drop in and get some real Cuban cigars (hey, we trade with the communists dude) - you bring the bourbon OK?

Congratulations from the UK.

Just make sure that Kerry goes the way of Al Gore and dissappears into thin air.

Champagne corks are popping.

I, for one, am just glad I can put aside the mental notes I was rehearsing to convince everyone that 4 years of President Kerry wouldn't be all *that* bad... :)

[ BTW, something just occured to me as I was typing this. If I'm remembering correctly, we never figured out where those erroneous exit poll results came from, and I bet (no pun intended) that somebody made a killing in the futures markets by buying as the bush-04 contracts tanked. Something to ponder, anyway. ]

Bill, I await what's next with bated breath. I've been reading this site since the beginning, and if your past work is any barometer, its future will be beyond imagining.

more congrats from this Aussie.
hope you guys are proud of yourselves. you bloody well should be.
its 11:30pm here, i'm still gonna crack something alcoholic though.
And Bill, keep those great essays coming mate.

51% of the vote is a mandate in your eyes? LOL I fear for our country that such an obviously unqualified man as Bush could actually win an election. It was bad enough when he stole one. We are the laughing stock of the world to have actually elected this criminal.

Sour grapes, Michael?
I'm sorry, that was uncalled for. Snark like yours does have that effect on me.
At the risk of indulging in a little schadenfreud, I believe Kerry would have been to the War on Terror as Clinton was to the '90's economic recovery: he would have "talked Left, and done Right". Kerry would have talked the acceptable talk, the kind that reassures the progressives, leftists, and other such children. At the same time, I believe he would have carried out the war on terror in substantially the same form as Bush is carrying it out. His own platform bears this out.
All that it really was was repackaging; most people of any political orientation really are that shallow...as you've helped demonstrate, Michael.
If Kerry had won it would have been by the same percentage: 51%. Or would that have been a mandate in your eyes? As lomg as it's the RIGHT candidate, eh?
The way I figure, the election could have gone either way. If it had been Kerry, than I suspect I would be directing this rant towards the die-hard Republicans.
As for being the "laughing stock of the world", I wouldn't worry. As much of the world is composed of theocracies (Iran), mature Fascist states (China), Pharonic despotisms (North Korea), Peronist "strong men" (Cuba, Venezuela), overgrown Mafia territories (Russia), and tribal kleptocracies (most of Africa)...there's more than enough material for humor around without the United States.

51% is a hell of alot more than any recent president has gotten. . . and have you ever considered that the best sign of competence is when one actually *succeeds*??

Dear Michael R. Burhans,

I wouldn't worry over much about the world's respect; Our citizens still have the refined judgment to place in positions of real power such fine human beings as Marion Berry, Nancy Pelosi and Cynthia McKinney.

Hmmmm. Wasn't there a certain Arkansas lawyer (since dis-barred) who claimed a mandate based on capturing only a plurality, not a majority, in a 3-way race?

Thanks, Bill Whittle, for everything you've done.

What a remarkable night, a completely American night.

If you all could have seen and heard the relief my son (echoed by thousands of other active-duty military) expressed when he was certain our president had won, that he would have the same boss for four years- it would make you even more proud. Also received an e-mail from a deployed soldier in Afghanistan saying they'd stayed up all night with baited breath- hoping...praying for this outcome.

While it's hard to know this morning WHAT to believe about the exit-polls, one tidbit they revealed struck me. Morals and values were AS important as the economy to voters. WOW! On that hopeful note- I'm going to take a nap:)

Thanks a million!!!! Just knowing people like you were out there helped during the scary moments. I'm still not breaking out the champagne until Kerry concedes. I remember the horror of 2000 too well. Can't wait for your book. A little ole Sioux lady in South Dakota.
P.S. We beat Daschle!!!!

Agreed. And how similar to the Australian election won by John Howard including media hysteria, opposition soft on WOT, prepolls not picking up on the continuing working class shift to "conservative" parties (jobs! health! education! security!) and the overall increased primary vote plus control of House and Senate in both countries?

soit seems they'll be back with a mandate to continue doubtless with a vengence. I see such scorn poured on 'liberals' or anyone 'contrary' to the neo-agenda. if democrats were'nt vote toting americans they'd be 'against us' and therefore giving succour to terrorists etc.

as you can see, i dont believe the hype. i hardly think that bin laden will be upset by bush being back in. he wouldnt worry about kerry either mind you.

and on who's watch was the worst attrocity in american history commited? its ironic that security seems to be the issue. for me the issue is that young people dont seem to want to vote. dont they care about thier country? or they dont believe in the system enough, which again is ironic to let it just carry on then..i dont get it.

so it seems i will be dissapointed by the result, as i would rather america's prevailing message to the world was other than more of the same please. specially when you look at what weve had. the world doesnt get to vote you see, we just get to feel the consequences of someone elses policies.

shame.

Bill, I guess the egg is really on your face NOW. You stated that you thought that Kerry would win (remember 95%?) because OBL appeared on video; I never assumed that the American people would look at his "October Surprise" and do anything other than be reminded that the best that little tinpot dictator could do is yap at us in front of a brown sheet, instead of vaporizing 2 million of my countrymen.

We were reminded also that our enemy is still out there, and that he wants to fight us when we're showing LESS resolve. Americans understood that to mean that if Kerry were elected, we'd be showing less resolve... and they were right. Since we're a contrarian bunch, we zigged when the enemy wanted us to zag.

