Posted on 11/15/2004 7:00:19 AM PST by Ginifer
An online war is under way between Americans who want to apologise for the US presidential election results, and those who are happy with the way it turned out.
Sorryeverybody.com started the duel the day after the polls closed, with a picture of its creator holding up a "Sorry World" message.
Since then the site has racked up more than 27 million hits as other people post pictures and view the growing gallery of images.
But the site has also seen the creation of at least eight other websites set up supporters of president George W Bush who believe there is nothing to apologise for.
Polarised net
There is no reason for us to apologize to the rest of the world because of our belief in Freedom and Democracy www.werenotsorry.com
"It was mind-boggling the amount of emotion the website has triggered", said James Zetlen, the 20-year-old creator of the original sorryeverybody.com website.
The student, who is currently studying neuroscience at the University of Southern California, said that since people rarely apologise on the internet, he thought it was high time to do so.
"The world needs to understand that there are people in America who don't like what our government is doing," he said answering questions on the site about why he did it.
"And from the mail we're receiving, there are people in the international community who appreciate this."
But the success of sorryeverybody.com has prompted supporters of President Bush to respond with a number of anti-apology sites, such as werenotsorry.com.
"There is no reason for us to apologize to the rest of the world because of our belief in Freedom and Democracy", read one message left on the site.
Many people are expressing their support or disapproval in very strong terms.
Record visits
The internet was supposed to make communication between cultures, countries and peoples painless and easy... But it doesn't do this automatically; somebody has to reach out.
James Zetlen, sorryeverybody.com
Due to its huge success, Mr Zetlen had to move his site to a private server, after his university complained that it was taking up 82% of its bandwidth.
Now he is asking for donations and placing ads at the bottom of the pages in order to finance the site, which costs about $7,000 per month to operate.
The sites collecting the messages have attracted huge numbers of visitors, both from within and outside the United States.
Sorryeverybody.com includes reaction responses coming from Germany, France, Canada, Australia, Israel, Brazil, China and many other countries.
"On behalf of my country I accept your apology; I know you tried hard", read a message from a German web user.
Mr Zetlen said that his only intention was to promote a global debate on the US election results.
"The internet was supposed to make communication between cultures, countries and peoples painless and easy.
"It was supposed to build bridges. But it doesn't do this automatically; somebody has to reach out. Also, come on, it's kind of amusing."
is there a www.kissmya$$.com web site?
Does one build bridges by planting bombs? I get so confused.
Golly, I just can't see why people say liberals hate America.
" WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
DIVERSITY IS STRENGTH"
children, children, children....
www.STFUlosers.com
That much is true. This is one sorry world.
My guess, there is a kissmya$$.com but its probably not for people under the age of 18.
i'm sorry
-that we're a democracy that believes in equality where the lowest janitor has the same vote as the highest paid CEO.
-that we are free to express our displeasure and frustration on more forums than anybody else in the world - even if we sound like spoiled brats whining for a "do-over"
-that the world thinks that it is wrong for us to look after our own interests for once rather than subordinating them to those who want to do us harm
-that the intellectual elites and their high falutin' yee-haws when bill clinton won with only 43% was greeted with more acceptance then GWB's 52% win in November.
-that America has exported liberalism to the world, poisoning the minds of good people everywhere against us.
-that America is the most successful society that the world has ever seen fueled by the power of a motivated people, and backed by the best fighting force in history.
-that other nations have not been successful in emulating our success and because of that beleive that "sour grape-ing" makes them superior
-that many more people from other nations flee to our shores that ours flee to yours, and that your people prosper over here and breathe free
-that the election showed the will of the people despite all the best efforts of the powerful elites to control our minds and votes.
-that the people of our great land can dissent without fear as opposed to other lands.
-that I had the great fortune to have been born here, thanks to my forefathers who had the foresight and desire to come here from their native lands, and your forefathers didn't have what it took.
-that I love my country, and that my country is worth of that love
-that so many people only love their country when it votes their way.
Sister link: www.ihateamerica.com
sorryeverybody.com??? What has the (beeping) world come to?
Oh my, now that I've actually viewed several of the people, that is one hell of an extraordinarily embarrassing website! I nearly fell out of my chair LMAO!!!
Half of which probably came from Free Republic so we could play with the pictures.
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