Thanks for all your comments (see previous posts). A few things I have garnered since the result came out, and to think about. And worry about. Some for us outside the US and some for those who live there, whether they voted for the puppet monkey or not.
Bush has control of the House of Representatives and of Senate. He has about as much control over the US, its policies and its laws as any man has had in about 50 years. Virtually anything he wants to put through as law is likely to be passed. These things can be set to last for long beyond his term of office, and be unrepealable by any later government.
This includes, but is not limited to, banning gay marriages, banning stem sell research, banning abortion. Note the fact that all of these would please the bible-bashers who voted for him. Despite living in very poor states in the middle of the country, people voted Bush. Why? He’s “patriotic” because he’s taken the fight elsewhere. He’s a god-botherer like them. He’s a good-old redneck country-boy, like them.
In other words, they’ve voted for him because they see him as one of their own, not because they believe in his policies. What they’ve failed to do is to look at themselves first. In their poor homes. Unemployed. Unable to afford medical care. All things that Kerry promised he’d help with.
For the sake of their hardline religious views, their view that everyone else should be restricted for their beliefs… they’re prepared to live in squalor. OK, it’s all very christian but it’s also all very ******* stupid.
Looking across the bands of who voted for which candidate (there’s a great breakdown here at CNN) the lines are obvious. The more money you earn, the more likely you are to vote for Bush. The less white you are, the more likely you are to vote for Kerry. Youngsters and first-time voters tended to vote for Kerry which may bode well in the next election.
An interesting one is education. Those with virtually no education (and likely therefore from a poor background) would be more likely to go Kerry. Similarly, those at the top-end of the brain-scale with post-grad qualifications would also vote for him. Everyone in the middle… Bush.
Religion. Protestants and Catholics – Bush. All other deniminations and those who have seen common sense – Kerry. Another near-straight line graph as with income is church attendance. The more often you attend church, the more likely you’ll vote for Bush. Well, you’ll need to seek repentance for voting the little **** in. Get down to confession now!
Gays hate Bush (play with that phrase all you like) while gun-lovers won’t let you prise their Bush vote from their cold, dead fingers. Funnily enough, people who were most concerned about education, Iraq, the economy and education voted for Kerry. Those more concerned about taxes, terrorism and moral values went Bush’s way, as did those who are wealthier since Bush took office. In other words, those who are rich and would lose most on tax increases (greedy), the paranoid gun-nuts (rednecks) and bible-bashing jesus-freaks who want to impose their narrow-minded views on other people wanted Bush back in office. Anyone bothered about matters which would affect the country as a whole went with Kerry. I think this is the most telling statistic of all.
The main issue, though is Iraq. Did people want to keep the current president so he’d deal with it? In some ways, that makes sense. Keep the same person in charge of the troops. But when the war was illegal? Unecessary? I heard one guy (loud redneck) on the news going on about how the US was right to be in Iraq as we had to take the fight to them and protect the West from the evil Saddam.
Erm… Saddam wasn’t a threat though, was he? To his own people, yes. To us over here, no. Remember the complete lack of WMDs?
The next stage, though, is what next? Will he withdraw from Iraq? Or will he move on to Iran? North Korea? China? OK, China would be a push as they might actually fight back but hey – they’re all commies and they’re a threat to the west.
If Bush pushes on, his already thin resources will be spread further. They’ve already kept draftees on for longer than their initial contract and refused to allow soldiers to return home. What next? Well, where do you get soldiers from in times of war when numbers are short?
You stage a draft.
Lock up your sons, America. Bush will be coming for them.
