Doctor King had a dream President elect Obama has made that dream a reality, Wow is right, even if he was not black it would have been historic because no northen liberal has won the office since J.F.K and he only won a narrow victory with the help of L.B.J. Obama swept the board.
I’m going to wait and see if all the ecstasy and ‘Change’ mantra amounts to anything of value. However, THANK YOU America for saving us from a doddering old man and a bimbo young earth creationist!
Did you see Palin when she voted, by the way?
She said, “I am also exercising my right to privacy and I don’t have to tell anybody who I vote for, nobody does, and that’s really cool about America also.”
How silly of me, I didn’t realise America invented the notion of the secret ballot in modern democracy.
For example, when Article 31 of the French Constitution of 1795 states that ‘All elections are to be held by secret ballot’ it obviously means something completely different. Because America is cool, and France isn’t.
Fruit fly research takes place in Paris, France. I kid you not!
My jubilation was a little sobered when I learned 96% (or was it 94%?) of black people voted for Obama, and that less than 50% of white people voted for Obama. That sits a little uncomfortably with me. I find the whole idea of voting along racial lines pretty disappointing, even though I’m thrilled that Obama won. I’m just not sure he won for the right reasons. Sorry to sound so pessimistic . . . I was totally swept away in the moment too, until I heard those stats.
Woke up at around 4:30am this morning, switched on the radio and heard McCain’s concession speech, which showed real grace.
I heard that they were rejoicing in Kenya at the success of a local boy.
I was reminded of Kennedy, who was also young, handsome and a fine orator; whose success pleased the Irish as the local boy made good; who was from a group that had been regarded with suspicion (Irish, Catholic) and was seen as different from the usual Anglo or Dutch Protestant. And who was a breath of fresh air and a big draft of hope for both the USA and round the world.
However Obama seems less of a warrior than Kennedy and we mayn’t see a Bay of Pigs from him.
Kennedy was also young and a fine orator (not all that handsome, in my view) but he wasn’t a whole lot more than that. Obama is. Obama weirdly combines the helpful surface qualities with the necessary substantive ones.
The voting along racial lines question…I look at it this way (and I think it’s not unreasonable): it would be very hard for blacks not to vote that way under the circs, while whites simply voted along the usual lines – i.e. some Republican and some Democratic.
And anyway, with Obama it’s really very difficult to say or know that anyone voted along purely racial lines, since there are so many perfectly good other reasons to vote for him. He’d have been a dazzling candidate even if he were as white as cottage cheese. So the racial lines thing doesn’t worry me the way it would if the candidate had been, say, [shudder] Al Sharpton.
Yeah, it sucks about Prop 8. But on the other hand – I-1000 passed here and that godawful Colorado thing mandating personhood from conception completely bombed, and South Dakota’s No Abortion Ever For Any Reason also failed.
When you woke up, KB Player, I was, until then, on this side of the pond, keeping the Irish midnight/dawn light burning.
I watched the British coverage of USO8 election. It was very informative, insofar that one instantaneously gained insightful demographic knowledge concerning America – as well as learning from the selected experienced panel what makes USA (politically) tick.
I learned, from almost the beginning of the election, that Obama basically had it in the bag. IE, in Pennsylvania he had swooped twenty one votes – which, aside from NY’s thirty one it was one of his first largest electoral votes. From there on in all eyes were on Ohio and Indiana.
Wow, I was shocked to hear what Jesse Jackson originally wanted to do to a certain part of Obama’s anatomy.
No, he definitely did not want to place it on the American map. Anything, but..?
I hope Obama/Biden keep the Irish flag flying in the White House.
Not only has Biden got Irish roots, according to ancestry.com Obama’s 3rd Great-Grandfather was born in Ireland. He immigrated to the USA in 1850. “Settling initially in Ohio among Irish relatives. Falmouth married, had eight children, and eventually moved to Indiana. Three of Falmouth’s daughters married three brothers with the last name Dunham. Obama’s mother is descended from one of these couples — her birth name was Dunham. Falmouth was among the thousands of Irish immigrating to America to escape the late 1840s potato famine in Ireland. By 1860, New York City had the largest Irish population in the world — a quarter of its residents had been born in Ireland.”
