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TechnoratiElection Unleashes a Flood of Hope Around the World
PARIS - From the front lines of Iraq to more genteel spots like Harry's Bar in Paris, the election of Barack Obama unlocked a floodgate of hope that a new American leader will redeem promises of change, rewrite the political script and, perhaps as important as anything else, provide a kind of leadership that will erase the bitterness of the Bush years.
Whether it was because of Mr. Obama's youth, his race, his message or his manner, some European leaders abandoned diplomatic niceties to compete for extravagance in their praise, while others outside the United States - fascinated by an election that had been scrutinized around the globe - reached for their most telling comparisons.
"There is the feeling that for the first time since Kennedy, America has a different kind of leader," said Alejandro Saks, an Argentine script writer in Buenos Aires. Or, as Ersin Kalaycioglu, a professor of political science in Istanbul, put it, "The U.S. needs a facelift and he's the one who can give it."
There were some glaring departures from the feel-good mood. One in particular illustrated the challenges that will test the president-elect: President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia chose the day to lambast the United States and threaten new missile deployments.
The final moments of the election were covered in obsessive detail far from America. In Australia, radio stations interrupted their shows to broadcast the Obama acceptance speech. In Berlin, newspapers printed special editions.
Perhaps one of the most poignant accolades came from Nelson Mandela, South Africa's former president, who said in a letter to Mr. Obama: "Your victory has demonstrated that no person anywhere in the world should not dare to dream of wanting to change the world for a better place."
Significantly, though, among American troops in Iraq, the hope seemed tinged with skepticism that change in the White House would not automatically mean change in American doctrines that have meant deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"It's not like even if Obama is elected we'll up and leave," said Specialist James Real, 31, of Butte, Montana, as soldiers watched the returns on television at Forward Operating Base Falcon in Iraq.
Indeed, Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Iraq itself did not "expect that much change in the American policies toward Iraq. Any changes won't be made in one night."
In Afghanistan, where American troops are also deployed in an increasingly bitter war, the election brought a rebuke .
"Our demand is to have no civilian casualties in Afghanistan. The fight against terrorism cannot be won by the bombardment of our villages," said President Hamid Karzai, referring to a string of coalition airstrikes that have caused civilian casualties.
For many outsiders, Mr. Obama's victory raised expectations that a new administration would seek new relationships across the globe.
"I think he can restore the image of America around the world, especially after Bush got us into two wars," said David Charlot, 28, a lawyer with French and American citizenship who was among a throng of expatriate revelers outside Harry's Bar in Paris.
The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, said something on similar lines. "Your election raises in France, in Europe, and elsewhere in the world, an immense hope," he said in a message that called Mr. Obama's victory "brilliant" and his campaign "exceptional." Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany called his victory "historic" and invited Mr. Obama to return to Berlin, where he addressed a huge rally during his campaign.
Even in lands whose leaders are no friends of Washington -- such as Venezuela and Iran -- the election outcome cut through official propaganda to touch some people.
"It's kind of nice to feel good about the United States again," said Armando Díaz, 24, a bookkeeper in Carcacas, Venezuela, where Enrique Cisneros, a storekeeper summed it up like this: "A few hours ago, the world felt like a different place." In Iran, too, some said the American example should persuade politicians closer to home to adopt similar political ways.
‘'His election can be a lesson for the dictators of the Middle East," said Badr-al-sadat Mofidi, the deputy editor of the daily Kargozaran newspaper. Some in Iran focused on their hopes for a change in American attitudes towards their country. ‘'The nightmare of war with the United States will fade with Obama's election," said Nehmat Ahmadi, a lawyer.
Indeed, for many who had watched this campaign from afar, there was a sense that the election was not just an American affair but something that touched people around the world, whatever their origin. "I want Obama to win with 99 percent, like Saddam Hussein," said Hanin Abu Ayash, who works at a television station in Dubai and monitored early returns on his computer. "I swear if he doesn't win, I'm going to take it personally."
In Berlin, Anna Lemme, a 29-year-old architect, said she did not usually hurry to catch the news first thing in the morning. ‘'But this morning I jumped to the radio first thing at 5 a.m.," she said.
There was little doubt that for some, Mr. Obama's skin color made his victory all the more exhilarating.
"The United States is choosing a black man as its president. Maybe we can share a bit in this happiness," Mr. Cisneros said in Caracas.
The Afghan president, Mr. Karzai, said the election had shown the American people overcoming distinctions "of race and color while electing their president" and thereby helping to bring "the same values to the rest of the world sooner or later."
For many in Africa - and in Kenya in particular - his election evoked a deepening of pride. As President Mwai Kibaki said in a message to Mr. Obama, "your victory is not only an inspiration to millions of people all over the world, but it has special resonance with us here in Kenya" - the birthplace of Mr. Obama's father and paternal grandparents.
That sense of association may also encourage some to believe that Mr. Obama will give Africa special attention. "We express the hope that poverty and underdevelopment in Africa, which remains a challenge for humanity, will indeed continue to receive a greater attention of the focus of the new administration," said Kgalema Motlanthe, the South African president.
