<<So why is he President?>>

Countries often get the leaders they deserve. The true moral fiber of this country (as distinct from the moral values of right-wing chest-thumpers) has hit a new low. We allowed a liar, a coward, a thief to steal the elections of 2000 and 2004. Why? Because we are lazy and enjoy our consumer comforts. And we can't be bothered to pay attention from one news cycle to the next, or to muster enough critical thinking to stand up and fight. Witness the timid Democrats in Congress, always sticking their fingers in the air to see which way the polls blow rather than taking principled stands.

Unfortunately, we have reached an event horizon where our creature comforts and our rights and freedom to pursue happiness are about to be sucked into the black hole of economic collapse and authoritarian rule by wealthy elites who could care less about the human misery they bring to us and the world. Probably the only way out is to go through it. This country has been hankering for fascism for quite a while. Now we're going to bow down and get what we deserve.

But down the road, out of the ruins, the leafy buds of democracy may once again tenderly seek the light.

You were not alone in voting for Kerry - please remember that there were a number of voting irregularities, it may very well be, that Kerry won.