Oh well. Too bad, so sad - for THEM, anyway!

Now the battle really begins - to capture the hearts and minds of enought people on the left so it will never be this close again.

I _do_ consider this win a mandate. I consider this win a landslide in favor of Bush. One that isn't reflected in the reported polls, but in what I feel were the real votes. I went to CNN and looked at their county by county reporting. I was embarrassed that Pa went for Kerry. And I found the Pa _didn't_ go for carry. Only Philly really went for Kerry. You know, the place were they found a bunch of voting machines with thousands of votes for Democrats logged on them before the polls even _opened_? So I started looking at all the states. In the states the Bush carried, Bush carried almost all the counties. In the states Kerry carried, Bush carried almost all the counties. The only counties, for the most part, that Bush _didn't_ carry were the ones where heavy voter fraud was expected. Philly. The counties along the Mexican boarder. Union heavy counties. Counties where illegal imigrants are told they can vote. Counties where voter registration was _run_ by an illegal alien.

You're right Bill, we got a lot of work ahead of us. But first stop has to be cracking down, _hard_, on voter fraud. If they are allowed to get away with it again, it will just get worse next time.

"Oh! What a beautiful mornin'! Oh! What a beautiful day..."

Living in Florida, the sun is shining, it's mild and bright and we're not the laughing stock of the election! Bush won a RESOUNDING victory here so any legal challenge is immaterial to the outcome.

To Michael and the other Trolls, we're sorry you nominated the wrong candidate. If you had picked a candidate with less political and personal baggage, you may have pulled this one out. Your base was clearly motivated. But Kerry was doomed by his own words (Supporting the use of Afghans in Tora Bora, then criticising the President for "outsourcing" the job, supporting the war in Iraq then denouncing it, etc.) and deeds (His post-Vietnam actions which are viewed by many as Treasonous and make him a criminal as well) that brought out the Silent Majority in droves.
Also, I'm sorry you are waking up this morning in the Real America, not some Fantasy America that you and many other leftists in this country have been living in, in which a good, intelligent, moral, selfless man like George Bush is viewed as evil, self serving, stupid and immoral. I disagree with Kerry's politics and have problems with decisions he's made, but at least I respect him as intelligent and capable.
Bush is no more a criminal than Kerry is, and is stupid like a fox. Get used to it or its going to be a LONG four years.
Yes, 51% and coat tails that brought gains in both the House and Senate IS a mandate in this day and age.
Wake Up! It's "Morning in America" and you need to start living in reality.

Florida was never in question. Come on, would GHS and the Kallini brothers really let you down?

Enjoy watching the D's and the Media implode while trying to push Kerry. Savor ever moment, for as long as it takes them to concede defeat. That is our vistory time.

And once it ends, we have much work to do.

Sorry, I was so jubilant in victory I forgot the real purpose of Comments ...

Thank you, Bill! Your "little weblog" has fed and sustained us through the darkest days, and helped us celebrate on the brightest. You ARE in this humble reader's mind, another shining "point of light" that HW so rightfully honored (I wonder if W will bring that back?)

Keep up the good work. Keep fighting the good fight.

We're waiting for your book.

Peace.

I'm proud to be an American from the dark red state of North Carolina! Thank you Bill for your
eloquence and giving credit where credit is due.
Thank God it's Bush. We're looking forward to a "hard copy" of your persuasive power.

All I have to say is that I hope your view of Bush is right, that he is all the good things you say. I don't believe it, but a man can always hope.

In the end at least Kerry is being enough of a gentleman to concede and not drag this out for weeks.

While my vote in MD may not have changed the electoral outcome of my state it clearly contributed to the mandate.

Presidential Race
President: George Bush (Republican)

Senate split
Republicans: 55
Democrats: 44
Independent: 1

House Split
Republicans: 232
Democrats: 202

We have a 10 vote majority in the Senate, a 30 vote majority in the House, the President won the largest popular vote turnout ever by over 3 million votes.

We have the mandate, we have the votes, now it is time to be unafraid to repair the damage done to the country by 40+ years of Democrat control.

I'm a former liberal, too, but am now a very conservative senior Christian. I hope you explore the ways we can do the more difficult thing, rebuild our country. How about some lists?

One day for gloating, but then I'm preparing to continue to fight like hell.

Beautiful.

My birthday is tomorrow. I'm turning 35. (That's right, halfway to 70.)

Thank you, America, for a fantastic early birthday present.

You're not alone.
Let's make this country strong again.
Militarily, economically, socially, morally.
Extend a hand to those Democrats that have woken from a bad dream watching their party being taken over by radical fringe groups constituting nothing more than parasites.

Good work - I'll be watching for more from you.

Bill,

Thanks for all you have done. Congratulations for Bush. And you are right about being 10 points down with 2 minutes on the clock.

We MUST not be complacent. We MUST act like we need to continue justifying our beliefs and actions. Because the left MUST fight back. The left is struggling for survival. Have you ever tried to pick up an angry, cornered house-cat? You get clawed and you bleed, and the cat ends up sitting on top of the fridge out of reach. It's not pretty.

And we can expect the left to put the 2000 pound gorilla, Hillary Clinton, into the ring, starting TODAY. What--more to the point, who--do we have to fight it?

Election 2008 started the moment Fox News called Ohio for Bush. And right now, the Republicans have nothing and no one to offer when GWB steps into the pages of history January 2009.

Bill, I am looking forward to what you offer us in the days, weeks, months, and years to come.

