Yasser Arafat is dying or maybe even dead already. The Democrats lost -- lost big -- in Tuesday’s presidential and congressional elections. This is a tale of two disasters: When will they learn?

Palestinians have been suffering for years because of Arafat’s failed, corrupt, terrorist leadership. He hasn’t changed his spots. Arafat just keeps repeating the mistakes of the past. He has always chosen the path of violence. Remember Black September, the “second Intifada,” or the Oslo Accords? He has blatantly stolen foreign aid meant to help his own people build a viable economy. Conditions have been utterly terrible for the Palestinian people.

Will Arafat’s death usher in change? I’m not very confident, short-term. Most likely, we’ll see a civil war among the Palestinian power-brokers: the terrorist groups Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Fatah, etc. Maybe after enough infighting and Israeli missile strikes, Palestinians will turn to democracy. Don’t count on it happening very soon. I wish I could be hopeful, but I cannot. Same old, same old.

What do the Democratic Party’s losses of this Tuesday have in common with the Palestinian people’s plight? Actually, more than you can imagine. At one time, the Left gave us good music, exposed us to Eastern philosophies, and helped us to end segregation, just to name of few of its positive achievements. But once the Left became entrenched in our universities, social institutions, and media, it got too comfortable. Power corrupts. The Left Wing, synonymous with the Democratic Party, has become decrepit and corrupt just like Arafat. “Capitalism is the root of all evil.” “Palestinian terrorism is justified.” “What right is it of ours to spread democracy?” “Osama will leave us alone if we just leave him alone -- he said so!” Keep on repeating the same old nonsense, and maybe someone will start believing it, right? And don't forget the Left's ardent support for the great terrorist hero Arafat while simultaneously accusing Israel, a democracy, of "using Nazi tactics" and "committing genocide." Same old, same old.

The Left’s poster children, like George Soros and Michael Moore, spent millions of dollars trying to deceive the American people about President Bush, Iraq, the economy, etc. Look what it got them. Americans -- especially the heartland -- didn’t buy it. Bush garnered the largest popular vote in U.S. history. The President received a real majority, 51% or 59,291,983 votes. The Left can complain all it likes, but that’s the way our system works. If Americans were so fed up with Bush, they wouldn’t have reelected him. He now has a true mandate. Will the Democrats’ resounding loss of the presidency, House, and Senate cause them to think about what is happening? In the short term, I doubt it.

The Left has become like Arafat: corrupt, old, dying, and seemingly incapable of adapting to the universal constant: change. I’m sure it’ll come back one day. And the Right Wing will become corrupt if it stays in power too long. Now, I only find progressive thinking on the Right -- and this comes from a recovering Left-Winger, yours truly. I’m not confident the Democrats will see the light anytime soon. The death throws will last a bit longer.