Markos Moulitsas (Guardian Utd): Divide and rule ... for now

[Jack Rabbit]

From the Guardian Unlimited (UK)
Dated Wednesday November 3

Divide and rule ... for now
Bush may have steamrollered his way back into the White House, but his re-election will further galvanise the resurgence of progressive opposition, writes a US blogger
By Markos Moulitsas

George Bush has dismayed half the US public and, I'm sure, much of the world by apparently winning the election.

The race is not technically over. Ohio is not only desperately close, with hundreds of thousands of uncounted ballots technically still able to swing the election back to Kerry, but the number of voting irregularities in the state are guaranteed to make it a centre of litigation . . . .

But that aside, this election shouldn't even have been close. We have a president that has saddled the nation with record deficits and who has little clue on how to rein in spending. A president who inflicted upon the nation (and Iraq, and our allies) a costly and bloody war that should never have been waged. A president that has divided the country like none other, despite the unity we shared after 9/11. A president that has committed crimes against the environment, catered to his cronies at the expense of poor and middle class Americans, and turned virtually the entire world against our nation.

So how did Bush even get this far? By demonising an entire group of people -- gays and lesbians. By cynical appeals to religion. By slandering a true war hero. And, most importantly, by scaring people. You see, terrorists would detonate a nuclear bomb in a major city if Kerry were elected. Only Bush can protect us.

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