It's time for Canadians to take a valium, or something. The reaction this morning to President George Bush's re-election seems a little out of proportion here in Canada. There was a lot of "holier-than-thou" comments form Canadian pundits, who love to like to think they know a lot more than Americans. Let's just face facts here. For all that Canadian media and pundits think they know what's best for everyone else, the American people have spoken. And they spoke pretty clearly.
There was a record turnout and they voted for the President. Period. Sure, there's a big split in the country. But the system worked. The people had a vote, and they used it. Let's just move on...
The hand-wringing among the Democrats and plenty of others will begin immediately. Here in Canada, Stephen Harper immediately started trying to accuse the Liberals of being anti-American. Same old, same old. Canada doesn't look particularly sterling right now, not after the way we ran our own election just a few months ago. And in the good old USA, Canada doesn't rate a mention. I don't think there's many issues that Canada will have much impact on in America for awhile.
Canada used to be the land of two solitudes. Now, it looks like America is splitting into two pretty distinct camps. And the rise of the evangelicals is a real phenomenon. Just what the continuing impact of their power will be is still to be determined. But it's going to be significant, at least in the short term.
So let's just chill out, and see what happens. It's going to be an interesting next few months...
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