Considering that all Prezzy elections in the last decade and a half have been won by 51% says that Americans can't really tell the difference between the two liars they are voting for.

The fact that astonishingly low percentages of registered voters even vote indicates that a change in president generally makes little difference in people's lives.

Irish, you'll recall the 2000 elections where the thing was actually stolen in a very American coup (eg. create confusion).

On top of it all is the fact that capitalism is an economic system that /requires/ someone to lose. It requires bankruptcies to occur in order for other people's investments to pay off. So regardless of the party in power, the dictates of capitalism force their hand.

If we could somehow see what would have happened if Kerry had won, I'd bet you that he'd have invaded Iraq too. Business needed the markets. Arab lands are one of the last areas of state-controlled economy left, so we "had" to go in.