The days after November 2 feel different. There seems to be a lack of something but still, everything that I wanted to change, from the person that is sitting in the Oval Office to the policies regarding the environment, is still in place. That lack of something is seeing Kerry talking, hearing his boring voice. It pains me to see Kerry going into oblivion while Bush and the rightist fundamentalists are rising higher still.

I still can’t believe that Kerry lost, even though before Ohio started calling, even before Florida stays red, even before half of the result was announced, there was hunch that was as clear as the Tahitian waters, that Kerry was fighting a losing battle. It is the feeling of seeing the Netherlands being beaten through penalty shootouts by the Italian after all the possession and flair two European Championships ago. It is feeling of a great injustice after all that had been said and done.

Despite blunder in Iraq, regardless of the fallout from the world community, in the face of lies imitating the truth and the truth continues to be pushed aside, there are still millions of people siding with the current administration. It is a great frustration that transcends far beyond words. Perhaps this is what Voltaire had forseen long ago.

I trust that nearly half of the American people feel the same along with, perhaps, majority of the citizens of the world as it is evident with the Mirror’s “How can 59,017,382 people be so dumb?” front page and so many others. That feeling could not be more pronounced than the words written in the New York Times. Its editorial columns are filled with angry paragraphs and depressed sentences save anything that comes from Mr. Safire and Mr. Brooks and their fans.

Four more years of Bush sounds too harsh for many. I know it is too harsh for me.

America is supposed to be the bastion of secularism but regretfully, the rightist fundamentalists, which are no better than those Islamic extremists, are gaining ground. It is funny and ironic as well that wherever we may be, two species of the same class are there to be fought. Both species of fundamentalist are trying to crush each other while we are in a quagmire, continuously shouting and telling them to stop and think.

p/s - And, some of you better memorize “O Canada”, eh?