Pajamas Media

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1. What I Saw at the Obama Revolution:

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Nov 6, 2008 - 12:40 am 2. portia9:

Obama supporters are in for a big surprise. As a newly naturalized citizen who was a Democrat briefly this year, I diligently investigated all my potential choices for POTUS. I settled on Hillary Clinton, because as a (formerly) dyed in the wool social democrat, I thought she offered the right kind of pragmatic solutions. I then embarked on the insane roller coaster ride that is American politics.

I stuck with Hillary right up until the convention in August, where I witnessed the obscene behavior of the Democrats when they denied her the chance for an open roll call. Even though I had already witnessed the astonishing violation of party rules by the party to benefit The One, I was still flabbergasted by the Democrats treatment of one of their most distinguished party members.

I briefly flirted with the idea of supporting Obama until the behavior of his cultists and his own secretive and sometimes bizarre behavior drove me running wildly in the opposite direction. I voted McCain/Palin. I voted for my incumbent Republican Congressman. I voted against my Governor because she came out early for Obama. All for naught, apparently.

Anyway, in my due diligence I discovered many things about our President Elect. Many of them have been discussed on this site and others like it, but the most important thing I realized was that Barack Obama does not value this country the way I do. Let me elucidate.

Where I come from, no matter how smart you are, no matter how hard you work you are extremely unlikely to ever achieve the kind of success that is available to citizens of the U.S. If by some unbelieveble stroke of fortune you do achieve it, you will be taxed very heavily, penalized really, for your efforts. There is no can-do spirit. There is nothing like the “American Dream” because that dream exists nowhere but here.

Everything that I have learned about President Elect Obama leads me to believe that he does not cherish the American Dream. He does not believe in it, although, ironically, he is a prime beneficiary of it. He would rather remake this country in the image of those his friends and allies like William Ayers cherish. Socialist countries. Communist countries.

In the decade I have lived here, I have come to realize just how precious the much maligned “American Dream” really is. I was taught as a university student in Canada that it is a fiction, but I have learned through living here that it is real. Socialism is not the answer for this country. America has made a devastating choice this election. I only hope that he will not be able to change this country so much that it will be unrecognizable in four years.

Nov 6, 2008 - 12:41 am 3. Rachel Peepers:

Rick’s title, “What I saw at the Obama Revolution.”

My title, “What you won’t see now that the Obama Revolution is underway.”

You won’t see the faces.

More than five million faces.

Because they’ll be underground.

At Grant Park, they raised their voices for Obama the victor.
But not a one voice was raised for the unborn, the vanquised.

Nov 6, 2008 - 1:08 am 4. jvon:

I’d like to believe this, but I think the next four years will largely be about limiting the damage that Obama can do by expanding the scope and powers of the Federal government. People liked to blather on endlessly about the evils of the Patriot Act (likely to be renewed without much discussion now that Bush is gone), but they will soon see what big government really looks like, if Obama can figure out way to pay for it. God help us if he can.

Nov 6, 2008 - 1:24 am 5. fear Obama:

I suppose I got caught up in the emotion of the night due almost exclusively to the genuine and copious tears of black Americans. The ones I spoke to and interviewed were nearly speechless with joy. With a start, I realized something that had escaped me all these long months of writing and thinking about this race. For many African-Americans, this election was a spiritual event

It reminded me of a black church meeting. Everyone jumping up and down and feeling the ‘Spirit’. But the good feeling ended quickly when the world markets began looking into this new presidents desires for tax and spend and American isolation on the World Trade markets and NAFTA. Also his desires to withdraw American forces from Iraq and whatever else he plans to do in Afghanistan or Pakistan. Remember: “I will do whatever it takes to get Bin Laden.” When the market dropped almost ‘500′ points I knew then that we don’t have to worry about a Democrat controlled Congress or a Black president. The world is now out of any presidents or Congressional control, Go ask the president that is leaving office. Going back and trying to stop NAFTA or World Trade is impossible, we no longer have a manufacturing base. We have been sold to the cheapest bidder, China, India or wherever. Hell, even China stopped making Disney toys and Barbies for Christmas. What is Mattel planning to do?
In conclusion- anything Spiritual this president tries to do or use control against the markets will die in the World Trade of cold hard facts. And those poor black people that were crying and weeping for joy will wake up to the harsh reality that Mr. Obama is no Messiah or Moses, he will not ‘fill their gas tanks and make their mortgage payments,’ because the World Trade Markets wont let him, go ask Barney Frank and Chris Dodd.

Nov 6, 2008 - 1:27 am 6. beerstine:

The younger generation’s true political legacy won’t be known for many more years, and last night was but the first chapter in it.

Anyone under the age of 30 has no memory of Carter’s “malaise”, stagflation, or the national humiliation of the Iran hostage crisis. They’re mere lines in a history book. They didn’t see how the idealism of the 60s devolved into the destruction of families, breakdown of societal norms amid misguided and futile attempts to “control” the economy.

Save but the first two years of Clinton, they have never seen Democrats in total control and ultimately responsible for the policies they impose on the country. Republicans either as President or in Congress represent “old” to them, and Republicans ignore that at their peril. But the youthful impulse either for idealism or for amorphous “change” has not yet met the reality of governance, with its inherent comprimises, failures and unexpected events.

Just as many former hippies and hangers on from the 60s became Reagan voters once confronted by reality, so too will many of these enthusiastic and naive voters reassess their views later in life.

Should events or misjudgements overcome Obama, the reassessment could be swift. Long-term, the younger generations will eventually be faced with the reality that they will be forced to pay for the governmental excesses of their elders (sadly, Bush has contributed greatly to this). They will realize that government cannot provide economic security for their parents and grandparents while guaranteeing their prosperity as well.

Nov 6, 2008 - 1:56 am 7. RE:

I see a wave of mass delusion that reality has yet to catch up with. It will soon enough though, and it is not going to be pretty. Prudent people will have contingency plans.

Nov 6, 2008 - 3:28 am 8. Tony:

Rick says;

“Will he be able to resist the gimlet eyed, partisan extremists in his own party and prevent them from hijacking his agenda?”

Simple answer = no

Reid, Pelosi and the rest of the Democrat cronies will smother his political “change” ideals while Jackson, Sharpton et al will hijack any hopes of him becoming a “post-racial” president – just wait until the first time he refuses one of their demands….

The youngsters and the centrists who voted for him are in for a very rude awakening when they see just how ineffectual Obama will be. And thats not to say his intentions aren’t genuine – they just aren’t realistic. And while his voters wait for a few years to work this out for themselves the US’s enemies will be busy sharpening their knives against a weakened superpower.

The first black President is a great great thing on many levels but his liberal ideals could be a disaster.

Nov 6, 2008 - 4:33 am 9. early retirement:

If Obama causes small business owners more pain and tax increases to pay for his Unlimited Health Care and ‘Distribution of the Wealth’, small business owners will no longer hire my baby boom generation and I will have to retire early. I had planned to work until I am 80. But just
Imagine 60 million of us having to go on early social security. Many of his youth voters can’t even take care of themselves.
His dreams of Universal Health Care and ‘Distribution of the Wealth’ will become a joke.

Nov 6, 2008 - 4:35 am 10. milan:

My view from the other side…
Many people in the US await too much of the new president… He isn’t and he will not be in so strong position as his supporters think… The world is in 2008 year, no in the 1960s… It isn’t a victory only – it is a short come back to the 1960s… and for many americans satisfaction or something alike… I am sorry, but the americans are divided more as they are able to imagine after this elections… In big chaos around poll and “Obama mania”, you are forgetting for a reality of the present days around the world. The one is more dangerous and economy complicated for easy solutions, for so young president… Without strong cooperation with skilled “old political wolves” he doesn’t have any chance to do “changes…” He oneself is like a tree in the desert… At the conclusion, I would say: the election story was nice, but the reality will be several time harder… But it’s politics… The US president has huge resposibility no for the USA only, but also for this globe. And it’s a big one. I cross fingers for succes only…

Nov 6, 2008 - 4:37 am 11. Cato:

Color me unimpressed. The thought that the people who trashed this country in the late ’60s – after having run it under JFK’s Camelot – have now won the culture wars and that the ideas that founded this country have essentially been replaced by the twaddle of the self-help movement and the Antiamericanism of the left makes my blood boil.

Obama will not heal this country. And, now the Democrats own ALL the problems. They should have to govern without a single Republican vote on any issue at all.

Nov 6, 2008 - 4:53 am 12. Anton:

To many groups this seems like a love-affair with Obama,an uncritical teary-eyed embrace. The problem being that each group has projected a different (and often conflicting) vision on the “blank slate”.
When these lovers all find that he is not faithful to them who will they turn upon? Each other or Obama? Who will HE turn to?
He has made more promises than can ever be fulfilled and now must pick and choose who will be disappointed and who be made happy. It stikes me that this is a type of work with which he is very unfamiliar.

Nov 6, 2008 - 5:14 am 13. David Thomson:

“That remains to be seen. But there is little doubt that the potential for some kind of healing has presented itself with the election of Barack Obama as president.”

Healing? There was widespread fraud committed in Barack Obama’s campaign. It collected untold millions of dollars in illegal contributions because top bosses, possibly even the candidate himself, ordered the disabling of the default settings on the website’s software. When will the U.S. Justice Department began an investigation? And yes, there is a very good possibility that Obama should be sent to prison. If such criminal activity had occurred in John McCain’s campaign—it would have resulted in non-stop headlines.
How can their be any healing when it is obvious that people of color in our politically correct culture can apparently can away with flagrantly breaking the law? We now have a justice system that is apparently only interested in arresting and convicting white Republicans.

Nov 6, 2008 - 5:27 am 14. MichelleObi:

Politicians don’t heal Americas, Americans heal Americans. Politicians just sign legislation when the people fight for causes. It’s a little embarassing and contrary to history that someone would think Obamas election symbolizes the death of racism. Bigotry and racism will, like anti-semitism always exist. However, for over 200 years African-Americans have triumph across the board in spite of it. It’s we the people not we the politicians-please-help-and-save us.

Nov 6, 2008 - 6:10 am 15. fear Obama:

David said:
Healing? There was widespread fraud committed in Barack Obama’s campaign. It collected untold millions of dollars in illegal contributions because top bosses, possibly even the candidate himself, ordered the disabling of the default settings on the website’s software. When will the U.S. Justice Department began an investigation? And yes, there is a very good possibility that Obama should be sent to prison. Obama would never be impeached, even if the justice dept proved High Crimes and Misdemeanors. The Democrat Congress would never allow it to happen- And the thoughts of that dumb Joe Biden VP as president is to horrible to contemplate.

Nov 6, 2008 - 6:29 am 16. RE:

Healing? Ha!

After the treatment of Sarah Palin and Joe the Plumber, the slander of our troops, and vilification tactics in general, the rise of the Olbermanns, Matthews, Huffpo, and DailyKos types, and media dishonesty, and corruptiuon of the process by the likes of ACORN, things are worse than they have ever been.

Far, far worse.

Nov 6, 2008 - 6:29 am 17. jerryofva:

Just remember that Obama cannot succeed unless he changes his mind on his basic policies. Everything he has tried, i.e., spread the wealth, national healthcare, cap and trade and protectionism has been tried and has failed. Europe is struggling mightily to throw off the bonds of the welfare state. They are backing away from cap and trade and looking for ways to better deliver healthcare. How is possible that the laws of human nature and economics are different here?