Woo! It’s still a little hard to believe, if partly because American elections go on for so long that I can’t quite get my head around the fact that someone has at last been elected and I won’t hear the latest campaign coverage on the news anymore. And of course it’s fab that it’s Obama won.
On a personal level I loved the bit when he mentioned all the people who had waited to vote because they felt it could make a difference and he mentioned gay people. After listening to Bush and his ilk for 8 years that really made me happy.
Walking around my part of Seattle, I see almost everybody with a secret or not-so-secret grin. People in cars actually stop for me when I’m crossing the street. Neighbors chat. It seems like, today, people are just a little nicer to each other, a little more willing to connect with each other as people, as if to signal to each other that we’re ready to work together in good faith to drag the country out of the mass of messes that it’s in.
It feels like a brand new day. A brand new day with a whole lot of work. Well, hey. I’ve got some time.
The most amazing thing about Obama’s victory was Indiana. I was raised there and it was always a solidly Republican state. It also had an ugly history of KKK activity. But, it has been hit hard by the Bush economic policies…so, perhaps it was a bit of “Babbitry over bigotry”?
Actually, I just read somewhere else that Bill Clinton got 90% of the black vote. So I feel heartened that perhaps black people weren’t just voting along racial lines and were voting for the Democrats because the Democrats truly represent those who truly need representation.
It’s a shame about Proposition 8 though. Obama doesn’t seem to represent the gay minorities and their rights to the same civil rights as everyone else.
I read that even Mexican-Americans and Catholics can now join the Klan, as long as they take an oath of loyalty to the KKK. The organisation, I believe, has also been trying desperately to promote itself in a positive fashion to society, by getting its members to work as volunteers in the ‘caring’ fields.
Barney: Did you see the two hour “Ku Klux Klan: A Secret History.” (The Indiana Historical Research Foundation)
Barack Obama is projected the winner of Indiana’s eleven electoral votes. Indiana has not voted for a Democrat since the state went to Lyndon Johnson in 1964 with 56% of the vote.
I reckon Hilary Clinton would have walked away with ‘legs eleven’ had she been the Democratic nominee.
Don’t grudge people their overwhelming preference. Why should anyone be held to artificial standards like ‘what others vote for’?
“I would sincerely hazard a guess that the Republicans are now quietly saying:”
From what I read, they seem to be trying to act like grown-ups as the squealing about funds and registration irregularities is rendered moot by an overwhelming popular vote.
Cam – on a quiet street near Green Lake just now I saw a huge sign, the size of the back end of an RV which is what it was attached to; it said in giant letters:
Reginald the plumber for
Obama
with a hand-made version of the rainbow-like logo.
Bloody plumbers ourght to keep their opinions to themselves I say. Rose look dont get hung up on this race thing,the most extrordinarary thing about this election is that race didnt play that much of a part in Obamas stunning victory and even if some blacks voted for him just because he was black can you blame them?
Also Rose it seems that a disproportionate number of black voters voted against the gay mariage propositions but voted for Obama,I am not sure what that means if anything?
Ophelia, I’m not so surprised about his combination of surface and substance, I believe he is a close friend of words & handles them with a lot of respect – he is probably different from JFK in that, JFK (if I’m well informed) was great in delivery, BHO is also great in writing.
Yes, it’s a bummer Prop 8 failed but it is 1. not true that the US is lagging a lot behind other countries – in fact it is vice versa & 2. I don’t think we are to underestimate the ‘gays & straights’ mention in BHO’s speech, it will have a lasting impact on progress of those gay rights
ChrisPer, I’m not whining. You don’t have to be rude. I know people can vote for whoever they please, people can refuse to vote for a black person just because he’s black too. I’d just rather people voted for substance as opposed to surface, and, as pointed out above, it seems Obama has both. I respect 103 year-old Daisy Newsome’s position: “It ain’t because he’s black, because I’ve voted for the whites.”
To me, the ends doesn’t justify the means: I would find a victory achieved through racism (even if it seems fair) sort of hollow. But if you’ll read my above post which came after my concerned one, I found out that 90% of black votes went to Bill Clinton too. I’m glad the overwhelming majority of people weren’t voting merely along racial lines, it makes the sweetness of this sweet victory all the sweeter.
