Bush leading in exit polls

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Over 200,000 provisional ballots still to be counted in Ohio, which means that the 160,000 majority Bush currently holds doesn’t look entirely unassailable. Plus, there’re still the overseas ballots to be taken into account.

But if you need to make some money on this thing, I’d say stick it all on Bush taking Ohio. Unfortunately.

Isabelle Esling

Will be a real nightmare for the whole world if Bush is reelected…
Fuck Bush!

So, our evil plans for world domination continues…

I look forward to many, many weeks of triumphant gloating after beginning this morning in Starbucks at 7am.

Isabelle, what you’re not considering is that NOBODY prefers France to America as Europe’s hegemon.

niall

I bloody well do.

Ingrid

Heh. Well said Peter Nolan. His latest post says he can’t see that Kerry has any more hope of capturing Ohio than Saddam Hussein does. Best laugh I’ve had all day – thanks.

Isabelle Esling

I never told you that i liked France and its ridiculous leaders. Anyway, your arguments are pointless. France isn’t that important in the world.

Bush is a dumbass and a dangerous leader. A future made of war and terrorism is that what you wish to the next generation. As long as i have freedom of speech, i will stand up and voice my opinion AGAINST BUSH, no matter if you like it or not.

Ryan

So, Kerry has given up the run and conceeded victory to the worlds most dangerous primate. What will the next 4 years worth of “The War on Terror” bring? Will he actually manage to get the right man this time? Will he decide that northern Ireland is next on his agenda?

For a man that basically won the election due ‘religion’, will us praying to the same God that he supposedly does make any difference for us? Congratulations Republicans everywhere, you’ve fucked the world for another 4 years and condemned yet more millions of innocent people to death.

Annie

God help us.

Isabelle Esling

*Congratulations Republicans everywhere, you’ve fucked the world for another 4 years and condemned yet more millions of innocent people to death.

agreed:)

Right now, form an orderly queue and I’ll deal with everyone in turn.

“Anyway, your arguments are pointless. France isn’t that important in the world.”

Isabelle, I have to agree. Now please tell M. Chirac that and ask him to be a good global citizen. Putting an end to the appeasment of every sociopath that turns up with a pistol in one and and a diplomatic passport in the other would be a good start. Also, he might like to take time to consider that there are twenty-four other countries in the European Union, so there’s really no need to insist that the some ENA-educated crony of his who’s bankrupted a major financial institution must take every job going in the EU.

Niall, you’re welcome to your opinion, but think back on our nation’s history, which largely consists of trying to find some other power to balance the overwhelming influence of Britain – France, Spain, Germany and finally in this century, America. Over in my ancestral home on the west coast, they have the expression “misnuil francis” – or French courage, a reminder of how a few dozen soldiers and an Anglican vicar (the last time the CofI took a moral stand on anything) held back thousands of Frenchmen. Don’t think that the world is a safe enough place for a small country to live without protection. Either we have the Americans to preserve our national existence or we build nuclear weapons to defend ourselves in a Europe without US troops.

Ryan, I think your reasoning is as irregular as your punctuation. Might I humbly suggest that you mix the process of sharing your opinions with some information gathering? Among the interesting facts are that Bush’s test scores and academic qualifications clearly show him to be smarter than Kerry. You’ll find more in some of the books available – both favourable and hostile – such as Frank Bruni’s “Ambling into History”, David Frum’s “The Right Man”, Bob Woodward’s “Bush at War” and “Plan of Attack” or Richard Clarke’s “Against All Enemies”. Repeating the chimp comparisons from the Evening Herald doesn’t count as much of a contribution.

“Congratulations Republicans everywhere, you’ve fucked the world for another 4 years and condemned yet more millions of innocent people to death. ”

The fact you forget is that the world is a violent and dangerous place and would be even more so in the event of an American withdrawal. Saddam gassed the Kurds and used tanks against the Shi’ites, Assad flattened a city, the Taliban massacred thousands, the Chechens are wiped off the map, the Tibetans and Uighirs face destruction through colonisation, Kim Jong-Il starves millions and tests poison gas on humans. So yeah, I’m interested in hearing your alternative solutions, should you have any.

“God help us.”

Annie, it seems God HAS helped us. My prayers were answered anyway.

And how about you coming out with some more opinions, Mr S?

niall

Peter, you’re ALSO welcome to your opinions… but I’ll have to disagree.

There are clearly two paths open to us in trying to mend the damage to international relations of the past three years – unilateralism under a second-term power-mad Bush with no intention nor desire to build bridges, or a multilateral approach based on rapprochement, negotiation and consensus which seeks to restore authority to international institutions. I’d prefer the second. There’s mcuh to dislike about the French attitude to intl affairs, but their desire not to ride roughshod over long-established conventions is only to be admired in these times.

By the way, I’m Scottish! I think Ireland has a far better chance of remaining protected by fostering its links with the EU, rather than hiding behind the petticoat of our US cousins. Ireland isn’t yet a target of international islamic fundamentalism – doesn’t it run the risk of becoming one when it persists in supporting the first true hegemonic force since the British Empire?

Ryan

“The fact you forget is that the world is a violent and dangerous place and would be even more so in the event of an American withdrawal”

I think the point is and always was that the US cannot solve all the world’s problems. Perhaps they should aim to sort out their own before imposing their own brutal foreign policy on others.

Evening Herald? Not bloody likely. I’ve written down your suggested reading list and will follow up on it as soon as my social life crumbles and dies. Until then I’ll continue to be strongly and in your opinion incorrectly anti Bush. Go on then, pick this apart for punctuation errors. I know you’ll get some iota of enjoyment out of it.

John

5th November 2004

Congratulations Republicans everywhere, you’ve fucked the world for another 4 years.And, let me say, it’s extremely tiring work. Leaves a man shattered.

9th November 2004

“…multilateral approach based on rapprochement, negotiation and consensus which seeks to restore authority to international institutions.”

Niall, the problem with that way is that international institutions, the UNSC in particular, are simply creatures of the national interests of the dominant members. This is a common criticism of the left of the World Bank and IMF, which you may or may not agree with, but the fact is that the permanent veto system gave the power to obstruct weapons inspections in Iraq to countries who were busily selling Saddam arms.

“By the way, I’m Scottish! I think Ireland has a far better chance of remaining protected by fostering its links with the EU, rather than hiding behind the petticoat of our US cousins.”

This would be the subject of an interesting post in its own right, but I think that American power is the key, as it both restrains Britain and acts as a diplomatic support that none of the other great powers would be motivated to give. In particular, I can’t see how any increase in Scottish influence, loosening London’s control over the assets that could easily be used to intervene in Northern Ireland, would be of any benefit to Irish national interests. That’s an example of a somewhat nightmarish outlook, but not an unrealistic one, I believe.

9th November 2004

“I think the point is and always was that the US cannot solve all the world’s problems.”

True, but they seem to spent a lot of time trying, to our enormous benefit in the very recent past.

“I’ve written down your suggested reading list and will follow up on it as soon as my social life crumbles and dies.”

Well, it may not have to come to that, but that depends on what your social life consists of. Drinking cider in car parks is probably incompatible, but I seem to find plenty of people who’ll think and discuss these things.