Joe Biden has told us that Obama is not ready for the first international crisis that he will face. Joe Biden has told us that Obama will fail. Obama, as Jerrold Nadler told us, lacks political courage. How will find the inner strength to make a decision? He has always been a buck passer and now he will be sitting at the desk where there is nobody to pass the buck to.

There are multiple dangers awaiting this nation but perhaps the most serious one is the effect on racial relations in this country if Obama cannot overcome his past and adopts policies that will lead to economic decline at home and disaster abroad.

The ball is in his court, he cannot continue to blame Bush and he can’t pass the buck. The country will survive the next four years but indeed change has arrived. Change is not always a good thing. I have feeling that the voters in the middle, the so-called wise independents, will soon be nostalgic for good times we had under Bush. My advice to those who knew better is don’t let get away with we didn’t know excuse. They knew or could have if they chose to think things through.

Nov 6, 2008 - 6:41 am 18. Scott:

Obama lied…Unborn Children Died

Obama is an illegitimate president, he stole this election with massive voter fraud and illegal foreign contributions.

His wife and his friends hate this country and our military.

Just trying to get warmed up here…playing offense can be a lot more fun than playing defense. This clown will get the same chance that Bush got. NONE.

Nov 6, 2008 - 6:43 am 19. White Man Tony:

David Thomson,

Yes, I agree that Barack may have broken his promise on campaign financing but so did McCain on running a fair campaign. Let’s not forget that if McCain wasn’t trying to attack Barack’s character with everything under the sun (elitist, anti-patriotic, terrorist, baby-killer, socialist, anti-”joe the Plumber”), the Obama campaign wouldn’t have had to spend so much money to combat McCain’s negativity.

By the way, you should really research the facts about injustice when it relates to white and blacks who commit criminal acts. It’s on record the blacks recieve longer sentences for the same crime that whites commit (so lets not make this a racial issue). It’s acutally money runs our justice system (think O.J. Simpson).

Nov 6, 2008 - 6:51 am 20. Matt:

*The ball is in his court, he cannot continue to blame Bush and he can’t pass the buck.*

I suspect this particular excuse will survive during Obama’s presidency. Anything that goes wrong overseas, is a result of the “failed policies of George W. Bush”. The economy, as it continues to tank (see Dow, The), will be a trickle down effect from Bush’s presidency. They will say Obama did not have the time to fix the mess Bush made so clearly, it is neither he nor the democratic congress fault when this economy nosedives. The worst part about the democrats is you and I expect them to face problems like most of us would- head on, with an eye towards fixing the problem and taking responsibility if its not fixed. Democrats across the board seek to avoid responsibility and pass blame, usually onto a conservative.

Though apparently now that Obama will be president, America will have no enemies and the Messiah will talk all of our enemies into loving America as much as he does.

Nov 6, 2008 - 7:01 am 21. jerryofva:

Fear Obama:

A President cannot be impeached for crimes that he committed prior to his election. Since the wheels of justice can’t move fast enough I suggest you put away your fantasies.

Scott:

The fraud was massive but it didn’t effect the outcome of the election. It is pretty clear that vote fraud helped Obama win Indiana and maybe Ohio but his margin of victory was big enough that it didn’t matter. Now I am not suggesting that we shouldn’t care but I don’t want Republicans to go off into the wilderness chanting “we was robbed.” The election was not that close.

Nov 6, 2008 - 7:06 am 22. tom:

obama’s election is like Woodstock
all idealistic, warm and wonderful
and plenty of dillusional kool-aid for all the followers

the coming year is like Altamont
when idealism turns to grim reality all over one persons ego

Nov 6, 2008 - 7:25 am 23. Saltherring:

The leftist media will protect the Obama administration for the first year or so by blaming George Bush for all the nation’s problems, foreign or domestic. Then reality will begin to set in for the mass collective of naive young fools who danced and partied on election night. Dreamers like “Peggy the Moocher”, who proclaimed she would no longer need to work to pay for gas and her mortgage because Obama would help, begin to give up their wait at the mailbox. The “sharing of the wealth” tax hikes have bit much deeper into the middle class than promised and the anger and grumbling begin. The recession has deepened and premature withdrawl from Iraq allow terrorist insurgents to regroup and rearm. Shan-gri-la begins to spring some leaks. Obama smiles for the cameras and booms that the Bush recession has delayed his healthcare and jobs programs. His once trusted media shills begin to question the messiah’s resolve and dedication to “the cause”. Open conflict erupts between Obama and the leftist Pelosi/Reed Congress as the President pleads for patience and compromise. Cabinet and staff posts become revolving doors as mis-cast idealists are replaced by seasoned pragmatists and Washington “insiders”. Republicans bide their time and sit back to watch the show. Scandals continue to plague The One as media reports of campaign finance “irregularities” and illegal voters gain traction. By summer of 2010 the Republican message begins to resonate. Mid-term elections bring a swarm of conservative Republicans into both houses as America learns a lesson that requires re-teaching every generation (1932,1964,1976,1992) or so, and that lesson is: Socialism is doomed to failure!

Nov 6, 2008 - 7:26 am 24. Bob:

Scott said:

“This clown will get the same chance that Bush got. NONE.”

With our ‘mainstream’ press? He’ll get a month of Sundays worth of chances.

Any failings he does encounter, of course, will be described as the inevitable result of the eight years of his predecessor’s failed policies.

Nov 6, 2008 - 7:37 am 25. Susan E. Gooch:

What I saw at the victor rally was a sea of late teen and early twenties kids. Citizens that haven’t even learned what life is truely about yet. And they are the ones that really contributed to the election of Obama. They have NO IDEA of what this new President will do or not do for them. I will take on a wait and see policy and WAIT to see if he works for this country and it’s citizens, or if he works strictly for his party and himself. I LOVE my country, and have the highest respect for whoever is the President. But, each new President has to EARN my respect. God Bless Susie

Nov 6, 2008 - 7:38 am 26. RE:

jerryofva:

Nobody is saying ‘we was robbed’. But people are saying that any and all voter fraud is outrageous, serious, and should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. The notion that is did not affect the outcome and therefore it’s not so bad is totally unacceptable.

The tolerance that some show for the couurption of our institutions is infuriating.

Nov 6, 2008 - 7:43 am 27. democrat08obama:

this just sounds like a lot of racism here. obama won get over it. mccain didnt get the job done and he had his chance, twice. obama has gotten everyone involved and is going to make a difference up and down the age scale. yall need jesus.

Nov 6, 2008 - 7:54 am 28. Reggie:

Were any of you people paying attention over the last 8 years when Conservative, free-market, republican leadership drove this economy into a ditch? Were any of you around when the first Bush took office and we had to spend billions in a savings and loan bail-out? Funny, all I ever hear from Republicans is how we should be self reliant. “Live the american dream, take care of your own problems”. Right up until their greedy little hands break whatever financal system they touch. Then we have to bail-out millionaires. ENOUGH!!! If we’re going to spend billions of dollars, lets spend some on POOR AMERICANS rather than POOR Iraqis or RICH Americans. That’s not socialism, that’s Christian. Helping people less fortunate. Look it up. Stop assuming everyone less fortunate is lazy or stupid. Plenty of people work hard in this country for 7.00 an hour with no health insurance. They deserve a break more than some hedge fund manager needs a new Lexus.

Nov 6, 2008 - 7:59 am 29. AnninCA:

My prediction is that Obama will not be expected to do much more than just be the first AA president. If he accomplishes little, it won’t be a big deal.

Nov 6, 2008 - 8:00 am 30. jerryofva:

Re:

I never said is was tolerable. I said don’t get hung up on it. We have better things to do then rail about it for the next four years and the lose again.

Nov 6, 2008 - 8:04 am 31. outsiderlookingon:

I am just a concerned outsider looking on and I really wonder what you were all thinking when you voted for Mr. Obama. He has become your idol/messiah which is a dangerous thing for you to do. It will be the downfall of your nation. America is a great nation, God bless with hardworking people, and just to see what the young ones of have done it is sad.

In this day and age, the young people do not have a clue on how to work hard to achieve something in life, they only see the *get rich now* which is a terrible syndrome. You all have to find a way to educate the young ones of today that life is not made up that way, you have to work, and work hard to achieve better in life. Handouts are not not, it will promote a lazy nation. Believe, me I know, because of the country I live in.

I just wish you all the best and just hold on to God, he will guide you all.

A people without a vision will perish. Putting someone on the pedestal as a Messiah is disastrous. Remember, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me”. “Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me” (Exodus 20:3 & 5).

May the good Lord help you all.

Nov 6, 2008 - 8:08 am 32. Reggie:

and as for thompson talking about America wanting to convict only white republicans… you must be high. Blacks get longer jail senteces for the same crimes, are much more likely to go to jail for a crime against a white than a white would for commiting a crime against a black , and blacks are more likely to get on death row for the same crime. Seriously…Poor little white people, we only control 88% of government, rather than our usuall 93%.” “I won’t be able to afford a BMW AND a vacation in Cabo without Bush’s tax cuts”…please.

Nov 6, 2008 - 8:22 am 33. John Kaduk:

One of the major problem with most young people (which I am) is that they don’t know anything about about Vietnam or Korea or the Cold War or WWII for that matter. To them socialism/marxism is just trying to be “fair.” They have no idea what socialism and marxism really means or what it leads to so Obama’s clear marxist leanings do not scare them. Voting for change or a “different direction” is extremely dangerous when you can’t name what that change really is or how you will get there.

Nov 6, 2008 - 8:41 am 34. Rotwang:

No one on the left ever called Obama “the Messiah.” That was a slur invented by the right-wing pundits.

We’re very happy just to call him “Mr. President,” thank you.

If conservatism hadn’t failed at every level, on every issue, McCain might have stood a chance.

We had a gunslinger in a flight-suit. Now we have someone who thinks in complete sentences. Let’s see how that works.

Nov 6, 2008 - 9:08 am 35. bear:

Reggie, you’re naive. Learn how to analyze a problem before you make accusations about orign. I’m sure you’d then realize that both parties are complicit in the problems the country faces. But most partisans refuse to take responsibility for anything. That’s Politics. I do hope Obama proves that he is equal to the task. One thing is sure, HE will have to change now that he is in office. The political realities will hit him hard once he has his intelligence briefings.

You know what a wise man once said: Let he without sin cast the first stone.

Nov 6, 2008 - 9:26 am 36. fear Obama:

(#27) Oh! NO! – there is that word-…….. Racism.

So if Democrats slam Bush and call him a BusHitler it is Ok!

But if we slam Obama because the world fears his policy’s,
get this,

We are Racist!

/cant believe you used the word racism and Jesus in the same paragraph?

Sheeeeesh!

Nov 6, 2008 - 9:35 am 37. AnninCA:

I honestly think there’s a tad bit of naivete’ in thinking Obama will worry one bit about delivering on promises.

He had NO problem lying to people about campaign finance reform promises he made. “An Aide signed that form.”

He demonstrated very clearly that he was more than willing to ignore the usual political standard that you should offer SOME explanation for a flip-flop.

Not him. He offered the flimsiest of excuses. It was accepted. End of story.

He talks pretty. That’s all people cared about. He didn’t sound like Bush.

My prediction? He’s be a lackluster president who does mostly photo ops.

