Just came in on Fox News.

''AP: Kerry calls Bush to concede the election.''

It is OVER!

It is OVER!


Thank Christ for that.  Perhaps now we can have some real news on the TV

:) Yay!

Before anyone cheers too much... there's some people we're forgetting about.  Some people who have just had their hopes dashed, just as they thought things were going their way.  I'm talking about the lawyers, of course - those poor, poor souls who thought they were going to be getting a mega payday from challenges to the result...

The election is over, that's true. I would argue however that the result of this election is a clear indication of how divided America is at this time. A clear majority victory or a landslide would have shown a distinct support for the policy direction of the candidate and his party, but a win that comes down to the wire such as this represents what seems to me to be a disturbing sign of disharmony. It's been said in other threads on this topic, but Bush's focus now must go beyond his obsession with national security. He needs to address the other issues that made this race so close. To not do so, to continue to wave the threat of terror in the face of the electorate above and beyond all else, could be disastrous. Terrorism will always be a threat, but a threat to the unity of a nation as great as the United States is a far greater one. Bush can't claim that winning an election on the slimmest of margins gives him a mandate to continue as he has done for the past four years. He needs to secure unity within his nation first before he can secure the nation against threats from without.

Before anyone cheers too much... there's some people we're forgetting about.  Some people who have just had their hopes dashed, just as they thought things were going their way.  I'm talking about the lawyers, of course - those poor, poor souls who thought they were going to be getting a mega payday from challenges to the result...


LOL ;D

Bush can't claim that winning an election on the slimmest of margins gives him a mandate to continue as he has done for the past four years.

Er... yes, he can :(  Having said that, he won't claim it, he'll just do it.

Er... yes, he can :(  Having said that, he won't claim it, he'll just do it.


You're right. I should have said he "shouldn't claim". Every elected official claims a mandate, even when there isn't one.  :(

What Bush supporters don't realize is how bad a time this is to be a Bush supporter.  What????
That's right.  Bush has been good at two things: tax cuts for the rich and making war on defenseless countries.  On everything else he's been a total dud.
How is the Bush Administration going to dig us out from this record high debt?  How is the Bush Administration going to bring the people affordable prescription drugs and comprehensive healthcare?  How are they going to stanch the hemorrhaging of population and economic vitality from the vast interior of America?  How are they going to extricate us from Iraq without leaving behind a total disaster?  What is the Bush Administration's plan for improving the undeniable ecological crises emerging in the nation's interior?  What is their diplomatic plan for repairing our damaged relations with our allies around the world?

These are just some of the crucial questions the next Administration must tackle...but the Bush Administration has no answers.  Unlike 2001, now they have no alibies either.  The only agenda Bush has is more draining tax cuts, more favors for corporate chums, and more aggressive imposition of the Christian Right's socially reactionary goals.  None of these address the real issues with which America must now grapple.

You see, if Kerry had won, this fabulous disaster would be his baby.  The Republicans could sit back and blame Kerry for all the hell to come.  They could call Kerry a tax-and-spend liberal as he tried to rescue the faltering economy.  They could call Kerry "soft on terror," and "anti-military" as he tried to work out how to regain our alliances and get us out of Iraq.  They could block his judicial nominees with their Congressional majority, and demonize him, as they did Daschle, as the great obstructor.  No matter what goes wrong in the next four years, they could praise the great structure Bush developed in his first term and blame Kerry for wrecking all Bush's "hard work."

I declared many times on this board that Kerry would not win.  My disappointment is thus tempered.  I am enthused that Bush won with a much clearer mandate than in 2000.  I have been saying the great salt-of-the-earth populus of the vast red state America has to find out for themselves why the Republican party is bad for them.  People in the South, the Great Plains, and the Mountain states are hurting, but they'll have to hurt a lot more...and hurt more they will should Bush get his way.  Not only do they have to suffer, they have fear their government before they wake up to reality.

I hope Bush packs the Supreme Court with far right jurists.  I hope the overturn Roe v. Wade.  I hope PATRIOT II passes.  Give the people what they want...when they get it, they'll hate it.

The next four years are going to hurt us all.  They are going to be some of the most toxic years America has ever endured.  If the right-wing crazies get too out of hand, I wouldn't be surprised if articles of impeachment aren't drawn up on judges, senators, and maybe Buish himself.  It doesn't make me happy that America will have to break its back before a swelling of the popular will changes its mind about the GOP and Right, but that's what it's going to take.