Richard: Are you not sorry that your name is not Joe? What a name it would be for you to cash in on indeed! Well, that is if you were on the right side of the pond.:-)!
I watched last night the tail end of the Oireachtas Report (day in the Dail proceedings)and the appropriate politicians/senators gave their best wishes to the the new president elect. Nonetheless, there were a few of them not too enamoured about Obama saying “we are exporting jobs to Ireland”. The Irish are feeling somewhat nervous about America perhaps pulling away from it as it has always seen America as an extension of Ireland. It felt safe in the arms of Bill Clinton and would have felt the same with Hillary Clinton had she been elected. Obama is an unknown quantity.
He has by the Irish government been invited to visit Moneygall, Co Offaly, the home of his ancestors. Ironically, the Taoiseach, Brian Cowen also hails from Co Offaly
Guantanamo Bay, is a big issue with Michael D Higgins and he hopes that Obama will soon close it down for good.
There is a green T-shirt displayed on a stool in a charity shop in Capel St. It say: Vote Irish, vote O’Bama. Corny, but very Democratic.
I watched on the telly an 82 year old black lady going to the polls. As she wiped the tears away from her eyes she said to the reporter “it was the first time in my life that I have ever voted.
Obama has got (seemingly, anyway) a very spiritual side to his nature, and has managed to draw people from both ends of the political voting spectrum to him – like a magnet.
Princess Diana of England became a darling of the British nation. She was put up on a pedestal by it – and she found it very hard to cope with all the admiration that was foisted upon her.
I wonder, will there be a similar situation with Obama – who, even before entering (officially) the White House has become a media iconoclastic (messianic) figure head.
But Diana had no substance to back up the pretty surface; that’s a big part of why she found it hard to cope. Obama has quite a lot of substance. He even seems (this could be delusional -and yet…) to be unmoved by the admiration. This is a big advantage of his calm temperament. If anyone can be immune to such adulation, Obama seems to be the type to manage it. He was almost weirdly unexcited Tuesday night – sober rather than excited.
More about Kennedy compared to Obama. I don’t suppose Obama is so drugged up as Kennedy was. God only knows though how he could manage to get through the gruelling primary & election process the USA system puts candidates through.
Anyway I’m chuffed that American blog friends are chuffed and I’ve been walking with a slight spring in my step. 40 years ago someone of his colour would not have been able to register to vote in some parts of the USA. I know that everyone says that but it is a wonder, and a sign how the world can change for the better. And that he struck the same note as Martin Luther King – here’s the ideal that America was founded on – now live up to it. So put cynicism aside for a while yet.
Yeah, the media played on her prettiness and she played the part that was by it of her expected. Substance, or rather lack of it was irrelevant to the media at large. It built her up – and like a sandcastle, it all came tumbling down at their say-so.
The substance which Obama obviously possesses (which Diana had not got) could, with the same token, be eventually suctioned out of him by the same media who hold him on high.
Someone on Obama’s own side, in fact, not so very long ago, was very quick to remind him that his educational credentials were far more superior than Obama’s.
“This is a big advantage of his calm temperament.”
Would his calm temperament be because he prays a lot – or would it be because he exudes it because it is inherent in his essential character. As was recently intimated, by his old Irish classmate.
If anyone can be immune to such adulation, it can be someone who is grounded sufficiently enough not to be fazed – or perhaps the campaign trail was a perfect training camp.
There is one thing I can say, though, he has definitely worn life’s second-hand T-shirt, as well as the new clean pristine one. He is aware of the difference/quality/texture of both.
Who told Obama his educational credentials were better than Obama’s? It’s a little difficult to trump Harvard Law, not to mention presidency of the Harvard Law Review.
“Just before independence, Mr Mboya thought it would be necessary to have a crop of university-educated young Kenyans to assume key roles in developing their country once it attained self-rule. Kenya had no university at that time and Kenyans seeking tertiary education had to study at Makerere or overseas.
Among the 81 young Kenyans who eventually disembarked from that maiden flight was 23-year-old Barack Hussein Obama.”
