Obama sweeps to victory, says change has come to America

Wednesday 05th November, 12:00 PM JST

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LFRAgain at 06:14 PM JST - 7th November

Thank you.
yasukuni at 06:32 PM JST - 7th November

Maybe you should all wait a few years before you decide how bad Bush was. His approval ratings have been the worse in history maybe, but it will be interesting to see how we view these last few years after ten years or more.
Molenir at 07:30 PM JST - 7th November

But it does represent a quantum change in the status quo for all Americans, be it someone who believes a black person should never hold the highest political office in the nation, or someone who has lost hope that such a thing could ever come to pass.

No, it doesn't represent a change in anything. It shows that a change long ago took place, and that what people have been claiming for years, IE Americans are racists, is fundamentally wrong. Oh, of course, we have people downplaying this and saying, racism still exists, but the simple fact of the matter is, and what many don't seem to want to accept. Obama got elected in part, not despite his skin color, but rather because of it.
LFRAgain at 08:21 PM JST - 7th November

what many don't seem to want to accept. Obama got elected in part, not despite his skin color, but rather because of it.

I've yet to meet anyone who made the blanket statement Americans as a group are racist. Anyone making such an observation would have to be a considerable idiot. But claims that racism still exists in America are entirely accurate. Further claiming that America has been ready for a black president for some time is also far from the mark. Denial doesn't change that fact.

Did Obama get elected in part because of his skin color? I'd bet money on it. Does this point in any way cast a shadow on his capacity to serve effectively as President of the United States? The man's academic accomplishments alone say no. And there are also his eight years in the Illinois Senate, three years as a United States Senator, and a year on the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on European Affairs.

But then again, we are operating in a climate where educated men and women are ridiculed for having the audacity to open books and learn about the world we live in, while high-ranking politicians tasked with combating third-world hunger aren't even aware that Africa is a continent made up of over fifty nations, instead of one.

So I suppose it should come as no surprise that many in the GOP look with disdain upon someone whose academic and political credentials include a degree in political science and international relations from Columbia University and a degree from Harvard Law School. Never mind that he taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School. Never mind that he was editor for the Harvard Law Review, one of, if not THE, most respected journals of legal scholarship in the United States. Never mind that Obama cosponsored John McCain’s 2005 Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act. But then again, you don’t like to talk about Obama's accomplishments, preferring instead to dwell on some myth-driven mantra that his “resume could fit on a postage stamp.”

It’s pointless any to argue with you anyway, though, isn’t it? After all, we’re operating in a political climate where it's apparently more preferable that the leaders we entrust with $2.6 trillion in tax revenue, a $13 trillion economy, and the safe-keeping of America’s nuclear arsenal are more like “Joe the Plumber” and “Joe Six Pack” than talented and proven men and women actually trained and educated in statesmanship.

Welcome to The Mediocrity Quotient.
yasukuni at 08:51 PM JST - 7th November

LFR, except that I would say to you that I know many of the republican "base" who would have been happy to have a highly educated African American with "family values" who went to a different church than Wright's as a candidate. No republicans I know look down on Condoleeza rice and she has done a little bit of study herself. iow, if Black Joe the Brain Surgeon would have been the one to get a "spread the wealth around" answer from Obama, he would have been paraded around too.
yasukuni at 08:55 PM JST - 7th November

But yes, the two Joes, and the maverick word did get a little tiring. And when Joe the Plumber was being asked about Israel and foreign policy it was time for someone to bring out some gags.
LFRAgain at 11:03 PM JST - 7th November

I know many of the republican "base" who would have been happy to have a highly educated African American with "family values" who went to a different church than Wright's as a candidate.

That's part of the problem, too. The recurring theme over the past few election cycles is that if one doesn't embrace the political dogma of the Republican Party in its entirety, then one isn't worthy of any political mantle, regardless of past accomplishments. Rather than being highly educated, one suddenly becomes "arrogant" or "condescending." How many times did we hear those charges leveled against Obama, Kerry, and Gore by the GOP and its supporters, despite the obvious and unimpeachable qualifications of all three candidates?

No republicans I know look down on Condoleeza rice . . .

I suspect the lack of criticism regarding her impressive educational achievments has a lot to do with her political leanings. Not that I want to trumpet on about hypocrisy any more than I already have.
ImperiumMundi at 09:12 AM JST - 8th November

all hail the new secular theocracy . bow before our hope and change!
LFRAgain at 02:55 PM JST - 8th November

Let me clean that up for you:

"All hail the new secular Democracy. Where all citizens can think and believe what they wish and not be called traitors for it."

There ya' go. No need to thank me. :D
yasukuni at 08:08 PM JST - 8th November

LFR. I am not up with the times that GOP accused Obama, Kerry and Gore of arrogance and condescension without cause. If the "clinging to guns and religion" comment brought out those charges then its understandable.
Blue_Tiger at 10:47 PM JST - 8th November

Obama won, but the USA lost. It is good that a black man won the presidency of the USA, but the good news stops there....
Samuraiiki at 08:13 AM JST - 9th November

Be careful who you choose to represent you because you could ended being embarrased or in a vine. It is for us to see what Emmanuel will do.
Samuraiiki at 08:13 AM JST - 9th November

Be careful who you choose to represent you because you could ended being embarrased or in a vine. It is for us to see what Emmanuel will do.
Molenir at 05:06 AM JST - 12th November

"All hail the new secular Democracy. Where all citizens can think and believe what they wish and not be called traitors for it."

You forgot the adendum...

As long as you're not a conservative.
WilliB at 10:01 PM JST - 12th November

The audacity of hype