Can anyone in the western world believe that Bush actually won? With a bigger margin this time? With more "legitimacy", if that will ever be possible? Has the world gone mad?

Well, apart from this sneaking certainty that half of America has just confirmed its utter stupidity for the world to see, and they don't care in the slightest, it's hard to know what the next four years will bring. Whatever American gets (at least that half, anyway), they deserve, but what about the rest of us? How many wars now? How much bullshit will we have to take?

The ultimate irony for the US of course is the fact that the people most likely to be under threat from terrorists (the north east and west coast), were the least likely to vote for Bush, while the dumb fucking hicks under next to no threat from anything except themselves were the most likely to vote for him. Maybe fear is sometimes easier to use on people when it isn't really there - while the people who have some of the real threat are more content to just get on with their lives - and are more likely to see through all the bullshit that has been damaging them before now.

Oh well. Stick together smart people. And watch out for the fundamentalists, because they dominate both sides.

And there was some horse race in Australia today... that Melbourne Cup thing.

But hey, at least we get half the afternoon off work :)

In other news, I actually managed to pick the winner... Makybe Diva. Apparently I know a thing or two... though it was the favourite...

The US election is tomorrow (our time). It’s a curious thing really – to be so interested in the election of a foreign country's leader. But it’s also a unique situation, because in a lot of ways, the winner of the US poll will in many ways affect Australia more than the winner of our election a few weeks back. If sanity prevails and Kerry wins (hey, he may not be the best candidate possible, but he’s definitely the best candidate they have to choose from), then Australia will really have to change its tune internationally (you really think Howard will tell President Kerry where to go, and keep doing as he pleases now?) And while most of the problems that exist will still be here, the chance to almost immediately change how they’re tackled will be here.

As for the chances of Kerry winning, they actually seem to be improving. I read this morning that even oil traders are now predicting a Kerry victory, saying that prices will be lower due to a different approach to middle-eastern policy and a greater investment in alternative energy sources. Definitely not the sort of support Democrats were expecting I suppose, but still worth pointing out.

Will there be fraud and abuse at the polls? Probably. And while no one’s naïve enough to think that both sides won’t try things, we all know that it’s primarily a Republican tactic. Traditionally, the more people who vote, the more chance Democrats will win, the less that vote the more chance that Republicans will win. So they have the motivation right there.

As for the rest of the world, I guess we just sit back and wait and see...