News From The Front...America_A beats America_B
Damn it!!
I can not believe they elected him. Twice!
Well actually I can, but I feel very sorry for AmericaB. After watching countless hours of documentaries and listening to various american friends and staying up till 6am this morning listening to reasons trotted out by american voters for voting the way they did I have concluded the following. The USA is actually 2 seperate nations, not geographically disperate, but ideologically and morally foreign to each other. Almost all states seem to be either roughly 50/50 or 67/33 split between the parties, and the popular vote for the country as a whole pans this out.
So many of the voters had very weak arguments for their choice of candidate. All sorts of things from "I hate the gays, there are no gays in the bible" too "Just a gut feeling".... What happened to actual political opinions??
People do seem to be living on different planets let alone continents, all seems to ride on what television station they watch mainly. Or how American they feel they are, I've heard so many people say that to be a patriot you have to support Bush.
WTF? If you want to help the USA be safe, pick the candidate that will achieve this. Will Bush, will he ever. Kerry may not have either, but he stood at least as much of a chance as Bush.
When will the US understand that regardless of how powerful they are, they need to keep the rest of the world onside with them, at least to a small extent. The current policies are alienating them from practically everyone.
It'll all end in tears at this rate.
Oh well, another 4 years of education. :'(
I can not believe they elected him. Twice!
Well actually I can, but I feel very sorry for AmericaB. After watching countless hours of documentaries and listening to various american friends and staying up till 6am this morning listening to reasons trotted out by american voters for voting the way they did I have concluded the following. The USA is actually 2 seperate nations, not geographically disperate, but ideologically and morally foreign to each other. Almost all states seem to be either roughly 50/50 or 67/33 split between the parties, and the popular vote for the country as a whole pans this out.
So many of the voters had very weak arguments for their choice of candidate. All sorts of things from "I hate the gays, there are no gays in the bible" too "Just a gut feeling".... What happened to actual political opinions??
People do seem to be living on different planets let alone continents, all seems to ride on what television station they watch mainly. Or how American they feel they are, I've heard so many people say that to be a patriot you have to support Bush.
WTF? If you want to help the USA be safe, pick the candidate that will achieve this. Will Bush, will he ever. Kerry may not have either, but he stood at least as much of a chance as Bush.
When will the US understand that regardless of how powerful they are, they need to keep the rest of the world onside with them, at least to a small extent. The current policies are alienating them from practically everyone.
It'll all end in tears at this rate.
Oh well, another 4 years of education. :'(
posted by Orbling at
20:14
19 Comments:
Perhaps one problem was that Kerry didn't present many political opinions of his own, aside from 'Bush is bad'.
I watched hardly any of the coverage, but from the snippets I saw I gathered far more about Bush's policies than Kerry's. The predominant image the stuck with Kerry was the 'flip flop'.
Politics turns into a joke when you do not have an electable opposition, as happened here (UK) in our last general election. I am dismayed that Bush was re-relected too, but I can sort of see why.
By
Spitting, at Thursday, November 04, 2004 4:11:00 pm
Well personally I think Kerry was far better than Bush, although, granted, still awful compared to possible alternatives.
Mind you it says something about America that Kerry (the non-violent dictator one) thinks (knows) that saying he likes hunting will increase his voter share! OMG, revoke independence I say.
I can see why the Americans elected Bush, unfortunately their ignorance is not good enough reason to ruin our futures.
By
Orbling, at Friday, November 05, 2004 5:16:00 pm
I am not sure dismissing the majority of americans as ignorant has a place in promoting healthier political decision making either!
By
Spitting, at Friday, November 05, 2004 11:55:00 pm
Granted, but what other explanation is there?
Voting Republican maybe logical if you're a very wealthy and selfish person, but for the majority it has got to be a bad decision.
By
Orbling, at Saturday, November 06, 2004 12:45:00 am
Life in the USA is so different from here. I think we must remind ourselves of that. The Bush voters are human beings, and no humans are alien from us, that is what is important to hold onto. I think it is easier to touch poeple, and influence them, if you try to understand where they are coming from. We are so lucky to live in the heart of London, and not some small minded 'local' weirdness!
By
Spitting, at Saturday, November 06, 2004 6:50:00 pm
They are humans alright, I just don't assume that being human is a good thing. Cynical it maybe, but I find the majority of humans to be selfish and misguided, but that can change.
I understand where the republican vote comes from and how the world is presented to them in the states, I have family that vote republican there. However, I still disagree with them intensely.
By
Orbling, at Sunday, November 07, 2004 2:38:00 pm
hahaha...
i dun think bush is a true winner
2nd terms are hard
a divided country
a divided world
hope he doesn't cause a 3rd world war
but then again, they will be a MIRACLE too..