Many outside Africa competed for his attention, too.
In a statement, the 27-nation European Union said it saw "the promise of a reinforced trans-Atlantic relationship" in Mr. Obama's election. Even big business joined in.
"From a business perspective, I'm very happy that the economic issue was at the top of the agenda in the campaign," said Lakshmi Mittal, the head of the world's biggest steel-maker, "and we're very positive that we'll see more measures to address the economic crisis with his election."
On momentous occasions, politicians reach for big words. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, for instance, said that "American democracy has just lived through a marvelous moment, one of those major turning points that periodically demonstrates its vitality, its belief in the future and its trust in the values on which it was founded over two centuries."
In parliament in London on Wednesday, members of Britain's three major political parties lavished praise on Mr. Obama. Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that Mr. Obama had run "an inspirational campaign, energizing politics with progressive values and his vision for the future."
Mr. Brown mentioned several times that he planned to work closely with the new administration, said he had spoken to Mr. Obama "on many occasions," called him a "true friend of Britain" and said: "I know Barack Obama and we share many values."
But politicians also peer through the prism of self-interest.
In South Korea, some pondered the destiny of a free-trade agreement negotiated by the Bush administration and criticized by Mr. Obama. Lee Hae-min, South Korea's top trade negotiator, warned that any change in the deal could undermine South Korea's support for the deal and "open a Pandora's box".
In the Middle East, the focus of much tension that has drawn in successive American administrations, Saeb Erakat, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, urged Mr. Obama to transform the proposal for a two-state solution in the Palestine-Israel conflict "to a realistic track immediately."
At the Vatican, a statement urged Mr. Obama to show "respect of human life" and expressed the hope that "God should illuminate the way" for him in his "great responsibility."
Some saw a chance to patch up old feuds.
Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who displeased Washington when he withdrew Spain's troops from Iraq in 2004, said Mr. Obama's victory "demonstrated the vitality of this great country, and of democracy and the unstoppable force of the ballot to bring about change."
"I am confident this opens a horizon of promise for relations between the United States and Spain," he told a press conference in Madrid.
But even in the moment of triumph, some in Europe questioned whether Mr. Obama would really make a break with his George W. Bush, the least popular American president among Europeans in recent history.
"When Obama takes office on January 20," the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said in an editorial, "we will see whether the Europeans - and especially the Germans - really just had a problem with Bush's presidency or with America itself."
Others were less cynical. "The margin of victory was emphatic and, whatever else follows, today the world changed," said an editorial in The Times of London, and The Guardian newspaper proclaimed: "They did it. They really did it. So often crudely caricatured by others, the American people yesterday stood in they eye of history and made an emphatic choice for change for themselves and the world."
That was not a universal view in Moscow where one analyst, Mikhail Delyagin, compared Mr. Obama to Mikhail S. Gorbachev, who is often blamed in Russia for destroying the Soviet Union.
"Not having large-scale management experience, he has greater chances to disorganize America, to destabilize America, out of the very best intentions, as Gorbachev once did."
But the supporters generally outnumbered the skeptics.. "We were all hoping that he would win," said Carla Saggioro, a retired architect in Rome. "And the fact that he did with such a large margin is a sign of real change _ at least let's hope so."
Alexei Barrionuevo contributed reporting from Buenos Aires, Basil Katz, Susanne Fowler, David Jolly and Katrin Bennhold from Paris, Alissa Rubin from Forward Operating Base Falcon in Iraq, Michael Slackman from Dubai, Choe Sang-Hun from Seoul, Simon Romero from Caracas, Norimitsu Onishi from Tokyo, Seth Mydans and Thomas Fuller from Bangkok, Sam Dagher and The New York Times bureau from Baghdad, Rachel Donadio and Elisabetta Povoledo from Rome, Sarah Lyall from London, Barry Bearak and Celia W. Dugger from Johannesburg, Somini Sengupta from New Delhi, Peter Gelling from Jakarta, Sabrina Tavernise from Istanbul, Sophia Kishkovsky from Moscow, Carlos H. Conde from Manila, Abdul Waheed Wafa from Kabul, Meraiah Foley from Sydney, Nicholas Kulish from Berlin, Victoria Burnett from Madrid and Nazila Fathi from Tehran.
61 Comments so far
Show AllWhat a truly strange and bizarre nation this is: 8 years of some of, or perhaps even THE WORST, government in our history is immediately followed by the election of the first African American biracial president, something I thought could never have happened for at least another generation. But if death focuses the mind wonderfully, apparently so does destitution.
.Thanks for the smile, Mr. Shiblikov.....Hunger is a great motivator I imagine....
.
We see things, not as they are, but as we are.
Anais Nin
Bombing Afganistan, killing ordinary people who had the misfortune to get born there, people attending wedding parties, villagers and small children--- which is what we are currently doing--- and what Obama so touchingly proposes escalating--- does not inspire me with paroxisms of "hope".