The seed was sown and then came forth Obama Jn.
Kenya’s loss was to beconme America’s audacity of hope.
The icy calm is probably because Obama realizes that he faces insurmountable problems. We have what,a trillion dollar government-and-current accounts deficit, will soon have no domestic automobile industry, and are involved in at least three wars right now.
I feel sorry for the guy. Maybe the Rethugs ALLOWED him to win so he can take the blame for the forthcoming calamity.
“Maybe the Rethugs ALLOWED him to win so he can take the blame for the forthcoming calamity.”
Someone said to this idea “Yeah, black guys just CANNOT catch a break in the USA.”
Very little about race, OB? I think the more grown-up McCain-supporters I read have actually taken that as a huge consolation prize: that his success in overcoming racism is actually a fantastic event for everyone, including his opponents.
“Who told Obama his educational credentials were better than Obama’s? It’s a little difficult to trump Harvard Law, not to mention presidency of the Harvard Law Review”
Crikey, OB, I did not check it out before commenting. I am Ever so sorry about that indeed.
Doctor King had a dream President elect Obama has made that dream a reality, Wow is right, even if he was not black it would have been historic because no northen liberal has won the office since J.F.K and he only won a narrow victory with the help of L.B.J. Obama swept the board.
I’m going to wait and see if all the ecstasy and ‘Change’ mantra amounts to anything of value. However, THANK YOU America for saving us from a doddering old man and a bimbo young earth creationist!
Did you see Palin when she voted, by the way?
She said, “I am also exercising my right to privacy and I don’t have to tell anybody who I vote for, nobody does, and that’s really cool about America also.”
How silly of me, I didn’t realise America invented the notion of the secret ballot in modern democracy.
For example, when Article 31 of the French Constitution of 1795 states that ‘All elections are to be held by secret ballot’ it obviously means something completely different. Because America is cool, and France isn’t.
Fruit fly research takes place in Paris, France. I kid you not!
Bliss it is in this dawn to be alive. O happy day!
:-) & thumbs up to the US.
Don’t forget to uncross those nuts now.
Why do you think I said ‘bliss’?
A brighter day.
My jubilation was a little sobered when I learned 96% (or was it 94%?) of black people voted for Obama, and that less than 50% of white people voted for Obama. That sits a little uncomfortably with me. I find the whole idea of voting along racial lines pretty disappointing, even though I’m thrilled that Obama won. I’m just not sure he won for the right reasons. Sorry to sound so pessimistic . . . I was totally swept away in the moment too, until I heard those stats.
Woke up at around 4:30am this morning, switched on the radio and heard McCain’s concession speech, which showed real grace.
I heard that they were rejoicing in Kenya at the success of a local boy.
I was reminded of Kennedy, who was also young, handsome and a fine orator; whose success pleased the Irish as the local boy made good; who was from a group that had been regarded with suspicion (Irish, Catholic) and was seen as different from the usual Anglo or Dutch Protestant. And who was a breath of fresh air and a big draft of hope for both the USA and round the world.
However Obama seems less of a warrior than Kennedy and we mayn’t see a Bay of Pigs from him.
Good luck, you Yanks, and the rest of us as well.
Kennedy was also young and a fine orator (not all that handsome, in my view) but he wasn’t a whole lot more than that. Obama is. Obama weirdly combines the helpful surface qualities with the necessary substantive ones.
The voting along racial lines question…I look at it this way (and I think it’s not unreasonable): it would be very hard for blacks not to vote that way under the circs, while whites simply voted along the usual lines – i.e. some Republican and some Democratic.
And anyway, with Obama it’s really very difficult to say or know that anyone voted along purely racial lines, since there are so many perfectly good other reasons to vote for him. He’d have been a dazzling candidate even if he were as white as cottage cheese. So the racial lines thing doesn’t worry me the way it would if the candidate had been, say, [shudder] Al Sharpton.
Nothing went wrong.
After eight years of a very great number of things going wrong that’s something to be thankful for.
It does provoke a degree of hope. Perhaps the US can sort itself out without being mandated a Canadian Trusteeship Territory!
