Obama

[SiMuLaCrUm]

Won the election. I don't know about any of you, but I'm moving to Australia. (N)

So far over 330 electoral votes for Obama against McCain's 155... Incredible.

[worker201]

I had totally forgotten that today was an election day, until I heard a bunch of screaming outside.  They love their Democrats here in Seattle.  I myself voted against McCain/Palin on Saturday, and I would seriously consider Canada if those fuckers had won.

I honestly thought the election would be closer - because I am a cynic, who believes that most of my countrymen are the kind of idiots who think McCain would make a good president, and that a negro would make a bad president.  I'm more than a little pleased to be proved wrong.  A couple states switched this time around.  Colorado went Bush in the last couple elections.  Easily explainable - Colorado is 2 states in one.  There's a bunch of conservatives in the mountains and a bunch of conservatives on the plains.  In between is the Front Range, where all the ex-Californians live.  Each year, the gap between them shrinks, and it looks like the scale has finally been turned.  Consider the exponentially growing Hispanic population, and you've got yourself a freshly liberal state.  Florida and Virginia switched too, and those states can win an election.

So what will really change?  Probably nothing.  But if it gives the black community even a tiny boost of self-confidence, that's probably the best thing that could come out of an election.  They spend so much time inadvertently screwing themselves over that they sometimes don't even notice how badly we're already screwing them over.  Here's to a chance to turn that around.

[Refalm]

Wouldn't there be a lot of change with Obama as president?

The US congress is now under Democratic control. Won't all the proposals by President Obama get passed in an eye-blink this way?

[SiMuLaCrUm]

Wouldn't there be a lot of change with Obama as president?

The US congress is now under Democratic control. Won't all the proposals by President Obama get passed in an eye-blink this way?

Yes, but sometimes, too much change is a bad thing.
Not all the proposals, due to the fact that most of those in Congress have held positions for a looong time (there are literally dead guys in there) and do not like change.

[fishcorn]

Yes, but sometimes, too much change is a bad thing.

You actually want to stay in Iraq and want roughly the same economic policies forever?

I think McCain's an okay guy and would have made a good president at a different time in history (because McCain's been around throughout all of history he's old lololollo!) but I don't see how anyone could have voted for a Republican this time around.

I think this whole thing's surreal. I'd just barely gotten pubes when Bush was elected. I can't imagine anyone but self-serving idiots being in the Whitehouse. I mean, imagine it: smart people as our leaders.

[SiMuLaCrUm]

You actually want to stay in Iraq and want roughly the same economic policies forever?

No, those can change. But a lot of Obama's ideas don't seem all that practical. Oh well, I guess we'll just see what happens.

[Lead Head]

The popular vote was actually pretty close. At one point there was less then a few hundred thousand votes between them. Obama just won the states that really count however.

[worker201]

Wouldn't there be a lot of change with Obama as president?

The US congress is now under Democratic control. Won't all the proposals by President Obama get passed in an eye-blink this way?

There's always the first hundred days, where any new president gets pretty much anything they want passed.  It's called the 'Bully Pulpit', where the president shouts a lot about his new mandate, and pretty much every president has passed something during that time.  But most change enacted by politicians is either incremental change, which people barely notice; or isolated change, which affects 5 people greatly, and everyone else not at all.  Particularly, economic stimulants, those will be incremental, if not invisible to the general public.  If health care comes up, the results will be nowhere near what Europeans enjoy, and 99% of people won't be affected at all - they'll still get substandard coverage from their employer, and they will still be denied benefits left and right by a greedy insurance company.  So even something that sounds as sweeping as health care reform will actually be just another bill that passes with little fanfare and minimal effect.

I think that when people got excited about Obama, they thought he was going to swing in on January 20th like Superman and save the day.  With Congress on his side, he could end the war in Iraq, cut taxes for the poor, end world hunger, and defeat terrorism, all in 2 swift strokes, and take the rest of the month of January for a vacation..  It's a tempting illusion, but it is nonetheless 100% illusion.  The impotence of the executive office was designed into the Constitution with good reason - it makes dictatorial change impossible.  What the common man doesn't seem to realize is that it makes speed and chaotic change impossible also.  So we get the freedom we desire, and lose the dynamism we crave.  Presidential elections are to government what romantic comedies are to relationships - watered down 2-hour idealistic representations that teach us nothing about the true behind-the-scenes processes.

