.
Please Vote

If you live in the United States, today is a very significant day. It is the day of our mid-term elections. Please, if you are able to do so, vote. I encourage you to examine the article below. In my opinion, it would be very beneficial to elect as many Democrats as possible in this election in order to to politically CASTRATE Bush and decrease his ability to (insert a coarse word for "copulate", here) with our nation and world.

Poll Ranks Bush as Most Dangerous Leader

Reprinted from the Guardian.

LONDON, Nov 3: America is now seen as a threat to world peace by its closest neighbours and allies, according to an international survey of public opinion published today that reveals just how far the country's reputation has fallen among former supporters since the invasion of Iraq.

Carried out as US voters prepare to go to the polls next week in an election dominated by Iraq, the research also shows that British voters see George Bush as a greater danger to world peace than either the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, or Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Both countries were once cited by the US president as part of an `axis of evil�, but it is Mr Bush who now alarms voters in countries with traditionally strong links to the US.

The survey has been carried out by the Guardian in Britain and leading newspapers in Israel (Haaretz), Canada (La Presse and Toronto Star) and Mexico (Reforma), using professional local opinion polling in each country.

It exposes high levels of distrust. In Britain, 69 per cent of those questioned say they believe US policy has made the world less safe since 2001, with only seven per cent thinking action in Iraq and Afghanistan has increased global security.

The finding is mirrored in America's immediate northern and southern neighbours, Canada and Mexico, with 62 per cent of Canadians and 57 per cent of Mexicans saying the world has become more dangerous because of US policy.

Even in Israel, which has long looked to America to guarantee national security, support for the US has slipped.

Only one in four Israeli voters say that Mr Bush has made the world safer, outweighed by the number who think he has added to the risk of international conflict, 36 per cent to 25 per cent. A further 30 per cent say that at best he has made no difference.

Voters in three of the four countries surveyed also overwhelmingly reject the decision to invade Iraq, with only Israeli voters in favour, 59 per cent to 34 per cent against. Opinion against the war has hardened strongly since a similar survey before the US presidential election in 2004.

In Britain 71per cent of voters now say the invasion was unjustified, a view shared by 89per cent of Mexicans and 73per cent of Canadians. Canada is a Nato member whose troops are in action in Afghanistan. Neither do voters think America has helped advance democracy in developing countries, one of the justifications for deposing Saddam Hussein. Only 11 per cent of Britons and 28per cent of Israelis think that has happened.

As a result, Mr Bush is ranked with some of his bitterest enemies as a cause of global anxiety. He is outranked by Osama bin Laden in all four countries, but runs the al-Qaida leader close in the eyes of UK voters: 87per cent think the Al Qaeda leader is a great or moderate danger to peace, compared with 75 per cent who think this of Mr Bush.

The US leader and close ally of Tony Blair is seen in Britain as a more dangerous man than the president of Iran (62 per cent think he is a danger), the North Korean leader (69 per cent) and the leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah (65 per cent).

Only 10 per cent of British voters think that Mr Bush poses no danger at all. Israeli voters remain much more trusting of him, with 23 per cent thinking he represents a serious danger and 61per cent thinking he does not.

Contrary to the usual expectation, older voters in Britain are slightly more hostile to the Iraq war than younger ones. Voters under 35 are also more trusting of Mr Bush, with hostility strongest among people aged 35-65.

PipeTobacco