OBAMA, Your Thoughts

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I got into a heated argument with my mother when I said that the 2008 election wasn't any more historic than any other election. Martin Luther King would be appalled at the public reaction of "ZOMG A BLACK PRESIDENT"... because we're still discriminating on race...

When someone goes "A BLACK PRESIDENT??! !" I just want to paraphrase Dave Chapelle's line in Robin Hood: Men in Tights and say "Why not? It worked in Deep Impact..."

PS: I'm just happy that the Moron finally got kicked out... it truly is the End of an Error...

Obama was a better choice than McCain based on how the two campaigned. I voted Obama because we need to fix our problems along with setting an example to the world even for those nations who hate us.

Agree that Obama was the better candidate. No one can be as good as he was made out to be, but hopefully his popularity will translate to accountability.

i voted constitution party.

The USA has made an advance in electing a non-white as president and for that alone I am grateful. I participated to a minor degree in Tennessee during the 1960's in the fight for black American equality and I know how much it means and how much further it has to go. But Obama has been greatly supported financially by the very forces that have stupidly destroyed much of the USA's economic strength and his cabinet appointments have not been encouraging. His general approach of accepting unacceptable policies in the name of unity makes me very uneasy but it is too soon to make final judgments about the man and his mode of operation. So far his very cautionary approach to Iraq, Guantanamo, US policy to Israel, and the means to rescue the economy makes me suspicious but I am willing to wait a few months to see. McCain would have been a total disaster.

I voted for McCain so, if we have a return to the Carter years I'm not responsible . (and no, I'd love to have voted for the first black president - I just didn't feel like I was ready to vote for a guy who campaigned practically as a leftist and had all the Marxism ties that he did).

Overall, I'm VERY glad he's showing signs of being much more moderate than the campaign grounds he ran on. At least with Gates as defense secretary and Hillary on foreign relations we know that he won't do anything radically stupid - so long as he ignores Biden's advice on it.

There are some things I'm really hoping he doesn't do, namely foul up the stimulus package with all kinds of infrastructure projects that can't even start until 2 or 3 years from now (useless), institute the 'fairness' doctrine or anything equal in effect (which he's claimed he won't thus far), and I also worry a lot about the redistribution of wealth via the IRS idea - really hopes Warren Buffet is telling him what that will do when most of the people voting for tax hikes aren't even paying taxes themselves anymore or are even getting hand-outs as a result.

Over all though, yes, I will miss Bush. On the other hand I think the Obama presidency is a great opportunity as this is where the exact opposite game of what the left has for 8 years - shows class, be helpful, support the guy's decisions when he's right and argue constructively when he's wrong; pretty much make all the Nazi-Fascist-Hitler-Stalin type hyperbole look exactly as revolting, callow, and unfit for the adult thought processes as it is. Hopefully the GOP can also do some spring cleaning, keep the conservative values and have much better statesmen, communicators, and people with great ideas - people who shift the electoral map rather than consulting it before they even let an idea germinate. Don't know who I would want to have as GOP chairman but right now - probably just by exposure - I'm leaning toward Michael Steele, that's still two years in the offing though so I figure I'll be able to sort it out by mid-term election time.

On another note Obama has been talking about going back to integrity, character, and personal responsibility - I hope he can make that happen and furthermore I hope that he can be a great positive roll model. Chris Rock said it well I think when he commented that he won't have to have the "You can be anything" lecture with his kids every morning having Barack in the White House, and especially if he does champion Bill Cosby family values - I really give him my blessings on his endeavors in that regard.

Hear, hear!

I'm not a black person, and don't celebrate the fact that a black man is in office. I'm indifferent. What riles me up is when some clever people remark that the celebration of the black president is some how "racist." Um, it's called pride. It's possible, there's now proof that a black man can do ANYTHING. Should every black person in this country go about their business as if nothing special had just happened? Yeah right.

The melanin content of President Obama's skin does not concern me one whit. It is his policies and decisions that concern me. We shall see what he does and how well he does. Wait and see.

ruveyn

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

Yup, I'd have to say that MLK would be disgusted that we are still placing so much emphasis on race. But it could be argued that 2008 was more historic than several other elections because of the gravity of several of the issues and the shifting political landscape that we're seeing. It will be interesting in 50 years to check the history books and see what people think about Obama in retrospect.

Because this country has had, and still has, a long standing history of not employing/electing people based on color.

This is very much validated by the number of people throughout the election who used Obama's race, ethnic background and name as reasons he should not be elected.

I agree that race should not be an issue. It sucks that it is an issue. But it is one. If you have not been witness to the racism of this nation that's great because trust me - it's ugly.

But it does exist. Which makes the fact that our next president - voted for mostly by people looking or striving to look at the man and not the color/ethnic background. The fact that this year's most qualified candidate just so happens to also be Black with a Kenyan father (not to mention a White mother - mixed race being a whole other category of racism), and we elected him anyway, is a big deal for us as a nation.

- Jo

Personal Magnetism topic

Barack Obama has that certain something called charisma. You either have it or you do not.

It is the icing on the cake, the spice in the cooking. It is the secret ingredient that just wows the masses. It is an NT thing, and NTs love it. Like moths to the flame, so there may be a caution here.

But I also believe the new President is an honourable person, a genuinely hard working politician. He must have a lot of energy to take on so formidable a task. He is hope-- NOT hype--personified. Many Americans believe. I hope that will inspire him and the rest of the country to"...pick (themselves) up, dust (themselves) off and begin the work of remaking America."

Modern Democracy (especially in the U.S) is the biggest illusion on the planet.

So, there is a new guy in the office. It's still the corporations, lobby groups and banking interests that call the shots. The 2 parties are just 2 sides of the same coin, they even have overlapping membership of Bilderberg and CFR etc.

IMO this was easy to see in the election. The Republicans basically made themselves unelectable. This is because it is time to con the public into thinking there is going to be a big change for the better, things have got so bad a few of them might just start to question WTF is really going on. Also as well as making the leader of the Republicans an OAP, why not make the opposition a mixed race guy! That will show that America REALLY is changing and the world will change too it will make it even harder to oppose him, if you do you'll be seen as a racist with an agenda. Hey presto, the world suddenly thinks this guy is gonna save us all and people have been lifted by false hope once again, so they can be more easily distracted.

The truth is he will just pick up where the last guy left off. America will still play World Police and the IMF, World Bank and the Fed will keep screwing the people of the world into the ground. But so what, he talks a good game.

Well as his first major act as president he held back all the Guantanamo Bay trials and he said he was going to close it down so he seems good to me but only time will tell I guess.

A rather large number of younger voters seem in my experience to be rather nonchalant about this. Perhaps because older individuals are quite aware of where the country's been, but completely obtuse about where it's going.

No, it's not a big deal. It is a visible milestone, and rather an expression of preexisting underlying cultural changes which anyone who is in a younger demographic would have been aware of. Seeing the fruits of one's labor may be quite satisfying, but it is largely a way of recognizing what has been accomplished.

Furthermore, I may question whether Obama's presidency is even that much of a milestone for African Americans. As the son of an African, Mr. Obama could be classified as belonging to the demographic group of black immigrants, who are already distinct and higher performing than African Americans (where I will use the latter term to generally refer to the established black populations in the United States).

I'm not even american and I cried wen he was getting sworn in. He was so nervous and he's gonna be an amazing president.

CHANGE HAS COME TO NOT JUST AMERICA BUT THE WORLD WIV HIM LEADING THE WAY

WOOO FOR OBAMA.

bit ironic tho the main enemy of america (apart from bush ) is osama and now thier president is Obama. sweet.