You have the link to my site. I hope to help as much as I can between now and then. I can only hope the rest of our energized base continues to fight the fight rather than resting on laurels. Because the big fight is only just now beginning.

Don't be too discouraged Gullyborg. I am looking forward to Condoleezza Rice vs. Hillary Clinton in 08.

I give Kerry big credit for conceding in such a classy and timely fashion.

I don't think it is overstating the issue to say that John Kerry's concession has saved the American election system. By not shouting fraud, "Stolen Election," "We'll sue to victory," or some other screed to stretch this out to the casting of the Electoral College votes or stringing this through the courts, John Kerry has saved us from a second consecutive election surrounded by scandal and the stench of possible illegitimacy.

As a by-product he also quells his more ... ahem ... vocal party-mates and legitimates Bush's presidency and drives home that he was ELECTED and not SELECTED!

Thank goodness!

Sorry but no, 51% cannot be spun into a mandate. Reagan in 1984 was the last President who can claim a mandate. Bush can claim a strong win, his coattails in the House and Senate proved far more than most projected, but there is no way that a 51% can be called a mandate. Had he gotten a cloture-proof majority in the senate he could make a better case for it.

As to Kerry following the war on terror in much the same way, I agree, though I feel he would have done so far more competently. Bush obviously had no plan whatsoever on what to do In either Iraq or Afghanistan after defeating the military in both areas. Our troops are being sent into hot zones without armored vehicles, body armor, and now we have Guard units being sent into combat zones with less than a dozen rounds of ammo each for their Vietnam era M-16's. I find that unacceptable.

As to the many bad democrats cited here, I agree there are many horrible democrats and republicans in office. This is in fact the first time in a Presidential election since 1980 that I have voted for either a Democrat or a Republican. I did indeed vote for Kerry because I do not believe Bush has the mental or moral wherewithal to do the job, and I still do not. He is after all our first President with a criminal record, so much for the moral high ground.

I think our nation is in deep, and increasing trouble. Two radically different mindsets, one based solely on blind faith and emotion, the other on facts and intellect are becoming hardened in opposition to each other. Once again blind faith and emotion has won. That scares me greatly. Welcome to Germany 1933.

You beat me to this one Paul.
Condoleezza Rice - is that really how her name is spelled? I'm looking forward to seeing more of her in the next four years - and learning how to spell her name.
Who better to to run against the witch with no morals?
She is quite the qualified stateswoman in her own right and I would be proud to have her as our first woman president. 2008 - really looking forward to it, so let's not get complacent nor alienate the other 50% of the nation. We're up against some very serious economical competition and outright attacks from foriegn powers.
We need to unite and stand strong.

Congratulations from Canada! The GWB victory is a big deal not only for the U.S., but also the rest of the world.

Always remember that you have friends here and around the world. And we're going to be working just as hard to help you in this fight.

Thanks Bill for your essays and for your optimism.

I'm really looking forward to seeing what you have planned next.

Mr. Burhans.

Hyperbole. Avoid it.

...and thanks for claiming the icky awful people who are naughty enough to disagree with you are full of nothing but blind faith and emotion. Your viewpoint does not have the monopoly on facts and intellect. Oh, sorry, did that challenge a point of faith you had about your opponents?

Michael,

methinks you define the mindsets of the political parties backwards.

Please correct me if I'm wrong: You see conservatives/Republicans as the ones with blind faith and emotion, whereas liberals/Democrats use facts and intellect?

How long have you visited this site? Bill's essays and the visitors' comments include many facts to support their claims. I unfortunately don't see much of that from the liberal side of the aisle.

One other thing: You evoked Hitler in your last sentence. Talk about resorting to emotion.

Thanks Bill for you cogent and well thought out
essays....I too would like a list...what can I do?? These next 4 years are crucial and I would like to be involved...Thanks!

Breathe.
Just Breathe.

By the way, did anyone else enjoy watching Dan Rather choke and whine his way through the late-night hours?
And I was especially fond of how the major networks kept taking time out of the election coverage to call attention to ANYTHING negative that might have been happening in Iraq - which wasn't nearly as crass or overt as deliberately misreporting Electoral Results from Eastern states in an attempt to get the Western conservatives to throw in the towel before their polls closed (ah, yes I remember it well) - watch them close, because THEY'RE LEARNING.

Bill, thanks for everything - you've been the inspiration that convinced my brother and I to start up our own Blog - everyone fights as best they can. I'll let you know when it's up - I'd be honored to join the worthies in the RightHandMargin.

*sigh* Well, I guess at least we don't have to go through another Florida debacle, so that's a plus. But Bush still scares me, so I'll hope for the best.

One question, Bill, you say we have 4 years to remake our society, reclaim our media, entertainment industry, univ.'s and children. Please don't say that refers to the fundamentalism that seems to be becoming ingrained into the Republican party. Religious pietism is one of my biggest Bush turn-offs. Please tell me something positive about our country--like we successfully survived a post-911 pres. race w/o an act of terrorism (other than the 527s on either side, of course.)

There are many folks who may not have realized the full implications of the Democratic Party domination of American government at all levels from the time of FDR until the midst of the Clinton administration.

People focus on the Federal Branches--- Senate, Congress, SCOTUS, POTUS--- without appreciating that the Democratic party during that period ALSO dominated state legislatures, governorships, state courts, regional, county-level, municipal governments, and SCHOOL BOARDS! Though not an absolute “spoils” system, our government does allow the winner to replace a huge number of discretionary non-elective officials.