I have to admit that any happiness is tempered by the fact that the religious nutters are winning on Prop 8 :(
Yeah, it sucks about Prop 8. But on the other hand – I-1000 passed here and that godawful Colorado thing mandating personhood from conception completely bombed, and South Dakota’s No Abortion Ever For Any Reason also failed.
Thank you, America. The world seems a slightly saner place.
“Woke up at around 4:30am this morning,”
When you woke up, KB Player, I was, until then, on this side of the pond, keeping the Irish midnight/dawn light burning.
I watched the British coverage of USO8 election. It was very informative, insofar that one instantaneously gained insightful demographic knowledge concerning America – as well as learning from the selected experienced panel what makes USA (politically) tick.
I learned, from almost the beginning of the election, that Obama basically had it in the bag. IE, in Pennsylvania he had swooped twenty one votes – which, aside from NY’s thirty one it was one of his first largest electoral votes. From there on in all eyes were on Ohio and Indiana.
Wow, I was shocked to hear what Jesse Jackson originally wanted to do to a certain part of Obama’s anatomy.
No, he definitely did not want to place it on the American map. Anything, but..?
I hope Obama/Biden keep the Irish flag flying in the White House.
Not only has Biden got Irish roots, according to ancestry.com Obama’s 3rd Great-Grandfather was born in Ireland. He immigrated to the USA in 1850. “Settling initially in Ohio among Irish relatives. Falmouth married, had eight children, and eventually moved to Indiana. Three of Falmouth’s daughters married three brothers with the last name Dunham. Obama’s mother is descended from one of these couples — her birth name was Dunham. Falmouth was among the thousands of Irish immigrating to America to escape the late 1840s potato famine in Ireland. By 1860, New York City had the largest Irish population in the world — a quarter of its residents had been born in Ireland.”
I am rubbing it in, now that Obama has won the Presidential election.
I would sincerely hazard a guess that the Republicans are now quietly saying:
‘Well, you know, he won, because he had the ‘gall’ to gather from the electorate, all that ‘money.’
My reply:
Well, you know what, for a man who originally hails from “Moneygall” Co Offaly, Eire, what would one expect!
Congratulations Obama!
If I wear a God Damn America T-Shirt now, will people take as ironic support?
Woo! It’s still a little hard to believe, if partly because American elections go on for so long that I can’t quite get my head around the fact that someone has at last been elected and I won’t hear the latest campaign coverage on the news anymore. And of course it’s fab that it’s Obama won.
On a personal level I loved the bit when he mentioned all the people who had waited to vote because they felt it could make a difference and he mentioned gay people. After listening to Bush and his ilk for 8 years that really made me happy.
Wow wow wow.
Walking around my part of Seattle, I see almost everybody with a secret or not-so-secret grin. People in cars actually stop for me when I’m crossing the street. Neighbors chat. It seems like, today, people are just a little nicer to each other, a little more willing to connect with each other as people, as if to signal to each other that we’re ready to work together in good faith to drag the country out of the mass of messes that it’s in.
It feels like a brand new day. A brand new day with a whole lot of work. Well, hey. I’ve got some time.
“Rosa sat so Martin could walk. Martin walked so Barack could run. Barack is running so our children can fly.”
The most amazing thing about Obama’s victory was Indiana. I was raised there and it was always a solidly Republican state. It also had an ugly history of KKK activity. But, it has been hit hard by the Bush economic policies…so, perhaps it was a bit of “Babbitry over bigotry”?
Actually, I just read somewhere else that Bill Clinton got 90% of the black vote. So I feel heartened that perhaps black people weren’t just voting along racial lines and were voting for the Democrats because the Democrats truly represent those who truly need representation.
It’s a shame about Proposition 8 though. Obama doesn’t seem to represent the gay minorities and their rights to the same civil rights as everyone else.
I read that even Mexican-Americans and Catholics can now join the Klan, as long as they take an oath of loyalty to the KKK. The organisation, I believe, has also been trying desperately to promote itself in a positive fashion to society, by getting its members to work as volunteers in the ‘caring’ fields.
