Writers on the Election

On the eve of Election Day, the Guardian newspaper has asked a few American writers what they think of the presidency of George W. Bush. As you might expect, none have anything good to say about him. There is outrage, there is anger, but there is also humor.  Here’s Tobias Wolff:”When I see someone being rude to a waiter, or blocking the road in a Ford Expedition, or yakking loudly on a cell phone in a crowded elevator, I naturally assume they voted for George W Bush.”

My favorite take–by which I mean the one that comes closest to my own experience–is Aleksandar Hemon’s:

I became an American citizen in November 2000, around the time of the infamous electoral impasse and the Supreme Court decision that gifted George W Bush his first presidency. I had ended up in the USA in 1992 because of the war in Bosnia. For eight years I was an alien resident – a contradiction in terms – before I decided to cross the big threshold and fully enter the home of the brave. Hence my first fledgling-American sentiment was full-fledged embarrassment at the democratic process that allowed the candidate for whom the minority of voters had cast their ballots to become the President of all.

What made things worse was that W was/is the American stereotype come true – ignorant, incurious, congenitally uncomfortable with thought.

You can read the entire piece here.