Nerves

I will confess to having an attack of nerves at the moment, nothing significant (more akin to the anxieties I have about a zombie apocalypse occasionally, my mind tells me its irrational but something about it sets me on edge) but enough to be noticeable. The reason?

What if the McCain / Palin ticket wins tomorrow?

Now I’m not one of the doom-mongers who thinks this will be the end of civilization as we know it – sure it will be a massive setback, but not an insurmountable one – but more the fears of what the political ramifications will be for future American elections. Since 2000 there has been an increasing image that the Republicans have used dirty tricks to win elections and a McCain / Palin win tomorrow will do nothing to prevent a mass of conspiracy theories flashing across the internet like wild fire. This isn’t to say that I think it’s the only way the Repulicans can win, but nothing will prevent this happening if they do.

For better or worse American politics become world politics and an image of a dirty, unelected regime (whether true or not) would have a catastrophic effect on the world. Countries where we (as Westerners) have tried to impose a democratic sysytem will use allegations of scandal as an excuse to remain as they are, after all their system is at least honestly corrupt.

Maybe I’m being a tad cycnical about this. Maybe it’s a lack of sleep, but it’s beginning to worry me a bit because there isn’t anything I can do about it. So tomorrow I think the radio will be on all day at work just so I can see what’s happening and try to remain calm.

After all, if there is a zombie apocalypse there’s likely to be an Emergency Broadcast…