Nov 6, 2008 - 9:42 am 38. RE:

Rotwang

No one on the left ever called Obama “the Messiah.” That was a slur invented by the right-wing pundits.

Louis Farrakahn explicitly called Obama ‘The Messiah’:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=farrakhan+obama+messiah&aq=3&oq=farrakan

Nov 6, 2008 - 9:56 am 39. The Historian:

WHO IS PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA?
We have a President-elect but do we have even the remotest idea as to how he will govern:

http://greensrealworld.blogspot.com/2008/11/who-is-president-elect-obama.html

Nov 6, 2008 - 10:01 am 40. Mister Snitch!:

Nice post, Rick, and a lot of truth in it. I saw Gallup’s breakdown of voting by age on Bloomberg. Sure enough, the older voters went for McCain, younger ones voted for Obama. Of course, that’s because we get stupider and lose wisdom as we get older. Any Obama supporter will tell you this. They will also assure you that this will NOT happen to THEM.

And so it goes.

Nov 6, 2008 - 10:10 am 41. Dan Tana:

Look, this is what keeps humanity moving forward.

New generational idealism rules until the realities of the world and cynicism sets in…then we get a generational refresher.

I wish Mr. Obama the best and hope he can control the lunatics in Congress. He’ll need all of his skills as a politician.

Nov 6, 2008 - 10:14 am 42. Self-hating boomer:

In a year, we’re going to be pining for the good old days of 1933. The good news is that eventually WWIII will lift us out of this depression. However, most of the Mideast and Europe will end up too radioactive to inhabit. Global warming will be the least of our environmental concerns.

Nov 6, 2008 - 10:17 am 43. Robert Hurley:

John Kaduk:

Your post proves two things. 1. You never read or understood the Democratic platform 2. You have no idea what socialism or marxism really is.

Nov 6, 2008 - 10:19 am 44. George Bruce:

Now Reggie is a good example of what we need to focus on. He says that 8 years of “…Conservative, free-market, republican leadership drove this economy into a ditch?” I imagine he really believes that. If you tried to explain to him about the CRA and how lenders were forced and encouraged to make loans to people who could not repay, he will refuse to listen to you. If you could make him listen, he would not believe you or understand. How do we get to people like that? How can they be made to understand that if you corrupt FNMA lending underwriting standards to sell houses to people who can’t afford them and make loans that cannot be repaid, the current crisis is the inevitable result? It is a simple matter of recent history that the Democrats have been in effective control of FNMA for years and have resisted every effort to fix this problem before it became a crisis. Free markets never had anything to do with it.

Reggie I suspect will never understand this or believe it. Most people need to be educated about the causes of the sub-prime mortgage crisis. Somehow we have to get the word out and we can count on the MSM to resist the truth at every step. We should start with simple concepts, such as the obvious fact that you can’t have a sub-prime mortgage crisis if you don’t force or allow lenders to make sub-prime mortgage loans. We can also point out that you are doing no favors for the poor and minorities to put them in houses they can’t afford, or saddle them with mortgages they cannot pay. In fact, conning them into a sub-prime mortgage is precisely what one would do if you hated them. One wonders if the CRA isn’t an invention of the KKK.

Why is this important? Two reasons. A good portion of the voting public blamed Bush and Republicans in general for the financial meltdown, when in fact it was the Democrats who created the CRA and blocked every effort to reform FNMA. Politically, it is important to get the truth out.

Secondly, the CRA is still there. More immediately, consent decrees forcing lenders to make bad loans in urban areas are still on the books. If the problem is not fixed, this will happen again. I see no sign that Obama or the Dems in Congress have any intention of repealing the CRA or fixing mortgage lending underwriting procedures. If anything, they will make it worse. The public needs to know this.

Nov 6, 2008 - 10:19 am 45. always right:

AnninCA@Nov 6, 2008 – 9:42 am
He talks pretty. That’s all people cared about. He didn’t sound like Bush. My prediction? He’s be a lackluster president who does mostly photo ops.

You may be right. But that is the part I worried about before the election, you know, his past associations.

Those Who will be brought in to do the real administrative work, and set the policies and agendas?

Another point, besides ‘it is all Bush’s fault’ excuse, the other one is ‘you are a racist’. That should see him safely through two terms.

Nov 6, 2008 - 10:19 am 46. Andrea:

“None of these people were even alive when Vietnam, Watergate, assassinations, and riots cleaved us in two…”

But were did they learn their politics? From their Boomer parents, who still think Republican = Nixon. Bill Ayers? Hey, he’s a liberal, man! That means he’s one of the good guys!

Nov 6, 2008 - 10:20 am 47. kevIN:

Jim Jones and the Obama Kids – when people start listening to the man and not the message, there is potential for a whole lot of trouble.

Nov 6, 2008 - 10:23 am 48. real:

I remember the triumphant joy when OJ was determined to be not guilty. Any difference?

Nov 6, 2008 - 10:27 am 49. Tim:

Healing?

What healing?

Seriously, have you been smoking crack?

After the behavior of the media, the fake donors, ACORN? With a campaign openly built upon – their words, the nerve – “redistribution of wealth”?

I’m not twiddling my thumbs and blathering about “healing” and “oh isn’t it nice how historic this election is” while economic and historical illiterates attempt to carve up my wallet out of some BS notion of entitlement simply because they outnumber me.

I don’t yet know what I can do about it, but enough is enough. He IS the president, and my president – but they are NOT my countrymen, my fellow Americans, or any sort of fellow member in a civil society. F^%$ them and the horse they rode in on. I now wake up thanking my lucky stars that I no longer wear a uniform to protect those fools, and regret the time spent doing so when it could have been spent doing something productive for myself.

Nov 6, 2008 - 10:28 am 50. Elroy Jetson:

I did not vote for Obama and felt disappointed in his victory. I didn’t see the reality from minorities point of view until I had a brief conversation with a hispanic man in a park yesterday.
After exchanging hellos, he exclaimed, “We’ve got a new president!”
I turned to him and said, “You know, I missed his acceptance speech last night, but I’m not going to miss the inauguration.”
We smiled and I walked away. It was kind of cool.

Nov 6, 2008 - 10:29 am 51. Victor Erimita:

It’s fine to be inspired by the legions of under-3o voters who are not enslaved to the Viet Nam conceptual template, and indeed those under-30s are truly post-racial, not because of Obama, but because out country has really moved on.

But it’s less inspiring to contemplate the fact that most of those under-30-somethings have been raised in a media-dominated monoculture that has every bit as rigid a worldview as that of their Boomer parents, still stuck on Viet Nam stupid. The schools, universities and pop culture are so thoroughly homogeneous, that most of those under 30 can literally not even contemplate that, for example, the case of hysterical global warming alarmists may be…exaggerated. They have been preached a gospel that is reflexively Marxist (business bad, government good,) ecofundamentalist, anti-American in the sense that America is supposed to be the source of most of the world’s problems and anything and everything anti-traditionalist. It forms their base assumptions.

Nov 6, 2008 - 10:30 am 52. John Galt:

Portia9,

God bless you. My father came here after WWII and (despite some European chauvinism) was profoundly grateful for the blessings of America. He started out an an intellectual liberal Democrat and turned conservative in short order when he realized how many Americans had no idea of how lucky they were to be in this country.

He (long since passed) would be quite distressed at Obama’s victory. I always thought that the European mind set was a bit too existental/negative, perhaps because of their history. As an American, I am hopful we will survive Obama. Our lifestyles will suffer a bit and we face real challenges to our freedoms, but we are a very resilient people.

Nov 6, 2008 - 10:38 am 53. Doc99:

Actually, Rotwang, it was Louis Farrakhan who referred to Obama as Messiah.

Nov 6, 2008 - 10:48 am 54. mury:

Rotwang: “Now we have someone who thinks in complete sentences. Let’s see how that works.”

Uh, uh, who might that be?

Nov 6, 2008 - 10:49 am 55. CFB:

Sorry, but Rick is a credulous sap on this one.

Obama doesn’t believe any more in “personal responsibility” than Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi. He just hinted he did so he could attract voters from the center and the right. It’s a complete lie.

If you believe Obama is going to govern from some kind of “healing center,” you’ve so got another thing coming.

Nov 6, 2008 - 10:52 am 56. Mickey:

You get the government you deserve.

We have a Democrat/Progressive code word for communist)Congress that took their marching orders to destroy the American economy in time for the election. Their corruption destroyed our economy and the virus spread around the word. It wasn’t Bush that made it necessary for the bail out.

* Civilian National Security Force – I guess Obama can’t count on the US Military to shoot citizens but the Nation of Islam and Black Pather’s goon squad certainly will. Hitler called them “storm troopers”!

* The Democrats are making plans to seize All 401k Funds.

* No Energy? We’ll just sit in the dark and freeze! UPDATE: Don’t forget that Obama said he would raise power and fuel prices to change our bad habits.Obama said, “It’s not going to be painless.” We have oil withing ten miles of the coast but never let an agenda get in the way of doing what is needed.

**”Middle class tax break”? NOW YOU’RE RICH IF YOU MAKE over $120,000. Gee, it’s halved in, like, a week. How long before it’s down to $30K (from the Clinton years? )”Bottom line: If you make over 30K, you might want to restructure yourself as an offshore corporation.

*Family ties:(ODINGA ADMITS THEY ARE COUSINS)
BTW, just like Obama, Cousin Odinga sold out Kenya to Shira law. Do you think there might be a reason the Nation of Islam, Hamas and American haters support Obama?

* You have to wonder why African Americans are voting for Obama. His roots go back to the tribes selling their ancestors. Obama is African Arab.

Simply put, he telling you what you want to hear for the sake of power. Barack Obama has said, in HIS OWN WORDS that he would support the Islam States over the United States…

Now don’t you feel all warm and fuzzy?

Nov 6, 2008 - 10:55 am 57. Lily:

It amazes me how many people have their hands out these days. And it depresses me that I am targeted to pay for all their ‘rights’ – that my income is for ’spreading around’. It doesn’t just depress me, though, it makes me think that I don’t want to be the dupe – working hard to pay for everything, and having nothing left to show for all my hard work and sacrifice. It makes me want to sit down. So much for American prosperity and producitivy. Here is hoping that their “HOPE” keeps them warm and feeling full when they can’t find work.

Nov 6, 2008 - 10:57 am 58. Oligonicella:

democrat08obama:

this just sounds like a lot of racism here.

And that will be the reflexive response to any valid criticism of the man.

Nov 6, 2008 - 10:59 am 59. Brian:

My generation may have been exposed to Marxism…but in the sense of academic Marxism that sees private wealth as another source of power. Not revolutionary Marxism a la Lenin and Mao. In this regard the Socialist charge was the most on point criticism of Obama. But once again Socialist as in Belgium, not like Laos or the former USSR.

What the author does note correctly is the lack of an extremist ideology driving the Democratic party these days, at least as we see ourselves. We see ourselves as opposed to extremism in terms of starting wars on dubious terms, religious cretinism in opposition to things like evolution education and contraception, and a devotion to tax cutting uber alles, even at the cost of increasing American indebtedness to unfriendly foreigners. In my opinion the biggest driver is a desire for competence following the Iraq debacle, Katrina, the financial crisis and so on… Barack has a lot of challenges to handle, and we are praying that he is able to whip them quickly and thoroughly.

