Election Blues

[burntcopper]

zarah5 explains a lot of what us non-US'ers are feeling about America.

In the UK, Blair goes along with whatever Bush wants, no matter what we, the people he's supposed to be concerned about, are screaming at him.

Large swathes of Europe are edging towards domestic partnership, and pension and inheritance rights for gay couples. Marriage is hoped to follow behind. We dislike the concept of religion and state mixing. And that's even in one of the few countries where the Head of State is also the Head of the Church. Something like banning it outright, like 11 states did, is inconceivable. We don't even have a constitution that declares equal rights for all men, no matter what their status.

At this moment I've got a paper poppy sitting in front of me, the symbol our nation took to describe the futility of war and the need to support soldiers and their families. It's not a declaration of our support for war. It's the declaration of our pledge to help those who took part in it. I just wish the people commanding troops into this bloody futile mess that's going on in the Middle East could understand that. The Americans appealed for British help recently, to help mop up the mess they'd left behind. We desperately tried to change Blair's mind to send them, but even then we hoped like hell that if they did get sent, they'd help change the situation from attack to rehab. It's what we're hoping now.

We don't want to display hate and contempt for America as a nation. We used to like it. But we've seen the bully and bigot too much.

In two nights time - and it's already going on - we celebrate the catching of a set of men who were trying to blow up Parliament and the King, centuries ago. If Bush goes on the way he is, alienating so many and creating even more suicide bombers, I just hope those who voted for him won't have to celebrate one of their own in the centuries to come.

Comments

[juleskicks.livejournal.com]

The thing that upsets me most is -- gay marriage is supposed to not be an issue. If it's a question of "sanctity"? The fucking Constitution says that we can't make laws based in faith.

That's one of the things that has me so shaken and upset, I guess. I mean -- I've said before, on many occasions, that I fully plan to move to the UK. I've been planning on that for years. But this is still the country I came from, and... like, this time? I fully admit that it's fair. Bush won fair and square. And that's what horrifies me, I think, because I thought I really understood what this country was about. I kicked ass in Government class my senior year of high school. I can recite parts of the Constitution and the Declaration from memory. I was more excited about getting registered to vote than I was about getting a driver's liscence.

My view of this country has just -- been completely yanked out from under me, you know? I'm just kind of standing here, unable to believe that I could have been so totally wrong about everything.

So... yeah. I guess I'm starting to get how you must feel. Not only did I used to like this country? I used to love it. I used to believe in it. And now I just feel stupid for being so naive.

[benpeek.livejournal.com]

>In the UK, Blair goes along with whatever Bush wants, no matter what we, the people he's supposed to be concerned about, are screaming at him.<

oh yeah. i know what that's like.

[psmorrison.livejournal.com]

Well said.

[i_kender]

Thank you for your wonderful comments. That's pretty much how I feel too. I can't bring myself to be angry... I'm just too disappointed. I do feel very sorry for those Americans who didn't vote for Bush and are now stuck with him and the consequences of his leadership for the next four years. But then I feel sorry for the rest of us too, who are also going have to deal with it.

That's a whole lot of sorry.