If it gives you "hope" to support someone who has callously campaigned on maintaining troops in Iraq and escalating the war in Afganistan, which equates to killing thousands of innocent people--- well, you have a serious lack of empathy for other people.
That is regardless of some "identity" you feel you have as a "progressive".
This country lives in la la land. It is sad. We are so willing to be deluded so that we do not need to take any responsibility for our actions as a country. I'm not willing to dance away the night, with lots of hope, while pointless slaughter continues on my dime.
This whole situation inspires hopeless exasperation, as well as a sense of sorrow for those whose lives have been destroyed--- not hope, folks.
It's possible that Obama feels as the president (or whatever his title is) of Afganistan does - that bombing villages and killing innocent citizens isn't the way to fight terrorists. I like to think there are Americans who, like myself, felt the way this so-called war on terrorism should be fought was with Intellegence forces to seek out terrorist cells, and specially trained ground troups to rout them out. When we started bombing the hell out of Iraq, I couldn't believe it was happening. I think we should at least wait and see what Obama does in this area before we condemn him.
They're all talking about restoring America's "place in the world." Obama, McCain, Bush, Biden, Palin--the whole lot of them. This makes them reactionaries, not conservatives or liberals. That's just how far the political discourse has fallen in this country.
Well, on the one hand I am glad that so many around the world are showing solidarity with us, but one the other I am terribly afraid of letting them down. Obama's record doesn't bode well.
For all our sakes I hope we can pressure him to do the right thing like his CD supporters here have been saying.
Be hopeful, yes. Blind, no. We need healthy skepticism.
Maybe we can keep him form becoming a war criminal too?
"HOPE has two children. The first is ANGER at the way things are. The second is COURAGE to DO SOMETHING about it."-St. Augustine
Biden is a blatant Zionist although Geo Washington warned US:
"Observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all...and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded; and that, in place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. The nation which indulges towards another a habitual hatred or a habitual fondness is in some degree a slave...a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils."-George Washington's Farewell Address - 1796
When Senator Biden spoke with Shalom TV he said:
"There is this inextricable tie between culture, religion, ethnicity that most people do not understand…You don't have to be a Jew to be a Zionist, I am a Zionist."
Biden is clueless that Zionism has NOTHING in common with TRUE Christianity and is NOT in the best interests of America:
"Christian Zionism is a contradiction in terms…Zionism deviates from the heart of the New Testament…Christian Zionism is adding fuel to the tensions between Muslims, Christians and Jews…If the Christian Zionists' agenda is realized, it will mean the death of Palestinian Christianity in the Holy Land…Zionism is militarizing the church…Christian Zionists overwhelmingly supported the war in Iraq and continue to support oppressive Israeli measures in the West Bank…the slaughter of [1,255,026 Iraqis*] goes virtually unnoticed and unchallenged because of their belief that President George W. Bush is a dedicated Christian who is carrying out the will of God…The 'blind spot' of Christian Zionists is the fact that the Palestinian people, every day and in every aspect of their lives are living under an oppressive military occupation…Unlike the prophets of the Old Testament Christian Zionists have no prophetic words of reprimand for the State of Israel."
excerpted from:
WAWA Blog September 17, 2008: Regarding Senator Biden, "Tasks from God"
http://www.wearewideawake.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1031&Itemid=204
Eileen Fleming, Citizen Journalist, Author,
Producer "30 Minutes With Vanunu" and
"13 Minutes with Vanunu" FREELY STREAMING
http://www.wearewideawake.org/
What are the chances that George W. Bush will
let any of us live until the Swearing-in Ceremony?
• Israel airstrike imperils Gaza truce with Hamas
• Russia to deploy short-range missiles near Poland
• Airstrike Kills 90 in Afghan Wedding Party
Please, no Republicans in this administration. No Blue Dogs or other conservative Democrats either.
We need an equal and opposite reaction to dismantle the conservative war machine.
Uhhh, what happened? Did I miss something?
lizard
the economy: He'll say there's no money for anything ambitious
Wars: They need to be fought. The world is dangerous
Prosecuting Bush et al: too divisive and energy consuming. Can't do that
Health care: through the insurance companies only
Helping black people: Sorry, president of all equally
Environment: clean coal and nukes. If we can, wind power, but.. too slow
Electoral reform?: He hasn't even thought about it
Article V convention: Make me laugh
Palestinian suffering?: They are the bad guys, killers. They deserve to suffer
He wears a suit well, he is polished, he is tall, he is soothing. Period.
Dream on, reality will catch up. It always does.
How does a 51-49 result end up being presented as decisive? Dream on.....
It's interesting that, due to the victory of Obama, there are no articles on any of the massive voting irregularities. If he lost, there would have been hundreds.
The fact remains, computer voting systems have well documented security flaws. I don't think this should be ignored just because Obama won.
z:no one is ignoring;DemocracyNow which was on CD last night and this morning talked about it. Today and maybe one more day, let's just feel good while figuring out agendas and who wants to work on what. Yes? Won't it be nice to be able to go to another country, say in Europe and be welcomed (unless you're Cheney and others who don't want to have to answer for war crimes)?
