So it looks like the US election is going to Bush.

Even though it hurt me deeply, there was a part of me that could understand the Australian election. Howard may be a fuckwit, but it's still hard to get rid of a government with a good economic record, and deservedly or not it's on that record he swung the voters.

Bush, on the other hand... I simply can't understand how a rational human being would vote for Bush:

• He's presided over a record budget deficit, so any claim for economic credibilty is shot
• He's failed utterly at the war on terror: placing rhetoric over action at every step, and sowing careful misinformation to redirect the real threat of Al Quaeda to the invented threat of Iraq
• Even if you agree with the invasion of Iraq despite the constant flip-flopping on why it's happening, the Bush administration has run the war incompetently, constantly pushing for some kind of “quick victory” at the expense of the safety of both Iraqi civilians and US troops.
• He's presided over a constant and brutal attack on civil liberties and individual rights
• He's presided over the most blatantly dishonest US government on record: even Nixon aides have come out to say "Hey, we weren't as bad as this."

I simply don't understand how anyone in their right mind could vote for Bush. I'm sure a lot of really smart, rational human beings have done so, but I just don't understand the degree of self-deception that has to go on to say "Hey, this lunatic is a good thing for the future of our country."