Of all the things George W. said he was going to do, the only differences in my day to day life over the course of 8 years turned out to be a war on TV, a spike in gas prices, and a check for $600.

[WMD]

I think that when people got excited about Obama, they thought he was going to swing in on January 20th like Superman and save the day.

Either Superman or Jesus.  Some people seem to think he's the second coming, or something - people were crying with joy in Grant Park and Times Square.  For people to be this emotionally invested in a politician is unnerving to me.

Wouldn't there be a lot of change with Obama as president?

The US congress is now under Democratic control. Won't all the proposals by President Obama get passed in an eye-blink this way?

The Democrats have 58 seats in the Senate...while this is enough to pass bills, it's not enough to avoid filibusters (60) or bypass vetoes (67).  Vetoes shouldn't be a problem with a Democrat in the White House as well, though it was a serious problem for the last two years.  Filibustering...well, I couldn't say how much the Republicans could do with just that on their side.  They could certainly delay bills for a while, but some of them may end up being voted on anyway.

[yahurd]

I live in colorado and am damn proud.



We beat the red menace.

Either Superman or Jesus.  Some people seem to think he's the second coming, or something - people were crying with joy in Grant Park and Times Square.  For people to be this emotionally invested in a politician is unnerving to me.

Well, we just came out of bush, and so they are excited john bush is gone, and he/it wont get reelected.

Plus hes a black guy, its a huge step forward everywhere.

Black politicians in europe can now become prime minister.

Race is no issue when running for anything in america. Except texas.  (N)

Plus we finally have a president that is intelligent! He went to harvard!

And the most important reason?

WE ARE DONE WITH BUSH!

America the world police is back!

America the elected democracy is come to town.

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

Simulcrum, I literally planned to move to the UK.

I am not joking not "seriously considering"

If you recall my posts here, I literally planned to move to either london, or ireland.

This election has restored my faith in this country so much I am upending that plan, and changing it to a long term plan of living in the United States of America.

[WMD]

Plus we finally have a president that is intelligent! He went to harvard!

Bush went to Yale.  Clearly that doesn't mean much.

Well, we just came out of bush, and so they are excited john bush is gone, and he/it wont get reelected.

And the most important reason?

WE ARE DONE WITH BUSH!

That would've been true even if McCain was elected.  They aren't cheering for Bush's departure.

[worker201]

I think this article says it all, really:
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/nation_finally_shitty_enough_to

Although I should point out that the article makes reference to '300 years of racism'twice.  Black slaves first arrived at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619.  So that's 389 years - more if we count the 40+ years of slaves being brought to the Caribbean and South America by the Spanish and Portuguese during that time.  Why don't we just round that up to an even 400?  Either way, 300 is extremely misleading.

Hey, maybe in 400 more years, we can have a woman as president.

[SiMuLaCrUm]

Race is no issue when running for anything in america. Except texas.  (N)

It's funny because if you look at a county-by-county view, all of the counties surrounding Travis (where Austin is located) is red, except Travis XD

[worker201]

Austin is an island, for sure.  You know what kind of people live in Hutto and Caldwell and Rockdale?  The kind of people who think that having a grilled-cheese sandwich at the little cafe inside Wal-Mart is "fine dining".  I'm not fucking kidding, I've been there, and it's very sad.  When you wonder who's afraid of gay people, or wonder who exactly it is who thinks black people are genetically unfit to be president, that's who.  I want to tell you that I respect their rights and all that, but I'm glad as hell that they didn't choose the president this year.

[yahurd]

@WMD

I admit its because hes black! Just kidding.

Its because he isn't just a poltician you european wanker, hes the leader of the world!

This election proved my belief that the only reason some minority hasn't had a president, was because there wasn't yet a president that happened to be a minority.

Which reminds me, 100% of candidates are white men on the GOP side, and the dems start out with about 20% minorities and end up for a long time with a women and a black guy.

Also, for a long time this will solidify the dem's reputation as the civil rights party.