The shittiest part of losing anything is the fact that the other guy gets to rub it in your face, justified or not. What's worse is that the winners always write the history books. In the American Revolution, the British considered the Colonists guerilla soldiers and terrorists. We won though, so we call ourselves revolutionaries. It's sexier and carries a positive connotation, justified or not.
So how will the history books be written by the Bush administration, which has now re-won the White House, and sadly the country, for the next four years? Undoubtedly, they'll paint a picture of demoralized liberals who relied on idealism and the votes of the youth (man was that obviously a bad idea). They'll say the war on terror was a justified, tough-fought war in which democracy and God defeated a hidden enemy who threatened our very way of living. They'll paint a deceiving picture of social programs that they never fully backed, like the No Child Left Behind Act. "W" will be characterized by the conviction (stubborn ignorance) he showed in making decisions (politically minded strategies) and compassion (unwavering bullishness). For good measure, they'll probably say John Kerry was a communist, Bruce Springsteen was a pedophile, and that Michael Moore was actually a robot created by Satan to destroy the minds of the youth of America.
There is not much we can do about Bushy being President again. We sort of have this thing about peaceful elections where the people's vote counts (despite the fact that it technically doesn't, and especially didn't in the 2000 Election). However, our generation does have a responsibility and it is essential to make good on it if we are ever to make up for our failure due to apathy and ignorance to get this douche-bag out of office: we need to be the voice of truth when the history books are written about this time in the country's history. We need to let future generations know that the fear that guided this country as far away from our proud history as the greatest nation on Earth was politically motivated and calculated right down to the very last Code Red Alert Level scare tactic.
Additionally, our generation has to grow up and take responsibility for the rights this country has given us to make our voices heard. We need to stop letting our parents and their parents prove themselves right when they tell us we're immature and not capable of making an important decision like who will be our President. We need to stop blaming the system for not making issues that affect us its top priority, and we need to start raising our voices so things like cheaper college education, a better job market, and a war that our generation is fighting become issues that matter to these phony assholes that talk their way into our parents' votes. We need to put up or shut up when it comes to whether we are real American citizens who enjoy the freedoms that make this country the best in the world.
My guy lost and I'm pissed. The system worked (at least the second time around) and put the guy with the most votes in office. What failed were the voters. They failed to see a country torn apart—despite razor thin voting results—as a result of the current administration. Mostly though, the youth failed to make their voices heard because they liked what John Stewart had to say, but didn't care enough to get up during South Park.