Thursday, November 09, 2006

Thank You, America

The title of this post isn't meant as a direct allusion to an Alanis Morissette song. The truth is I can't stand that Thank You track (you know the one, in the video she's stood naked in Times Square as a load of traffic buzzes around whilst she see's how many long words she can fit into a song). Nonetheless, my thanks go out to the people of America who, perhaps, have finally seen the light. When The Idiot stole the election in 2000 I didn't, to be honest, know much about what was going on. I was too young to remember any of the other US presidents, but I do remember that during my teenage years I became an admirer of America not only because one of my personal heroes, Michael Stipe, came from there and always had something interesting and unexpected to say (usually regarding American politics), but because the place really did seem like somewhere to aspire towards. OK, so I'm now just beginning to learn that life under Clintion was still no bed of roses (and some of his military decisions such as those related to Kosovo were questionable to say the least), but during that time there was always a sense of dignity projected about the place (if we overlook the Lewinsky affair, that is).

When 9/11 happened, it scared the hell out of me. However, over the ensuing years what really came to scare me when I started to learn about what was going on was that America had somehow allowed some backwards, red-neck Idiot firstly buy and the bully his way into power. To me, it was the equivalent of putting a character from Sesame Street in power, although that's an insult to Cookie Monster and Count Von Count. Then in 2004, after a holiday where I became fascinated with the election build up and it's coverage on US CNN (believe me, if you've never seen US CNN I can't recommend it highly enough, it really is so horrid that you have to keep watching. I wonder if 'Anderson Cooper 360' is still running...), I was so sure that The Idiot wouldn't get a second term I was literally bowled over when he got back in. I was almost physically sick when I heard the news.

So now, I offer my thanks to the American public for seeing the light and weaking the grip of The Idiot from power. Hopefully these next two years will work as an example of how American society can get itself back on its feet and actually benefit those least fortunate, so that scenes like those evidenced in New Orleans will not be seen again (I realise this is an impossibility due to the imbalance of global power and the poverty of the Third World, but you would at least think that in the alleged 'most developed country in the world' such images would never appear); that innocent people won't be sent on a war to settle a grudge that dates back to The Idiot's Father and the early Nineties, and that innocent people in occupied countries may stop dying as a result of this so-called 'war'; that the American education system may wake up once more and realise that Evolutionary Theory and scientific fact are widely revered for a reason, and that the whole of Enlightenment thought wasn't for nothing; that people deserve a minimum wage which allows them to live above the poverty line, and that stem cell research does not involve growing clones of people.

I hope in time America will look back at The Legacy of The Idiot and try and work out how it ended up in the mess it presently is, as probably the most disliked nation in the history of the world. Then again, in a world where David Hasselhoff is voted 'The Most Popular Man on the Planet', perhaps we should all adopt the approach of Germaine Greer and just call everything rubbish.

CyberControl's Top 5 Post US Mid-Term Election Songs:

CSS - Alala
The Grates - 19-20-20
The Bluetones - Surrendered
R.E.M. - Radio Free Europe
The Long Blondes - Once and Never Again

2 comments:

Talk Show Host said...

Good news it is. But I wouldn't hold out for America (or rather, American politicians) learning its lesson this time round, it already had Vietnam to reference in terms of the war!

But I may take a Greer-like position and say that I hope Hillary Clinton goes for President.

Ross P. Garner said...

Yeah, the issue of Hilary is one of discussed with a couple of people recently, and whilst I think she would be a good candidate (and as well it's about time America had a woman president) I think there's just too much that can be used against her.

However, I still have hope that the tide is turning over the Atlantic.

I'm gonna do politics more often! We've inspired debate!