There is a lot of talk about change, and hope and turning a new page. The talk from the pundits is that this was a universal decklaration FOR change.
What is the reality?
The United States has just went through 8 years of what I believe was the worst, most venal and corrupt administration in its history.
This administration, spied on Americans without warrants, outed the names of a CIA agent out of spite, lied its country into multiple wars.
They fabricated evidence to promote those wars. They supported torture openly and ridiculed the constitution. They lied to allies in order to convince said allies to join them in these wars.
They commietted war crimes. They more then doubled the debt of teh treasury and will leave it with what is expected to be a trillion dolar deficit for the next fiscal year.
They saw jobs shift overseas, gutted enviromental protections and lined the pockets of the Corporations with cronyism.
Their heir picked as a running mate a clueless woman who believes dinosaurs and man co-existed .
Yet they still garnered soem 48 PERCENT of the vote for the Office of the President.
A number of people have stated that just because the administration of the United States corrupt, people the world over should not see Americans that way.
I ask why not?
48 PERCENT of Americans wanted to reward the Republicans with another Presidency.
pk
Good point, but your numbers are waaay off. Better check the facts. I don't have the exact numbers here, nor am I about to embark on a fact-finding mission to prove I'm right... But something like 20% of eligible voting-age Americans are registered Republicans, AND THEY ALL VOTE. How many eligible voting-age slackers don't participate in elections at all? It's a huge percentage of people! Why don't they vote? If they formed their own party, call it the "Slacker non-voting Party", and they decided to all vote on a common platform, like free pizza and phat screen TV's for all slackers, or something, THEY WOULD RULE! So when the next election comes around, bring a slacker.
>>Good point, but your numbers are waaay off. Better check the facts. I don't have the exact numbers here, nor am I about to embark on a fact-finding mission to prove I'm right
Where are my numbers wrong?
64 percent turnout and of those 48 percent voted Republican. One just can not assume that everyone who does NOT vote is some monolithic block all itching to vote but seeing no real choices.
The fact is no matter who ran a good chunk of people EVEN republican types would not vote.
If one looks at one election to next there was very little real shift. The Republicans just had the most reprehensible adminsiration in modern history and still garnered some 52 million votes.
The shift to the Democrats was measured in single digits. There was no massive shift of support to Democrats on the Presidential ticket.
In truth over 90 percent of Americans voted the same as they did the last election.
The GAIN Obama saw was IMHO in new voters rather then people changing parties. People who did not vote before.
This demonstrates how polarized America has become and the straightjacket of the two party system
PK
From the outcome of the congressional races, with fairly equal numbers of both parties winning, I'd say a lot of those who voted for Obama were the disenfranchised non neo-con Republicans who've been leaving the party since 2002, and want to see all vestages of bush (mccain/palin)out of the White House, but don't want the dems getting too entrenched.
Lets put it this way. Given what the Bush Presidency provided in the past 8 years, I would have hoped a much more massive repudiation of those policies.
As in an Obama getting 60 percent of the Vote.
My mind can not get around the support that Mccain still had or that the Republicans still have. I understand that some might well see no difference between the two parties, but the outcome shows that both parties can count on their base to support them NO MATTER what.
Now I sincerely hope that Obama turns things around. I just can not believe that true change can happen in America without the electorate wanting real change and the obersvation I am making is that the electorate did not really CHANGE. A Few percentage points shifted from one party to the other.
PK
As I've said on other posts, our voices were heard on the bailout bill, even if it didn't go the way we wanted it too, but it did make some changes happen to the bill. We can flood the White House and Congress with e-mails, phone calls, and letters in the areas of change that needs to happen, or to possibly change the course in some areas, like how the "war on terrorism" is fought.
Bloggers are set to blog for peace November 6, 2008. Don't miss it!
BlogBlast For Peace ~ How To Participate!
It's a new day, full of promise. I'm not going to let the cynicism of a few pessimistic Common Dreams posters spoil the fun. SO LET'S PARTY! Better twist up an extra phatt one!
Jeevee
We fervently hope that Ralph Nader turns out to be mistaken in his assessment of Barack!! Barack may turn out to be more positive in his response to an awakening American people.
Jeevee:Even if Nader is right in part(s), that doesn't negate possibilities of positive change. Time to organize. (I voted for Obama and it feels great.)
Obama will certainly begin his term by operating within narrow confines, within the parameters set up for him by the MIC and the Business Roundtable, as any US president must in order to avoid assassination by the usual suspects (i.e. CIA, etc...). Any real change must start from below from a popular movement. And any successful popular movement must use means new and unanticipated (e.g. a new technology spreading in applications at an accelerating pace), for everything that can be anticipated, e.g. standard elections, has been gamed and several layers of defense have been put in place.
