Well, I wouldn't normally venture to express an opinion on matters political, but since Marc is doing it...
OK. That was technically a lie, so sue me. (And before you do, forget it. I don't have any money, so don't go trying to pull a Bill O'Reilly on me.)
Anyway, far be it from me to dodge the tough questions, so I'm going to give you my opinion on who the next President will be. And the answer is....
I'm calling this one for Kerry.
Yeah, big surprise. Now, just because I think he's going to win, doesn't mean I think he deserves to win (although I can't begin to imagine what 'deserves to win' means in the context of this election.) No, I am probably not surprising anyone if I admit that I don't think he's the best man for the job, but I do think that he's going to be moving into the Whitehouse next January.
The reason is that I think the news this weekend is going to be stuffed full of news on the vanishing explosives (with little mention of the facts but lots of supposition and hand-wringing,) and the FBI investigation of Halliburton. All timed, of course, to arrive at the moment when they will do the most possible damage.
I think the fact of the matter is that with the country spit so evenly that thin sliver of undecided voters will be swayed towards Kerry over the next couple of days and, as we say in England, Bob's your uncle.
In and of themselves, neither story is very interesting or particularly relevant to the election. The explosives, for example, may not have been there when our troops arrived. It certainly seems likely, based on information coming out today, that some 200-odd tons of *something* was moved by our own troops, which apparently comes as a complete shock to the IAEA. Basically a case of paperwork and loose ends not being tied up. What's hilarious is to hear the likes of General Weasel Clarke on the TV saying how these weapons can be used to detonate nuclear weapons. Would that be the non-existent nuclear weapons that you've been braying about so loudly for the past year? Lordy. Hope they don't detonate those.
And the Halliburton probe has been launched by the FBI based on some doubtless impartial whistle-blower who just happened to decide to come forward a week before the election. Huh. Who'd have thought? What are the chances of that? Well, well. Now, could they be telling the truth? Of course. But the timing? It wouldn't be surprising to find out this 'whistle-blower' was also molested by Arnold Schwarzenegger some time in the past, if you catch my drift.
Taken together, the two stories might just be enough to move those poor, timid and confused souls who, amazingly, can't decide what they want from a President, to stick their X by old money-bags; the man of the people, himself.
So. As I said, I'm calling this one for Kerry. It'll be ugly, and while the courts wrangle for weeks over who won, we'll look like a bunch of indecisive idiots, but then, with Kerry in the Whitehouse, we better get used to that.