P.S. It’s fine to call people stupid for voting for someone simply due to their race, but it’s downright offensive as in #54 to compare Barack Obama’s election to the presidency to OJ’s murder trial.

Nov 6, 2008 - 11:08 am 60. Bush, Obama, & Ghosts of Hate | The Anchoress:

[...] hate of their fellow countrymen or the president-elect. The reports they’re filing read very differently than those following the Bush wins. They read as grown-up, tolerant, open-minded discourses, not [...]

Nov 6, 2008 - 11:08 am 61. Tan:

My sister’s reason for voting for Obama?
“People have nice things that should be mine, it’s unfair.” and she actually lowered her head and pouted like a three year old when she said this.

She’s angry that she ran around in her teens and twenties being the potpartygirl and spent my parent’s while I moved out and worked at my career. I have ‘nice things’ and she wants them, and my parents no longer have the control to take from me and give to her as they did when I was a teen.
I’m the only one that’s not a Democrat in my family, and they all run to me with their hands out when they need/want something.

Nov 6, 2008 - 11:13 am 62. jerryofva:

Mr. Hurley before I move on to make an adult point perhaps you can explain to me what socialism is.

Victor:

It is interesting that you refer to the Boomers as having a rigid world view because the boomer mind set has always been how open minded and flexible they are as opposed to their ideologically rigid 1950s parents. I don’t know where you fit in among the generations but that observation is spot on.

Every generation believes that their parents are stodgy closed minded people who don’t know very much. However, this is the first time that the younger generations held the balance of power in an election. Previous generations have been put in power by their peers. Obama is actually a late boomer (1961) and not Gen X. It says a lot about his maturity that he was the Gen X/Gen Y candidate. The mythology of Camelot has hidden the fact that JFK was 1950s candidate elected by his peers from the World War II generation and the boomers were actually revolting against him and his legacy. Obama’s Gen X and Gen Y base are likely to the cause of his political demise because he cannot govern as they would like and be a successful President. Disillusionment is inevitable.

Nov 6, 2008 - 11:14 am 63. jim Rhoads aka vnjagvet:

Well I’m not a credulous sap, CFB, and I agree with much of what Rick writes here. I am a VN vet who was as anti-John Kerry and anti-BHO as you could find. I come from a long line of PA Civil War Republicans who were at the forefront of that fight. There have been certain symbolic and emotional barriers that were shattered by the Obama victory. Something that cannot be fully understood by all of us, but that can be seen. Please note that a great part of Rick’s article was straight reporting of what he witnessed at BHO’s victory celebration. The emotions he saw were not feigned, nor were they exaggerated. AA friends of mine uniformly had the same reaction — even those who voted for McCain (and there were a few).

Acknowledging the significance of an event to some who were effected doesn’t make Rick a credulous sap. It makes him a good reporter.

Nov 6, 2008 - 11:15 am 64. inmypajamas:

I suppose I got caught up in the emotion of the night due almost exclusively to the genuine and copious tears of black Americans. The ones I spoke to and interviewed were nearly speechless with joy. With a start, I realized something that had escaped me all these long months of writing and thinking about this race. For many African-Americans, this election was a spiritual event

I’m sorry, just when did the office of the President become an Affirmative Action job? The Presidency is a serious job that requires character, executive skills, leadership and experience, all of which are lacking on the list of qualifications The One brings to the job. Saying his election isn’t so bad because it’s a symbolic victory for black Americans is a ridiculously shallow elevation of skin color to a job skill that I suppose would embarrass even MLK, Jr.

Nov 6, 2008 - 11:15 am 65. goy:

Uhm… so far this radical marxist shyster isn’t doing very well at meeting expectations; even the ones he’s contractually obligated to meet.

Rick, it’s clear you don’t really understand the significance of the effects Viet Nam had on the nihilist/anarchist/marxists who mentored, tutored, molded, shaped and buffed our next President. I grew up among those people, in Chicago. They are not interested in ‘healing’. They are only interested in destroying that which made them lose their sanity back in the late 60s – The Establishment – and replacing it with The Revolution. They have never given up on that goal. And they have co-opted the Civil Rights Movement to do it, so that they can hide behind accusations of racism each time a voice is raised against the socialist state they claim will help “the poor”. We saw this time and again during the campaign, and in Frank’s “defense” regarding his part in the FM/FM meltdown. Obama’s candidacy is the pinnacle of that strategy.

This is why Obama’s promises were so lofty. He has absolutely no intention whatsoever of making good on them. The backlash – and ensuing social chaos – is exactly what his handlers have been seeking for decades.

Nov 6, 2008 - 11:16 am 66. Robert Hurley:

Hey Mickey – you are one sick dude. FIrst off you seem to be delusional – maybe you are off your meds today. Try looking up what communism is before you post on the blogs. otherwise people are not going to take you seriously

Nov 6, 2008 - 11:20 am 67. zanne:

I am one of the “prudent” people. Give me one contingency plan for a worst case senario with O? I wake up at night pleading with my brain to find one. Nothing!

Nov 6, 2008 - 11:23 am 68. Dave:

Obama could be Woodrow Wilson all over again. He shares a lot of his leftist tendencies and ideas. Wilson’s election was followed shortly there after by 2 world wars and a depression.

Nov 6, 2008 - 11:35 am 69. Lily:

Robert Hurley: What do you call a Government that thinks it has a better claim to your income and your time than you do?

Perhaps the old Socialist or Communist or Marxist lables don’t work any more. So what do you suggest?

Nov 6, 2008 - 11:38 am 70. Mully:

We have elected a myth, a total stranger. He just won the biggest American Idol. Yet no one can tell you what he has ever done. He has no real record of accomplishment. This time that didn’t matter. He somehow convinced America he was the best qualified candidate for the job. We know he wasn’t, soon the rest of the country will know. Change has many forms, most people don’t know what kind they just bought.
He will never be more popular than he is right now. He has no place to go but down. And down he will go.

Nov 6, 2008 - 11:42 am 71. nick:

protia is a moron – as evidenced by her call for a uselss roll call vote.

Nov 6, 2008 - 11:43 am 72. nick:

if you had joined with Dems to reduce abortions

but NO you wanted to fight fight fight

Doug Kmeic has the right attitude that will reduce abortions

Nov 6, 2008 - 11:44 am 73. nick:

Obam never said your sister would get nice things

you and her are both Bloody morons

Nov 6, 2008 - 11:46 am 74. Pierred:

Watching the Grant Park celebration, I felt like I was watching a video of Jonestown, Guyana.

Nov 6, 2008 - 11:51 am 75. mariner:

jerryofva:

“The fraud was massive but it didn’t effect the outcome of the election. ”

And you know this, how?

We KNOW there was MASSIVE fraud. We DON’T have any way of knowing whether it was massive enough to actually change the results; I don’t see how you can be so sure that wasn’t the case.

Nov 6, 2008 - 11:53 am 76. jerryofva:

typical Hurley non-response to a question he cannot answer.

So Hurley want give the what socialism is explanation a try?

Nov 6, 2008 - 11:55 am 77. mariner:

Reggie:

“Were any of you people paying attention over the last 8 years when Conservative, free-market, republican leadership drove this economy into a ditch?”

I was paying attention, and this was never the case. We have had Republican “leadership”, but it was neither conservative nor free-market.

Government tampering with the markets caused both the savings and loan debacle and the failure of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Nov 6, 2008 - 11:57 am 78. Salt Lick:

Interesting column, Rick. I’m certainly all ears.

Maybe in the future you could give concrete examples of actions Obama has taken to “heal” the racial and political divisions in America.

Likewise, given Obama’s extremist alliances throughout his political career (Rev. Wright, Ayers, National Party, most liberal Senate record, etc), I was intrigued by your query as to whether he “Will… be able to resist the gimlet eyed, partisan extremists in his own party and prevent them from hijacking his agenda?” How do you “hijack” the plane you’re piloting?

Nov 6, 2008 - 11:59 am 79. mariner:

jerryofva: [re: vote fraud]

“We have better things to do then rail about it for the next four years and the lose again.”

There is NOTHING wthat is more important than reforming our election system. If we can’t have elections free of massive fraud, nothing else we can do will matter.

Nov 6, 2008 - 12:00 pm 80. Jane:

jerryofva,
I’m not sure there could have been that much voter fraud in IN. All voters were required to present a current photo id which matches the address on the voter registration. If not, a utility bill or something similar was needed to prove voter’s new address. While I think there might have been voter registration fraud, I don’t think voter fraud itself was very easy to pull off.

Nov 6, 2008 - 12:00 pm 81. nick:

acorn only Registered 400,000

margin was 7 million

you tell me how 400K is > 7 million??

MORONS

Nov 6, 2008 - 12:02 pm 82. Pat:

Mr. Moran writes, “For the millions of Obama supporters who either didn’t ask or didn’t care what the answers would be to those questions, there appears to be an almost childlike faith in his abilities.”

This is the root problem of most Americans, not just Obama supporters. They’ve been taught that self-reliance is impossible because reality is invented and thinking is subjective. Hence, they’ve been reduced to the cognitive state of abused children desperate for supervision.

Until the rational, Aristotelian philosophy of the Enlightenment is again taught in our schools, Americans will continue being duped by the demagogues and led like “sheep to the slaughter” of statism. The $700 billion fascist TARP signed by McCain and Obama is just the latest measure.

Man’s noble capacity for reason and abundant production requires freedom – without which, he descends to bickering and barbarism. Hence, the absolute protection of individual rights against the initiation of force an fraud is the sole purpose of a moral government and the sole means to a moral society.

Defend reason consistently (rejecting faith and support of the statists in higher education), and the political battle for freedom will triumph!

The rational is the moral, and the moral is the practical.

Nov 6, 2008 - 12:02 pm 83. Robert Hurley:

jerryofva:

It sure took a lot of fraud to get those 7 1/2 million extra votes for Obama. Keep it up and everyone will consider you a looney

Nov 6, 2008 - 12:07 pm 84. Robert Hurley:

Lilly – Look up the definition of socialism and communism first before you display your ignorance. We have had a graduated income tax since the civil war

Nov 6, 2008 - 12:09 pm 85. Valerie:

This is a man of great personal ambition. His wife, too, has great personal ambition. They got what they wanted. The moment was right for it. All of the obamas rhetoric was just that, words. The lack of any sincerity was obvious because the message would change depending on the audience. OK, that could just be ”politics”. I doubt it.

I think of another president who was ambitious, Kennedy. But Kennedy had served his country and, we all can agree, I think, LOVED his country…even if he couldn’t keep it in his pants.

obama has never served anyone but himself. And we can all agree, I think, that the obamas love themselves and adoration more than anything else.

That said, if the American people are vigilant, he won’t ruin the country. But even if he did, the media would be saying the contrary. And THAT is what I find the scariest part of this election. The press. The mainstream media needs to be reined in. If not, you can kiss Conservatives in the White House goodbye.

Nov 6, 2008 - 12:31 pm 86. jerryofva:

Jane:

Lake County Indiana is completely controlled by the Democrats and let’s not forget the 105% voter registration in Indianapolis. Votes can be manufactured when there is no effective representation of the other party. Look what happenned in Philidelphia. Despite a court order the local Democrats kicked out Republican poll watchers so they could manufacture votes.

