61 replies to this topic

[randomizer]

What chaos will this new president cause? Will he be able to match Bush's record? Time will tell.

[fishtheimpaler]

So anyway this is kind of a neat personal thing just because of something I was in place to witness just four years ago.

I was in law school and teaching what basically amounted to a civics class based around understanding of the legal system at a high school in a heavily black and Hispanic area of the south side of Chicago. I was one of four volunteers and I was the worst. Couldn’t engage the students. Withdrawn by nature, unable to interest them in the things that interested me, or feign interest in the things that interested them. The best volunteer we had was a second year student who was very smart, tended to drink a lot, and was angling for a government job after graduation. He never bothered to teach anything we were supposed to teach and just sat around talking with the students. It being an election year—2004 and all—he asked his students who they supported for President.

Unanimous: Al Sharpton.

My man scoffs, loudly. “Come on!” he says. “There’s no way.”

“Why not?” one of the kids baits him. “’Cause he’s black?”

“Yeah!” he laughs. And it is right about here that he realizes that although he’s very good at relating to the kids conversationally they must secretly look up to him because they are all crushed. He told me in the car afterwards that he’d never seen children so devastated. He’s teaching a civics class, which is basically indoctrination in how great the United States is, and he doesn’t say Al Sharpton can’t possibly get elected because he’s too liberal, because he doesn’t have enough nationwide influence, because he can’t beat Bush; he goes right for the jugular. And then gingerly lets it go: “I mean,” he continues, “that’s not a good thing, uh, that America will never have a black President, and uh uh uh and of course people should be willing to vote for candidates based on the merits of their, ah, positions, and, uh, character, and, uh,” and, uh, he just kept talking, because no one else particularly wanted to talk.

And now that's over and done with, and without even really a fight or anything. It's like America called history's bluff, and holy shit. You wonder what else you can do.

xxx

I think a friend of mine captured my mood pretty well with a report of his own experiences. After the World Trade Centers were destroyed, he says, he had a tremendous sense of fear that terrible, terrible things were going to happen to the nation. And now he's kind of feeling the reverse. So that's good.

Of course everything's still roughly as much in the crapper as it was yesterday. So let's go.

[Deus.EXE]

Shut up.


Obama won.
I'm happy.

Lock Topic.
Because I'm happy.
And that's all that matters.

[Vlad Yvhv]

Well... He may be an evil politician, but at least he seems to be more of a likable evil politician than McCain...

[fishtheimpaler]

So I guess since everyone blames Bush for everything (usually rightly so) from the economy to the common cold right now, that means when Obama gets in office and something goes wrong, I can just go to finger pointing and bitching incessantly, right?

I mean, there's no such thing as double-standards in politics, right?

Pretty much. It only took about a week of Not Stopping Bush to put Congress's approval rating in the tank. I'm already highly anticipating America's Jack Bauer's Security Apparatus to Defend America reverting to UN Alien Conspiracy Black Helicopters again, like back in the Clinton years. Fox can switch back from 24 to the X-Files--which is good, because I like the X-Files much more than 24 (and the mid-90s were when I was a Republican, coincidence)?

[EDIT] From the Wonkette DC gossip blog, attempting to liveblog the Obama victory speech without Obama:

11:48 — Hey, CNN, this article is called “Liveblogging Barack Obama’s Victory Speech,” not “Liveblogging Anderson Cooper Giving Bedroom Eyes To Roland Martin.” Enough. Make Obama come on.
11:50 — Oh right, now that Obama is an American president, we have to hate him. Ahem: “OBAMA IS A WAR CRIMINAL.” Catchy!
11:51 — What is this dumb commercial about the Golden Gate Bridge. Obama is rapidly becoming a terrible president. What is this wait all about? Mitt Romney would’ve been much more Punctual. Just saying…

[Shadow]

Well,I'm canadian and I for one am overjoyed that he got picked.People tend to forget USA affects its neighboring countries.

[chief]

Yea, Black man was popular in Canada

[Ratty Randnums]

So I guess since everyone blames Bush for everything (usually rightly so) from the economy to the common cold right now,

He's responsible for the common cold?

that means when Obama gets in office and something goes wrong, I can just go to finger pointing and bitching incessantly, right?

No, because Bush and his administration turned one of the most prosperous periods in American history into the largest national debt in history. Bush has created problems that can't be fixed in 4 or 8 years if at all.
Well, I mean you can bitch of course, you can bitch about the high price of grain and horse feed to your car if you want to. Just not... logically >.> <.<

I mean, there's no such thing as double-standards in politics, right?

Because there's rarely such a thing as a standard in the fast moving world we live in, much less the politics that go with it, I'd say yeah they are pretty uncommon.



Oh, and my first time voting my candidate won and is also in and of himself symbolic of crumbling racial significance/barriers so Yay! ^^

[Kain Blackwood]

Well, I'm certainly glad Obama won, if more than a wee bit apprehensive about it. I'm not about to envy anyone who has to deal with this mess and as has been pointed out, he's going to get nailed to the wall for everything if we're still in the crapper come this time next year. Poor sucker... ah well, here's hoping for a good run.

[Tristan Palmgren]

Already more than 338. CNN called Indiana for Obama, boosting him up to 349, and neither North Carolina or Missouri have been called yet.

North Carolina! And Missouri! Too close to call!

I never thought I'd see it.

It's also extremely refreshing to see favorable worldwide reactions for once. Especially quotes like, ""On this morning, we all want to be American so we can take a bite of this dream unfolding before our eyes."

Go USA! We didn't fuck it up this time!

[MistressAli]

Well, I didn't end up voting, but I did register which was a step for me, considering I usually totally ignore politics. I'm really glad Obama won though ^^ YAY.
But yeah...he's got a helluva hard job in front of him now. O>O

[Morgan]

I'm apparently a Commie. My state was red. I'm not registered to vote, but I would have voted for Obama, so I'm pretty damn happy he's president.

[chief]

heheheeh Black Man in a white house.... Ok anyways

How long do you think it'll take someone to try to kill him after he enters office?