Posted on 11/07/2004 7:36:07 PM PST by LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget
By Andrea Orr SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The summer of love has given way to the autumn of fear in San Francisco, a liberal stronghold where residents bitterly disappointed by the Bush victory are in no mood to reach out and mend divisions.
Rather, they are waving "United States of Canada" maps, redrawn to show Canada extending down to include California, New England and the other so-called "blue states" that voted decisively for Massachusetts Democratic Sen. John Kerry in the U.S. presidential race.
Some are canceling plans to travel to neighboring "red states," where Bush drew most of his support. They are asking serious questions about the future of American democracy. And the usual post-election bravado about moving out of the country when a favored candidate loses is sounding different this year. It sounds a lot more serious.
"I'm going in on Monday and getting a new passport," said an electronics technician and volunteer at the Green Festival environmental conference who requested anonymity.
"I'm not leaving yet, but I'm getting prepared," he said. "I can imagine that this country is going to get a lot worse before it gets better."
Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a Democrat who competed with Kerry for his party's presidential nomination before backing the senator, urged the crowd at the festival to remain hopeful and connect with the other concerned citizens.
But the questions Kucinich fielded were anything but hopeful.
"Why should we believe we will ever have another fair election in this country?" asked one woman.
After the well-publicized electoral chaos in Florida in 2000, the United States invited international observers to monitor the Nov. 2 election. Despite widespread allegations of electoral fraud before last week's vote, they were unable to substantiate the claims.
The woman's frustration was echoed throughout San Francisco, arguably the most liberal city in one of the most Democratic states in the country. On Tuesday, 83.3 percent of voters in San Francisco County cast their ballots for Kerry, compared with 62.8 percent in Los Angeles County and 54.7 percent statewide.
STAYING OUT OF RED STATES
Peace and tolerance have long been the words to live by in San Francisco, known for its large gay community, broad ethnic mix and frequent anti-war protests. But days after the election, many residents said they were so worried about an erosion of civil rights, environmental standards and the escalating violence in the Middle East, that they did not know how they could tolerate the Bush administration, or Americans who voted to re-elect him.
"I have family in Idaho, but I told my wife we're not going to visit them now. It's all Republicans there," said Ron Schmidt, a public relations executive. "We have family in Indiana and I don't want to go there either."
It was not the reaction George W. Bush must have been hoping for when he made his acceptance speech on Wednesday and told Kerry supporters: "I will need your support and I will work to earn it."
Schmidt said: "The ideologies of the two parties are too different. I don't see how healing can take place. I feel like the disenfranchised minority now, and that's a funny thing for a tall, good-looking white guy like me to say."
Schmidt's friend, magazine editor Joseph Connelly, said one of his columnists who had moved temporarily to Paris six months ago decided Wednesday she would settle there permanently.
"She was hoping she would want to come back," Connelly said, "but after she saw the election results she just didn't."
LOL!
Note to San Francisco.
Neither are we. Stuff it!
Why not just move up to Canada? It's got everything you want: high taxes, nanny-state government, ultra political correctness, Europeanous envy. . . .
Move and you'll raise the I.Q. of two countries.
So uhm.. does this mean we can get all that earthquake/wildfire/mudslide aide back? Cause most of those rescue workers have RED in their hearts.
"It was not the reaction George W. Bush must have been hoping for when he made his acceptance speech on Wednesday and told Kerry supporters: "I will need your support and I will work to earn it."
Andrea, I doubt Dubya's losing any sleep over these losers. He's got a job to finish.
Um. I like GWB a lot, but that's a bit too much of him, even for me.
What a great story. Isn't there a fund set up to help these people leave the country?
Well, I am one Blue State resident who will be visiting a nice, sunny, warm Red State with my family this winter.
She's welcome to stay in Paris in perpetuity. Au revoir, mon amie.
We all have seen a picture of Bush...why slow down our browsing with it?
Har!!!
OK, stay out of the Red States. Now, let's stop shipping food to San Francisco.
And they are preparing for the Winter if Whining.
Sorry, I just figured out how to post pictures. I will stop.
Didn't you ask to count the freckles on his forehead?
And as a bonus, the average IQ in both countries will increase. Bless Canada.
Let me go out on a limb here and say, on behalf of those in the Red States, phew!!! Seriously, I can honestly say that ending Californication of states like Utah, Nevada, Arizona and Colorado would be well received by the residents of those states. Oh, but that won't happen, will it. Nope, not anytime soon BECAUSE NOBODY WANTS TO LIVE IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CALIFORNIA or any of the other socialist states.
These people are stupid as dog shyt. They act like they are doing the country a favor by visiting their states. It is quite the other way around. The blue states better check the damn scoreboard, every ten years they lose more and more EV's that are migrating to the Red States.
Oh great ... now what? Are they going to kick and bite and scratch our eyes out?
no prob per... just resize the pics to a reasonable size ;-) 200K max is a good rule
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