Obama does not have a death wish, but obviously he is not risk averse, as he knew he was taking on a great risk of being killed by twisted racist rubes just by running for and becoming president, regardless of whether he goes off the reservation. And Obama certainly does not have any lifelong association with or loyalty to the powers that be. So it is not unimaginable that he could become a partner in a real transformation, as it would have been with Bush, Hillary, or McCain, but of course it still is not likely.
So we woke up this morning in Obama's America, a new morning indeed, full of hope, gracious concessions, general celebration. I'm glad that "Blinky" McCain did not get his war chariot, and that I will not have to listen to Sarah Palin any more, or the hateful hoots of the cretins who attended their rallies. The good cause has been advanced, no doubt about it, and we are entitled to toss a little confetti.
It is likely that the economic meltdown is what caused America's change of heart, a violation of our wallets and not a sudden infusion of intelligence or compassion. It is likely that it was not that messianic Barack Obama who won the election, but a less visible, Illinois-based political machine whose agenda is not so clear. The campaign itself was a frighteningly vacuous string of slogans, a true nothingburger offered to undecided ungulates and ditzy children. We would do well to moderate today's happiness with a bit of skepticism and dread.
I was saddened to see that Nader did so poorly, that less than 1% of us had the cojones to ask for something that was not on the standard menu (health care, peace, corporate transparency, equal justice.) The prognosis for the multiparty system that will even allow such topics to be raised looks pretty bleak from here. There are still 52 million loathsome racist xenophobic dummies out there, which whom I have no desire to be united or compromised, even if I am physically surrounded by them. The returns from the deep South (sorry Thomas More - that includes Texas) confirm my belief that the entrenched mentality that has infected the Republican party has its ultimate redoubt in those swampy regions, groping its way up the nation's colon, the Mississippi and Missouri drainages, like that string of diseased red states, in diminishing McCain majorities, toward their sister societies in North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. There is still much to be depressed about. Our problems remain implacably real in the face of our giddy fantasies about transformation and reform. Wall Street is munching through the bailout horsd'oeuvres and soon will wipe its chin and want more. A global recession yawns inevitably before us. In the Mideast, de Tar Baby of war has not turned loose of anybody's mind. The Bush years (and prior) have damaged our country in ways as yet unsuspected. He will hand it back to us in a paper sack like a dismantled clock. We remain a nation of gullible saps, even if our new president is genuinely moved to live up to the expectations of his clamoring fans. Good luck to him.
If Nader really wanted to change the political landscape, he should have run for a house or Senate seat 40 years ago and gotten active in the democratic party leadership. It was his choice to be untouched by pragmatism and remain a critic. Its good his vanity candidacy didn't cause any damage this time.
Regarding the article, and to paraphrase Will Smith in "Independence Day", "Does Obama really think he can do all this s--t?"
.Your post shows only a lack of understanding of the politics and motivations of Ralph Nader and absolutely nothing else. If you were motivated by a desire to make a real difference you would first ground yourself in your subject, then you would be less prone to egregious error.
.
We see things, not as they are, but as we are.
Anais Nin
Motivation is only half the equation. Effectiveness counts too. If we want candidates with a progressive agenda, we have to organize the necessary popular support. Anyone can get up and declaim. (See them every day in the subway).
Joe
.Lest we forget. We live in the belly of the beast and the media does not rush to publish the views of those like Ralph Nader or Cynthia McKinney. Effectiveness is a two edged sword, as an example look at the way President Elect Obama has been so effective in fooling progressives....and the way the voice of dissent is stifled so effectively.
.
We see things, not as they are, but as we are.
Anais Nin
This is the writing on the wall... Rethuglicanism will not be tolerated. Not in our names!
Obama has scored a victory against 8 years of Neocon nastiness. We're going to restore civility to our policies and actions. If you don't like it- move to Alaska!
Whether Obama turns out to be the perfect candidate or not; we will soon see. Obviously if one wants to get elected in this country- the rhetoric must be kept in the middle to win votes from both sides.
But we know what the real mandate is. The american people have let out a loud roar...
"We do not support these wars."
"We do not support putting our troops in harms way based on lies."
"We do not support creating enemies."
"We do not support a new Cold War."
"We do not support torture."
"We do not support the financial policies of this conservative republican administration that have burned our economy."
"We're mad as hell... . and we're KICKING THE BUMS OUT!"
May Obama bring peace and prosperity to all. We have spoken, and we will be ever vigilent- never forgeting the horrors that the Republicans have unleashed upon every corner of this delicate planet.
Get a grip people. It was 51-49. 49% wanted McCain. Obama won all the close races, that's all. Isn't it impressive that after the Bush disaster and fear for the wallet, half the electorate is still Republican? Obama made his first speech as President elect. Did you notice he said nothing of importance? Did you notice his disregard for Iraq? Did you not notice the abscence of anything that could give one hope? Sorry, but this fellow won't bring much change. He won't even give Americans health care. There is simply nothing to look forward to............................lizard
.Of course there is something to look forward to...the struggle and eventual victory.
.
We see things, not as they are, but as we are.
