Well, That Was Special

The good news is that I have just freed up some time to work on my scholarship, listen to music and read fiction, popular and otherwise. After Bush was first "elected" -- ah, the power of quotation marks around a single word -- I quit watching TV news of any kind for almost a year, until 9-11 really. I simply could not stand seeing Bush's face or hearing Bush's words or hearing him talked about in tones other than contempt. I read my several newspapers and used the Internet and got necessary information without the pain.

Now, my wife and I will do that again and will be all the calmer and better for it.

And NEVER AGAIN will I spend election day prowling through the moderate-to-liberal blogs trying to become an Early Knower. This is one of the addictions a journalist acquires, though it's not limited to journalists. Back in my Chronicle days I loved to come in an hour early just to scan the AP basket in the computer system. Though there is seldom any power in knowing things a few minutes before everyone else, there is the illusion of power. Mid-afternoon yesterday, I was hopeful. But then I remembered how the exit polls misled in Florida four years ago and I thought, "This is deja vu all over again."

And it was. I do wonder how far we will go toward theocracy. I have written about it before almost as a way of innoculating myself against my own fear. Sometimes one exaggerates for the simple pleasure of knowing it's an exaggeration: "I have expressed my deepest fear and, having said it, I see that it goes too far."

I make no predictions here. I simply wonder if this loose confederation of fundamentalist Christians and conservative Catholics will be able to make this a "Christian" nation? I am happy that I live in a liberal enclave that will be able to resist those forces if, indeed, that happens -- resist at least for a time.

So much could derail the Christian right: a military disaster in Iraq, an economic meltdown. Those things could also strengthen it as well. We need a strong man for hard times! I don't know what will happen, but I'll bet you twenty dollars that whatever happens I won't like it. You may not either in spite of that smile on your face today. We'll see.

And look at this. I have already had a visitor to this blog today, one referred by a Google search for "moving to Canada." I was number five with a bullet!

WEB RESULTS
Eric's Blog: Move to Canada?
... Move to Canada? Gian and Anthony are planning on getting married in Canada; and they're thinking of staying. Hell, I've thought about it; if Bush gets reelected ...eric.everydaylies.com/archives/ 002925.php - 12k - Cached - More from this site
525 Reasons to Dump Bush: #341 - Top Five Things to be Thankful For
... 5. Bush won't invade countries that he can't pronounce, thus sparing Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and particularly ... If Bush gets reelected, I just might move to Canada. ...www.525reasons.com/archives/ 000495.html - 6k - Cached - More from this site
LP: State Dept. Changes Seen if Bush Reelected, Powell and Armitage Intend to Step Down
... to step down even if President Bush is reelected, setting the ... Middle East conflict, a move that some State Department ... leader that can't even maintain friendly relations with Canada ...www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/ readart.cgi?ArtNum=20172 - 44k - Cached - More from this site
CathiefromCanada
Views on political news from Canada and America ... concludes "even as these people move, like sleepwalkers, towards a distinctly ... and that a reelected Bush would be willing to pull out ... Google News Canada. C-NEWS. The Mop ...cathiefromcanada.blogspot.com - 69k - Cached - More from this site
Column*Which
... If Bush is reelected, I expect him to do bad things. If ... talked about moving to Canada if Bush is reelected. This is speculative. We would move under certain circumstances ...jmichaelrobertson.blogspot.com

Back to today's post: Would we really? Drop in occasionally. Drive by the house if we don't answer the phone.

Update: Just got hit by a Yahoo "moving to Canada" search. This is suggestive. As a public service, here's a link on emigrating to Canada.