The lyrics of Julian Cope are suddenly very appropriate:

She sings world shut your mouth
Shut you mouth
Put your head back in the clouds
And shut your mouth

Why? Red Line Rants links to a simply amazing article from last week's Guardian. Jonathan Freedland thinks that the world should be able to vote in America's Presidential election. WTF? Is he high? Well, probably, but his actual "reason" is that since America has the ability to affect the rest of the world the rest of the world should have a say in electing our President.

It may sound wacky, but the idea could not be more American. After all, the country was founded on the notion that human beings must have a say in the decisions that govern their lives. The rebels' slogan of "No taxation without representation" endures two centuries later because it speaks about something larger than the narrow business of raising taxes. It says that those who pay for a government's actions must have a right to choose the government that takes them.

Now, I know that Mr. Freedland probably wrote this article to piss off Americans like me and I shouldn't take the bait. But, you know, it's a Monday. In any case, he misses the point of his quote. First, "no taxation without representation". Is the rest of the world taxed by America? Nope. Instead Americans give billions to other nations. So, is he proposing that the rest of the world pay taxes with the money going into American's coffers? Or, does he think the citizens of Europe, for example, should be able to vote in our elections and still not pay taxes? Hmm, somehow I do think that "representation with no taxation" could be more American. I'm just saying...

Freedland somehow thinks that the rest of the world needs to give their consent to be governed by America. Perhaps I'm missing something, but is America governing the EU? Or Japan? Or even Iraq? No, we're not. Unlike Europeans and their precious Union, we actually still believe in the concept of sovereignty.

Euroweenies like Freedland are ticked off by two things. First, that America is far more powerful than their shriveled empires. Second, that we persist in electing leaders that put America first, rather than bowing to their European betters.

As Tyler from Red Line Rants put it, "You want to vote in an American election? Simple. Move to America. We'd love to have you. We'll have some extra room too once all of the celebrities and DU'ers clear out after November... "