Are any of our supporters from other countries here?

What is your reaction? What is the world saying? What will the world do?

Everyone thinks the American people are simply idiots.

What will the world do?

well... what can we do?

There's absolutely nothing we can do!

Bush is the "leader of the free world"... he does whatever he wants to do, he has a majority in both houses of Congress and will get to appoint three Supreme Court justices.

He will get to approve CAFTA, invade Iran, Cuba and North Korea, ignore peak oil and bring on the Armaggedon.

Can we really do anything? The American people had the choice in their hands yesterday, and they chose evil.

Half this country chose to boot bush's evil arse OUT. The other half chose his evil and chose to cheat.

ANd it's ALL our problem now, yours AND mine.

Unless Bush invades Mexico or France, I could hardly see any type of coalition to force regime change in the US... plus, I'm not sure that's a good idea in any case.

Of course it is my problem too... I was counting on Kerry to renegotiate CAFTA, but now not only it won't be renegotiated, it will be easily approved with a 55-44 GOP majority in the Senate.

But seriously... WHAT CAN WE DO?? What can the world do???

http://www.lemonde.fr/

the main title says:

US Elections: Uncertain Ohio and fears of another trick/mess

:(

Here in Jamaica, we still can't understand why your electoral system is run by partisans. How can party friends provide the electoral machinery and not provide receipts for votes.

Further I can't understand how so many people can be so clueless.

If they Rethugs take the election, it may just be a good thing as Democrats will be forced to go back to core values. Sadly Nader has a point. The party's links to big business have not helped as ideological issues are too clear to ignore.

A truly sad morning for the world. Fight, don't give up.

nt

and near tears :(.... Keep the fight up, please:)

My own personal reaction was disbelief which turned into anger that morphed into sadness.

Considering the world is overwhelmingly against * I assume a lot of head scratching is going on right about now but my German landlady just told me she thought * winning would be good for Europe. Nothing like a common foe to unite.

"I can't feed as much as I would like to puke" ("Ich kann gar nicht so viel fressen wie ich kotzen möchte"), to quote the Jewish painter Max Liebermann. He (a famous painter and usually a very distinguished gentleman) said this when he observed SA troops with torches marching by his house, back in 1933, after Hitler got into power. (But I keep up some hope that it's still not over.)

Where I work (sales and marketing for scientific instruments), we have very close relations to U.S. customers and even a branch office in the U.S. No one is pro-Bush here, and we are just upset (but not really astonished) about the foolishness and blindness of a (slight) majority of U.S. citizens. But still, we appreciate our friends and business partners from overseas.

Regarding foreign policies, with Kerry, there was some hope to get the U.S. back into the boat of the international community. Now, it will be "you broke it, you keep it".

The hopes for a self repair of the democratic system in the U.S. have pretty much faltered. I do very much fear that the U.S. needs to stumble and fall badly before it can be cured from its illusion of imperial grandeur. I hope this won't draw the world into more war (like my country did).

Regarding prejudices and bias against the U.S. and it's citizens, this election has done immense damage. The world will become an even more dangerous place for Americans. And also, the "American Way" has lost much attraction - and this may pave way to a cultural change where western values will be much less attractive. This may be an advantage in the field of cultural variety, but may also lead societies to choose more anti-modern values.

Black thoughts today, but the fight ain't over yet. Only, it will take longer. All of you at DU, keep up the good fight! And I really enjoy reading and posting here.

It's being reported that Bush will likely be the victor . No mention yet of voter fraud possibly skewing the results to deliver the election to Bush .

On a personal level , most people I've spoken to believe that something is not right . I on the other hand KNOW that fraud has taken place . There is NO WAY that Kerry can be leading Florida and Ohio in the early voting by 8% , and the exit polls , but then Bush wins . It is truly statisically implausible if not impossible .

I don't usually hate , but I do hate Bush and his neo-con cronies .

I personally feel incredulity, laced with some more incredulity. This is not uncommon, talking to colleagues this morning. The two incredulities are 1) about the Thief himself, :puke: :bounce:
and 2) about your shambolic, corrupt, surreal voting system. I am a citizen - or subject - in a fucking monarchy, for christ's sake, yet I KNOW that the registration, casting and counting of my vote will be coducted fairly and honourably.

I feel sick with misery for you all and for the world, although of course there is no giving up until ALL THE VOTES HAVE BEEN COUNTED!!!!

Fear not the tyrants will rule for ever,
Or the priests of the evil faith;
They stand on the brink of that raging river,
Whose waves they have tainted with death.
It is fed from the depth of a thousand dells,
Around them it foams and rages and swells;
And their swords and their sceptres I floating see,
Like wrecks on the surge of eternity.

:grouphug:

I just got home from work and Sapph is giving me the run down via AIM now. As yet, I haven't checked any papers etc, but from me personally, I really do feel for you guys right about now.

Just last month us Aussie DUers went through a similar thing with our election. My heart truly bleeds for each and every one of you tonight/today. (And that also goes for the assholes who lashed out at us Aussies over the last month because of our election fiasco.}

...for everyone at DU who worked so long and hard against the putrid neocon tide. I'm in shock. There is a glimmer of hope though yet, and I'm sending all the positive vibes I can muster that will see Kerry over the line. Fight the bastards till the very end.
My heart goes out to Kerry. He did a wonderful job and he did bring hope for a brighter future to the world, a world that for the most part despises * and everything he stands for.
Peace

It's late night here now, so it will be a while before I get reactions from other people on the election.

I can say that Australia is amazed that the supposed "greatest nation on earth" is using an antiquated and bizarre electoral system. What a sacred cow the electoral college is, and how easily it can be manipulated.

At the moment I am also furious because of some of the abhorrent remarks I've read here in another thread, linked below, about Americans who do not reside in the United States.

Apparently some of you have some pretty absurd notions of what it is to be an expatriate. Did you know that we're still citizens? And did you know that we still have to pay American taxes, because America is the only country on the planet that taxes by citizenship and not by residency? Not only must expatriates pay the appropriate taxes to their country of residence, they must ALSO pay American income tax! And because of their being outside the US borders, they receive none of the services that their taxes go to pay for - schools, highways, Social Services, etc.

If I'm an American citizen, and I pay American taxes, damn it, I believe that my voice should be heard just as any other American's is.

People leave America for a number of reasons, and that does not mean that they are no longer Americans or that they are cowards and deserters. Many, many expatriates have worked hard and long campaigning for Kerry. Many have flown to the US to work there - those of us, like myself, who cannot do so for health reasons, have spent hours, money and time in the fight. I have emailed and petitioned and GOTV until my voice is gone and I'm so tired I can hardly think straight. It costs me a lot more to phone bank than it does anyone stateside. I have elderly relatives living alone in the USA, and their situation, as well as my own beliefs and my own concern for the hideous morass the present administration is dragging America deeper into by the day has given me the strength to go on day after day.

I've fought, just like everyone here. It really drives me insane to read smug posts about people outside the US proper "not fighting".

That thread has done nothing more than make me realize that even some of the people at DU have the same insular, ignorant view of the world that it is now so painfully obvious that a majority of Americans have - that the world begins and ends at the US border, and no viewpoint other than the popular American one is valid.

One of the reasons the Democratic Party is in the mess that it is now is all the ridiculous infighting it engages in. So long as threads like the one below are possible, there is absolutely no hope.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=1297359&mesg_id=1297359