For all those who want to come to Canada
Well you can but do it for the right reasons. We do have different values than the States and we seem to be more different every year. Stats bear that out. The States has the power to do things that effect the world in a big way both in for the positive and negative. That's a big responsibility and a lot of power. I'm not sure if America takes that responsibility seriously.
Canada doesn't have that power. When asked Canada to go to Iraq I'm sure the gov't wanted to say " You've got to be crazy man that's a stupid thing to do" but we couldn't as we live next to as elephant. The gov't had to hide behind the UN. Yes we went to the first Gulf war and Afghanistan as those were good ideas. There were those in Canada who said we should go just to keep up good relations . Not because it was the right or smart thing to do because the Americas would be nicer to us on trade issues. It sometime sucks being a nonpowerful country.
We want to decriminalize weed, the gov't and the people, but no we get hassled form the States about it. We can't comment about shit in the States but your gov't feels fine about sticking their nose in.
Anyway, "you" voted Bush in, so you and the rest of the World will have to live with that for the next 4 years. Democracy isn't a great system but nothing has been invented that's better yet.
Opinion of the rest of the world...
Contrary to popular belief, it hasn't been my experience that the rest of the world thinks we are bastards. Travelling and living abroad, it seemed that the majority of people were willing to ask first and accuse later. No one, upon finding out that I was American, ranted to me about how stupid Americans were. Instead, they had the good graces to ask how I felt about the war in Iraq, about 9/11, about Bush, etc., I was not ashamed to be an American; we have an amazing country and an amazing standard of living for which we should be grateful. I do disagree with a lot of things America does, but people abroad know we don't all fit in the same mold. NEITHER DO THEY. Freedom to choose is priceless...
Yes, we're stuck with Bush for another four years, but the numbers show that Americans are split. No one in their right mind will think that all Americans blindly follow where Bush goes. As for me, I voted for Kerry, and am deeply disappointed, but no amount of complaining will change things now; four years from now we have another chance to change things. Until then we have opportunities to make a difference locally. Best wishes to us all.