"GOD HELP AMERICA; THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN ... " -- British newspaper article

[Matt Holcomb]

GOD HELP AMERICA; THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN ...

The Mirror

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 cover.

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, us 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' red-necks, 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 abortion 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.

[928ram]

Like the young kids over here say; What-ever

[350HP930]

Those brits in the 'coalition of the willing' just love our government and the war, don't they?

[RANDY P]

Who cares?

Think they're pissy about Bush what do you think the newspaper editorials in GB print on the 4th of July?

[cegerer]

Would anyone expect anything more from The Mirror? Heck, they make Dan Rather look like an unbiased journalist .....

[dtw]

Yawn.

[Victor]

Yes but he looks GREAT in tight pants and a crop top.

[jyl]

Think about this point for a second:

Just because someone is in another country, doesn't necessarily mean he isn't accurately analyzing the issues in this country.

That should be obvious. Americans frequently count on their ability to correctly analyze issues and events in other countries - Iraq, for instance. There's no reason to think foreigners are incapable of correctly analyzing the US.

Now, it is clear that foreigners have no vote in US politics, we can ignore everything they say, and on any American political issue it is our right to make whatever choice we darn well choose to make, whether a bunch of British get upset about it or not.

However, as we make our choices, it doesn't hurt to give a listen to the opinions of thoughtful foreign observers whose basic values and goals are consistent with ours. Especially on international affairs. Considering that most Americans have never even left the country, we might not want to be over-confident in our opinions on international geopolitics.

(Although I know zip about The Guardian. Maybe it is only fit to line trash cans.)

Edit: Sorry, I meant Mirror.

[928ram]

Just because someone is in another country, doesn't necessarily mean he isn't accurately analyzing the issues in this country.

This is a good point, and should be kept in mind when we see other's views on similar issues. It of course doesn't really apply to this hack, there's no real journalistic talent displayed nor is there any basis in fact or well thought discussion, if he thought he had a point it only reached the ears of other blathering idiots like the author.

[Moneyguy1]

And just how much of the world population does the US represent?

Seems as if there is a big world out there and we should be working to make it a friendlier place.

I do not go along with everthing the Mirror says, but I defend their right to say it and wonder just how accurately it rebflects (no pun intended) the feelongs of other countries.

John, you make a very good point. So many of the president's supporters have never been outside the United States, and many of those beyond the borders of their own state. This leaves them at the mercy of the spinners to inform them of the outside world. Anyone who has spent any time at all in some southern "red" states quickly learns that folks who are "strange", speaking with accents (including Americans from other locales), wearing non-American garb are not to be trusted by most of the residents there living outside more sophisticated areas such as Atlanta and Huntsville. There are exceptions, and I have met some of these nice folks and received real southern hospitality. I have made some good friends in the South. But these folks are in the minority and the more astute ones know enough to keep their mouths shut lest they be looked at askance by the "locals".

I can understand ignorance..We all are ignorant about something. I can even understand and tolerate arrogance if it is based upon expertise. I cannot understand the combination of the two in a single individual.

Amazing that over 50% of the population think the country is heading in the wrong direction and still made the choice they made. It was an election filled with deception, half truths, personal attack, use of fear, to a degree that I cannot remember since Johnson/Goldwater. And the party using these weapons also won that one.

[pwd72s]

The London Mirror...is that one of the tabloids the Stew handed me when I flew British Airways? One of those with pics of topless bimbos inside the cover? Yeah...a serious news source if I ever read one. More accurate than the NY TIMES, however. I mean, the nipples were exposed...thus, honesty in journalism...

[ed martin]

I think that we should not lose sight of the fact that Britain is our ally in this war and that British Prime minister Tony Blair has a much different opinion. That opinion is controversial in his country to be sure but he is their elected representative. I would suspect that just as America has our silent majority, the same majority that kept Bush in office, so too do the British have theirs.

[island911]

It is amazing who controlls the major media.

They are pissed-off. They thought that they had done a thurough job on Bush.

SO now we have:

it has shown itself to be a fearful, backward-looking and very small nation.