Anais Nin
The Big Spiritual Sigh that swept over this Planet like a giant Tsunami
of Hope has changed the World already. The World may be excited
about Senator Obama's win, but that is not the point. The point is that
there was a tidal wave of want for change and I am not speaking about
the 'Change' to more of the same the Republicans promised,
nor is it the more 'democratic' approach to solve the crisis we are in.
The wave of hope is related to the fact, that more votes than ever before
were cast, 'The American People' made their choice of not following more
of the same. That's probably as good as it can ever get in a 'democracy'.
The back bone and the real winners of these elections are indeed those
American people that have not given up their hope that we have to do
whatever it takes to protect all humans on the planet from the
consequences of specifically the last eight years of Republican rule.
It is the Grass Roots movement that shows the way into the future.
The American people stopped the Republicans and one could argue
that the remaining 'Red Sates' have put shame on them by being
supportive of a campaign that was inexcusably trashy and for voting
for a policy that is toxic to the planet we coincidently happen to live on.
Now it is time to allow for Nationwide voter participation in all major
political, sociological, economical and environmental questions, like
in Switzerland. That way we will turn America for the time in the 21st
Century into a Real Democracy, Of the People, By the People,
For the People and With the people.
The other thing is, after Quantum Physics there is clearly an effect
pertaining energy increase. The more positive spiritual energy is generated,
the more people will tune into this energy, which in turn will create more
energy. It is all just down the road.
We will start with global disarmament and replace the 'Defense' with
the new 'Non-Proliferation Department'. The defense budget will be
diverted into the 'Climate Change Department' to manage the
preparation and the support of the population for the fast
approaching climate catastrophe.
One can't vote oneself out of this one.
May all Beings be blessed. Specifically the weak and ill minded.
Here's my hope:
Welcome to Camelot v2.0
We have to do better than Camelot. Kennedy got us into Viet Nam, the cuban missle crisis, put missles in Turkey, Inaugerated the first sub launched ballistic missle system for the US. Created the Green Berets. Egged the Soviets into building the wall. Created the idea of the Missle Gap. He expanded the School of the Americas into a torture university.
We need MUCH better than Camelot.
On the other hand, if McCain / Palin had been elected... we still would have had to deal with the desire for a Democrat to ride in on a horse and rescue us. Now that's done and we can deal with the reality rather than the wish.
Joe
I agree. I never bought into that Camelot hype. It was annoying to be expected to moon over the royalty while hungry. I was there and Camelot was no Camelot for me and many others here and around the world. Or maybe it WAS Camelot, and we were the serfs, with prettier masters than most.
Wide Eyes Open Joe
jclientelle:I was in my 20s during Camelot. I marched to get JFK to sign the test ban treaty. (He did.) We had the wonderful idea, having just come out of the 1950s, (and we were much more innocent than kids now;I was working class and went to college on GIBill thanks to dead vet dad), that we could make America better. Look up Eric Foner (Prof. of History at Columbia Univ. speech on "Who is an American?" from the 1990s):he said that kids who went to school in NYC in the 1940s were taught democracy. We became the people who scared the heck out of the Republicans. So much so that they pretend we were drop out and druggies. We went to the South and joined with Southern kids and adults who were working on getting the vote. People around the world know our history better than many of us do. We didn't know JFK was what he was in terms of women,etc.
I was a young teacher during the Cuban missle crisis, running into the teachers' lounge between classes to see the tv and if we were at war. We were scared. At the same time, we refused to participate in bomb drills with kids. Just flat out said, "NO, it won't protect anybody to get under a desk or in the hall if a nuclear bomb is dropped" and the school system in NYC just dropped the idea.
So, our age group knows that things can get done. We protested against the war in Vietnam. The Vietnam Vets are still around and fighting for peace. And many of us are still doing as can, for as long as can. We salute the young and wish them all the best and good for them in taking over. We did the best we could. (And left them a mess.)
.I remembr sitting in my folks living room in Queens NY, looking out the window towards Manhattan, awaiting that first glimpse of the big white flash of light that would signify the end for millions, myself included.....It seems we share a few things.....
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We see things, not as they are, but as we are.
Anais Nin
A reptile would be a more trustworthy leader. Come on--the worst qualities of any species are those that are found in humans.
Let's take our heads out of our rear ends in self adulation.
Anyway
certainly its better that he won than McCain did(although he sure gave an even tempered concession speech--too bad it couldnt have been Bush stuttering through it 4 years ago).
So, will the prosecution of George W. Bush for murder be off the table? If so, then we will have achieved very little. It is truly amazing that South American countries routinely prosecute their leaders who commit wrongdoings (Argentina, Chile, and Peru to name a few), yet our country cannot do this because we want to have unity and move forward. If Obama says this is off the table, keep drinking your Kool-Aid.
I don't know how anyone can ignore the over 4,000 young Americans who were killed in Iraq --- and the over 1 million innocent Iraqis who were slaughtered --- by a totally unnecessary war that was based on war profiteering and lies.
