...and I thought that our partisan pundits were deeply immersed in the bitter bile of their snow-blind hatred. Charlie Brooker of the Guardian comes across more like a professional carnival taunter, perched from his seat above the dunk tank, daring you to lob a few softballs at his carefully orchestrated targets.

I shake my head and walk by, reminding myself that he does not represent all Britons. Americans can be just as ugly.

On November 2, the entire civilised world will be praying, praying Bush loses. And Sod's law dictates he'll probably win, thereby disproving the existence of God once and for all. The world will endure four more years of idiocy, arrogance and unwarranted bloodshed, with no benevolent deity to watch over and save us. John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Hinckley Jr - where are you now that we need you?

At times in our collective history, leaders like Churchill and Reagan were written off as hateful people bent on fostering ill-will. People questioned their motives, their very sanity. Josef Stalin called Churchill a "Warmonger". Senator John Kerry described Reagan's presidency a period of "moral darkness". Generations of Americans regretted the morally superior stance that kept us out of World War II until it could be ignored no longer. A generation of people today look sadly at the death toll caused by the peaceful coercion of our U.N. Sanctions.

How many millions have died for our sanctimony?

I feel fairly certain that history will remember these days with a different perspective as well. I have more respect for men like Churchill, Reagan and yes, George W. Bush... who have the courage to call a spade a spade and make the right decision no matter the cost of public opinion.

It's the right thing to do, whether Charlie Booker is familiar with the history of his own country or not.

Posted by Michael at October 24, 2004 10:22 AM