[Mb-civic] Fwd: FW: (no subject)

[paulnnina]

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>>GOD HELP AMERICA
>>by Brian Reade
>>Thursday 4 November 2004
>>Mirror.co.uk
>>
>>THEY say that in life you get what you deserve. Well, today America 
>>has deservedly got a lawless cowboy to lead them further into 
>>carnage and isolation and the unreserved contempt of most of the 
>>rest of the world.
>>
>>This once-great country has pulled up its drawbridge for another 
>>four years and stuck a finger up to the billions of us forced to 
>>share the same air. And in doing so, it has shown itself to be a 
>>fearful, backward-looking and very small nation.
>>
>>This should have been the day when Americans finally answered their 
>>critics by raising their eyes from their own sidewalks and looking 
>>outward towards the rest of humanity.
>>
>>And for a few hours early yesterday, when the exit polls predicted 
>>a John Kerry victory, it seemed they had.
>>
>>But then the horrible, inevitable truth hit home. They had somehow 
>>managed to re-elect the most devious, blinkered and reckless leader 
>>ever put before them. The Yellow Rogue of Texas.
>>
>>A self-serving, dim-witted, draft-dodging, gung-ho little rich boy, 
>>whose idea of courage is to yell: "I feel good," as he unleashes an 
>>awesome fury which slaughters 100,000 innocents for no other reason 
>>than greed and vanity.
>>
>>A dangerous chameleon, his charming exterior provides cover for a 
>>power-crazed clique of Doctor Strangeloves whose goal is to 
>>increase America's grip on the world's economies and natural 
>>resources.
>>
>>And in foolishly backing him, Americans have given the go-ahead for 
>>more unilateral pre-emptive strikes, more world instability and 
>>most probably another 9/11.
>>
>>Why else do you think bin Laden was so happy to scare them to the 
>>polls, then made no attempt to scupper the outcome?
>>
>>There's only one headline in town today, folks: "It Was Osama Wot Won It."
>>
>>And soon he'll expect pay-back. Well, he can't allow Bush to have 
>>his folks whoopin' and a-hollerin' without his own getting a share 
>>of the fun, can he?
>>
>>Heck, guys, I hope you're feeling proud today.
>>
>>To the tens of millions who voted for John Kerry, my commiserations.
>>
>>To the overwhelming majority of you who didn't, I simply ask: Have 
>>you learnt nothing? Do you despise your own image that much?
>>
>>Do you care so little about the world beyond your shores? How could 
>>you do this to yourselves?
>>
>>How appalling must one man's record at home and abroad be for you 
>>to reject him?
>>
>>Kerry wasn't the best presidential candidate the Democrats have 
>>ever fielded (and he did deserve a kicking for that "reporting for 
>>doo-dee" moment), but at least he understood the complexity of the 
>>world outside America, and domestic disgraces like the 45 million 
>>of his fellow citizens without health coverage.
>>
>>He would have done something to make that country fairer and 
>>re-connected it with the wider world.
>>
>>Instead America chose a man without morals or vision. An economic 
>>incompetent who inherited a $2billion surplus from Clinton, gave it 
>>in tax cuts to the rich and turned the US into the world's largest 
>>debtor nation.
>>
>>A man who sneers at the rights of other nations. Who has withdrawn 
>>from international treaties on the environment and chemical weapons.
>>
>>A man who flattens sovereign states then hands the rebuilding 
>>contracts to his own billionaire party backers.
>>
>>A man who promotes trade protectionism and backs an Israeli 
>>government which continually flouts UN resolutions.
>>
>>America has chosen a menacingly immature buffoon who likened the 
>>pursuit of the 9/11 terrorists to a Wild West, Wanted Dead or Alive 
>>man-hunt and, during the Afghanistan war, kept a baseball scorecard 
>>in his drawer, notching up hits when news came through of enemy 
>>deaths.
