Some reactions? Flatly, they got what they deserve. "Bush’s election merely confirms America’s continuing love affair with mediocrity. Democracy has been kidnapped by neo-conservative warmongers. Simpleton, arrogant, deceitful, criminal, myopic: these words define Bush and his skewed domestic and foreign policy vision. The election of Bush demonstrates that basing an entire campaign on division and fear can yield positive results. Let Bush harvest the poisoned crop he has planted in the economy, security and environment." Foreigners say: "I am amazed that a people as straight-forward, clear and honest as the Americans have elected this muppet, after four years of lies and incompetence." Republicans say: "Fortunately, the vast majority of Americans do not care one iota about foreigners’ opinions of the American elections or America generally. The American people understand that the man in the White House is committed to freedom and to the same democratic values for others which have served to make America great. I know that President Bush is not the brightest firefly in the woods but instinctively we know that he is a better man.." (here)

Clinton concludes rightly "Most Americans don't live by rationality" (here)

Radio-Canada added: The American civil war ended, and it is the south and the southern values that won.

The FT questions what it means when those leaving the booths had "moral values" uppermost in their mind when they voted to return a born-again Christian to office. "As far as the Enlightenment programme of progress towards secular liberalism is concerned, the US has disengaged forward drive and shifted into reverse." (here)

Luckily, more cosmopolitan and less concerned with the brute exercise of power, Europe and Canada are actively "rebuking the vision of unlimited material progress, questionning market capitalism, state socialism as well as nation-state ideology", pioneering the development of a new vision based on "sustainable development, quality of life and multilateralism". (Read "The European Dream" by Jeremy Rifkin)

How to fight American power politics? Can art help? Did you know September 21st is an official international peace day signed by all UN member countries? (Get the documentary Peace One Day) Did you know advertisement billboards in Cuba say "Consume only what is necessary", while 20% of the planet, in its destructive and sometimes completely absurd consumer society, is sucking up 80% of our natural resources? (See SURPLUS with references to AdBusters). We can all make a difference by taking responsability for global justice and acting accordingly.

"The Corporation" sums it up best by pointing the finger at the flawed framework in our society: in the mid-1800s, the corporation succeeded to gain the status of a "legal person", but it has a personality of pure self interest. Its owners cannot be held responsible for the consequences of its transactions: illness, death, poverty, pollution or exploitation of society are "externals", or collateral damage if you prefer. Can water, a public good, really be sold for profit by a few private owners? Corporations have no social or moral responsability: did you know both Maersk and IBM sold to Hitler well into World War II? Making the corporation democratic can only be done by collective ownership. (Get it here).

Check out CPH:DOX, Copenhagen Documentary festival from Nov 5 to 14.
"Revolutionaries are never opportunists"

America is polarized, while the world is holding its breath
At least everyone has an opinion: from Eminem anti-Bush new song and video Mosh where "we see a woman opening an eviction notice while her children watch Bush talking about 'tax cuts' on television" (The Nation), the MoveOn.org initiatives "He Just Doesn't Get It, Give Bush the Boot" or simply the Drunk Against Bush site: "Some people demonstrate, some make movies and others terrorize when they are unhappy with something. We canalize our anger into something constructive - drinking. Have you been drinking against Bush during the last 24 hours?!"

Everything has been analysed and said, but here are some important conclusions. "If true voter equality is not a powerful enough reason to implement direct popular election of the president, avoiding scandalously contested outcomes every four years should be. Americans must ensure that their president is actually the candidate who receives the most votes." (The electoral college must go). With the current system, the final decision for electing the president of the world's most powerful nation lies in the hand of the undecided housewife in the developing country-side of Ohio: "I would think that we would want people to like us. I don't think Bush was being totally honest, but Kerry, on the other hand, does not inspire confidence. I'm probably swayed more towards Bush. It is a hard choice. The lesser of two evils? Saying that, I'm not sure it is Bush. I am swaying once again". (The undecided voter)

So why is everyone holding their breath? Because it matters to the world and to America: "In a hyperdemocratic age - when a rural Italian can watch a presidential press conference live on the internet and then complain to his elected representatives about it - it is part of the president's job description to appeal not just to foreign governments but to world opinion as well.. In the light of the Iraq war, America's role in the world has come to revolve around its legitimacy. Europe in particular has a vital role to play in determining how the US asserts itself, the kind of checking and balancing that a parliament gives to an executive.. For the first time, voters in every country have been polled about how they would vote if they could - as if the office in question were not president of the US but president of the world.. In broad terms, the old regime of international political authority is weakening in the face of globalisation, and no concrete political structures are yet in place to supplement or to supplant it." (Christopher Caldwell: Citizens of the world unite) Getting closer to giving stakeholders from all countries a percentage of other countries votes? Yes please..

Luckily, America will choose Kerry. "When they come to look in the mirror next Tuesday, most Americans will prefer light over darkness - tough-minded realism abroad and tolerance at home over faith-based fundamentalism. (Philip Stephens: Why America will choose Kerry)