It must be tough to be a Liberal these days. They've been thwarted at every turn over the last several years. Every prediction they've made, every hope they've held has been broken on the Rocks of Reality, sliced by the Razor of Logic, and smashed by the, uh, Potato Masher of Common Sense. Everything was going so smoothly for them through the 1990's, with the slight exception of their pet political party (the Democrats) losing ground in every election since 1994. That didn't matter much, as the Left had plenty of judges ready to legislate from the bench. Now, having lost House, Senate, White House and many governorships, the Left might even lose that, if the Republicans have enough backbone to halt the unconstitutional filibusters on judicial nominations. It's all gone downhill for the Left since 9/11. I'm tempted to be sympathetic towards Liberals -- really, I am -- until I consider that their aims and goals would more or less ruin the social and economic fabric of this country. I'm not very sympathetic to that.

They warned us that it would be impossible to remove the Taliban from power in Afghanistan, yet it took less than two months. They predicted doom and gloom if we should dare to set foot in Iraq (including massive American casualties and a general uprising on the "Arab street"). Yet Saddam fled to hide in a "spider hole" only three weeks after the first American boot hit the ground. Liberals told us the Iraqis could never hold elections, form their own government or feel anything but hatred for Americans... yet they were wrong on all counts. Liberals complain that conditions aren't yet perfect in either country, but they're a damn sight closer to it than before we freed 50 million people from two brutal regimes that violated human rights in every way. Liberals also complain because there are terrorists in Iraq. Well, of course there are terrorists in Iraq -- they didn't want that country to become a functioning democracy any more than Liberals did.

Liberals told us, "just you wait until election time!" Well, the leaders of all major Coalition nations that have stood for reelection since Iraq have been returned to office but one. President Bush won in America, Prime Minister Howard in Australia, and Prime Minister Berlusconi in Italy. Now Prime Minister Tony Blair has won reelection in Great Britain. Although Blair's party lost the overwhelming majority they had held, only a few of those seats went to the "anti-war" Liberal Democrat party. The loss was probably due more to domestic than foreign policies. Jose Maria Aznar was expected to win reelection in Spain until a terrorist attack threw many voters into a panic. Score: Coalition leaders 4, terrorists and Liberals 1.

If you're a Liberal, you're probably depressed over the massive Oil-for-Food scandal... and that was only a part of the corruption that has spread through the United Nations like a malignant cancer. The Liberals' great hope of one-world government may someday come to pass, but not under the rotting umbrella of the UN. Everywhere the blue hats go, corruption and scandals follow. Forced prostitution rings run by peacekeepers in Bosnia and sex-for-aid scandals and outright rape perpetrated by UN workers throughout Africa (150 reports in Congo alone!) and paralysis in the face of genocide in Rwanda (and now Sudan) were only the beginning. The so-called "independent inquiry" into the Oil-for-Food scandal has fallen into disrepute, as two of the investigators resigned over Paul Volcker's leniency towards UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The investigators were subpoenaed by Congress, and turned over boxes full of evidence that will show Annan's involvment in the OFF scandal -- and that he lied about his involvement. Volcker angrily demanded that Congress return the evidence and retract their subpoena, after which Volcker promises to allow the investigators to make a single statement. Are those the actions of an investigator trying to expose the truth? And by what right does a UN investigator make such demands on the Congress of the United States? What is Volcker trying to hide?

Even on the economic front, Liberal doom-and-gloom predictions haven't had much luck. Sure, the economy surges and slumps at its own pace in the short term, but it generally trends upward. It looks as though all those small businesses the Liberals kept ignoring when gloating over misleadingly low job creation numbers have caused tax revenues to exceed predictions. "Wall Street analysts reduced their deficit forecasts this week, from around $400 billion to around $370 billion," the Washington Post reported. Liberals and Democrats who sneered at President Bush's stated intention to reduce the deficit by half in five years must not be feeling too enthusiastic about those numbers. To add fuel to the fire, unemployment continues to hold steady at only 5.2%, average hourly wages in the private sector are up, and the consumer spending index looks healthy, according to Deloitte Research. About the worst thing one can say for the moment is that the "positive effects of tax reduction continue to show signs of slowing as economic growth pushes some households into higher income brackets." What a pity -- people are making more money. Well, the best answer to that is to keep cutting taxes. Let them keep what they've earned.

Yes, these are tough times in which to be a Liberal. On the other hand, I predict a boom in the mental health and therapy fields for years to come.