Britain today is finally seeing the error of its ways. It has seen the danger of Blair’s Third Way. It is recovering from political inactivity. Politicians are thinking for themselves. There may be a choice between the two parties at the next election. Not so in the US, who appear to be treading in our erroneous footsteps.

Despite the first black candidate and the first candidate to promise only to stand for one term, the frightening truth is that John McCain and Barak Obama are two candidates who do not really disagree.

Take Iraq – an area where it would appear that the candidates would disagree sharply. But then Obama’s claim never to have voted for the Iraq war carefully glazes over the fact that the vote for the Iraq war was in 2002 and Obama, the Illinois State Senator, had absolutely no say in the matter. Furthermore, without the gift of hindsight, Senator Obama cannot claim that he wouldn’t have supported the Iraq war: Of the fifty-one Democrats in Congress in 2002, twenty-nine voted for the war, including Vice-Presidential candidate Joe Biden.

There is no way out of the Iraq war, even with all the troops withdrawn it will inevitably still be a massive financial drain, like West Germany or Israel, and the sooner that Senator Obama admits this, the less embarrassed President Obama is when he cannot go through with his promise to get out.

There is also a bizarre truth of the 2008 Republican candidate; he is hardly a Republican at all. Take, for example, campaign finance. Campaign finance should, by all accounts, be a very liberal piece of legislation, and yet, the first proper piece of campaign finance reform legislation was the McCain-Feingold law. Not only did Senator McCain sponsor this bill, he also voted to confirm both of President Clinton’s appointments to the Supreme Court, Justices Breyer and Ginsburg, who are the two most liberal justices to have been appointed by a Democrat!

In 1998 McCain went so far as to attack the tobacco-industry with a bill which was supported by the Democrats and the Clinton administration but opposed by most Republicans, where the tobacco lobby is strong. As such, McCain became known as the ‘Maverick Republican’, the only Senator who not only refused to toe the party line, but often actively went against it. Even as recently as 2006 McCain worked on a bill with Ted Kennedy, one of the most liberal and undoubtedly the most respected of Democrats, and there bill on Immigration reforms showed John McCain working so deep in the Democrat camp it really is a wonder that he received the nomination at all.

Even McCain the warmonger, the reason that most ‘liberals’ are so scared of him, could be acting more as a Democrat than a Republican. Considering that McCain has never really toed the party line in the past, there is no reason to believe that his support in the Iraq war comes from his want to support the Republican Party.

What is most worrying, however, is not that the Democrat and Republican parties are about to collide in some sort of colossal mess where no one is really sure what any party stands for, but what comes after.

Once the politics in the United States reaches a central median, it is inevitable that the parties will separate and will be forced to fly back to the fringes, and this is when things get dangerous. As important as it is for political parties to provide a choice, countries which only offer extreme left-wing and right-wing options are even worse off. And as the state of current British politics, as well as the result of the coming United States elections, will result in a split to the political fringes within the next ten years, we are in serious trouble. There is no way that the splintered and fractional societies which we could potentially have in ten years time stand any chance against the unavoidable political explosion which we will soon have to face from China and the Middle-East, let alone North Korea. The effects of this US election are far graver than they appear on the surface, and this is why the similarity of the candidates is deeply worrying.

As we sit on the edge of great political upheaval, we truly are in the eye of the storm.

An unusually high number of attacks on students during Welcome Week this year has forced the University to deploy extra campus security measures.
Additional security patrols will coordinate with police after several students were attacked on campus.

North Yorkshire Police are currently searching for a young male after three separate attacks on students on the morning of Sunday, October 19. Three female students returning from Access All Areas were approached while walking back to Halifax College past the 22 Acres sports pitches.

Police are looking for a male described as being of Indian/Asian origin, aged 20-25 with dark brown hair, thought to have been wearing dark trousers, a t-shirt, jacket and a beanie hat. The suspect is thought to have been lurking by the car park near the sports centre or along the path by the sports fields at around midnight on Saturday night.
The University issued a statement describing the attacks and location, stating: “The police have been informed and are actively pursuing an investigation. Extra University security patrols have been deployed in the area.”
YUSU Academic and Welfare Officer Charlie Leyland urged students to be careful on and off of campus. She said: “You are not exempt to attacks just because you are with other people or because you are male, the recent attacks have highlighted this so please remain vigilant.”
“Students should not walk around with headphones in at night, which leaves them very vulnerable. Porters can also accompany you if you would like to cross campus if it’s late,” she added. “I don’t want to scare people, York is generally a very safe place but as with anywhere, never take risks, for example, because a certain option is cheaper or quicker.”
One victim of the attacks near Halifax, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “It was a frightening experience, and I wouldn’t want it to happen to anyone. It hasn’t been a nice start to my university career and I would like to thank the University, YUSU and the Police for all the support they’ve given me. I know they can’t guarantee your safety, and the safety guidelines seem tedious, but they are definitely valuable and worthwhile,” she added.
Halifax College Chair, David Sharp is currently in talks with the College Provost about improving the lighting along all entrances to the college, particularly those along the infamous ‘rape alley’, which runs into Halifax from Heslington village. Sharp and the Halifax College Students’ Association echoed Leyland’s advice that students should never travel to and from the college alone, and that they avoid the alley after dark.
Welcome Week also saw a number of clashes between university students and local York residents. A number of first year students found themselves victims of verbal abuse in their new town. Luke Simpson, a first year English undergraduate, faced a homophobic attack whilst enjoying his first night out in York.
“A group of local youths approached me and proceeded to launch a tirade of homophobic abuse at me. It wasn’t the greatest welcome to York,” he said.
Hattie Buxton, a first year History of Art student, experienced similar intimidation during her first week: “I felt that the fact I was wearing a University of York hoodie made me a target,” she said, after being subject to comments on her social background and status as a student by local youths.
In response to the recent attacks, Leyland said: “I have been working closely with the University for better safety provisions for off-campus students.”