Barney: Did you see the two hour “Ku Klux Klan: A Secret History.” (The Indiana Historical Research Foundation)
Barack Obama is projected the winner of Indiana’s eleven electoral votes. Indiana has not voted for a Democrat since the state went to Lyndon Johnson in 1964 with 56% of the vote.
I reckon Hilary Clinton would have walked away with ‘legs eleven’ had she been the Democratic nominee.
“It’s a shame about Proposition 8 though.”
Seconded, Rose.
Don’t grudge people their overwhelming preference. Why should anyone be held to artificial standards like ‘what others vote for’?
“I would sincerely hazard a guess that the Republicans are now quietly saying:”
From what I read, they seem to be trying to act like grown-ups as the squealing about funds and registration irregularities is rendered moot by an overwhelming popular vote.
Cam – on a quiet street near Green Lake just now I saw a huge sign, the size of the back end of an RV which is what it was attached to; it said in giant letters:
Reginald the plumber for
Obama
with a hand-made version of the rainbow-like logo.
I laughed and laughed and laughed.
“Don’t grudge people their overwhelming preference. Why should anyone be held to artificial standards like ‘what others vote for’?”
ChrisPer, what the hell is that supposed to even MEAN???
Bloody plumbers ourght to keep their opinions to themselves I say. Rose look dont get hung up on this race thing,the most extrordinarary thing about this election is that race didnt play that much of a part in Obamas stunning victory and even if some blacks voted for him just because he was black can you blame them?
ChrisPer, what the hell is that supposed to even MEAN???
It means don’t whine about blacks voting 90%+ for Obama! They can vote for who they damn well want.
Also Rose it seems that a disproportionate number of black voters voted against the gay mariage propositions but voted for Obama,I am not sure what that means if anything?
Ophelia, I’m not so surprised about his combination of surface and substance, I believe he is a close friend of words & handles them with a lot of respect – he is probably different from JFK in that, JFK (if I’m well informed) was great in delivery, BHO is also great in writing.
Yes, it’s a bummer Prop 8 failed but it is 1. not true that the US is lagging a lot behind other countries – in fact it is vice versa & 2. I don’t think we are to underestimate the ‘gays & straights’ mention in BHO’s speech, it will have a lasting impact on progress of those gay rights
ChrisPer, I’m not whining. You don’t have to be rude. I know people can vote for whoever they please, people can refuse to vote for a black person just because he’s black too. I’d just rather people voted for substance as opposed to surface, and, as pointed out above, it seems Obama has both. I respect 103 year-old Daisy Newsome’s position: “It ain’t because he’s black, because I’ve voted for the whites.”
To me, the ends doesn’t justify the means: I would find a victory achieved through racism (even if it seems fair) sort of hollow. But if you’ll read my above post which came after my concerned one, I found out that 90% of black votes went to Bill Clinton too. I’m glad the overwhelming majority of people weren’t voting merely along racial lines, it makes the sweetness of this sweet victory all the sweeter.
Richard: Are you not sorry that your name is not Joe? What a name it would be for you to cash in on indeed! Well, that is if you were on the right side of the pond.:-)!
I watched last night the tail end of the Oireachtas Report (day in the Dail proceedings)and the appropriate politicians/senators gave their best wishes to the the new president elect. Nonetheless, there were a few of them not too enamoured about Obama saying “we are exporting jobs to Ireland”. The Irish are feeling somewhat nervous about America perhaps pulling away from it as it has always seen America as an extension of Ireland. It felt safe in the arms of Bill Clinton and would have felt the same with Hillary Clinton had she been elected. Obama is an unknown quantity.
He has by the Irish government been invited to visit Moneygall, Co Offaly, the home of his ancestors. Ironically, the Taoiseach, Brian Cowen also hails from Co Offaly
Guantanamo Bay, is a big issue with Michael D Higgins and he hopes that Obama will soon close it down for good.
There is a green T-shirt displayed on a stool in a charity shop in Capel St. It say: Vote Irish, vote O’Bama. Corny, but very Democratic.
I watched on the telly an 82 year old black lady going to the polls. As she wiped the tears away from her eyes she said to the reporter “it was the first time in my life that I have ever voted.
