How did it go from Edwards saying they're gonna wait for every vote to be counted to that funereal photo of the Bushes on the front page of the New York Times?

And the Congress. Rehnquist on his deathbed.

My city is silent, stunned. No one talks politics; not much is said at all. It's the most somber day since 9/11. There is this sense that we did all we could and it wasn't good enough. For me, the hardest thing to accept is that the truth about the president's lies was effectively blocked or did not matter.

I feel like it's not my country anymore, and I feel that my physical safety and civil rights are endangered. I don't trust other Americans.These last four years were long; looking ahead four more is intolerable.

Many people contemplate defection. To the criticism that the disillusioned should stay and continue to push for change, I cheekily retort that often it's those who flee who live.

Liberals, in their horror, turn against themselves. They spare no one the blame: the turncoats, Kerry, Michael Moore, and those of us who grieve the loss. It's stupid. I can't read the news, for this, and the GOP gloating.

I remember four years ago discussing the election with people. We said that the worst thing a Bush victory would bring is a lackluster term that would invigorate a Democratic win in 2004. No one imagined how bad it could be.

Now we funnel money into regressive anachronisms while the rest of the world builds a future. I figure that once you buy into the identity of being an empire you must accept its decline, and it looks like at least half the nation believes in the nation as rightful empire. But, the regime denies the inevitable decline, or doesn't care, such as it is with all grandiose delusions. I fear the fall and the unthinkable limitlessness of nonprosperity.