Election Day!

You talk about your politics and I wonder if you could be one of them / but you could never kiss a Tory boy without wanting to cut off your tongue again

Today's the UK general election. Couldn't figure out why this was such a foreign concept, given that obsessing over foreign elections, especially UK elections, seems like something that I would have been into. Turns out the last election was five years ago, which was right in the middle of my post-bush antipolitical phase. Also, it wasn't really much of a question that (my beloved) Tony Blair and the Labour government would be reelected.

This time, sad to say, is a different story; I don't need to get into the details, and besides, I'm not exactly qualified to do so, but there is definitely the terrorizing thought of a Conservative government. On a philosophical note, the Tory policies are absolutely idiotic, and will hew to the same lines as fat-boy Chris Christie's rampant destruction of NJ schools, libraries, and other essential public goods. On a personal note, the Tories are the worst of the three when it comes to immigration, and it's not exactly thrilling to be told that they'll be making it even more difficult for me to have the chance to live in the same country as my fiance.

Needless to say, if I had the right to vote over there, I would be voting Lib Dem (and probably doing whatever sort of campaigning they do over there); instead, I'm hoping that all my UK friends do the right thing and keep Cameron from office, and refreshing the Guardian liveblog while at work. The UK's made this mistake before, with Thatcher, and the US has made this mistake even more recently, with Bush. It's not a mistake that we can afford to keep making.

That's my two cents for now; more later tonight, when the results come in.