Here we go.  I think most conservatives, while hopeful we wouldn't see Obama in the White House after January, had been mentally preparing themselves for a second term.  I know I was. 

That doesn't mean I like it.  I'm just not as disappointed or surprised at the outcome as some others.  We've seen this shift in America over the past couple generations - a shift of responsibility to the federal government (other people) and away from the individual. 

To this day the origin of this quote is unclear.  I've seen it attributed to many people, and some say it's an amalgamation of several different quotes. But the author isn't nearly as important as the message:

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years.

Great nations rise and fall. The people go from bondage to spiritual truth, to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependence, from dependence back again to bondage.

Those who support Obama will read that and think how ridiculous it is.  They'll see the words largesse, bondage, dictatorship, and chalk it up to just another crazy right winger bent out of shape that Obama won. 

I'm not bent out of shape.  I get it.  We have a nation of people who want someone else, i.e. Uncle Sam (other taxpayers) to provide their stuff.  Be it an Obamaphone, Obamacare, a federally backed student loan, a federally backed mortgage...  Whatever it is.  And this shift pre-dates Obama and was facilitated along the way by many so-called conservative Republicans.  That's just where we are right now.  In general, we've moved from apathy to dependence as a nation. 

Tuesday just made it official.

And finally, if you want a good synopsis of the election (other than the one I've just given you), read this from the Wall Street Journal.  But here's the key thought:

More voters in the exit polls blamed Mr. Bush for the economy than they did the current President.

Yup.  Four years and voters still blame Bush and gave Obama a pass.  It's always someone else's fault.  And it's always someone else's responsibility.

Can we survive four more years of Obama?  Sure.  Maybe this is what it takes for more people to stop placing their trust and well-being in the hands of their dear Uncle Sam.  Maybe it will take four more years for the facade of hope and change to wear off.  Or maybe this is just another step on our way to a completely centralized, top-down government.  I'm not into predictions.  So we'll just wait and see. 

Post script:  If exit polls showed many voters still blame W for the economy, what do you think will happen in two years at the next midterm elections?  If Obama was able to hang his four years around the neck of W, then he'll be able to do the same with the same group of voters to the only GOP-run portion of government: the House.  Prepare yourself for a completely Democrat-controlled federal government in two years.