[IP] Woke up this mornin', got the election blues
Begin forwarded message:
From: Brian Randell <Brian.Randell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: November 4, 2004 6:21:45 AM EST
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Woke up this mornin', got the election blues
Hi Dave:
For IP if you wish.
Todays (UK) Guardian newspaper has an article by Emma Brockes which I
think captures very well the reactions to the US election results of a
large segment of the population here in the UK:
Woke up this mornin', got the election blues
We went to bed daring to hope and awoke to the crushing news. And ever
since we've been swapping emails and texts about how miserable we
feel. Emma Brockes on how George Bush's victory catapaulted liberal
Britain into collective depression
Thursday November 4, 2004
The Guardian
The mistake we all made was in getting our hopes up. Until lunchtime
on Tuesday, in accordance with the rules of superstition, lay
supporters of John Kerry kept their outlook pessimistic. In bones,
waters, winds and related vapours across the land, the election was
divined by pro-Democrats to be in the bag for Bush. This is what is
known as preparing a soft landing; it is measured in units of
unhatched chicks.
. . .
When people woke yesterday morning, those for whom Bush's overnight
gains were unwelcome weathered two sensations: a slug of shock,
followed by a surge of recognition. We had been here before. This was
1992, the morning after the general election when, despite hatred for
the Tories having peaked over the poll tax, they still managed to
bring home a 21-seat majority. And so, not even callers to 5 Live
could summon any outrage; despondency was instant and lethal.
. . .
By 10am, as people got to their desks and began a day of low
productivity and high personal email exchange, it became clear that
the most pressing post-election question was not, "Where were you when
you heard Bush was winning?" but rather, "Where were you when you
allowed yourself to think it could ever have been otherwise?"
Dismally, people asked each other how long they had stayed up the
night before. "Until 4.30am," said my friend Jim. "Long enough to
start crying like a girl."
If Jim's experience had been more widespread, perhaps news of Bush's
irreversible lead yesterday would have been cushioned. But most people
did not stay up until 4.30am. Most people seem to have bailed out,
still feeling reasonably optimistic about the result, some time
between midnight and 1.30am.
. . .
If there is such a thing as collective depression, then the
circumstances of the election are just right to encourage it. At least
the scandal in Florida four years ago gave people something to focus
on; there was a battle to be raged. This time, despite some lingering
uncertainty over the final result in Ohio, there isn't the consolation
of injustice, of having someone to blame.
. . .
Full story at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections2004/story/0,13918,1342798,00.html
And the Guardian's cartoonist Steve Bell has a typically corrosive
captionless reaction, which (wordlessly) says it all - see:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/cartoons/stevebell/0,7371,1343074,00.html
cheers
Brian
--
School of Computing Science, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon
Tyne,
NE1 7RU, UK
EMAIL = Brian.Randell@xxxxxxxxx PHONE = +44 191 222 7923
FAX = +44 191 222 8232 URL = http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/~brian.randell/
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