This means that during the six decades (circa 1932 to circa 1994) during which the Democrats were the majority party, they managed to appoint a much LARGER MAJORITY of officials who were accountable to NO-ONE other than the Democratic Party, except if they were found to be violating the law. Of course, prosecution of such violations would be at the discretion of a prosecutor ANSWERABLE IN TURN TO THE PARTY THAT APPOINTED THE PROSECUTOR. If such a case went to trial, the presiding judge would very likely have been appointed by a THE SAME PARTY.

I don’t doubt that if the Republicans had dominated American politics for as long, they would have been tempted to be just as shamelessly self-serving. But the fact is simply that six more-or-less un-interrupted decades of single party rule have corrupted American governement not quite so completely as the Mexican example. But it’s close enough for alarm, and major preventive action.

Having three or more POLITICAL PARTIES trying to form coalitions WITHIN the government leads to chaos. Having a SINGLE party which excludes all other voices from government leads to utter corruption. Our country benefits tremendously from its unofficial but vital two-party system. That system tends to force the extreme elements of the political spectrum to find some accommodation within the POLITICAL PARTY rather than within the forum of government. Seems to work pretty effectively.

To any reader who supported Kerry or opposed Bush: I hope you will continue to visit this site and engage in exchanges with those with whom you differ. You might win converts. We might convert you. Or we might find some common ground.

Thank you, Bill, for being such an eloquent voice of sanity.

Whew!

ravnostic,

something positive about our country: Many of its citizens can agree to disagree calmly. Yesterday, more of its eligible voters cast ballots--peaceably--than since 1968. Most of its residents do not resort to crime or violence to enforce their political views on others.

That's a good foundation, eh?

Step one: break the stranglehold that democRats have with labor unions. Union members benefit more from conservative tax cuts than they do from gummint subsidized health care. The unions must go down.

Step two: break the lefts monopoly on public education. This will require step one first, to break the NEA.

That'll about do it. At least to start.

I wouldn't call 51% a mandate; I'd call it a "Yes, but...." When nearly half the country voted for the other guy, when even your supporters say there is "much to dislike and even despise" as Mr Whittle has written, it isn't time to promise four more years of the same. It's a time to step back and re-examine what you think is right, to keep doing what has worked well and to admit and change what's wrong. I'm afraid that last is the unlikely part, but with Ravnostic I'll continue to hope for the best. If, as David March wrote here, we can continue to debate and look for common ground, then the best isn't altogether unlikely.

Thank you America.
And thank you Mt. Whittle, for the part you played.

The real work?

By my lights, the reinvention of information delivery. Our current MSM allowed an unvetted candidate to make it all the way to a 49% loss. Not good. This is the gauntlet thrown down. Had the full, unspun story been reported on Kerry, I believe that Bush would have had a mandate by anyone's definition.

And Bill's voice, and the community he gathers, are certainly a cadre to undertake the hard task ahead.

Bill, I cannot thank you enough for your voice. Lay on McDuff!

>

...and to retake our courts and our court system. As a libertarian lawyer, I fear the power that so many occupants of the bench at all levels of the local, state and federal judiciary wield as though they were the annointed guardians of society. The courts are for the state to bring wrong doers to Justice and the citizens to use in settling their 'legitimate' disputes. Courts are not for promoting any personal or even civil agenda. The Judiciary needs to get a wake up call...a la Newt Gingrich and the 94 Contract with America.

Thanks for your Blog and for the efforts you put into making the world a better place.

Thank you Bill for those wonderful essays which helped me keep my sanity during the recent months.
I am looking at the map of this great country and it reminds me of a fist with Florida as its middle finger extended toward:
Our so called friends in Europe,Usama Bin Laden and his bunch of murdering thugs, our friend Saddam, Michael Moore, the Hollywood crowd, George Soros, Bruce Springsteen, Dixie Chicks, the insane anti war protestors in NYC during the GOP convention, and the list could go on and on but I have to run.
Congratulations to our wonderful President.

dichroic,

Clinton received less than 50% of the popular vote in his elections (43% in 1992, 49% in 1996 via Wikipedia), but he and the Dems considered it a mandate for change, didn't they?

With 51%, Bush and the Repubs can't call it a mandate?

I do agree, however, that some re-evaluation is in order.

Hey Roger, I checked. It's spelled Condoleezza. Look what I found with a quick Google search: Rice2008.com!!! SWEET!!!

Michael,
I have to think a President who came in by losing the popular vote by 500,000 to then win the popular vote by 3,500,000 as well as bring in 4 more Senators and up to 7 more Representatives than he started with on his coattails is a pretty clear mandate.
Keep in mind that this is the same President who limped into office amid an election scandal and STILL LED AS IF HE HAD WON A MANDATE, and really ask yourself whether he is just gonna go, "Well, I'm the first President since Dad to break 50% of the popular vote and the first President since Uncle Ron to be RE-elected with more than 50% of the vote. Y'know, I just don't think that gives me any strength to get my work done. I better just relax and not act like I deserve to pass the things I promised."

Naaaah

You know, call me giddy with success if you like, but I think now is the time to *begin* trying to win over the "protest-with-puppets" crowd. Of course, it'll take some time. You don't become that loony-left overnight, unless you have some sort of brain injury; most of these folks have been hard-line lefties since the Carter administration.