By
Desolation, at Monday, November 08, 2004 1:34:00 am
Note that the world is a lot less divided on this issue than "the country". LOL
Let's hope he doesn't manage to start the next world war. Although there are many that say the flames have already been lit.
The only saving grace of the US presidential system is that you're only allowed 2 terms, so we can't get this one again. Mind you if the next alternative is Arnie, then I think I should really die now, save time.
By
Orbling, at Monday, November 08, 2004 1:45:00 am
hahahha
arnie?
terminator 3 or is it 4?
I should think that hillary clinton is interested in the seat after bush
By
Desolation, at Monday, November 08, 2004 8:40:00 pm
As the Democrat candidate, quite possibly. But Arnie might stand for Republicans, G W Bush can't. Although I suppose there are more Bush family members that haven't run the world yet.....
:S
By
Orbling, at Thursday, November 11, 2004 12:42:00 am
Just to offer my own American opinion ...
I quite agree that my country has made a terrible mistake re-electing George Bush. The popular saying around here is that during an election year, you're actually choosing between the lesser of two evils and I believe that from the two, John Kerry certainly would have been the lesser.
Aside from this flip-flopping mumbo jumbo the media and the Republicans took glee in making 2004's catch phrase, I say you have to respect a man who learns from actual life experiences and stands up against those things he believes to be wrong. (Example: Kerry's protest of the war in Vietnam after his return.)
Unfortunatrely, GWB hasn't yet learned this little lesson, continuing to isolate our country with the belief that our nation can do whatever it wants, when it wants, with no input from the rest of the world.
Talk about giving us all a bad name ...
But it's four more years whether we like it or not. I only hope it doesn't get any worse than it already is.
By
KC, at Thursday, November 11, 2004 10:50:00 pm
Yeah, I'm no fan of Kerry's (anyone who advocates hunting as a past time is on my list of people to remove). However, he does show a quality that has seemed somewhat absent in politicians the world over recently.
The ability to change your mind when new evidence comes in. In the mind of the sensible people this shows wisdom, or at least shows that his head isn't buried somewhere. The Republicans believe this shows lack of resolve and indecision.
Well now we know what republicanism stands for, standing by your opinion regardless of whether or not it's wrong. Obviously the religious right had more influence than I had imagined.
4 more years, I too hope it won't get worse. But to quote a rather crude, but good quote from "Bad Santa" that I just saw.
"Wish in one hand, and s**t in the other. See which fills up first."
:S
By
Orbling, at Friday, November 12, 2004 12:18:00 am
ryn: I am an A student and I really take pride in my work.... the reason why I was a coward is because I lied. I want to get married and have kids some day.
hmm... yah.. GWB probably should consider inputs from the rest of the world!
btw how come no body vote for the NAdar guy?
haha
By
Desolation, at Friday, November 12, 2004 3:16:00 am
Yeah I know you want to do those things, you should've said so. It's not so unusual you know, the only guys it'll put off are the jerks that just want one thing.
As for Nader, unfortunate 2 party politics in the states, when it's so split down the middle it's dangerous to vote for minor candidates.
By
Orbling, at Friday, November 12, 2004 3:22:00 am
hmm... what is said cannot be unsaid. I guess it's self denial.
yah.. people should ust vote nadar and forget abt those two.=P oh well...maybe bush will be better
By
Desolation, at Friday, November 12, 2004 7:12:00 pm
The way to repair what was said is not to unsay it, just not to say it twice. :)
As for Bush, that's a huge maybe, LOL
By
Orbling, at Sunday, November 14, 2004 3:52:00 pm
bush winning the election got me mad. but having so many friends that didn't even vote made me even more mad. it is our responsibility as u.s. citizens to vote.
i personally think we need to totally change the voting system. instead of counting the popular votes let's count ALL the votes. there's an idea. make all the votes actually count and i think more people would vote and feel like they're vote made a difference.
as for our great president, maybe he'll choke on another pretzel and actually croak this time.
By
Texas Gurl, at Monday, December 13, 2004 8:52:00 pm
The UK has huge problems with voter apathy, general election (the main one, elects parliament, prime minister) turnout is only about 60-70% these days. Whilst local elections are about 30-40% turnout. IIRC this election was 60% ish in the US...
Democracy can not operate properly when nearly half the electorate don't bother. Australia makes it compulsory to vote, maybe they should do that in the west. It upsets me when my friends don't vote, loads of them don't and I have to yell at them a lot.
By
Orbling, at Tuesday, December 14, 2004 3:15:00 am
It's never too late to comment on something so serious. I too am pretty sure that whatever will come in the next 4 years, it most probably won't be any good.
Oh well, the harder the lesson, the better it will be learned. Says me, hopefully.
By
Orbling, at Friday, January 07, 2005 6:30:00 pm
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