If Bush is not held accountable for his war crimes, then this is the last time I will vote for a Democrat. Canada allows five different political parties (not just two as the U.S. does); why don't we?? Oh I forgot, Democrats want bipartisanship. Can't have the Republicans getting irritated with us, right? It's interesting Republicans never work at bipartisanship.
How many deaths of americans and more importantly others overseas will there be in the first four years of Obama's administration? I think we should believe him when he tells us he will kill, maim, destroy, all in the name of american imperialism and exceptionalism.
Congratulations to President-elect Barach Obama and to the people of the United States. For those of us living on the outside looking in we are on this day very relieved with the outcome of this critical and historical Presidential election.
On a more personal level I am much relieved that two American university students who address me as "dad" woke up this morning with a feeling of hope for, and confidence in, the country of their birth, the United States of America.(both our children were born in Atlanta GA.) My wife, a daughter of the deep south (Alabama), had tears in her eyes when suddenly CNN projected that the junior Senator from the state of Illinois would become the 44th President of the United States of America. Hope will do that. It is all about hope.
I wish you all the best.
Writing from Canada
Thomas Gilbert
Thomas Gilbert:thank you. After the Revolution, many Loyalists of King George moved to Canada.
Yes many empire loyalists settled in this country after the revolutionary war. What may also be of some interest is that Canada was also the destination for many Africian Americans seeking freedom from slavery in the United States during the early to mid 19th century.(Underground railroad).
Interesting how the empire loyalists arrived in British North America (Canada) to remain "subjects" of the British crown while later on people would arrive here seeking "freedom" from slavery. Many families in Canada can trace their roots back to the plantations of another time and place.
President-Elect Obama's victory last night was in many ways their victory also.
TG
Right On.
Obama and Change and Hope.
To Hope, Faith and Love.
I'm not hopeful at all. People were conned & turned their hatred for Bush into something awful: condoning the murders of innocent human lives overseas; more imperialism, more militarism, more corporatism, and most importantly, more exceptionalism.
Precisely! So far, you are the first voice of reality I have heard since THIS particular illusion started. When will I feel hope? When I see an attempt at and a fulfillment of JUSTICE for the eight years of hell the PEOPLE of the middle east and this country have gone through. I'll have hope when I see our rights returned and a halt to torture and an apology to the poor victims. I'll have hope when 9/11 is honestly and fully investigated. I'll have hope AND satisfaction when the current president is indicted, prosecuted and behind bars....along with ALL his accomplices. That's when my hope becomes reality...NOT from some illusion brought to us through the MSM. Wake up, folks...........it's slight of hand...........your attention has been diverted..................the name has been changed to protect the guilty.
Ursa
Is that a self fullfilling wish on your part. Are you hoping that Barack is a giant failure so you can gloat!! Are you saying he is guilty before you have given him a chance to prove himself! How progressive of you.
Obama has already proven himself. When Obama calls for a new era for "bipartisan cooperation", what is it you don't understand about the last two years of "bipartisan cooperation"? Obama has been just as deceptive as the rest of the Democratic leadership, enabling the Bush regime almost every step of the way. You have been suckered by the New World Order. Obama, Biden, Pelosi, et. al are just as much New World Order as Bush or Cheney. No one wants to be in the position of gloating. It's a very frustrating WARNING that the worst is yet to come. Obama has already shown who he really works for. He went out of his way to show who he works for, and the tears of joy flow for the saviour. In his address last night, he didn't waste any time telling us that he "will go after the 'terrorists'"--not the real terrorists who brought us the WTC 911 and the ecomonic 911 being played out as we speak. He's a lying shill for the corporate militarists as they break down the sovereignty of the U.S. and others. The global elites and their shadow government are coming more and more out of the shadows to convince a panicked world populace that we need a world monetary system and a global government. Contrary to their claims, this is not an egalitarian motive for aiding a struggling world. The agenda is a planet under the control of a global Corporatocracy. It is a War of Terror on the people and when Obama and Biden start addressing this in a truthful way, there might be some hope. But many on this site are not going to hold our breath. Yes, there is an amazing amount of work to be done.
I cannot agree with this assessment. It is true that Obama is not as progressive as I would like him to be. His vote for the FISA bill in particular -- the one with ex post facto immunity for the telecoms that conspired with the Bush Administration to illegally spy on Americans -- was particularly demoralizing. In spite of this, he is a break with a past in which the politics of our country were conducted by and for the interests of the wealthy and well-connected over the interests of the country as a whole.
But this is not the reason that I am willing to withhold judgment for a time until Obama has a chance to prove himself. The reason I do not agree with your assessment is because I believe that, in a representative democracy, the people really do get the government they deserve. And yesterday, the American people rose up and demanded better. I am hopeful not because Obama won, but because the American people -- enough of them, anyway -- rose above base racism and voted him into the highest office in our government. Say what you will, but I think that this is a moment when America really did, in Martin Luther King's words, "live up to the promise of its creed".
