A hearty, vaguely homoerotic fanny slap to Stigmutha for passing on this little panic attack from Elaine Cassel:

Four more years of Bush and I doubt that I will be writing or you will be reading these warnings. We will have been silenced. I wish I were exaggerating, but this past year has taught me that, if anything, my warnings have been too tame.

We have seen a despot, and he is occupying the White House. We have seen tyranny, and it is the Bush Administration.

Poor Elaine describes herself as "terrified" of aforesaid Bush Administration. I suspect she fancies herself terribly brave to write so boldly (and presciently) while a tyrannical despot wields such sinister power; the spirit of Ann Frank is alive and well in Elaine Cassel.

God bless folks like Elaine, really. But the last thing we need right now are more people who are terrified of Bush. It's good to be nervous, scared, even a little nauseated on the eve of battle. Many a soldier has charged into combat in a sopping wet pair of underpants. But terrified? Terrified soldiers throw down their guns and run screaming from the battlefield. Terrified soldiers consistently overestimate the strength of their opponents.

It's helpful to remember that almost half of the people who voted in 2000 did so for Bush. The best strategy to win back those voters is not to scream about what a goddamn Nazi Bush is, but to quietly whisper in their ears while they sleep, "President Bush is a pud." Then gently insert their hand in a bowl of warm milk and tip-toe out of the room.