There won't be a honeymoon and Bush JR. isn't very bright so let's hope there is damage control - somehow!
You might get some laughs from this:
Humour -- of both the subtle and in-your-face varieties -- has given Europeans a smoke screen for caustic quips about an American election process that many say is woefully out of touch with the popular will.
Viewed through the European looking glass, America comes across as a quirky place with even quirkier citizens.
Witness the title of a cover feature story that ran this week in The Guardian, one of Britain's leading national dailies: "'Only in Florida' -- How America's weirdest
state derailed the US election."
(At this time they didn't know The Supreme Court derailed the election.)
The article uses as its point of departure a reference to Stalin's famous quip that it's not who votes that counts, but who counts the votes.
The authors -- who include a Floridian -- marvel that the election of the next U.S. president will be decided in Florida, "America's weird, troubled protuberance in the Caribbean, where a million Cuban exiles still plotting revenge against Castro rub up against Jewish pensioners from Brooklyn, Haitian refugees and a shoal of opportunists, lost souls and part-time Disney employees.
"All of them have been known to act as if under the influence of the local swamp gas."
Developing their theme, the authors observe that Florida is also the state where a man "was charged with shooting his dog because he suspected it of being gay."
In a separate editorial cartoon entitled "Electile Dysfunction," The Guardian portrayed a frustrated Uncle Sam holding a map of Florida in a pose that suggested he might benefit from Viagra.
'It's a complete farce'
Another establishment-poking UK publication, Private Eye, summed up its take on the Gore-Bush squabble with a banner headline across this week's cover:
"U.S. Election -- Too Close to Care," above a photo of the two rivals about to shake hands at one of their pre-election debates.
Two comic-strip-style dialogue bubbles have a smiling Al Gore saying, "It's a complete farce,"
to which George W. Bush replies, "Yes, one of us is going to be president."
Excerpt from article By Douglas Herbert, CNN.com Europe writer
cnn.com |
