Alright, the excuses are all gone now. Bush has a popular vote mandate, the Senate and House are Republican, and the Supreme Court will be crafted in the image Karl Rove wants.

Kerry, Edwards and the rest of the Democrats have been turned impotent and barely have a seat at the table anymore so our right-leaning members have nobody to pick on but their own. Let's see where your allegiances lie now. Did you really care about the country or was it all about simply surrounding yourself with power in the form of your own ideology to soothe your insecurities? I'd hope it to be the former.

So here's the challenge. Will you risk damaging your own party if you see our leadership screwing up? Will you hold their feet to the fire if they lie to you? Will you hold them accountable for the next terrorist attack and call for Republican heads to roll should it be discovered that mismanagement and incompetence allowed it? How far will the national debt grow before you start calling for additional revenue sources and sacrifice by American wallets? Is there any point where pharmaceutical company profits cause your eyebrows to raise to where you start questioning the administration's policies towards health care? At what point do our civil rights become eroded sufficiently for you to start calling your congressmen and demanding action? What will be your response if we take on another country, stretch our military to the breaking point, and a draft becomes inevitable?

In many ways, the ones of us that were anti-Bush have it much easier now in that the attacks on our patriotism and resolve really have no meaning or significance for the next 4 years. Our protests will have no voice at all in the halls of power so we're simply background noise, easily dismissed. We get to sit back, hope for the best, and watch to see just how critical you really are of mistakes and missteps, should they occur.

Come on guys, show us it wasn't all just hot air. Make the country your focus instead of some lame political party (and I include the Dems in that category) and do all you can to support the only team that matters. Read your history. The darkest times in America have been when one ideology absolutely overwhelms the other in all branches of government. We're there it seems. Enjoy the rush.