Tuesday, November 04, 2008

I'm (not) voting for Obama

posted by Brit

Good voters of the United Kingdom, today is an historic day for British democracy. For today we (don't) exercise our cherished right to vote for the President of the United States (because we don't have one, not being eligible).

It has been a long, hard-fought campaign between worthy adversaries, starting, as it did, some time around the end of the Peloponnesian War. The coverage has been relentless and exhausting. Our sympathies have been pulled one way and then the other. We have been awe-struck by the prospect of (not) electing our (or rather, their) first black President. We have been thrilled and then appalled by Sarah Palin. We have still not learned anything about Joe Biden and we still struggle to remember that that is his name.

But today, the (lack of) choice (because we don't have a vote) before us is clear:

(Don't) vote for Obama to give the world a much needed boost of optimism, to restore hope to a battered, crunched, overcooked planet, and to take the first step towards healing America's global reputation; or

(Don't) vote for McCain for more doom, gloom and gaffes, fear and loathing, derision and darkness, for the Black Gates to open and all the beasts of Mordor to pour forth and lay waste to the Earth.

My friends, dig deep and search your hearts. Then (don't) get down to that polling station (because there aren't any in Britain) and (don't) make (the slightest bit of) a difference. I know you will (not) do the right thing. I believe in you.

14 comments:

  1. There's an election in America ?

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  2. Yes, it's been pretty low-profile, malty, so you may well have missed it.

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  3. Well, my dears, I am soon to go vote for Barack Obama -- so someone on this blog gets to cast a ballot! I hear the lines are going to be appalling as everyone and her grandmother has now been registered to vote (many by my own husband, a volunteer for the Dems). Frank Wilson down in South Philly is going to negate my vote with his own, but we are both exercising our right and that's what matters.

    I've just spent a couple of weeks reading novels set in Eastern Europe during the Cold War -- the oppression of basic rights (like voting for whomever one wishes) makes me realize just how lucky we are. Now, if we can begin to deep-six American racism today with our votes, then we do indeed have a great country here.

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  4. To judge by last night's BBC news, Obama's already won (and they can barely contain their glee - no surprise there). Looks like being a massive turnout, so whoever wins should break the record for most votes ever in a US election, currently held by... Geo W Bush!

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  5. I love the way you write. I wish i get to know you

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  6. Can you write me?

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  7. Susan, it ain't just the commies who have no choice, nobody, to the best of my knowledge, asked us if we wanted the current Fuhrer, one Gordon the moron. We didn't get to vote the Windsors into Buck house either.

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  8. Cough, splutter... vote the Windsors into what? That's quite enough of that sort of bolshevik talk, thank you Malty.

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  9. Is it a bit like the X factor ... ? I shall email itamar on your behalf and ask him...

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  10. If BO wins, will he rename the white house the grey house?
    Who was that bloke who emerged into the clearing this morning and ordered word verification with his toast?

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  11. The error message reads:

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    The page you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.

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  12. That page is back again. Does anybody have a clue why Bryan's poor blog seems to suffer so many technical hitches? At least they seem to mostly right themselves...

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