Mariner: There is a limit to vote fraud. Using the 1982 Illinois Governor’s race as benchmark the Cook Democratic machine manufactured roughly 100,000 votes. Ohio is a similar sized state. McCain lost it by more then 100,000. We haven’t reached the point where the Democrats could manufacture an unlimited amount of votes. Maybe next time.

Nov 6, 2008 - 12:33 pm 87. jerryofva:

Hurley:

You are a Moron with a capital M. Did you bother to actually read what I said? I doubt it. You have embarrassed yourself again.

How about explaining what socialism is to us.

Nov 6, 2008 - 12:48 pm 88. George Bruce:

Uh, Nick, if the only thing you can say is to call other people morons, then you will have to forgive us if we wonder if you aren’t one.

Nov 6, 2008 - 12:59 pm 89. proud elitist:

Valerie:

I am already kissing Conservatives in the White House goodbye. And the Senate, and the House, and within the Nation of America. ((dances a jib))

BTW, your “…obama has never served anyone but himself. And we can all agree, I think, that the obamas love themselves and adoration more than anything else…” kind of applies to ol’ GeeDub as well…

Oh, and FOX has already said it will be vigilant, so what are you worrying about?

ROBERT HURLEY: Don’t you enjoy this intermixing of Communist/Socialist/Marxist/Terrorist/Muslim? As though those who throw the words out don’t know what they mean and that they don’t all work together? I love this board. Cracks me up!

Nov 6, 2008 - 1:01 pm 90. Robert Hurley:

Jerryofva:

Read Das Kapital

Nov 6, 2008 - 1:21 pm 91. TakeFive:

“…the argument over Vietnam that served as a cultural, political, and social divide in America for 40 years was either at an end or at the beginning of the end.”

You are a fool if you really belive this. Vietnam is a tool, and useful tools are never disposed of. No doubt Iraq will be added to the toolbox.

This is the same reason the Palistinian “problem” will never be solved. The Pals are are the tool of much greater forces.

Nov 6, 2008 - 1:21 pm 92. Robert Hurley:

Jerrryofva:

I take that back. It might be too much for you

Nov 6, 2008 - 1:22 pm 93. areureallyamerican:

Quite interesting to see the hatred spewed on this blog for someone who not only won the popular vote, but the electoral vote and by quite a margin.

If you are truly american you will put your differences aside and support the new president, just as democrats and others have had to endure the previous 8 years you will have to endure the next 8.

Let the man take the office before you impeach him. Many of the posts on this site are horrific and make me realize how we’ve gotten in this mess in the first place.

Most of you “conservatives” claim to be religious and beleive in Jesus Christ, if this were really true you wouldn’t judge or spew the nonsense that you spew across the internet anonymously. It is time to reflect back on yourself, rather than a man that has worked his whole life to become president and achieved it. Not a man who was handed a presidency by his father, and whom you sheep followed. A man that is more socialist than any democrat.

Give it a rest and let’s get on with life.

Nov 6, 2008 - 1:25 pm 94. JDW:

Considering most of the under 30 folks are products of the public schools and the academic system I don’t see how they COULDN’T vote for Obama. What the author sees as elation I see as adequately indoctrinated.

Nov 6, 2008 - 1:33 pm 95. Bullshark:

The Dems didn’t steal enough votes to affect the election but it didn’t stop them from doing it. And now where they lost (CA) they riot.
Things like these will bring and end to the American experiment.

Nov 6, 2008 - 1:35 pm 96. angry white dude:

Obama’s failures to deliver will be blamed on Republican policies he inherited. The unwashed left has no desire to know the truth and will blindly continue to believe everything that falls out of his mouth.

Angry White Dude

Nov 6, 2008 - 1:52 pm 97. nick:

#88 – I always state facts before

I add an AH attack

Nov 6, 2008 - 2:08 pm 98. Marina:

Is Obama going to kill the South Park? They’ve made fun of Obama in their last episode and all the commercials in their online episodes disappered. Even from those that won emmy this year (www.southparkstudios.com). Not a coincidence. No fun of the Messiah! Will Comedy Central close the South Park? Or will they just threaten their lives? Anyway, real fun seems to be over. Change is already here.

Nov 6, 2008 - 2:24 pm 99. Robert Hurley:

Jerryofva – You did see that Warren Buffett and Paul Volker, two marxist are on Obamas Economic Trsition team. I guess that clinches your argument!

Nov 6, 2008 - 2:32 pm 100. jerryofva:

Hurley:

I am a Ph.D Economist and I have read as much as I could. The prose are pretty dense. You might want to try reading Paul Samuelsons’s attempt at specifying the equations of the system.

There are many forms of Socialism. It’s really called Fascism. Marx is just one particular central organizing principle and it’s the only form Fascism that has failed to improve standards of living. You might want to read Georges Sorel.

Now for some adult conversation. The markets have tanked again. I think what we are hearing is the sound of capital leaving the country before Obama takes office. Even his Wall Street supporters know what is coming and they are getting out.

Nov 6, 2008 - 2:32 pm 101. view from afar:

Excuse me folks, while I break my own consul: Robert Hurley you are the biggest jerk ever…YOU can NOT give a definition of socialism, nor a definition of communism, never mind explaining the differences! And to top that, let’s just forget that you might ever see, let alone understand, just exactly which points of the democratic party platform fits those definitions, and I use as proof your threats telling everyone else to look it up, and so they can explain those words to you. I live with socialism, so don’t throw your hisses at me, and I grew up with American capitalism (prefer it), and never want to trade the pink for the red-since you will not understand that, and maybe not many others, in France the socialists lightened the red of communism to pink, like a light version…) You are just like mosquito bzzzz just to be annoying, you are a childish person, and a very big disgrace to the Irish.
Now beck to the real world: thank you Rick, I really think that you have made a good point. It has been my way of making peace so far with this man as my President ( I don’t vote anything other than US elections, as I am American, not French). I really think that this could allow a lot new questions to be asked towards racism and exactly WHO is racist, and least tolerant. ANd the discussion can now include all of the world-especially here in France. (where if I hear another comment about how evil and racist Americans are, that’s why there are more French people that are happy about Obama than there are I will scream!)

Nov 6, 2008 - 2:35 pm 102. thegr8_1:

I am putting aside my differences and suggest the following get appointed across party lines and forgiving for past mistakes.

Attorney General Elliot Spitzer
Secretary of the Treasury Jim Cramer
Director of Homeland Security or Attorney General Rudy Giuliani

We need people to kick @ss and take names these bailouts and financial shenanigans by Congress, Wall Street, and Corporate America must be stopped. And people need to be held accountable. Enron, Tyco etc were petty cash compared to what is going on now.

Nov 6, 2008 - 2:39 pm 103. thegr8_1:

Did you see the South Park episode that had Randy Marsh playing Wheel of Fortune Wednesday night where his response was the ultimate insult to African Americans? I was suprised it was aired then out of over a hundred episodes available. Amazing those morons Colbert and Stewart and that South Park are on the same network.

Nov 6, 2008 - 2:45 pm 104. Boris:

Yes, the real fun of the paranoid right is here.

Nov 6, 2008 - 2:55 pm 105. nick:

Clinton tax rates were tried and WORKED

thus jerryofva is a stupid economist

Nov 6, 2008 - 3:32 pm 106. AST:

Well stated, Portia9! I’ve had that feeling from his announcement–that something didn’t add up about him. He had no experience to speak of in the Senate and none as an executive, which makes him prey to manipulation. But the more I learned about him the more I was convinced that he’s a Third World Socialist in African-American clothing. I concluded that he’s very dangerous because he appeals to both intellectual elitists, having gone to Columbia and Harvard, and to African-Americans because of his skin color and racial features. He stated early on that he wanted to run as a blank slate for others to fill in, and I thought that was an idiotic statement, but realized only after learning about his radical roots and associations that he had given away the game. Fortunately, his fellow travelers in the press ignored that and played him up as the fulfillment of MLK’s Dream.

I fear that he may end up being the last African American candidate Americans will trust for a long time, because “community organizer,” it turns out, is a lot like “labor organizer,” and neither is particularly interested in government by the people or for the people. I’ve tried to find any mention of him talking about serving others except when he’s saying others should do it. His campaign website, for example, says he “will enable [recruit?]all Americans to serve” by “expand[ing] AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps, engag[ing] retiring Americans, and set[ting] up an America’s Voice Initiative to send Americans who are fluent speakers of local languages to expand our [?] public diplomacy”; “Integrate service into learning:

Obama and Biden will set a goal that all middle and high school students do 50 hours of community service a year, and will establish a new tax credit that is worth $4,000 a year in exchange for 100 hours of public service a year”; and “Invest in the nonprofit sector:

Obama and Biden will create a Social Investment Fund Network to use federal seed money to leverage private sector funding. They will create an agency dedicated to building the capacity and effectiveness of the nonprofit sector.”

All of those sound great, unless you think of them as a form of indoctrination, which begs the question of what philosophy they will be serving. Will it be the American Dream of self-determination and free enterprise or the Social Dream of spreading the wealth around? It’s early yet, but when he said on Tuesday night that he wanted his volunteers to stay active to help him enact his agenda, and it was reported that some of his campaign workers haven’t been paid as promised, it kind of creeps me out. I served my church for 2 years as a missionary when I was 19-21, and I would, health permitting, do so again, but I’m not sure that having such a tie to government, especially such a liberal one as his will be, is a particularly good idea. I want to see details, because if these plans are run the way he ran the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, a lot of indoctrination and little improvement of education will come from it. What gospel is to be preached?

Nov 6, 2008 - 3:56 pm 107. Chester White:

“At least seven out of ten Obama supporters who were reveling in his coming victory were under the age of 30 — and that’s a conservative estimate.”

And they are going to learn the hard way what the rest of us learned in the late 70s under Jimmy Carter.

Inside of a year, there will be some SERIOUS buyer’s remorse over Obama.

Nov 6, 2008 - 3:56 pm 108. mina:

Will he heal? Hell no!. My oldest and un-learned friends are on the other side of my fence. They voted for the “O”. I call them nieve. You are so correct in observing that we as a country have been split down the middle ever since Vietnam. When those who served came home we were unceremoniously swept under the rug. If those who did that to us had the vision to see how the healing could have begun they would have voted for a Hero of our epoch, one who has also been a lifetime servant to all of us,and loyal to American values. They failed to see it. But once again they answered to the call of another who offered them narcisstic self serving platitudes of nothingness called “hope”. The audacity lies in those who voted against John McCain. They have never known nor felt the pain of brethren who served in their best interest but came home to the rejection of a nation. We didn’t ask them to forgive us, we expected them to demonstrate an effort where we could forgive them. They failed to see beyond themselves. My best wishes to a fallen Hero may he serve and retire with peace of mind that he presented us with a solution as best he could, it was not he who had no vision.

Nov 6, 2008 - 4:21 pm 109. jerryofva:

Actually Nick, the Clinton taxes were tried and didn’t work until the information technology revolution kicked into high gear and raised the marginal productivity of capital to the point where punitive taxes still allowed for big profits. However as IT began to experience diminishing returns the Clinton taxes put a serious drag on the economy driving it into a recession beginning midway through the 4th quarter of 2000. You do remember the stock market crash back then don’t you?

The boom of the 1990s was more a result of Bill Gates then Bill Clinton. If you look back to the early twentieth century you see a similar process at work in the electrification boom during Theodore Roosevelt’s Presidency. After more then a decade of capital investment the electrification boom petered out and was a contributing factor to the Depression of 1907-08.

