Bush's win still irks me. We're now seeing the effects of dumbing down the populace (something the Brits are keen to do over here too), so that people vote for the idiot who mumbles and ignores awkward questions over the more educated candidate who at least tries to speak coherently. Oliver Willis says it best at his Web site here - that "the amazing thing to me about this race was that Bush could be as divisive as he wanted to be, but it never penalized him. The most important things in the world were responded to with infantile answers or complete ignorance. Where he stood was clear. Simplicity wins."

Willis also has some great advice for how the Democrats should attempt to win the next election. It includes a quote from Howard Dean, who answered "charges" that he was liberal. Imagine how he would have contrasted to Bush compared to Kerry?

"The press is all writing about Dean is the big liberal of the race," the former Vermont governor said at a Washington fund-raiser. "Well, if being a liberal is balancing the budget that's fine with me. And I'll bet it's fine with most Americans. If being a liberal is joining Canada and Britain and France and Germany and Japan and Italy and Israel in having universal health insurance for all of its citizens, then you may call me what you want."
And the 54-year-old physician said if his fight against the Bush administration's education policy that establishes federal standards for local school boards is liberal "then you may call me what you want, I'm proud of it."

Ironically, the Bush nightmare was all foretold - by a spoof newspaper (the excellent Onion - read it here. Today's headline is particularly apt: "God puts his tool back into Office") back in January 2001. At the time I'm sure it was just a play on liberals' fears, but I bet it had no idea it would prove to be so... prophetic.

Read it here.

Some Bush supporters are already qualifying their decision to vote for him: "Well I don't agree with his policies on this or that, but..." Sorry bozos, you voted - and therefore endorsed - the full package. What Bush does to his own people - never mind the rest of us - over the next four years (and later when he appoints extremely right-wing, conservative Supreme Court judges who will be making major decisions for decades) is down to your vote.

It's time the people of this planet grew up and accepted their actions have consequences for others, however narrow-minded they try to make themselves - let the Bush supporters be the first to realise just what they've done. And if you think I'm overreacting, take a look at the Onion piece above. When it was written nobody thought it would actually come true.