Well, it’s finally settled. After the marathon campaigns, the people of this nation voted last week to keep the great train wreck in office for four more years.

Perhaps I’m being melodramatic. People have been saying this country has survived worse. Maybe they’re right. I’m not optimistic of our chances this time though. Here’s just one thing that I believe is in store for us during the second Bush administration. This self described “war president” will continue on the war-path, spreading freedom and democracy to all of the backward nations of the world. The next country to be invaded will be chosen from a pool of three nations: Iran, Syria, or North Korea. But how will we do this you ask. How are we going to invade any of these countries while our military is bogged down in Iraq? Easy. The draft will be brought back.

The draft was a contentious issue during this past election. Both candidates stated unequivocally that there will be no draft. They both argued that nobody wanted a draft, that a draft would bring more harm than good to the armed forces. Those arguments are all well and good, perhaps the generals sitting at the pentagon don’t want an army of draftees. This seems to be the only lesson they have learned from Vietnam. But, in arguing against a draft both candidates seemed to ignore an important fact: every combat brigade in the army is either in Iraq, going to Iraq, or coming back from Iraq. This doesn’t leave a lot of troops available to help expand the empire.

I think that, subconsciously, the youth of this country already know what’s going to happen during the next four years. The day after the election I sat in one of the common areas at my college campus finishing up some homework for Spanish and noticed a palpable change in the air. The weather outside was dreary gray with a persistent mist falling. It was three in the afternoon and the place, normally a hub of activity, had the feel of a mausoleum. The few people that were walking about walked alone with their heads down, defeated.

Inauguration day won’t be a celebration of the seamless transfer of power we have enjoyed for so many years in the country. It will be a requiem.