The fall.

... from Morn to Noon he fell, from Noon to dewy Eve. - John Milton, Paradise Lost.

This passage in the first book describes the descent of Hephaestus after Zeus has thrown him off Mount Olympus, whereupon Hephaestus falls for a full day.

That day came again on Nov. 2. Hephaestus went on to fight more battles. He was ugly, gimply and a cuckold, as Ares, the god of war, took his wife Aphrodite, but his hands crafted the gods' most treasured possessions and his anvil produced their armor.

Ares had two sons, Phobos and Deimos, terror and fear. George W. Bush goes into his second term on the shoulders of those two, and as many have noted, he is inheriting the pall of his first four years in office. His administration is already wracked by dissention and scandal. And though he may be able to stem the rancor in the White House with a number of Cabinet appointments, it's difficult to imagine that he'll be able to stanch the leaks and investigations already pouring forth.

"He who troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind."-Proverbs 11:29. Inheritance has been Dubya's lifelong pursuit, so he may as well follow it to its bitter end.