No longer willing to share toys...

At the federal level, it's pretty hard to dispute that the Republicans have a mandate. They control the Presidency, the Senate, the House, and the Supreme Court. Since the election, I've had the feeling that Kerry would have ended up being a lame duck president anyhow, with so much opposition in Congress and that the best thing to do is to let the Republicans do their worst with the mandate they've been given. Maybe that is what it'll take to get people in poor states to realize that they are not exactly voting in their interests.

As this article points out (drawing on some of the excellent point first mentioned in Fuckthesouth.com) the Republican platform of small federal government and (except in the event of disputed elections) strong states' rights, could actually be used to make things a little easier for those of us who would rather pay taxes than tithes.

Of course the Bush administration has governed over the largest expansion of the federal government in recent memory, but that's perhaps an issue the Democrats could have worked a little more.