Nick, like all Obamabots you have very simple mind and no knowledge of history but President Obama is going to teach you a lot in the coming years.

Nov 6, 2008 - 4:36 pm 110. susan:

2 words on the paranoid left:

“The left will continue to call anyone who dissents on policy or ideology a racist, fascist, sexist, etc, etc. The left can no more give up demonization and bullying than an drunk can give up liquor.”

Nov 6, 2008 - 4:50 pm 111. Pat:

areureallyamerican writes at #93: “If you are truly american you will put your differences aside and support the new president.”

No! If you are truly American you will fight for the essential idea of America: individual rights and the constitutionally limited republic whose government’s sole job is to protect those rights – as opposed to the democracy we have today where government violates the rights of some (the producers) to redistribute their wealth to others (the looters and moochers).

Nov 6, 2008 - 5:00 pm 112. uh1c:

So the revolution has been televised?

Nov 6, 2008 - 5:00 pm 113. schnargley:

But there is little doubt that the potential for some kind of healing has presented itself with the election of Barack Obama as president.(Rick Moran)
Obama has healed us! Americans spoke loud and clear and with great angst- we are guilty! Guilty of hundreds of years of racism. Obama has healed us. Guilty of capitalistic greed and accumulation -Obama has (and will) heal us. Guilty of imperialistic oppresion of the Third World. Obama will heal us. We are a loathesome and horrid excuse for a nation and people! As Prof. Ayers, Rev. Wright, Hugo Chavez, and many others who mentored Obama well know, we are the most evil country in human history. But Obama will heal us.

On 11/4 we humbly went to the polls, which became our virtual confessional booths, and confessed, and wept for our national sins, and humbled ourselves before our priest, our intercessor, our intermediary between the guilty and the victims.

Heal me Oh Obama! I love Obama. I love Obama.

Nov 6, 2008 - 5:33 pm 114. Mickey:

Robert Hurley: Sorry “dude” but I would suggest that YOU READ The Communist Manifesto. I know my history but suspect you can’t say the same.
Robert, Obama’s parents and five generations have been COMMUNISTS. Do a little research before YOU blog!

You get the government you deserve.

We have a Democrat/Progressive (code word for communist)Congress that took their marching orders to destroy the American economy in time for the election. Their corruption destroyed our economy and the virus spread around the word. It wasn’t Bush that made it necessary for the bail out. Barney Frank should be in prison.

* Civilian National Security Force – I guess Obama can’t count on the US Military to shoot citizens but the Nation of Islam and Black Pather’s his goon squad certainly will. Hitler called them “storm troopers”!

* The Democrats are making plans to seize All 401k Funds.

* No Energy? We’ll just sit in the dark and freeze! UPDATE: Don’t forget that Obama said he would raise power and fuel prices to change our bad habits. Obama said, “It’s not going to be painless.” We have oil within ten miles of the coast and many other resources but we’ll just wait for that alternative energy like we have since Jimmy Carter was president.

**”Middle class tax break”? NOW YOU’RE RICH IF YOU MAKE over $120,000. How long before it’s down to $30K (from the Clinton years? )”Bottom line: If you make over 30K, you might want to restructure yourself as an offshore corporation.

*Family ties:(ODINGA ADMITS THEY ARE COUSINS)
BTW, ROBERT, just like Obama, his Cousin Odinga is a COMMUNIST. He sold out Kenya to Shira law.

Do you think there might be a reason the Nation of Islam and American haters support Obama?

* You have to wonder why African Americans are voting for Obama. His roots go back to the tribes selling their ancestors. Obama is African Arab.

Simply put, Barack Obama has said, in HIS OWN WORDS that he would support the Islam States over the United States…

Now don’t you feel all warm and fuzzy? So, Robert, any questions?

Nov 6, 2008 - 5:36 pm 115. Just saying:

Mickey: Couldn’t agree with you more. Here is a link regarding Barack’s Kenyan cousin:

Barack Obama and Raila Odinga 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tWLhwU5fYY

Nov 6, 2008 - 5:48 pm 116. Black dog:

Robert Hurley: Are you a “troller” for Obama or are your insane thoughts yours?

It would seem to me that the country has voted themselves into their own destruction. It will be interesting to see what the country looks like in a few years under the most unqualified and dangerous president in history. Obama’s puppet master’s are some of the most vile haters in the world. I don’t have room for the hundreds so here is what I can fit into this small comment:

Some of Obama’s friends, mentors and heroes include:

Bill Ayers who said “25 million dead Americans” is just the price for their revolution. – Rules for Radicals

Louis Farrakhan – “Jews don’t like Farrakhan, so they call me Hitler. Well, that’s a good name. Hitler was a very great man.he Jews don’t like Farrakhan, so they call me Hitler. Well, that’s a good name.Hitler was a very great man. “

Nov 6, 2008 - 6:16 pm 117. Dave Surls:

“…government’s sole job is to protect those rights…”

Holy cow. Someone who has actually read the Declaration of Independence, and even knows what it means!

Nov 6, 2008 - 6:23 pm 118. msp:

110. susan: Well said!

Nov 6, 2008 - 6:31 pm 119. TheAlaskan:

“there appears to be an almost childlike faith in his abilities”

Isn’t that what the extreme left requires and ultimately demands? Childlike faith… and dependence… from the people is what grants them power and control in the name of “doing what’s best for you.” Because apparently, like a child, you aren’t capable of taking care of yourself.

After nearly 40 years of life I can honestly say that the idea of not waking up and worrying about where rent will come from or wishing I could crank the thermostat a couple degrees higher without worrying about the bill is a tempting one. If not truly realistic. Fortunately I’m still from a generation and an area where independence and self-determination are still GOOD things. And I know, by virtue of NOT being dumbed down as they would wish and having the basic ability to read and think critically, that it never works. The way of the far left always results not in bringing everyone up but rather in dragging everyone to just below average… at very best. And it all but stifles any hope of reaching for more.

Nov 6, 2008 - 7:22 pm 120. jallen:

Dear Pajamas:
I have never been so angry or disgusted about an election as I am about this one. I thought Bill Clinton was the bottom of the bucket but no they went out and found a lying, communist, pro-abortion, Chicago pol with no accomplishments other than the ability to promote himself and bewitch masses of people into thinking that he is some sort of messiah.
For awhile I thought he was the new pied piper.
Now, judging by national and international reactions I am begining to wonder if he is
the anti-Christ!
We are in for 4 miserable years. By 2012 even Jimmy Carter will look good compared to
B. Hussein Obama.
Yet we brought this on ourselves. A clear, decisive majority voted for this phony and now all of us are going to have to suffer for it.
We are becoming France!
America R.I.P.

Nov 6, 2008 - 7:33 pm 121. TmjUtah:

“Reid, Pelosi and the rest of the Democrat cronies will smother his political “change” ideals while Jackson, Sharpton et al will hijack any hopes of him becoming a “post-racial” president – just wait until the first time he refuses one of their demands….”

That’s from Tony, all the way back up at the eighth comment.

After watching Obama win by managing the media like his own PR firm, the employment of his own shoulder strikers in multiple occasions to quash embarassing public discourse or disclosures, and his past political maneuvers such as seeing competitors disqualified before even facing him in an election…

… do you seriously think he’s arrived at the White House without a plan to take care of the competition.

He’s Left of every damned Democrat in the Congress, including the only honest socialist, Mr. Sanders. Worse, he’s not the traditional, both-trotters- in – the trough justified by the endless quest for social/racial/economic/environmental justice like Frank, Schumer, Reid, et al, but the genuine come-down-out -of -the – hills and liberate the proletariat article.

Things are going to move very fast in January. The big O! tour bus has lots of room under that rear axle yet.

Sad to say, the best defense we have is the “free” press. If they can get off their knees and wipe their chins in time. Because it’s going to be a lot less free by February.

I don’t have it in me to pretend to honor the office of president any more. We’ve elected a sapper, not simply a poor choice. What he screws up will not be trashed via poor policy or incompetence, but on plan and conforming to an agenda that has already been tried repeatedly in the last century.

History. It’ll kill you twice if you don’t pay attention.

I’m not holding my breath.

Nov 6, 2008 - 7:48 pm 122. Al:

It is with trepidation I respond to this blog. Recent election results
would indicate the election of a new president. He is expected to change
the country I ask to what. If the blogs on this site are a sample of the
American people and their attitudes then God help America.

The thoughts transcribed in your blogs indicates the mutterings and
wailing of childern, Not mature adults ready to face and create a new
beginning. Your expactation that Obama can create all you wish for is beyond the capacity of one man. He requires support and instruction. He needs the people to direct his actions. This the people of America have not
done for years. Government has been pressured by lobbiest and minor groups
out to appease their agenda. This is what creates payoffs and favours that seduce elected officials to instute laws and rules that allow these people
to function out of control. The government no longer is of the people because the people sit and complain and write stupid essays on the internet.
Gas prices are the result of lobbiest functioning in washington representing oil companies who expect returns for their lavish gifts. Obama
will end this travesty if the people support and petition him. Prison for these thieves such as like of Enron and others is a country club atmosphere
with maid service and all the trappings. Steal a 100 million and get fined
50 million plus a stay at prison med. Wake up America shout the slogan we
want change. Do not think the old cronies in the senate are going to let this young wippersnaper run America. They will convert him to a lap dog to do thier will. The people can stop this travesty by letting the elected
officials know enough is enough

Off shore jobs are created by your elected officials
sanctioning the purchase and movement of factories to forein nations.
purchased with American handouts and your tax dollars.

I write this as I am aware ot the peril the united states faces. Trillions of dollars a held by states that are not friendly to us. At any time they
can flood the country with these T bills.The result would be stratastrofic
Wake up America you are being held prisoners to a few rich politicians who
send your sons and daughters to war while other nations have to be begged to participate. Yes tell Obama you will not tolerate anymore tell him to change the graft in America and return the government back to the people.
I suppose the end will be you will do nothing and so will Obama. Just
remember the senator from Alaska now being tried for graft I believe he
has served the people for 25 years. Or did he serve himself. I wonder how many favours he collected in all those years. I bet he does not have a mortage thats going to be forclosed on.

LEAVE OBAMA ALONE IF YOU WOILL NOT SUPPORT HIM

Nov 6, 2008 - 8:53 pm 123. Roberto:

Let me give you the perspective of this latino immigrant. I am from a country that was destroy by the alliance of a president and the unions, the country is Argentina and the president was Peron. In the early 40 Argentina had one of the strongest economies and the General promised and promised and started the people on the road to dependence on the goverment. I have been here since 89 and I became a citizen in 2000 and I see the American people refusing more and more to assume responsibility for themselves and their families, some even think that almost anything that goes wrong in the world is America’s fault. I think that America is the cause for 90% of what is good in the world. So the indoctrinate my children in school, now if I work hard and make money Obama is going to give to people that did nothing to earned, if I can afford better health care than my neighbor because I work harder, Obama is going to make sure that family gets as little of it as my neighbor, etc, etc. I consider every Democrat my personal enemy and I mean it.