Fat-chance on those contensions.

--fearful?
-- backward-looking ?
-- very small nation?

[Dantilla]

"Listen to the opinions of thoughtful foriegn observers" I can accept.

This guy cannot be described as "thoughtful". Hateful, maybe?

And listening does not mean following.

[red-beard]

The self-righteous, gun-totin', military lovin', sister marryin', abortion-hatin', gay-loathin', foreigner-despisin', non-passport ownin' red-necks, 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".

How on earth would anyone listen to someone who said something like this.

I do not go along with everthing the Mirror says, but I defend their right to say it and wonder just how accurately it rebflects (no pun intended) the feelongs of other countries.

Free speech - stating facts and opinions are one thing. This is reaching the point of Libel.

So many of the president's supporters have never been outside the United States, and many of those beyond the borders of their own state.

Are you kidding me? MOST Americans speak one language and never leave the country, Democrats included. How many Pakistanis never leave the country? Almost all. Europe? Nope, most of the people in Europe don't travel.

Most of the people I know who do travel extensively, vote Republican, so what does that say? The more you learn about the rest of the world, the more you see how great, and free, and mostly lacking of prejudice we are here.

[MFAFF]

Come on guys...look up what this paper is....before you react.

Its a left of centre, deliberately provocative tabloid. Its appeal is to be punchy and aggressive. Over here we do not expect to read the best journalism in it, rather an accurate reflection of their editorial agenda, which this is....

So take it for what it is, a critique of a defeat for what they saw as the 'best' option for the US and the 'World'. It does not mean that it was the best solution for either...

As for TB being elected...not quite the same. For it seems as if GW did recieve a double majority, ie most popular votes as well as electoral college votes. In the UK if your party wins the most seats you win, regardless of how many people vote for the others.

We do not vote for the Leaders of the parties directly, we elect our local Member of Parliament who belongs to a Party. This 'first past the post system dismisses the votes of those who lose in this system.

So whilst we have left of Centre government by a majority all it takes is a few votes in each consistuency to make that happen....even if the 'winner' does not get the majoirty of the popular vote....

[hardflex]

gun-totin', military lovin', sister marryin', abortion-hatin', gay-loathin', foreigner-despisin', non-passport ownin'

\

Take out the "sister marryin", and I think he has it down pretty good. How bout it Island, Lendaddy, Slacker? Where do you differ from this?

And some of you may have a passport.

[lendaddy]

Originally posted by hardflex
\

Take out the "sister marryin", and I think he has it down pretty good. How bout it Island, Lendaddy, Slacker? Where do you differ from this?

And some of you may have a passport.

gun-totin'- Not exactly "totin", I own several weapons and have been approved for a carry permit though I never actually got one. It was more for the principle. Is this bad? Should I be ashamed? Hmmm

military lovin'- I would say appreciate, respect, and admire. Not sso much on the "love". Again, am I supposed to be emabarassed by this?

abortion-hatin'- Uh I guess, not sure how anyone could be "abortin-lovin"????? It is not an issue I am active in though it is sad that it happens. Do you love abortions?

gay-loathin'- Not at all.

foreigner-despisin'- Not in the slightest. I don't appreciate "advice" on how to run a free capitalist society from people who've failed at same, but I don't think that means I despise foreigners. You may disagree.


non-passport ownin'- I do indeed have a passport and have spent time in Europe as well. So I guess I have one.

Now what was the point of this again??????

Edit: I did marry my sister, but it didn't work out.

[Mule]

And if you are NOT any of those things, what does it make you ? John Kerry, BELCH.

[Superman]

This article is a caricature, sure. So, if we pretend it's a serious, objective argument then we'll have an easy time pretending to spank down its assertions.

but.......if it is a provocative caricature, then it could have some value if someone were hoping to understand the feelings of pretty much half of this country and nearly all of the entire rest of the world. But that'd only be interesting to someone who thinks it's important to understand their world. That's certainly not interesting to Dubya. but I'm still wondering if that could become interesting to some folks here.