>>
>>A RADICAL Christian fanatic who decided the world was made up of 
>>the forces of good and evil, who invented a war on terror, and thus 
>>as author of it, believed he had the right to set the rules of 
>>engagement.
>>
>>Which translates to telling his troops to do what the hell they 
>>want to the bad guys. As he has at Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and 
>>countless towns across Iraq.
>>
>>You have to feel sorry for the millions of Yanks in the big cities 
>>like New York, Washington, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and San 
>>Francisco who voted to kick him out.
>>
>>These are the sophisticated side of the electorate who recognise a 
>>gibbon when they see one.
>>
>>As for the ones who put him in, across the Bible Belt and the 
>>South, we outsiders can only feel pity.
>>
>>Were I a Kerry voter, though, I'd feel deep anger, not only at them 
>>returning Bush to power, but for allowing the outside world to lump 
>>us all into the same category of moronic muppets.
>>
>>The self-righteous, gun-totin', military lovin', sister marryin', 
>>abortion-hatin', gay-loathin', foreigner-despisin', non-passport 
>>ownin' rednecks, who believe God gave America the biggest Dick in 
>>the world so it could urinate on the rest of us and make their land 
>>"free and strong."
>>
>>You probably won't be surprised to learn of would-be Oklahoma 
>>Republican Senator Tom Coburn who, on Tuesday, promised to ban 
>>abortions and execute any doctors who carried them out.
>>
>>He also told voters that lesbianism is so rampant in the state's 
>>schools that girls were being sent to toilets on their own. Not 
>>that any principal could be found to back him up.
>>
>>These are the people who hijack the word patriot and liken 
>>compassion to child-molesting. And they are unknowingly bin Laden's 
>>chief recruiting officers.
>>
>>Al-Qaeda's existence is fuelled by the outpourings of America's 
>>Christian right. Bush is its commander-in-chief. And he and bin 
>>Laden need each other to survive.
>>
>>Both need to play Lex Luther to each others' Superman with their 
>>own fanatical people. Maybe that's why the mightiest military 
>>machine ever assembled has failed to catch the world's most wanted 
>>man.
>>
>>Or is the reason simply that America is incompetent? That behind 
>>the bluff they are frightened and clueless, which is why they've 
>>stayed with the devil they know.
>>
>>VISITORS from another planet watching this election would surely 
>>not credit the amateurism.
>>
>>The queues for hours to register a tick; the 17,000 lawyers needed 
>>to ensure there was no cheating; the $1.2bn wasted by parties 
>>trying to discredit the enemy; the allegations of fraud, 
>>intimidation and dirty tricks; the exit polls which were so wildly 
>>inaccurate; an Electoral College voting system that makes the 
>>Eurovision Song Contest look like a beacon of democracy and 
>>efficiency; and the delays and the legal wrangles in announcing the 
>>victor.
>>
>>Yet America would have us believe theirs is the finest democracy in 
>>the world. Well, that fine democracy has got the man it deserved. 
>>George W Bush.
>>
>>But is America safer today without Kerry in charge? A man who 
>>overnight would have given back to the UN some credibility and 
>>authority. Who would have worked out the best way to undo the Iraq 
>>mess without fear of losing face.
>>
>>Instead, the questions facing America today are - how many more 
>>thousands of their sons will die as Iraq descends into a new 
>>Vietnam? And how many more Vietnams are on the horizon now they 
>>have given Bush the mandate to go after Iran, Syria, North Korea or 
>>Cuba...?
>>
>>Today is a sad day for the world, but it's even sadder for the 
>>millions of intelligent Americans embarrassed by a gung-ho leader 
>>and backed by a banal electorate, half of whom still believe Saddam 
>>Hussein was behind 9/11.
>>
>>Yanks had the chance to show the world a better way this week, 
>>instead they made a thuggish cowboy ride off into the sunset bathed 
>>in glory.
>>
>>And in doing so it brought Armageddon that little bit closer and 
>>re-christened their beloved nation The Home Of The Knave and the 
>>Land Of The Freak.
>>
>>God Help America.
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