Nov 7, 2008 - 12:38 am 124. fear Obama:

Al–LEAVE OBAMA ALONE IF YOU WILL NOT SUPPORT HIM…… That makes me feel so warm and fuzzy! Go back just a few years in history if you can….. 1993….
We left Bill Clinton alone when he and other Democrats and some mindless Republicans passed and signed the NAFTA agreement. I tried to tell democrat Clintonuts where I worked….. AIG… that NAFTA would open all doors and roads that led to Mexico. We will soon have millions of Illegal workers, (est. 33 million), and voters in America, competing for our votes, our jobs and our health care, and our homes, feel free to list anything else here…………! Now the Illegal workers think that Obama will be their savior and give them free citizenship. Funny, I thought McCain was accused of that? Now we have the Modern Moses Messiah and they think he will lead them to the promised land of milk and honey handouts.
Now fast forward to….. 1995… Bill Clinton, a democrat, signs the World Trade Agreement, With the help of John McCain reaching across to the aisle to Democrats, Joe Lieberman said so himself at the Republican Convention.. I would have voted for Romney, but anyway back to WTA. I told all my associates at AIG that this would destroy America. Our great American work force and manufacturing base would be sent to China, India, and elsewhere, feel free to list any other place here…………….! Oh! I almost forgot the NC Tar heels hat I just bought at Dollar General… Made in Vietnam!.. I must have missed his daddy during the 2 years I spent in the trenches- under a democrat president- Johnson… Remember Johnson? “I will not send American Boys 8,000 miles to fight a war Vietnamese Boys should be fighting for themselves!” Anyway not about me, but back to the WTA-NAFTA. I told my associates at AIG our client work force would be in competition with sweat shop workers making 50 cents an hour- how can our American manufacturing base compete? My AIG co-workers laughed at me and said I was an Isolationist or I must have Agent Orange or something? Now fast forward to today, 2008. I voted for McCain, but you voted for Obama.. As I look back, I am glad McCain didn’t inherit the frigging mess bestowed upon Obama by his former Democrats that sold America down the Bon Song River 30-40 years ago. Barney Frank and Chris Dodd sold AIG the idea that half a trillion dollars of sub prime loans created by the democrats was a great idea. Now AIG is bankrupt and America is close. Never dreamed my own great job investment/retirement vehicle would be destroyed by Democrats, I have been full circle. Johnson- Vietnam, Bill Clinton- WTA-NAFTA the destroyer of our American economy and manufacturing base with the invitation for millions of Illegal voters and workers.. And now we have the great Messiah Obama that will lead us out of this mess. With his policies of rolling back NAFTA-WTA, where the hell is he going to roll it to? America has no Manufacturing base; it is gone to China, India, Japan, etc. He will tax anyone making over $120,000 per year to give you a handout and free health services. Good luck with that! If the stock market keeps crashing because of Fear Obama and his world views, no one will be making over $120,000 a year. Now you see why I will never vote for a Democrat, I will never support a Democrat president and I will jump Obama’s ass anytime I think he has screwed up, and someday you will also. I WILL NEVER LEAVE OBAM ALONE. …RIGHT NOW HIS RETEROIC REMINDS ME OF THE COMMUNISTS I FOUGHT SO LONG AGO. IF HE IS LEFT ALONE HE WILL FINISH THE JOB OF DESTROYING OUR COUNTRY THE DEMOCRATS STARTED BEFORE YOU WERE BORN. And you need to thank your mother for not believing in Abortions, another great DEMOCRAT PLATFORM..

Nov 7, 2008 - 1:16 am 125. CFM:

Al, that was quite a screed. Have you resurected the John Birch Society?

BTW, just what does “stratastrofic” mean?

Nov 7, 2008 - 3:01 am 126. Jonesy55:

Ok: It seems that some people are struggling with an understanding of what communism/socialism is and want a definition.

Here’s one for starters, ok so it’s wikipedia, not the most reliable source around but the general gist is pretty much indisputable I think.

“Communism is a socioeconomic structure and political ideology that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless society based on common ownership of the means of production and property in general..

communism is the idea of a free society with no division or alienation, where mankind is free from oppression and scarcity. A communist society would have no governments, countries, or class divisions. According to Karl Marx, socialism is the intermediate system between capitalism and communism, when the government is in the process of changing the means of ownership from privatism, to collective ownership.”

“Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and the creation of an egalitarian society

Socialism is not a discrete philosophy of fixed doctrine and program; its branches advocate a degree of social interventionism and economic rationalization, sometimes opposing each other. Another dividing feature of the socialist movement is the split on how a socialist economy should be established between the reformists and the revolutionaries. Some socialists advocate complete nationalization of the means of production, distribution, and exchange; while others advocate state control of capital within the framework of a market economy. Social democrats propose selective nationalization of key national industries in mixed economies combined with tax-funded welfare programs; Libertarian socialism (which includes Socialist Anarchism and Libertarian Marxism) rejects state control and ownership of the economy altogether and advocates direct collective ownership of the means of production via co-operative workers’ councils and workplace democracy.”

Now I guess that a progressive income tax combined with welfare programmes can be described as at the mild social-democratic end of socialism, but that’s nothing new in the USA, as people have pointed out, progressive income tax has existed for 150 years and entitlement programmes have existed for at least 75.

So let’s look at the more hardline socialism, the transfer of the economy from the private sector to the public, is BO going to nationalise the coal and steel industries, the communication and energy networks, airlines and logistics companies, retail and wholesale distribution networks? I see nothing to indicate this, the banking system has been partially nationalised which is quite a radical socialist step but BHO didn’t do that, GWB did.

As for full blown communism, is BO proposing the abolition of the government and the abolition of private property? I don’t think so.

So I would conclude that he is at the social-democratic end of the socialist spectrum, certainly nowhere near communism and that this position is a position that has also been occupied by numerous other US presidents in the past.

Nov 7, 2008 - 3:46 am 127. susan:

Al, why not start practice what you preach and LEAVE US ALONE?

You are not convincing anybody here.

You have star struck blind adoration, we have not. You are wasting our time.

Nov 7, 2008 - 3:58 am 128. Mike:

Nice try Al. You say, “leave Obama alone if you will not support him”. I will support him exactly like MoveOn and the Daily Kos supported Bush. Obama, the Democratic Party, the far left partisans and all that voted for him now own the responsibility for Iraq, Pakistan, Iran, North Korea, Russian nukes, Hamas, Osama Bin Laden, Hugo Chavez, Somalia, Darfur, the oil crisis, the deficit, the recession, the falling stock market, the unemployment rate, the tax rates, the GNP, the mortgage mess, the whole works. Since the Democrats now control all the levers of power in this country after Obama succeeds to the Presidency it will no longer be “Bush’s Fault”. Oh, and by the way, I am waiting for all the free stuff Obama promised me.

Nov 7, 2008 - 4:53 am 129. AnninCA:

The one aspect of Obama’s resume that bothers me a great deal is his crony factor. I’m personally convinced that the Bush cronyism factor is precisely why this revolution occurred. It’s a sharp swing back. People in both parties saw that this corruption factor was affecting their lives personally, and that is when change is a welcome message. I think, just my opinion, that people had a choice between trusting a “pig in a poke,” or the fear that McCain would be the same old policies. And those choices weren’t based on personality/record factors. They were based on party affiliations.

The truth is that McCain would have had to install Republicans in his administration, and how could he avoid the problems that proliferate right now? Versus….the inexperienced Obama.

My opinion is that people decided that Obama had enough commonsense to execute a change. They are giving him a shot.

But the REAL message of people is not that hard to figure out. Ban on gay marriage in the great liberal state of CA sort of says it all, doesn’t it? This is a centrist country through and through. Veer too far left at your own peril. Republicans got a terrific backlash factor from the years of the moral majority and the unending attack on Clinton. Bush paid the price.

One ridiculous optimistic thought I have? Obviously, women are still very subject to this type of insane attack thinking. Perhaps Obama is one who can break that mode of thought. It seems nobody is comfortable even making jokes about him much.

If so, that’s one positive to emerge from the election. The rest? The return to a failed “fairness doctrine?” The tanking of the stock market (I agree with the poster….money is going to flee the US right now.) That is the reality, too. There will be tons of Democratic laws that really don’t help much, cost too much for the return, and don’t make a lot of sense.

But if we could get out of the dysfunctional thinking that has marked the last 16 years?

That would worth the price of the ticket.

Nov 7, 2008 - 7:40 am 130. schnargley:

LEAVE OBAMA ALONE IF YOU WOILL NOT SUPPORT HIM! (Al)

I know! I’m so sick of you all! After all he’s been through! All you people want is more! more ! More! more! You are just lucky he ran for President for you all at all! Now, leave him alooonne!!! Pleeease!!! HE”S A HUMAN! Leave him alone right Now!! I mean it! If you want to criticize him, you deal with me!! If you don’t, I’m going to go jump off a bridge!!!

Nov 7, 2008 - 8:00 am 131. Войска ПВО:

AnninCA writes:

“This is a centrist country through and through. Veer too far left at your own peril. Republicans got a terrific backlash factor from the years of the moral majority and the unending attack on Clinton. Bush paid the price.”

..AnninCA, you post some interesting thoughts, the above being one of the more intriguing. I can’t say I disagree.

Nov 7, 2008 - 8:11 am 132. AnninCA:

ITBO……good to hear. I seem to be a fish out of water usually. I’m a hard-core Clinton Democrat who now finds that I relate mostly to being a Goldwater Republican. *gasp* When did THAT happen?

Nov 7, 2008 - 8:27 am 133. Mike:

Jonsey55,
How about Karl Marx’s definition of Communism for starters. The following is an excerpt from the “Communist Manifesto”. If this doesn’t sound like what the far left Obama supporters want I don’t know what does. Too bad the US Constitution interferes with all that but maybe they will find a way of trashing that too. Here’s the quote:

“We have seen above that the first step in the revolution by the working class is to raise the proletariat to the position of ruling class to win the battle of democracy.

The proletariat will use its political supremacy to wrest, by degree, all capital from the bourgeoisie, to centralize all instruments of production in the hands of the state, i.e., of the proletariat organized as the ruling class; and to increase the total productive forces as rapidly as possible.

Of course, in the beginning, this cannot be effected except by means of despotic inroads on the rights of property, and on the conditions of bourgeois production; by means of measures, therefore, which appear economically insufficient and untenable, but which, in the course of the movement, outstrip themselves, necessitate further inroads upon the old social order, and are unavoidable as a means of entirely revolutionizing the mode of production.

These measures will, of course, be different in different countries.

Nevertheless, in most advanced countries, the following will be pretty generally applicable.

1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.

2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.

3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance.

4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.

5. Centralization of credit in the banks of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.

6. Centralization of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the state.

7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the state; the bringing into cultivation of waste lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.

8. Equal obligation of all to work. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.

9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of all the distinction between town and country by a more equable distribution of the populace over the country.

10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children’s factory labor in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, etc.”

Sounds good huh? Hope all the good Obamaiacs get out there and go to work and pay taxes because I’m waiting for all the free stuff Obama promised me.

Nov 7, 2008 - 9:08 am 134. furious:

This disappointed McCain/Palin voter has the following outlook:

1. He’s my new president, winning enough ‘04 Bush states and by enough of a margin that I’ll shelve my gripes about ACORN and the suspect fundraising and start fighting the Fairness Doctrine, Card Check, and Freedom-of-Choice Act.

2. My new President will govern either…

a. Like Clinton, with balanced budgets and a strong economy.
b. Like Carter, which after four years we’ll replace him with Gov. Jindal.

