Four More Years

And so, with a crushing inevitability, (barring some kind of miracle in Ohio), it looks like four more years of isolationist, neo-conservative rule in the US. On the one hand, this is a matter for the American people, and, if that is what they want, who am I to argue with their right to screw up their country? Who am I to argue with their choice of another four years of recession, job losses, and tax cuts for the richest 1%, the end of a woman’s right to choose, the end of any chances for stem cell research, the state intervening to prevent loving couples who happen to share the same gender from marrying, and the unification of (christian) church and state… I could go on, but if that’s the country that the American people want for themselves, then so be it. At least I don’t have to live there.

Unfortunately, the rest of the world has to live with the consequences: so, without getting a choice, we get four more years of an ill-conceived, illegal war in Iraq. Four more years of the war of terror (sic). Four more years of rejecting international treaties like Kyoto and failing to sign up to intiatives like the International Criminal Court. Four more years of Guantanamo bay. Four more years of Abu Gharib. Four more years of doing exactly what Osama Bin Laden wants.

How can this possibly have happened? Whatever happens in Ohio (and I’m still clinging to the hope against all the odds that something will happen with the provisional ballots), Bush seems certain to win the popular vote. How? Who are these people voting for George Bush?

I. Just. Don’t. Get. It.

UPDATE: And there will be no miracle in Ohio after all: Kerry Concedes Defeat. (Why not take a moment to grieve).