[quote]Thank you for allowing me to be a small voice in this great moment in history. Thank you for coming here. Thank you for listening to me, and thank you for your words of kindness and support that have elevated me to become the man I always hoped I could be.

[/quote]

Bill,

I haven't read any other posts above mine, (yet), but I have to say that it is not you who needs to Thank us, It is I that needs to thank you. Thank you, Bill, for your inspiration over the past two years that I've been a reader on your site. Thank you for the uplifting essays, you're common sense analysis, and for taking the time to put it all in easily digestible (if not time consuming) form.

You're right, we have much work to do. Let's get cracking on the ideas and let's see what we can do.

I look forward to your future endeavors with as much anticipation as I have over the past two years.

CB

"I think our nation is in deep, and increasing trouble. Two radically different mindsets, one based solely on blind faith and emotion, the other on facts and intellect are becoming hardened in opposition to each other."

I completely concur with this observation. The liberals base all decisions on emotion and blind faith. Very well put. Read the constitution if you think you know what government is supposed to exist for. It is not liberal wishes. Repeal social security, and EIC, and we have logical means of supporting our future. Why fix what is broken? The numbers do not add up, you can't fix either. We must pay down the debt first and foremost, I shall check out the pie chart and see where our "stolen" money is spent. Next year, I will just have the IRS take my whole paycheck, and return what they have not spent, if anything. My guess is they would spent every penny, and then some. The debt will not go away until we get serious.

Rik

Hmm. As a registered Republican who voted Dem in the past two elections, I sit in an interesting place. I cared for neither candidate, but I voted Kerry because the man is thoughtful and intelligent. No one can possible say that GWB fared well in the debates. Admittedly, Kerry was rather vision-free, but he did and still does strike me as someone who would work very hard to make America stronger, both internally and globally. Sadly, GWB seems to not listen to his own cabinet's opinions, people he himself picked for their abilities, yet he considers the position of major corporations to be paramount when considering national policy. I can appreciate anyone with strong convictions, I have them too, but mine do not happen to be religion based. I believe in the potential for greatness that resides in all of us, but I would never try to force my way of thinking or believing upon the rest of you. I am reminded of the difficulties that our founding fathers faced when trying to piece together the greatest document in the world, our Constitution. Anyone who dares to refer to them while referring to GWBs administration would be well served to do some serious reading before doing so. The 'FFs' were all very different men with different motivations and beliefs, and they knew that that was most important for the longevity of this new country. Even slave holders who depended on africans for their wealth knew that it was morally reprehensible. So in closing, this country is far greater in aggregate than any one man or woman can be. For every Reagan, we have a Nixon. For every Clinton, an FDR. I only hope that we can avoid making Iraq our Viet Nam, that we can return to a balanced budget, and that we can reverse the trend that for the first time, it appears the next generation will suffer a much worse standard of living than has been seen in decades.

I am glad that some people acknowledge who allowed this to happen. Kinda makes me feel good again. I am very happy that W is my president again and I am so proud of him taking the high road time after time.

Bill, I am so excited about this blog and look forward to the energy you can bring to the public discourse. Your essays and even just the posts are worth the wait. To make a better America is everybodies real dream isn't it? To leave the place a little better than you found it? If we can fix some of the huge problems our parents left us we will really be able to look our kids in the eye and tell them to make the world a little better and not be a hypocrite.

God bless George W. Bush and you Bill and may the Lord bless and keep the United States of America.

Go Bush! I'm so happy that we've got a great man to be our leader for another term.

But I also want to give kudos over to John Kerry. I consider myself a moderate Republican, and I respected Kerry almost as much as I did Bush. By stepping out of the race without much fuss or bitch like behavior, he has shown a mature and calm face towards defeat. ::cough::unlikegore::cough::

Congrats Mr. President. I am looking forward to many great things in the next four years!

Thanks so much for expressing, in a way that I can not, my thoughts and feelings in such an articulate way. I was just listening to Aaron Brown on CNN ask Bob Schiffer "how did we miss this "values" thing?" and "how come George Bush gets it?" Bob went into a long convulated explanation. I practically screamed at the tv - "you missed it because you sit in your ivory towers in your big cities and you think that the only 2 places that exist in this country are New York and Los Angeles - you need to get out into the flyover country!" Out here with all of us who go to work every day, to church on Sunday, raise our families, send our sons and daughters off to fight our wars, and try to do what's right.

No, thank you.

Now I'm seeking out arguments against my own claims...
Here's Dinesh D'Souza from about 10 days ago about the significance of this contest:

(http://www.dineshdsouza.com/)

Dinesh D'Souza: This is an important election not just because of Iraq or terrorism but because America is basically a One Party country. One majority party sets the agenda and the other is a "me too" party. The Jacksonian Democrats dominated until the Civil War, when the Republicans became the majority party until the New Deal, when the Democrats began a 50 year supremacy. The big question is whether we are now moving into an era of Republican dominance where the Congress, the courts and the presidency are all in Republican hands. My view is that the country has rejected Democratic dominance but it is divided over whether it trusts the Republicans to take over, or whether it would prefer divided government...

--------------------------
(He thinks BIG thoughts.)

As little as I respected Kerry during the campaign for the really ridiculous things he was saying, I must say I gained a whole lot when he conceded and took defeat like a man. As much as I disagree with his policy decisions, I wish him luck in the Senate.

