So now that Bush has won the election…

[Yes, nine days after the fact. My very ordinary retail job wipes me out totally at a day's end. And the "holiday" rush is yet to begin!]

A few days ago, when I was first thinking of what I was going to say for a post-election commentary, I was just going to re-emphasize what I’d been saying in the run-up, namely, that we have been conscripted into a war-to-the-death in defense of Christian civilization (”to the death” because those are the terms by which the enemy is engagaing this fight: it wants nothing less than Christianity’s total eradication), and that we must not confuse the President’s re-election with a “victory” for the defenders of godly truth and civilization and thus it cannot be an excuse to let down our guard and rest on our laurels. (WorldNetDaily’s editor Joseph Farah bears this latter point out.)

Frankly, there are no laurels to rest on, and two stories just in this last week bear this out:

The whole drama involving the execrable Sen. Arlen Specter, whose “clarfications” should not assure anyone that he will not act upon his beliefs and thus prevent the elevation of decent judges to the Supreme and Federal courts. Yet, Bush’s White House — which must be held to account for its support of Specter against the pro-life Rep. Pat Toomey in last April’s Senate primary — has no problem with Specter assuming chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee. (I sure do, and I let my two Senators know about it, one of whom [George Allen] is unfortunately credited with prompting both Bush and Sen. Rick Santorum to push for Specter last April.)

Now, in replacement of Attorney General John Ashcroft, Bush looks to one of his longtime Texas cronies, Alberto Gonzales, who is also pro-abortion, not to mention a faithful follower of the “Constitution is whatever the courts say it is” mentality. Talk-radio personality Michael Savage thinks that Ashcroft was pushed out, and it wouldn’t surprise me if that were so. (Note how, in this Washington Post column, it appears that this switcheroo demonstrates how Bush cares more about personal loyalty than integrity in principles.

This is already turning out to be not much of a reprieve. Anyone who hoped that the lack of future political stakes would bring out more of the conservative in Bush should be shaken of those illusions. Once again, without gratitude to those who didn’t sit home this time (vs. 4 years ago) and kept him in the White House, he finds ways to callously dismiss their concerns for what’s left of Christian character in American society, to go make lovey-dovey with the secularists. For as much as he can be called a “warmonger” abroad, Bush has been and clearly remains a spineless “peacenik” with our true enemies here at home!

Then we consider that the liberal “news” media is already trying to undercut any meaningful resistance to its agenda by promoting several men, all pro-abortion “moderates,” as the 2008 Republican nominee. Why not? This is exactly what worked in 1999 for Bush himself! Get the press talking about you, and you’ll start raising money early, generate a momentum, and if you do it as well as Bush did in ‘99, then nobody will be in a position to challenge you! (The fact that McCain emerged as a force in the early 2000 primaries was purely the result of a media double-cross: after building Bush up with puff-pieces in 1999 to undercut any real conservative candidate from emerging, the media then turned on Bush to promote someone even more to their liking and almost succeeded. The media have treated Bush like 1984’s Emmanuel Goldstein ever since, 4½ years’ hate and counting.) If the so-called “alternative media” have any real power, it will be shown in the emergence of a credible conservative contender in spite of the media propaganda to discourage it.

Those of you who recognize the name “Darth Sidious” from the Star Wars film saga ought to relate to this point: this shadowy, insatiably evil figure does exist in real life, under the guise of a sitting Senator (not really) from New York! Make no mistake: the stakes were dire enough this time around, but the “mother of all battles” is yet to come. And only someone principled, and in the state of habitual grace, will have the stomach to face the would-be Emperor, who will be the mistress of a bag of dirty tricks that will make these last two campaigns look tame by comparison.