If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
Congratulations to you, Nate Silver. To date you have many fans. But remember that you are one election away from being a mere mortal like the rest of us.
Brits didn't exactly flock to the polls in record numbers for last Thursday's election, but after the results left us in limbo for five days we've been refreshing Twitter and news feeds like it's going out of style.
Elections are supposed to be an opportunity for the people to express the direction in which they want the country to travel. By that standard, this result is an insult.
Well they've done it now. A right coalition of the Posh it is, Eton, Oxbridge and all that: Tory-Liberal, where the metro sexual elite meet.
You thought that George W. Bush was an ultra-rich kid with a sense of entitlement to rule and a mission to take care of fellow millionaires? Meet Britain's new Prime Minister!
It was a display of local democracy in action. No machines, no computers. Those dozens of ballot counting ladies (and gentlemen) were the unsung heroes of this otherwise muddled election.
Looking across the Atlantic these last few days, I've been watching the unfolding political situation in my country with great interest.
A weak, indecisive coalition government in London portends just when a strong, stable government is needed to confront Britain's and Europe's mounting financial crises.
In a country that many Americans associate with endless NHS waiting lines, and sluggish bureaucracy, local election campaigns are well-oiled machines in the UK.
Clegg is their latest leader to ride this convenient slip-tide and use the "plague on both your houses" tack used by a similar (though less telegenic) American third-party looney -- Ross Perot.
Cameron and Clegg have grabbed the post-election spotlight, and are doing deals behind closed doors to forge a coalition, and force out Brown.
Britain is the victim of a constitutional asteroid attack. The election delivered exactly the secretive backroom bargaining that a first-past-the-post constituency system -- as in the US house of representatives -- was supposed to avoid.
As parties scratch around to make uneasy coalitions and alliances, I believe that green jobs and technology could provide a unifying theme that will draw together uneasy political allies.
Using this admitted rehash of the old "porn name" game, even the most humble amongst us can be instantly transformed into heavily-set, ruddy-cheeked, wobbly-jowled landed squires.
Nick Clegg and his Liberal Democrats now have their moment of power, but it will be just a moment. They have failed to win enough votes to carry an overwhelming moral case for electoral reform.
Critics say that young people lack the maturity to vote. Considering the selfish, short-sighted policies our elders vote for time and time again, are we really going to be foolish enough to call this mature?
