Sigh...

[PointyHairedJedi]

Bah to the lot of you! Twenty-seven votes! And twenty-five of those were people who cast their ballots wrong! Sheesh, so much for doing it this way.

But don't think this means Catbert and HAL have given up, oh no.... :twisted:

[Sa'ar Chasm]

It's hanging by a thread, but it's still there.

A fishing outpost on South Orkney and a Club Med in the Caribbean do not constitute an empire :P

[Alexia]

:roll: Don't forget the tent in Australia :wink:

[Chancellor Valium]

Technically, Normandy, Anjou, Poitiers Rimes (apologies for bad spelling), Oceania and Canada, oh, and Gibraltar constitute the British Empire. So I can still talk about the Empire On Which The Sun Never Sets, damn it! . Thank you, Vedra, for the vote of confidence. Oh, and I've uncovered the real reason Britain split so many places in two when we left. It was so they'd squabble and in a hundred years time, we'd be needed back and hailed as saviours...so far it seems to be working....

[Vedra]

Now I realize why you all got scurvy.

I also don't recall giving you any "vote of confidence".

[Chancellor Valium]

It was a joke, Vedra. no need to be so anti-me all the time, you know. That was also a very cynical joke.

[AKAArzosah]

Originally Posted by Tarn-Vedra

Well, he won. And now I realize how stupid America is.

All I have to say to the majority is "baaahhh".

I caught myself just before I was about to say 'Come to Australia' when i realised we just elected John Howard.

[Zeke]

I have a friend who lives in Australia and is so frothingly anti-Howard that reading her LJ posts about him is like listening to Shatner say "KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!" over and over again.

I'd say "Come to Canada," but frankly, I think we have too many liberals already, especially with all these new ones we're getting from the States. Yeah, that'll help your country's "problem," guys -- leaving en masse so the ratio of right-wingers to left-wingers in the States gets even higher.

[Scooter]

I think it's mostly wistful, as in, "I wish I could go live somewhere where there aren't any stupid people." Canadians seem pretty bright, so, well, it's close enough...

The most discerning headline leading up to Nov 2 came from The Onion: "Should the Two Americas Hold Separate Elections?" What a concept.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by Scooter

Canadians seem pretty bright

Nowhere NEAR as bright as we pretend we are.

I mean, come on. We produced Alanis. (Isn't that ironic?)

[Opium]

Well, I like Canada. But I agree with Zeke, sort of...Americans, if you come to Canada, remember to keep your American voting eligibility, so you can help America get less divided. :wink:

[Nan]

Yeah, yeah. Alanis happened. Get over it. :P

A country which feels insecure will choose a leader which is believed to be capable of enforcing order. There's a reason why Napoleon, for example, had such a cult of personality after the revolution: he instituted order. Doesn't mean he was that great a leader, but hey, when faced with anarchy, law and order has a big appeal. I'm not comparing Bush to Napoleon, so don't bite off my head.

From election results it can be assumed that a significant portion of the population of America was feeling insecure. Ergo, Bush wins. However, it is also worth noting that there was a significant number of votes going to the Green Party. Of course, given the political system in the States, these votes didn't really go anywhere, but it does demonstrate that there are in fact more "liberal" voters than "conservative," they just don't know how to vote defensively. Take that however you will.

I'd say "Come to Canada," but frankly, I think we have too many liberals already, especially with all these new ones we're getting from the States.

Peh. Canadians have been majority Liberal since Pearson. And we were originally settled for largely economic reasons by the British, not by Puritans looking for the promised land. There's a difference in founding ethic at work. Also: ouch. I'm going to let that slide, though, because you're from a minority. :twisted: (Yes, that was mean. I feel guilty already.)

Anyhow, this is just one in a number of northern waves of immigration. And given the way our country is set up, we require constant immigration to keep the workforce renewed because of the low birthrate and long life expectancy (also known as the "lots of old people" effect). This is biased toward independent workers more than family reunification. To the economics geeks in the PMO, so long as potential Canadians 1.) can work, 2.) are not criminal, and 3.) don't skip taxes, it's all good. A willingness to pay thousands in fees and spends years trying toget citizenship is required by default. It's been like that ever since the first immigration boom, and the PMO geeks are no way going to discourage it.

On a unity note: cheer up, oh ye unhappy voters, there's always that one group you can focus your ire on without shame: the section of eligible voters who didn't vote out of sheer apathy. I think we can all agree those people suck.

Ooh. It's way too late for me to be talking about this stuff. Bleah. I'll just delete this tomorrow or something when my fatigue hangover wears off.

[PointyHairedJedi]

Originally Posted by Nan

On a unity note: cheer up, oh ye unhappy voters, there's always that one group you can focus your ire on without shame: the section of eligible voters who didn't vote out of sheer apathy. I think we can all agree those people suck.

Ahh, voter apathy, a phrase that we know only too well in the UK.

You know, I had a funny thought the other day. What if all the American states started declaring independance? That would make for an.... interesting situation.

[Chancellor Valium]

T'would be....fascinating....

[Xeroc]

Originally Posted by Nan

From election results it can be assumed that a significant portion of the population of America was feeling insecure. Ergo, Bush wins. However, it is also worth noting that there was a significant number of votes going to the Green Party. Of course, given the political system in the States, these votes didn't really go anywhere, but it does demonstrate that there are in fact more "liberal" voters than "conservative," they just don't know how to vote defensively. Take that however you will.

Maybe in previous elections, but not this one. The "green party" actually got a whopping 0.09% of the vote (remember, Nader did not run under the green party this year). In fact, if we added ALL independent parties (every vote but Bush + Kerry) they only received 1.04% of the vote! Adding this to Kerry's current total of 48.0%, he still only gets 49.4%, with Bush at a majority at 50.9%. Therefore, the independents did not affect the election.

You can find all the official vote counts, plus lots of other great information, such as visual maps, here at wikipedia's election page.


Also, the country isn't as divided as people think, the electoral college map is quite decieving, as these maps show:


High-Resolution Version

This is a cartogram, where the size of each county corresponds to its relative population.



*Note: Likely not 100% of the votes would go to Kerry, only a majority, but this is just an example.

[Opium]

yah know, I just wanted to say, as I always Americans saying it about America, and I really mean it:

I love Canada!

sure, we have things to work on, but so does every other country out there.

I think Canada is super-duper!

Yes, that's right, super-duper!

[Scooter]

So northwestern New Mexico is some kind of Democratic haven?

Huh. That's really -- huh.

[Nan]

That cartogram makes me feel medicated. X(

[Chancellor Valium]

Hm-hm.

I LOVE BRITAIN!

I really do, but our political system is full of left-of-centre shites. Really, truly, vote and money-obsessed people who care not an iota for the welfare of the country. Sorry, bitter and twisted over 8 years of zarking Tony zarking Blair. GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! ARGH GAR! GAH KLAGEUIOFDKS! etc, ad nauseam, not that many people would understand that in Britain, what with the decline of decency, morality, generosity and education in this country :roll: . sorry, [/rant-rave]

[Sa'ar Chasm]

I really do, but our political system is full of left-of-centre shites. Really, truly, vote and money-obsessed people who care not an iota for the welfare of the country.

Doesn't sound very left to me.

what with the decline of decency, morality,...

Let's not go down that road. We've just gotten over the last flame war.