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| I have yet to understand the fascination of the Guardian with the minutiae of US presidential elections. Obama was elected as the candidate of change. He promised to get rid of Guantánamo, introduce a comprehensive national health service, and establish a new relationship in the Middle East and in America's informal empire. Instead Guantánamo and the dark prisons still function, healthcare is still under the control of the same companies, relationships with the Gulf autocracies are unchanged, along with support for Israel's every move, and drone wars that are an affront to international law are bringing terror to Pakistan and the Horn of Africa. Time was when, at least domestically, there was some major difference of principle between the two major US parties, be it the question of civil rights (Kennedy v Nixon) or the Big Society (Johnson v Goldwater). Elections in which, whoever wins, nothing is guaranteed to change are the ultimate in capitalist democracy. We are fast moving to a similar situation in Britain. Would it be too much to ask that, instead of concentrating on the trivia and froth, you ponder deeper questions such as what kind of democracy it is where you have to raise a billion dollars to win? Tony Greenstein Brighton, East Sussex | I have yet to understand the fascination of the Guardian with the minutiae of US presidential elections. Obama was elected as the candidate of change. He promised to get rid of Guantánamo, introduce a comprehensive national health service, and establish a new relationship in the Middle East and in America's informal empire. Instead Guantánamo and the dark prisons still function, healthcare is still under the control of the same companies, relationships with the Gulf autocracies are unchanged, along with support for Israel's every move, and drone wars that are an affront to international law are bringing terror to Pakistan and the Horn of Africa. Time was when, at least domestically, there was some major difference of principle between the two major US parties, be it the question of civil rights (Kennedy v Nixon) or the Big Society (Johnson v Goldwater). Elections in which, whoever wins, nothing is guaranteed to change are the ultimate in capitalist democracy. We are fast moving to a similar situation in Britain. Would it be too much to ask that, instead of concentrating on the trivia and froth, you ponder deeper questions such as what kind of democracy it is where you have to raise a billion dollars to win? Tony Greenstein Brighton, East Sussex |
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