Bill,

I think this business of the MSM (RaTHergate), the OBL translation you mention, but MSM doesn't, exit polls that deliberately (or not) could sway an election... This stuff must be dealt with. I still believe America can make good decisions given good information. But, we all know the term GIGO.
And, I'm not sure we can wait for the MSM to slowly lose power and influence. I think a well organized effort is needed, but, how to do it? One idea I had on exit polls would be for the Repubs to simply loudly and publicly encourage all their people to boycott the exit polls, until such time as MSM agrees not to release exit poll results the polls close. Unfortunately, that's only about 0.001% of the problem.

I don't care if CBS is big and makes a ton of money, but, the least they could do is give us reasonably complete, unbiased information.

I slept in on Nov 2. That's really unfortunate because I missed a class I can't afford to miss much. My brother woke me up and told me the fate of America was hanging on my shoulders. Ohio is the biggest battleground state, Toledo is the biggest battleground city (Bush, Cheney, Kerry, and Edwards all showed up here at one point or another last week. oh yeah, and so did Michael Moore), and our household is the biggest battleground household. You must understand my brother's mania for hyperbole. He said, "It is all down to you. Whoever you vote for will win the election."
I laughed at him and took a stroll to vote.
Not until I finished did the real urgency of the day dawn upon me.
I even feared my 6:00 rehearsal because I knew that everyone would be filled with such a fervor for their ideologies and be looking for a target.
Believe it or not, I am a 24 year-old student actor, who voted for George Bush. I cannot describe the frustration and the loneliness I feel in my profession.
I also cannot describe the satisfaction and comfort I find in reading your words, Bill. I'm really glad I found them.
And just a reminder, Bush won because I voted for him.

Asher:

Some of us understand.

Some of us grew up in cities where we were the only people who didn't inhabit what's now the Moore/Chomsky segment of the extreme left wing...where even just being "liberal" by national standards meant you were far to the right of everyone you knew.

Some of us would be disowned by our families and spat on by our friends if they discovered we didn't vote for Kerry.

Some of us know exactly how important writers like Bill Whittle are, to the morale of those who still don't hate and despise America. Some of us know it better, it sometimes seems, than Mr. Whittle does himself. (Which is, I suppose, as it must be.)

Bill Whittle writes glorious words, expressing valiantly the spirit of America. George Bush in no way embodies any of those words. John Kerry is their polar opposite. The Congress is populated with similar tyrants. America is doomed.

I'm not a religious man, Bill St. Clair (and Bush's piety is not something I like about him), but the words of the Bible are appropriate here: "Put not thy trust in princes."
It is not in the hands of Bush, Kerry, or Congress that the fate of America rests; it is in the hands of her people, Democrat, Republican, conservative, liberal, or none of the above. Politics and politicians are merely the froth upon this great reserve of power, confidence and strength.
The spirit of America is in her people, Mr. St. Clair. In this, America can take a page out of Italy's book. That nation has had over 50 changes of government since WW II (more than Bolivia), and government corruption on a monumental scale, yet it has one of the world's highest living standards. This is because the Italian population realizes that it, NOT the government, is the true nation. In their eyes the government is, in the words of Voltaire, a machine for transferring money from one set of pockets to another, totally useless beyond a few essential functions and not to be relied upon.

I just went to a site Paul brought my attention to.

Rice2008.com

Put together fairly decent, although it is unsactioned. With some encouragement, perhaps 2008 will be an interesting year.
What discusted me were the vulgar and racial slanders posted by the liberal left. Have they no idea how bad this makes the Democratic party appear? To those of you reading this that are left of center - please take your party back from these depraved individuals. You have the power to do so.
I consider myself a moderate Republican - mainly because it is abhorrant to be associated with what the Democratic Party has become.
We need a two party system. It's checks and ballances is what makes this country great, tolerant, and lasting.

There is an article in the 25th Anniversary Reader's Digest reader - I believe that that was the first Reader's digest book - which I wish they would reprint. IIRC, according to this article:

Our courts are unjust, imprisoning the innocent and allowing the guilty to go free. Our legislatures are corrupt, and most of the members are taking bribes. The moral code of our society is rotting away, and the clothing styles worn by our young people show a total lack of taste. Clearly the USA is doomed.

The title of this article is "The Habit of Going to the Dogs". It is made up entirely of excerpts from magazine articles printed between 1830 and 1860.

Courage, Bill St. Clair. We've been through worse. We'll make it through our current problems too.

Bill - did you ghost-write this piece in the Telegraph!!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/core/Content/displayPrintable.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2004/11/04/dl0401.xml&site=15

;-)

Bill,

Since finding your blog some two years ago, I have been amazed at your ability to pen the essence of the American Spirit. I knew this was the most important election in my lifetime, and I was confident that the "Silent Majority" would come through.

They did.

Now get that book out, I have political missionary work to do, and pagans to convert!

No AMERICAN celebrates Bush's victory. No defendor of individualism, human right,s the constitution, gun rights or intellectualism celebrates Bush's victory.

Bush's victory is the triumph of collectivism, tyranny, gun-confiscation and The Big Lie technique perfeccted by hitler.

The "Silent Majority" came thru on a major ballot initiative in 11 states this year-- the ammendment of the constitutions of those states to ban gay marriage.

How appropriate, given that Bush has proposed a similar ammendment to the national constitution.

This "Silent Majoritry" are the religious scum who wish to live in a tyranny, imposing their religion on all.

It is a minor victory for theocracy and tyranny that you are celebrating here.

Shame on you. You are not americans. You don't even know what it IS to be an American.