You're right Max. As for me, I'm extremely worried about what repercussions this will have on the rest of the world. The sort of scenario you've described could lead to extreme social decay and disorder that would make the LA riots and the Waco stand-off look like church picnics. It would appear to me that that sort of thing is exactly what bin Laden would want. Terrorism wins.

You're right Max. As for me, I'm extremely worried about what repercussions this will have on the rest of the world. The sort of scenario you've described could lead to extreme social decay and disorder that would make the LA riots and the Waco stand-off look like church picnics. It would appear to me that that sort of thing is exactly what bin Laden would want. Terrorism wins.

It worries me too.  But unlike in 2000, this is clearly what the American people say they want.  As I always say, be careful what you wish for, you might get it...up your ***!

But unlike in 2000, this is clearly what the American people say they want. 

Well, with all the amount of times Bush has said that running a dictatorship would be easier, it may be last time they get to say it.

Nope, I just heard on the radio that the Republicans are already thinking forward to 2008...supposedly one person that they're looking at is Jeb ::)


So they're looking at establishing a monarchy then?

you know...dictatorship...monarchy...either way, the people have NO choice ;)



That is part of the reason why I think this may be our last election.




Cat

I think what Max said above is  very true.  Things will get much worse for most people, the class divisions will deepen, and maybe the working class will wake up.  The danger, of course, is that they will move toward "herr lider" and a long, dark night will follow, not just in the US but throughout the world.  Regardless of which way the people turn, though, the next 4 years are going to be he11.

I think what Max said above is  very true.  Things will get much worse for most people, the class divisions will deepen, and maybe the working class will wake up.  The danger, of course, is that they will move toward "herr lider" and a long, dark night will follow, not just in the US but throughout the world.  Regardless of which way the people turn, though, the next 4 years are going to be he11.

It bears repeating that there is a silver lining.  The Republicans control the entire government now for the second term.  Now when things f**k up, they can't blame anybody else.  I mean, they'll try to blame the Dems, but it'll be in defiance of logic!  We will be able to make 2006 a referendum on the Republican platform, and from there pave the way to victory in 2008.

I mean, they'll try to blame the Dems, but it'll be in defiance of logic! 


It has always worked before :) >:( :( ??? :-\\

The Zero Factor.

It has always worked before :) >:( :( ??? :-\\


Yes, and it will continue to work because the Christian fundamentalists are not logical, nor do they rely on reason.  They are guided by their literal interpretation of the bible and they welcome the second coming.  The "fire next time" will be the nuks exploding in Jeruselum, then in theran, then in baghdad, London, Washington...  Prepare to meet your maker.  Christ I'm depressed.

Yes, and it will continue to work because the Christian fundamentalists are not logical, nor do they rely on reason. They are guided by their literal interpretation of the bible and they welcome the second coming. The "fire next time" will be the nuks exploding in Jeruselum, then in theran, then in baghdad, London, Washington... Prepare to meet your maker. Christ I'm depressed.


that reminds me of the song "lets all make a bomb" by heaven 17:
"Hey! There's no need to debate
It's time to designate your fate
Take the M out of M.A.D.
Let's all make a bomb!"

don't worry. It WILL work out.  :)

that reminds me of the song "lets all make a bomb" by heaven 17:
"Hey! There's no need to debate
It's time to designate your fate
Take the M out of M.A.D.
Let's all make a bomb!"

don't worry. It WILL work out.  :)


Although our future's looking black, we'll go downtown and join the pack....

Brothers, sisters, we don't need this fascist groove thang!

From one H17 to another, thanks!

Totally! ;D

Yes, and it will continue to work because the Christian fundamentalists are not logical, nor do they rely on reason. They are guided by their literal interpretation of the bible and they welcome the second coming. The "fire next time" will be the nuks exploding in Jeruselum, then in theran, then in baghdad, London, Washington... Prepare to meet your maker. Christ I'm depressed.
\
maybe i should have gone with "Who'll Stop the Rain" by heaven 17.
"Between midnight and dawn you slept through the deadlines
Believe in me and we'll hit the tall headlines
Look up and laugh be happy today
Here come the waves count three pray"  :)?