Obama has got (seemingly, anyway) a very spiritual side to his nature, and has managed to draw people from both ends of the political voting spectrum to him – like a magnet.
Princess Diana of England became a darling of the British nation. She was put up on a pedestal by it – and she found it very hard to cope with all the admiration that was foisted upon her.
I wonder, will there be a similar situation with Obama – who, even before entering (officially) the White House has become a media iconoclastic (messianic) figure head.
People will be making
But Diana had no substance to back up the pretty surface; that’s a big part of why she found it hard to cope. Obama has quite a lot of substance. He even seems (this could be delusional -and yet…) to be unmoved by the admiration. This is a big advantage of his calm temperament. If anyone can be immune to such adulation, Obama seems to be the type to manage it. He was almost weirdly unexcited Tuesday night – sober rather than excited.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24613317-7583,00.html
More about Kennedy compared to Obama. I don’t suppose Obama is so drugged up as Kennedy was. God only knows though how he could manage to get through the gruelling primary & election process the USA system puts candidates through.
Anyway I’m chuffed that American blog friends are chuffed and I’ve been walking with a slight spring in my step. 40 years ago someone of his colour would not have been able to register to vote in some parts of the USA. I know that everyone says that but it is a wonder, and a sign how the world can change for the better. And that he struck the same note as Martin Luther King – here’s the ideal that America was founded on – now live up to it. So put cynicism aside for a while yet.
Yeah, the media played on her prettiness and she played the part that was by it of her expected. Substance, or rather lack of it was irrelevant to the media at large. It built her up – and like a sandcastle, it all came tumbling down at their say-so.
The substance which Obama obviously possesses (which Diana had not got) could, with the same token, be eventually suctioned out of him by the same media who hold him on high.
Someone on Obama’s own side, in fact, not so very long ago, was very quick to remind him that his educational credentials were far more superior than Obama’s.
“This is a big advantage of his calm temperament.”
Would his calm temperament be because he prays a lot – or would it be because he exudes it because it is inherent in his essential character. As was recently intimated, by his old Irish classmate.
If anyone can be immune to such adulation, it can be someone who is grounded sufficiently enough not to be fazed – or perhaps the campaign trail was a perfect training camp.
There is one thing I can say, though, he has definitely worn life’s second-hand T-shirt, as well as the new clean pristine one. He is aware of the difference/quality/texture of both.
Who told Obama his educational credentials were better than Obama’s? It’s a little difficult to trump Harvard Law, not to mention presidency of the Harvard Law Review.
Perhaps, it was some schoolyard bullying of the “skinny kid with a funny name”.
I cannot exactly recall who the person is now – but I shall ponder on it later.
Like father like son.
I read on all africa.com
“Just before independence, Mr Mboya thought it would be necessary to have a crop of university-educated young Kenyans to assume key roles in developing their country once it attained self-rule. Kenya had no university at that time and Kenyans seeking tertiary education had to study at Makerere or overseas.
Among the 81 young Kenyans who eventually disembarked from that maiden flight was 23-year-old Barack Hussein Obama.”
The seed was sown and then came forth Obama Jn.
Kenya’s loss was to beconme America’s audacity of hope.
The icy calm is probably because Obama realizes that he faces insurmountable problems. We have what,a trillion dollar government-and-current accounts deficit, will soon have no domestic automobile industry, and are involved in at least three wars right now.
I feel sorry for the guy. Maybe the Rethugs ALLOWED him to win so he can take the blame for the forthcoming calamity.
Good luck to him.
“Maybe the Rethugs ALLOWED him to win so he can take the blame for the forthcoming calamity.”
Someone said to this idea “Yeah, black guys just CANNOT catch a break in the USA.”
Very little about race, OB? I think the more grown-up McCain-supporters I read have actually taken that as a huge consolation prize: that his success in overcoming racism is actually a fantastic event for everyone, including his opponents.
When I’ve visited Ireland I’ve exaggerated my New Zealand accent so the locals don’t think I’m English.
“Who told Obama his educational credentials were better than Obama’s? It’s a little difficult to trump Harvard Law, not to mention presidency of the Harvard Law Review”
Crikey, OB, I did not check it out before commenting. I am Ever so sorry about that indeed.