With four years to remake American society, what would you all like to do? Republicans have a decisive majority in the federal government and with few exceptions there's little Democrats can do to stop Republican initiatives. The sky's clear, the road's open, there's no one else to blame.

What do you want America to be?

Bush's victory is the triumph of collectivism, tyranny, gun-confiscation and The Big Lie technique perfeccted by hitler.

Don, are you high? Because only folks disconnected from reality would equate Hitler and Bush.

"Don Galt" demonstrates one of the reasons why I don't take Libertarianism seriously anymore.

Interesting how the MSM is now saying that Bush was the one that divided the country and now he must fix it??? He does not need to do that - the democrats were the decisive ones - now they need to fix it!!!

Who exactly named you God, Galt?

Don Galt - I take great offense to you - go to your room for your ignorance. This vote was a vote against Michael Moore and the Hollyweird ilk that seem to think we care what they spew forth - against the lying MSM Rathergate - against the upholding of a traitor and a liar. I lost a brother in Vietnam, I voted Democrat the two prior elections. Bush is the right man for this time and those of you that feel America is doomed - leave!!! This country was founded on a Christian basis - if you do not like it leave Don Galt!!!!

The Bush celebration continues. Speaking of the president I found a video of him getting ready for some speach and he gives the camera the finger.... I was shocked. it looks legit. Check it out at http://darktips.typepad.com

"Shame on you. You are not americans. You don't even know what it IS to be an American."

No, shame on you Mr. Galt, for thinking that your opinions, thoughts, and desires were that of the majority of Americans - clearly they are not. Shame on you, Mr. Galt, for retreating to name-calling and baseless claims of "hitlerism" against a president that a majority of Americans elected on November 2nd, simply because your candidate lost a fair and democratic election, and/or because 11 out of 11 states voted to ban gay marriage. American citizens in all 50 states have indeed spoken, and have spoken against views that I assume you stand behind.

Clearly, in truth it is you that is unable to understand the majority of Americans, and it shows. Your views are indeed the minority in this country at the present, however you'd like to believe, and although you have the rights to your opinions, the majority usually holds the offices of government, and thus makes the laws. If you don't like it, run yourself - it's the American way, after all.

"We have four years to remake our society; four years to reclaim our media, our entertainment industry, our universities and our children."

A curious list of ephemera. Why not the energy crisis and our dependence on an increasingly expensive oil resource? Why not our cascading national debt that threatens to destroy the bond market? Why not an SS system that threatens to collapse under deficit financing weight and impoverish our seniors?

JS

"Shame on you. You are not americans. You don't even know what it IS to be an American."

Shame is disgust at being what you should not be, whether actions or thoughts conveyed. "A shame we can not all be right, all the time" What nonsense. I accept "shame" with pleasure, only those that are totally lost find shame in reasonable discourse. What is an american? I would love to hear that definition. I shall await that reply.

Rik

JS, try any or all you believe should be abolished, saved, reformed, or just ignored. NO elected official can touch the status quo, therefore, it must be fixed? I was in a country not that long ago, and the "land" we existed on just started disappearing, into some river, then an ocean. What did we do? reform the land? try to stabilize our position? It was just gone, there was nothing to stabilize. If there is nothing to establish a base on, the idea must move, if not the motive to retain said land. Simply put, if you try to hold on to what is lost, people die, if you try to reform, choas becomes normal. Why do we pay a government to provide "essential" services to us that pay, wait, they do not. We pay so others need not pay, social security...George Orwell? Take my paycheck, make everyone feel well, and return what is left, that is my goal. I will die with glee knowing I helped so many, who did nothing to return any effort. Americans indeed. We are the most forgiving fools in this universe. I want to gloat, but will not, for it is a big universe I see.

Rik

Bill: Thank you for DETERRENCE and your insight. I read it a few times, posted it many times, and emailed to anyone I thought would read it and some I thought wouldn't but wanted them to at least have the opportunity to do so.
Please keep up the great writing.

There’s a bit of wisdom people quote from time to time, from Matthew 6:34, that tells us not to fret overmuch about tomorrow’s troubles; today’s are enough to deal with.

I take it to mean there’s no profit in making yourself crazy over things you can’t change while you’re occupied with present emergencies.

This election is history. In the fullness of time people will digest events and gradually recognize that the universe is undeniably different from what they’ve been telling themselves.

Do we really want to spend the next month, week, day, or even two breaths wasting our time worrying about what our recent opponents are saying to each other?

Priorities.

A lot of us on all sides have been held in thrall through this campaign, stunned by the atrocities of external enemies, and thunderstruck by the perversity of people we thought were allies. On one hand, I feel ready to get back to my life. On the other hand, I see my life can never again be exactly as it was, because the world is not as I thought it was.

There are people who plunge into tasks when called upon, and others who make promises they have no intention of fulfilling. Some of us learned in grade school that it drains far more energy wheedling and cajoling the latter to perform, than to go ahead and work with those who are willing.

Coalition of the Willing.

It isn’t really a heroic phrase, is it? But like Mark Twain said of Wagner’s music, “It’s a lot better than it sounds.” Would you rather have ten friends you can depend on or a hundred who have to be dragged along against their will? The answer helps figure how you spend your time and energy in your daily life, too. Good “touchstone.” I have some ideas for people to try regardless of your politics, some that have helped me from time to time.

