America will be voting for their next president.

Of course, American presidential elections are always quite interesting, with consequences for every one of us.

And Christopher Hitchens, while I disagree with him quite a bit, puts my thoughts into words when he says:

This is what the Republican Party has done to us this year: It has placed within reach of the Oval Office a woman who is a religious fanatic and a proud, boastful ignoramus. Those who despise science and learning are not anti-elitist. They are morally and intellectually slothful people who are secretly envious of the educated and the cultured. And those who prate of spiritual warfare and demons are not just “people of faith” but theocratic bullies. On Nov. 4, anyone who cares for the Constitution has a clear duty to repudiate this wickedness and stupidity.

McCain has been a disappointment. For a man who once denounced US Christian fundamentalists as “agents of intolerance”, his pick of Sarah Palin, who brings nothing to the table except political points with the social conservatives, would have totally lost my vote were a US citizen.

I don’t really see how Tze Kai can still be such a fervent McCain supporter since he strikes me as the “Godless Atheist” type. Hahaha.

And echoing many of my thoughts, my favorite news magazine, The Economist endorses Obama.

I think many of my friends have libertarian leanings, being socially liberal and market-friendly types. (Of course, how we square our libertarianism with our apparent fondness for authoritarianism under the PAP is a question for another day.)

But I suppose libertarians in the US would fall into two types. One, is the “Democrats want to impose socialism” type; the other, is the “Republicans want to establish a theocracy” type.

Clearly, Obama’s anti-trade, trade union friendly rhetoric is worrisome, especially for us here in Singapore.

But Sarah Palin is far more viscerally revolting.

I know many of us, once skeptics of Obama and supporters of McCain, who withdrew our support when Palin was announced.

And really, I’m tired of all this talk about “elitism”.

To me, people cry “elitism!” simply when an elite denounces a non-elite’s views, and frowns heavily upon them. But of course people will disagree with each other, and to demand someone considered an “elite” to be “nice” and “respect” other people is simply a call for political correctness.

I will not respect views that do not deserve to be respected (ie, ignorant and dangerous views), whether they are held by elites or non-elites. And if someone accuses me of being “elitist” whenever I denounce any view, whatever. Fakoff and Dai. (Hahahahaha, I love that stupid door sign.)

Oh, and I hate it when people say that it is a “myth” that elites exist. Some people are better, smarter, cleverer, more brilliant, than others. I am better than some people, many many people are better than me.

Oh, and one other thing. I am also getting tired of people bemoaning “political apathy” in Singapore. I do not see it as an obviously bad thing if people mind their own business, take good care of themselves, and don’t care about issues when they are not involved.

Clearly, I do not consider myself a politically apathetic person; I just don’t see a big problem with people being apathetic.

To call someone politically apathetic is to bemoan the fact that the person is not interested in the same issues as you.

So there! Both “elitist!” and “politically apathetic” are terms used to whine about the fact that differences exist amongst people. Perhaps I shall elaborate more another time.

For now, back to mugging. Can’t wait for it all to be over…