"What, him again?"

That was the newspaper headline from one of the largest German newspapers today. As you might guess, the German public is not exactly whooping it up in celebration of Bush's victory. And neither am I. To me, this goes beyond politics. I know that I am the kind of person who sees the world through my feelings and intuition rather than through thoughts and senses... and George Bush offends me at ALL of those levels. I feel in my gut, in my heart, that we are heading the wrong direction at breakneck speed. But the people have spoken, even more clearly than last time. How can this be? Don't the American voters understand how we are isolating ourselves from the rest of the world? Don't they see how dangerously and carelessly we are waging this twisted war? Or how we are consuming all of the world's resources and leaving nothing for the others but their hatred and resentment of us? Sooner or later, even this schoolyard bully gets his comeuppance. Face it, folks, the world is not on our side this time.

I had the distinct pleasure this week of working with a group of Canadians, members of an Anglican congregation that wanted to explore its Reformation heritage in this, the cradle of that reforming movement. It was my job to be with them, to discuss the world and their experiences on this journey and what they are taking home with them. And like every conversation this past week, these conversations inevitably drifted to the topic of The Election. Every single person in this group shared my disappointment. Every single one. One hundred percent. And they voiced their opinions in an informed, intelligent and polite way. If this is a representative selection of Canadians (and ones wealthy enough to afford a trip to Germany, at that), then George Bush wouldn't have had a snowball's chance in hell there. And of course he wouldn't. Canadians don't get the Fox network. They don't have this rabid propaganda thrust down their throats at every media opportunity... the mutated, seven-headed beast of consumerism and more more MORE does not rule in Canada. Canada has socialized medicine. Canada has people who still speak with British accents and see the world from a broader perspective. I think Americans tend to forget about Canada. But it's there, and the people are wise. We should learn from our neighbors to the north.