Is it possible for a country to be completely ignorant of what is good for it?

It would certainly seem so.

Jesus, what a downer. I can't say I'm surprised this time, though. The first time I was, but not now.

The US election seems to be the one public event that that has bookended different phases of my life in my twenties. I remember the one in 2000 well. I had just moved back to Dublin, having spent the previous two years in Cork. I had taken, out of financial necessity more than anything else, a job in software testing in my nation's capital. I did not know then that I would end up doing it for the next four years, and looking back, that was most likely a good thing. For the first few weeks of the job, I had to stay in a hostel while I found somewhere to live and that was an experience I NEVER want to relive again. I remember being unable to sleep on several occasions, and that was how I found myself watching the 2000 US election on TV one night in the lounge at 4 in the morning.

I remember being genuinely mystified as to how George W. could be preferable to any candidate running against him. The revelations with regard to his drug habits and less-than-ideal ties with very-less-than-ethical multinationals had already come out. Already. Not after he had been elected, in a big explosive scandal, but before. It would not have been unheard of for someone else to back down in the face of something like that, but not only did he brazen it out, a substantial number of people actually saw fit to vote for someone of that calibre. Words fail me.

I also remember some of the accusations being thrown at Al Gore at the time. 'Wooden' and 'bereft of charisma' were two of them. Obviously those are much more serious than 'open to corporate pay-offs' and 'of sub-standard IQ'. This kind of shit surfaced again with John Kerry, although from what I saw, it was to a lesser extent.

Now the 2004 election has been and gone, and here I am, starting something new again.

Anyway, my point. I've always been amused by how people can make a link between someone's presence at a rally, or their ability to work a crowd, and their suitability for running a country like the US. It was a misconception that Al Gore fell foul of back in 2000, in spite of the fact that he was (even taking all those quibbles into account) quite clearly the better choice. Three words, people. Previous. Track. Record. A well-timed well-wishing of the local football team at a rally in the mid-west does not a great president make, yet people, now more than ever, are starting to place emphasis on surface appearances when those appearances are indicative of absolutely nothing.

Anyway, Bush has it in the bag. Even a cursory glance at this chart would depress any democrat. Virtually Middle America in its entirety has been lost to him. Granted, the inclusion of some states as 'red' comes as no surprise, but that the colour should dominate so uniformly.......

And then there is the backing on the ban on gay marriage in Ohio. It reminds me of a not unrelated quote in the film The Heathers, where JD and Veronica are discussing the enactment of Kurt and Ram's attempted suicide borne out of the two jocks' supposed love for one another:

JD: ...Let's take a look at some the homosexual artifacts I dug up to plant at the scene. Alright. An issue of Stud Puppie.
Veronica: Great.
JD: Candy dish. Joan Crawford postcard. Let's see... Some mascara. Alright.Here's the one perfecto thing I picked up. Mineral water.
Veronica: Oh, come on, a lot of people drink mineral water. It's come a long way.
JD: Yes, but this is Ohio. I mean, if you don't have a brewski in your hand you might as well be wearing a dress.

That was in 1989. Things obviously haven't changed much since then. And then there is this. It isn't taking long, is it? As for the smugness of that schmuck Gary Bauer, I would simply tell him to look at the list of states (Oregon excepted) where the ban has come to pass, and then I would ask him if he honestly believes that those states are representative of America as a whole. Overwhelmingly, my arse.

It makes me wonder, was Kerry's rather cowardly stance on gay marriage down to the fact that he secretly advocated it, but knew that a public endorsement would be political suicide?

I'm off to see Saw, to take my mind off all this. This, and the fact that my glasses never showed up, and it cost me £200 to replace them.