Get out of the house. Out of the apartment. Out of your hovel. Quit assembling those explosive devices. Show up at the local office of your favorite political party, and volunteer to stuff envelopes, or lick stamps. Join a Mac User Group. Play music with an orchestra, or sing with a choir, or start learning to play banjo or harmonica at a local music shop. Serve meals at a homeless shelter. Rake the leaves one day for a neighbor who’s only got one lung. Volunteer at the Zoo, or the local animal shelter.

Go to the library and offer to shelve books. Visit the hospital and see if they need someone to read stories to kids. Visit a convalescent home and volunteer to play checkers or chat with the residents. Offer to teach a course (you must have SOME skill to share...) through your city recreation / parks department.

If you’re really brave, visit the jails, or the prisons, or cancer wards or intensive care unit at the hospital. Even if you’re not religious, you can connect with ministers and find a way to help distribute food, or paint houses, or babysit, or teach an adult to read, or just hold a dying person’s hand and provide a little companionship.

These are things you can do that transcend any petty bullshit bickering over politics. They will connect you to people you may learn to treasure, regardless of whether they agree with your politics. You may persuade and be persuaded. You will likely be changed, but likely in ways that satisfy. You don’t have to be a genius, or a scholar, or a magician, or a college graduate. You don’t have to have any special qualifications for a lot of activities that can make a big difference for other people.

BUT DON’T STOP BLOGGING!

p.s. RIK, I tried to send a personal note to you by your e-mail address link, but it came back "un-deliverable."

David March

Congrats from Canada too! (And no, we don't want the saddened lefties who threatened to come here)

Sir, I have sincerely enjoyed your work. Thank you.
I was wondering if you would be able to write something with regard to the 'threat' of a reinstated draft and how it would be much more sensable to begin a national discussion on the subject of compensation for service to the Nation. After all, the government has no money. It's our money. And if I'm paying the fatass congress about three times the national average income, I want to pay the persons willing to "give the last full measure" at the very least the same amount the fatasses are giving themselves, out of my pocket. Additionally, I'd say bonuses are clearly in order. I hope you will have some suggestions as to how the people should lead so that the leaders can follow. Kindest Regards,
Jean Warner
Atlanta, Ga

Michael R. Burhaus, it's exactly that kind of attitude regarding "emotions/faith" on the "Right" and "logic" on the "Left" that is the problem with many on the "Left" (certainly not all). That is both condescending and rude. This article sums it up rather nicely.

For the record, I'm a political Independent that leans strongly libertarian, an atheist and a philosophical individualist, and voting for Bush was the right choice.

Don Galt, your attitude does a grave disservice to John Galt and Ayn Rand. As Ms. Rand would suggest, "Check your premises".

... and thanks Bill, I'm looking forward to more of your writing.

Bill:

Are you absolutely certain we've won? I mean, I realize that Kerry and Edwards have conceded, but have CNN and CBS called Ohio yet? Heh.

I've been listening to mainstream punditry in political consulting, survey research, and media, and it appears to me that not only doesn't the Democratic side "get it," but they're quite prepared to shove the nation toward factional disputes over race, ideology and religion simply to obscure the fact that they lost. Or, more accurately, why they lost.

Apparently, according to Juan Gonzales, a "liberal" columnist for the NY Daily News, this election was all about race and about the whites dominating people of color. From Jane Smiley we get the theory that the "red-staters" are a bunch of knuckle-dragging troglodytes ripe for exploitation by any big business type interested in appealing to their blood lust and prejudice.

I just watched a session on CSPAN conducted at the Medill School of Journalism in Evanston, IL. Virtually all of the questions directed at the august panel of MSM pundits (with one Fox representative) were couched along the lines of: "Why weren't you more positive about Kerry or more negative about Bush?" Elisabeth Bumiller, of the NYT countered that they'd already apologized for those mistakes and that "we didn't start the war." Essentially it never entered their heads that they might not have erred on the side of being too anti-American, because by definition the values that are an appropriate all eminate from offshore someplace. It went without saying that one is as left or anti-US as one can get away with being, and that the constraints are really coming from those pesky misinformed war bloggers or the red-staters who just haven't a clue. "How much do you expect us to do, to counteract this appalling ignorance and deception? We're just one small newspaper of record!" was the gist of it.

Any upward trend in distrust of the media or commitment to "American values" is interpreted as merely a prelude to the big crash: A denial of reality equivalent to a belief in magic or witchcraft. Meanwhile no one appears to have noticed that the former "most trusted man in America" seems to think the Republican administration morally capable of enlisting Osama to help them scare the bejesus out of flyover America, in order to get them to vote right.

Yeah, there's gonna be nothing automatic about this revolution. Every single step will be uphill.

We have to take back our schools. That's what we have to do, and the millions of home-schoolers have taken an honorable road but that's not enough.

My fight right now is a school where the teachers have Kerry bumper stickers and the parents have Bush/Cheney ones. A school where Marxism is being taught in the history classroom. Where Halloween is not allowed to be celebrated and Christmas is banned -- the holiday must be called Winter Break.

I fought with everything I had and got my son out of the (Marxist) History class -- called American History, if you can believe it.

Wednesday my son told me the kids who had that teacher were exhausted and stressed because the teacher was taking out his anger and rage on his students -- yelling at them, ridiculing them when they spoke, and throwing erasers at the board. Yep, that's what I expected. Kerry had lost so this teacher felt free to take out his anger on the children in his care.

We have to take back our schools. Bill is right. We don't have much time.