I can remember in the 1960 campaign when John F. Kennedy's religion -- he was Roman Catholic -- was openly discussed as a possible knockout punch to his presidential prospects. Given that state of afairs, can you imagine what the prospects of a black man with mixed parentage and a foreign-sounding name would have been? Zilch. About the same as putting a man on the moon.
But we did put a man on the moon. Several of them, in fact. And the Civil Rights movement purged the stain of racial discrimination from our institutions and our laws, if not from our consciences. And now, 43 years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, the American people proved their allegience to the concept that all people, regardless of race and gender, may aspire to the highest offices in the land; that the true measure of a man is indeed not the color of his skin but the content of his character. How many of us appreciate how incredibly far it is from the back of the bus to the White House? And that we, as a society, have travelled the length of that road. After many long, desolate years, this is indeed a proud and hopeful moment.
So now the work begins. I'm sure Obama will make many decisions that I disagree with. He already has. But you know something? I'm willing to cut him some slack and give him a chance with his hand on the tiller. And even if he turns out to be something less than I'd hoped for, he is certainly better than where we've been. And I do believe that he will act in what he believes to be the best interests of the United States. It has been over four decades since I have been able to feel that way about an incoming president.
I sincerely hope that the involvement shown by the American people in this election will continue during his administration. As the saying goes, the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. We have seen first-hand the tragic and humiliating consequences of public complacency, for our government, our economy, and our society. So we will be watching.
.There is nothing wrong with hope certainly. But hope must be tempered with realism. Activists cannot remain sane if they give into despair and frustration. The great things of which you spoke above were all won because the people worked for them, the people demanded them, the people died for them. In most cases the government and our leaders were dragged along with the will of the people. We put men on the moon because we wanted to show up the Russians as an act of cold war propaganda remember.
I can appreciate your desire to allow President Obama time to show the people his direction for this nation, it says good things about your character. But therein lies a danger as well. It is obvious to many of us who closely follow politics and this election especially that the words of Barack Obama, the inconsistencies, the votes with which we disagree and the many that he ducked by voting "present", the monies he received from the very folks who have wrecked this economy and the way he supported the bailout, even more than supported in fact, the way he calls for an expansion of the horrid war on terror all show that those who are pessimistic have reasons to be so.
Americans are not political animals. We as a people are far too distracted and disinterested. If those of us who work for a better nation and a better world do nto continue the struggle, continue to hammer away we risk losing the elecotrate to ennui and video games.....There should be no honeymoon, there must be no respite , not for those who want this nation to live up to its promise.
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We see things, not as they are, but as we are.
Anais Nin
The silver lining in the eight year neocon cloud is the glaring exposure provided for all to see the problems created by the reptilian side of human nature. This glaring exposure is a great asset for progressives in achieving our agenda to basically cage the reptile, to allow the higher human capacities to flourish. Now will the Demoks lead their pet reptiles into the cage for us?
At a minimum, the prospect of hope is a very important and needed change.
But we cannot now kick back and relax. To the contrary we must continue to improve our will. We must continue to make our voices heard, to become more united in our cause for common good, to assure that the cruel and unjust realities of the past 8 years stay in the past and that this new century does bring the spiritual awakening and social equity required for human posterity.
The man alone cannot succeed without a clear and strong resolve from us. The corporatacracy still thrives and inequity dominants the global scene. We must now focus on promoting and supporting our cause every bit as much as we rallied for the man.
Whether we wanted Obama or Nader or someone else, we must now look beyond what divides us toward that which we hold in common, both nationally and globally.
Anyone remember the 2004 website that hosted a gallery of people showing handmade signs expressing regret for Bush's second term (http://www.sorryeverybody.com/)? I'm thinking of a 2008 website for a gallery of people showing signs expressing how they feel today. Anyone have any ideas for setting up something like "www.congratulationsamerica.com"?
We're a very self-congratulatory people, we Americans, and we want others to congratulate us. But for what - not choosing another 4 years of right-wing despotism?
Come on.
How about a website where we say sorry to the world (again) for not electing truly progressive, sane politicians, plenty of which were available on our ballots?
A Great Flood of Hope with Noah and his ark full of talking heads.
Nothing is over. There is a lot of wreckage. We are in for lots more storms and rough weather, for sure, but I am relieved that we will no longer have utter madmen running the ship.
Joe
I felt hope for the first time in eight years last night when Obama was declared the winner. I really never believed it would happen. But my hope is very reserved, and will be until January 20th comes and goes and the family is safely in the White House, and half the world isn't in nuclear ruin.
There's another big storm brewing, and after it did its destruction in CA yesterday, it's ready to sweep across the country through every state. Maybe few will care, may even approve, because it's just gays being denied the right to marry, but what else might these righteous mormoms and catholic knights of columbus find in the bible to go after once they've ruined all those gays lives?
not quite so. Said madmen are still in charge until Jan 20, 2009. GWB's finger is still firmly seated on that button.
Here is a nasty scenario:
someone takes out BHO. riots ensue. GWB invokes martial law and NSPD 51. Biden is sworn in as "president". November surprise?