Good luck, Oedipus.

The Greeks had a word for it: Até. It is a kind of blindness or self-delusion. At the very moment a man thinks he is at the pinnacle of success, Até clouds his mind and prevents him from seeing that he is actually on the threshold of ignominious disaster. Até benighted the mind of Oedipus. The great king thought he was the brightest man within the city walls, the exceptional man, the one man who could save the city from destruction, only to find out that he himself was the cause of the pestilence that beset his people.

This is the situation our Democrats find themselves in. They have won the presidential election. In California, they have raised taxes, preserved the power of the public service employee unions, and achieved a supermajority in the state legislature. Surely, these are great victories.

The problem is that now the Democrats must govern. Now they must solve problems. Now they must find common ground with an enemy that they have been demonizing for years, but that controls the House of Representatives and has absolutely no motivation whatsoever, for example, to raise the debt ceiling. Now, in California they are free to raise taxes to pay off the public employee unions. But, how long will it take for even stupid Californians to wake up and realize that the public employee unions are bankrupting the state?

Now the Democrats and their president must figure out how to bring down unemployment, avoid another recession, increase the growth of GDP to a more normal rate, reduce the deficit and debt, reform Social Security and Medicare, bring down the price of gas, recover America's AAA credit rating. And they must do all this while continuing to pander to unions and minorities on the one hand while at the same time trying to get a hostile opposition party to cooperate.

Now the President must figure out how to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons without leading America into war and sending the cost of gas through the roof. He must "lead from behind" the nations of the Middle East, newly liberated from dictators, but teeming with Islamic extremists, into a new era of peaceful relations with the West. And he must do this while preserving relations with Israel, a nation he has done nothing but insult throughout his first term.

Is being elected into this situation really a cause for celebration? It is true, gay marriage and women's rights to contraception and abortion paid for by the state have been preserved. Illegal immigrants need not fear. Food stamps will be sent every month. But, how much longer can this charade last? How much longer can trillion dollar deficits not have an effect?

In all his victory photos, Obama has the proud, smug look of affirmation on his face. Not a trace of humility there. Rather vindication. He has won. But now let him try to govern. He barely squeaked out a victory. The 70 percent approval ratings from his first term are a distant memory. This time he has no store of goodwill to draw on. Besides, even stupid Democrats won't buy the "It's all George Bush's fault" excuse forever.

In his moment of triumph, is Obama on the threshold of ignominious disaster? Good luck, Oedipus.