3. 2′a’ or 2′b’, the people will present Pres. Obama (there, I said it) with a Republican Congress if he or his party overreaches.

In the meantime I’m praying we keep doing whatever we’ve done since 2001 to prevent another attack on another American city.

Nov 7, 2008 - 9:34 am 135. jonesy55:

Well, if it was true that these were his policies then I guess that Obama could be called a radical socialist, can you provide me with any links to speeches or policy documents where he has said these things?

Nov 7, 2008 - 9:37 am 136. Wahine:

Don’t miss gatewaypundit.blogspot.com today.

Especially the link to floppingaces.net reporting on Newsweek’s editors only NOW admitting that Obama is ‘creepy’, ‘deeply manipulative’, etc.

Nov 7, 2008 - 10:23 am 137. Mike:

Jonsey55, here are Obama’s comments in a 2001 interview with Chicago’s public station WBEZ-FM. Sounds like radical socialism to me and he has never disavowed the statements. Notice he uses the word “redistributive” towards the end.

“If you look at the victories and failures of the civil rights movement and its litigation strategy in the court, I think where it succeeded was to invest formal rights in previously dispossessed people, so that now I would have the right to vote. I would now be able to sit at the lunch counter and order and as long as I could pay for it I’d be OK

But, the Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth, and of more basic issues such as political and economic justice in society. To that extent, as radical as I think people try to characterize the Warren Court, it wasn’t that radical. Says what the states can’t do to you. Says what the federal government can’t do to you, but doesn’t say what the federal government or state government must do on your behalf.

And that hasn’t shifted and one of the, I think, tragedies of the civil rights movement was because the civil rights movement became so court-focused I think there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalition of powers through which you bring about redistributive change. In some ways we still suffer from that.”

Where’s all my free stuff Obama promised me?? Hope I get it!

Nov 7, 2008 - 10:58 am 138. iamdajuan:

You folks playing the race game- STOP! It was the majority that put “the one”(oprah)to the presidency. If you add up all the minority population and assume they all qualify to vote, it still not enough to put him in the office. OK.
And has anyone noticed how “Singular” the victory speech was? no family behind him but rather a roll call type show?
Good luck to all

Nov 7, 2008 - 1:11 pm 139. Steynian 281 « Free Canuckistan!:

[...] THE VICTORY Rally for Obama in Grant Park reflected the stratospheric expectations for an Obama presidency. [...]

Nov 7, 2008 - 2:09 pm 140. Gary Ogletree:

The joy on all those faces in Grant Park tempered my great disappointment with the results. Obama’s victory has already performed one miracle–leftists have been caught on film proudly waving Old Glory. That used to only happen when The Grateful Dead played “U.S. Blues,”…wave that flag, wave it wide and high…

Nov 7, 2008 - 3:25 pm 141. AJ:

Obama supporters, overall, are morons & ignorant. I’m sorry to be so blunt, but I have never spoken to one or read the words of one that does not utter cliches. They are little, hate filled children. Thankfully, they are only 51& of the population, I suppose.

A black lady I saw at the bus stop the other day told her daughter, “dont worry baby, now that a black man is president, we wont have to pay for the bus no more…”

G-d help us. Obama does not even know when WW1 was or who liberated Auschwitz but his fans in the media and the public dont either. They sare shameful and yes, they do NOT understand nor care about America.

Nov 7, 2008 - 4:39 pm 142. Bush, Obama, & Ghosts of Hate « The Sassy Tn’T PoLITicallY InCorrect:

[...] adolescent) hate of their fellow countrymen or the president-elect. The reports they’re filing read very differently than those following the Bush wins. They read as grown-up, tolerant, open-minded discourses, not [...]

Nov 7, 2008 - 11:48 pm 143. Koblog:

Exactly right Tan (#61)!

You said, “I’m the only one that’s not a Democrat in my family, and they all run to me with their hands out when they need/want something.”

Same thing with my in-laws.

They drop out of school, bounce from job to job, from spouse to spouse, leaving a trail of kids, live beyond their means via credit and bankruptcy… always waiting for their ship to come in.

One, who brings in $1800 per month with zero savings, two young kids and no husband around, still thinks, even after the meltdown, she can buy a house and a new car.

Talk about delusional.

Tan, your sister’s comment is rich and sums up the Obama mentality perfectly: “People have nice things that should be mine, it’s unfair.”

America under Obama will henceforth be fair.

You know, like it’s fair in Cuba.

Nov 8, 2008 - 3:58 am 144. Vasio:

It’s sad, very sad. Why can’t someone who makes $1800 a month have a home and car? That’s about 21,000 a year.

As humans we all need a few things for survival, without these we will perish.

1. We all need food and water.
2. We all need shelter.
3. We all need clothing.
4. We all need human companionship/interaction.
5. We all need safety.

These are just the basics every human needs to survive.

Koblog, your comments are not factual and are stereotypical and make no sense. You seem to believe that Democrats are looser’s, uneducated and welfare recipients????

This is the thinking that makes this country the “Divided States of America”. What have you done for your neighbor? For your country? It’s easy to complain, if you have not sacraficed nothing. It’s easy to stereotype when you’ve done nothing for this “GREAT” nation. It’s easy to point the finger at those who are not like you.

It essence, you need people like the poor, the unfortunate. Without those people Koblog; you cannot make the ignorant comments as stated in #143. It’s people like you and the ideals that you ignorantly illuminate that disease this country.

The only thing that is unfair is stereotypes. I’m a Democrat, but I work, have a family, 2 cars, wife, kids and savings.— – I can tell you about some hot stock commodities if you like?— –

Another thing that is unfair is opportunity. Everyone doesn’t have the same opportunity of others, so success is limited in this country. Yes it’s true everyone has the ability to succeed, but you need opportunity.

Another is race relations. This is the greatest and nastiest plagued in America. The color of skin, a religious practice, a belief or creed. This has been going on for centuries. As all see the dominant race is the caucasian race and times are changing. Though you still have those few ingnorant people that are still living or around that have “the backwards thinking”. Soon race won’t be a factor and it will be the craziest thing to even be racist or prejudiced. As long as the ignorance doesn’t get to the children, but something always falls between the cracks.

People in this country are spiteful because a black male is president. His associations, beliefs or pastor have nothing to do with anything; it’s simply a race factor. Let’s just do the math, because every white American isn’t racist. Blacks make-up about 9 to 11 percent of the population it’s no way that’s enough to get Obama elected. So that dominate race that populates this country at about 67 to 69 percent (caucasians) had to vote for him, it’s simple math and statistics. So the few that still think “backwards” will continue to plague this country.

It’s not a issue of experience, not an issue that he’s Muslim; which means nothing. So just wake up and see that this is America, “Land of the FREE and home of the BRAVE”. This is the most diverse land in the world.

Lastly, before you complain…what have you done for your country??????

Nov 8, 2008 - 5:11 am 145. Vasio:

AJ, AJ, AJ, #141…A black lady I saw at the bus stop the other day told her daughter, “dont worry baby, now that a black man is president, we wont have to pay for the bus no more…”

I doubt that you heard anyone say this and why is her race important in this supposed “quote”.

AJ or anyone here who discredits the fair election of Obama, tell me what do you know about:

Foreign Affairs
Foreign Policy
NATO
Military Industrial Complex
Energy Crisis
Government Budget and deficit
Government Indebtness

There are policies, regulations, laws that are in place that function this country. Some are flawed and need some tweaking.

But I want to know what any of you; know about any issue discussed in the debates. Tell me something that will make your racially charged comments move me and sound actually believable or even educational in the least.

I can further conclude that you people know nothing about the Government, but your gripe is Obama is black; so you fuel your comments with things you read or heard someone else say is true in reference to Obama, but you didn’t get facts and educate yourself on any issue. If you did your comments wouldn’t sound like AJ’s or Koblog or #61 or #133 and look at Lilly….It’s clear you know nothing and simply repeat what others have said, give me something original.

Nov 8, 2008 - 5:30 am 146. Vasio:

Oh yeah…AJ what are you doing at a Bus Stop???

Nov 8, 2008 - 5:37 am 147. Whitley:

I CLING TO MY GUN cause this country is in alot of trouble. Our grip is not that he is black, REMEMBER HE IS HALF WHITE.

Nov 8, 2008 - 7:26 am 148. whitley:

If you are any other race, why is it that we are upset because Obama is black and its made into a race issue? Get a life and a job you freebie takers “REMEMBER HE IS HALF WHITE”. It has nothing to do with him being black. And Im tired of hearing about the race issue,when are you going to stop being poor me. Im a native american you dont here us crying. We need someone who is stong and is military based, cause this country is fixing to be in alot of trouble exspecially if we pull out of Iraq. My husband served a year and a half over there, and the media only reports what will sell the best. As far as CHANGE demorcats ruled congress during the bush administration and of course turned down everything the President put on the table, but lets blame him. I bought a house when Bush was in office only I was not an idiot who tired to live over my means, I bought a house on a fixed term not revolving, you have to really be an idiot to buy a anything on a flex or revolving term. Take responsibility for your actions and quit blaming Bush. McCain was running for President not Bush and I got tired of hearing Obama bash bush as if he was running against Bush, what an idiot. And the news media gave all the attention to Obama, it just shows you what the media can sell. I will “CLING TO MY GUN” everyday and prey to “GOD”, cause this country is in for a rude awaking. Russias even committed the day after Obama was elected they are not afraid of America any more. You cant talk to terrorist, its like talking to the criminal who is holding you and your family hostage and is fixing to murder your hole family. Are you going to sit down and talk nice to him or DEFEND YOUR FAMILY.

Nov 8, 2008 - 7:48 am 149. therealist:

“Obama’s election will eliminate racism and heal the country.” That’s a good one. We all remember of course when Doug Wilder, the first black Governor, healed Virginia, and now racism is completely gone from that state.

Nov 9, 2008 - 12:39 pm 150. Bitterer:

I think you got caught up in the occasion. The election of the first African American is a momentous occasion. But he got there by never taking a stand on anything and allowing people to project what they want to on him.

I have friends and family who supported Obama, yet believe he will do diametrically opposite things. When he has to begin to make choices and take stands, something he has never before done as an elected official, some part of his coalition is going to become massively unhappy. There is a very wide chasm between the moderates and liberals in the Democratic party, and I doubt he will be able to satisfy both.

Nov 13, 2008 - 8:31 am 151. Ms. Know:

I saw people crying because they have this idea that the liberal illuminati have magic in their hands, and when they find out they’ll be crying harder because they were deceived.

Nov 14, 2008 - 12:22 pm 152. TrendWatcher:

Actually, Obama isn’t a Boomer nor an Xer. As many influential experts and publications have repeatedly pointed out, Obama is part of Generation Jones, born 1954-1965, between the Boomers and Xers. You may find this page interesting: it has, among other things, excerpts from publications like Newsweek and the New York Times, and videos with over 25 top pundits, all talking specifically about Obama’s identity as a GenJoneser: http://www.generationjones.com/2008election.html

Nov 19, 2008 - 10:26 am 153. Herb:

The Bell Toll
I can hear the faint sound of a bell as I come near
the sound gets louder and starts to pound with each
step I make its like it pulling me, What is this
sound that magnetise me, I think its raping a
tune,as I get closer it becomes clear the tune says
Let Freedom Ring, Good God Almighty Let Freedom Ring.

Herb Mathis

Nov 21, 2008 - 10:08 pm

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