Last week, I spoke to an American, a Peace Corps volunteer. As luck would have it, he's from Ohio. I haven't seen him again, so I haven't ribbed him yet for letting his home state deliver the coup de grace to Kerry. But when I see him this weekend, for sure some more abuse is going his way. I already rag him about being a CIA agent, and that he's collecting snippets for our dossiers that are on file with the embassy
Hollywood Halloween
by Joseph T. Gonzales
November 7, 2004
Wednesday turned out to be a horrible day. I asked my Teutonic friend what he was doing that night, and he texted back: "Dinner. And get drunk because of the historical disaster in the US"
Which was pretty much the sentiment expressed that night. Every single person I talked to was horrified that Kerry had lost, and that Bush, even after all the bashing that had made the rounds, had won yet another election.
Just a couple of nights before, I had dinner with a Singapore Straits Times editor. All right, all right, that was too pompous. He wasn't in the political commentary arena, he was a lifestyle editor and a food critic.
In any case, while analyzing the food and determining whether it was good enough to be featured in the Straits Times, talk gravitated towards the ongoing elections. Me and three other Singaporeans all cast our ballots, and the results were unanimous. The exit polls showed Kerry was our man.
It wasn't as if we really believed in Kerry or knew his platform. I think it was more like we didn't want Bush re-elected. Ceph, owner of a boutique ad agency in Singapore, slammed him for his environmental protection record. I, on the other hand, opposed Bush for his stance on abortion, gay marriage, and the environment (which just goes to prove that I am not a single-issue voter. I'm a three-issue voter)
And it wasn't just those of Asian or European provenance that disliked Bush. Last week, I spoke to an American, a Peace Corps volunteer. As luck would have it, he's from Ohio. I haven't seen him again, so I haven't ribbed him yet for letting his home state deliver the coup de grace to Kerry. But when I see him this weekend, for sure some more abuse is going his way.
I already rag him about being a CIA agent, and that he's collecting snippets for our dossiers that are on file with the embassy. My French roommate also pitches in with her gentle digs at Americana, borne from the recently strained Franco-American relations. Now, with this Ohio-an tragedy, we have major ammunition for when we see him next.
Poor guy, it's not as if he's Republican. In fact, he's the only Democrat in his family. It's all his fault, he should have gone home for the elections and campaigned, instead of sharing anecdotes with us non-voters about Bush not knowing the difference between Sweden and Switzerland. (For non-believers, I refer you to the front pages of the New York Times).
News reports had it that a survey, conducted on Americans living abroad, showed a marked predisposition towards Kerry. That was in tune with the voting preference of our Peace Corps dude, resident of Cebu for the past year, as well as other volunteers he had introduced over the past few months. It kinda makes you wonder whether all Americans should be forced to live abroad, a couple of years in their lives, so they can understand how American foreign policy affects the rest of the world.
Of course, we shouldn't ignore the actual results, which showed that the East and West coasts favored Kerry, as opposed to those living in the Midwest and the Bible belt. Symptoms of global sophistication on the part of the coastal residents, and insularism on the part of those living in the middle?
At the gym last Wednesday, the general manager of this international hotel chain, a Kiwi boy, was huffing and puffing beside me. HBO was showing another stupid film starring Adam Sandler. The Kiwi GM asked me, a bit condescendingly (or maybe I was just being defensive) if I was watching the movie. I looked at him and in my best withering tone said, "I don't watch crappy movies catering to American voters." We got a good laugh at that one, and of course, ended up talking about the elections. (Guess what his preference was).
If movies about losers in frayed shirts and baggy jeans become big hits, and give star power to actors who portray inarticulate leading men, should I still be wondering about why Bush won in America?
I just wish somebody had warned me this movie would turn out to be a horror flick.
