The battle's lost, but the war's far from over.
There are things we can do little or nothing about - the Supreme Court will likely be dramatically changed in the next four years. The right-wing agenda will be pushed as though forty-eight percent of the country matters not a damn.
But--
We can start to chip away.
Let's not forget, there's still a grand jury mulling over whether to indict Tom DeLay.
Let's not forget, there's still a grand jury working on the blown cover of Valerie Plame.
Let's not forget, the FBI is investigating Halliburton, which may lead right into the office of Richard Cheney.
And let's not forget that Bush and company have spent the past several years trying every distraction tactic they can think of to paper over the serious flaws in the administration.
It worked - it got them re-elected - but the bills are going to come due.
First priority: make Tom DeLay's case a headliner. Make the corruption of the Texas GOP something that defines the party, something that forces Republicans far and wide to ask whether they want to be associated with it.
And while we're at it: let's remember that there are still Republicans like Lincoln Chaffee and Olympia Snowe, representatives who do have some common sense and may form a (hopefully) growing reality-based splinter of the GOP.
The Democrats may be in the minority, but if the GOP splits, a coalition can do wonders - in the House and the Senate.
I hope that they DO overreach, and cause a situation like they did with Senator Jeffords back in 2001.
I hope that if the worst happens - overturning Roe v. Wade, repeal of any of the Bill of Rights, or the announcement of a draft - that we can turn out in the millions, in the tens of millions, to protest, to dissent, to raise nine circles of hell.
And if DeLay can be tied to the GOP command and used as a lever for the Dems in 2006 ... and if a case is filed in a criminal court entitled "People v. Richard Cheney" ... then history may repeat itself in yet another way.
After all, Richard Nixon won re-election in November 1972.
The headlines were a lot bigger in August 1974.