Barack Obama's Inauguration

[SuperJerk 0]

John McCain was screwed from the beginning. His campaign was in a perpetual Catch-22. No matter what he did, he would have lost someone's support for doing it. What we have to remember is that, for this moment, the Republican base is so at odds with what the rest of the country wants, there was no possible way he could form any kind of winning coalition. If he moved to address the middle, the base would scream bloody murder; if he moved to address the base, the middle lose interest.

 

A perfect example of this would be his economic message. If he stuck to conservative economic philosophy, which is to let the market work itself out, he'd be seen as negligent and it'd be a death blow. So he moved for government intervention, and fell flat on his face because he took credit for a deal that didn't happen and he complete rewrote his campaign's own economic message on the fly. Even if he'd handled the details of the crisis better, I don't think he'd have faired much better on election day, because the course he chose to take (intervention) ran so totally contrary to everything he, and his entire party, been saying up to that point. McCain, or any other Republican, was an anti-regulation and pro-war candidate at a time when the mainstream of the country wanted nothing to do with either of those positions.

 

Yes, the day to day details of the campaign, and the management of its message could have been a LOT better, but this just wasn't a Republican year.

[St. Gabe 0]

Speaking of Bush...4 years ago, the Bush team gloated about this, but as of now, it is Barack Obama who has recieved more votes than any one else in American history. With 52% of the vote, no one can argue he is not the people's choice.

 

 

Rahm Emanuel is rumored to be the new White House Chief of Staff.

 

Any ideas on who will be appointed to serve the rest of Obama's senate term?

 

Jesse Jackson Jr.

[EricMM 0]

Obama should still get more credit for beating Clinton than he gets for beating McCain.

[SuperJerk 0]

More random, self-contradictory nonsense from Sarah Palin regarding her thoughts on 2012 and returning to Alaska.

 

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/....palin.diva.cnn

[PILLS! PILLS! PILLS! 0]

More random, self-contradictory nonsense from Sarah Palin regarding her thoughts on 2012 and returning to Alaska.

 

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/....palin.diva.cnn

 

Good riddance.

[Brett Favre 0]

I don't know about you guys, but it rubs me the wrong way the way people my age (20-25 or so) are so thrilled and emotional and crying over a black president. This tells me that we haven't gone as long a way as we think we have when it comes to race relations. Unless it's drilled into your head that black people are inferior, you shouldn't be feeling that way. If you lived during the civil rights movement, or went to segregated schools or something, I understand. If you're like 19 years old, and this is one of the greatest moments in your life to see a black president, then maybe we haven't progressed much at all. I'm happy Obama won, but it never hit me that the reason is because he's black.

[Nightwing 0]

I think you are taking this whole reaction the completely wrong way.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

I agree but on the same front I can't say I'd have been this emotional if Hilary was prez.

[JaMarcus Russell's #1 Caucasian Fan 0]

I don't know about you guys, but it rubs me the wrong way the way people my age (20-25 or so) are so thrilled and emotional and crying over a black president. This tells me that we haven't gone as long a way as we think we have when it comes to race relations. Unless it's drilled into your head that black people are inferior, you shouldn't be feeling that way. If you lived during the civil rights movement, or went to segregated schools or something, I understand. If you're like 19 years old, and this is one of the greatest moments in your life to see a black president, then maybe we haven't progressed much at all. I'm happy Obama won, but it never hit me that the reason is because he's black.

 

Why do you feel that way? If seeing a man of color, named Barack Hussein Obama, coming from a single parent house, rise really out of nowhere to be the most powerful man in the world, and as black male living in the United States knowing our history and our position now in the United States (it's better for our generation I agree, but there are still everyday struggles that we all bear the burden of) doesn't fill you with pride and the understanding that a black male CAN be president of the United States, than I really pity for you for your lack of understanding why a lot of young black people feel emotional right now.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

This answer is going to seem like double talk...but I think it's not so much that a black/non-white man was elected president in 2008, but it's that after so many years of talking about "What if?", it finally happened.

[At Home 0]

More random, self-contradictory nonsense from Sarah Palin regarding her thoughts on 2012 and returning to Alaska.

 

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/....palin.diva.cnn

 

She referred to herself in the third person. Jesus Christ I am glad that we dodged that bullet.

[Brett Favre 0]

Because those black people didn't go through the struggle. They weren't slaves. They weren't in segregated schools. They don't know. Yes, you can acknowledge that it's nice, because you know the history, but since you didn't live through it, it shouldn't hit you here.

[At Home 0]

I'm just fucking elated that the Bush chapter has closed forever.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

You also have to consider that those younger people just watched as Bush somehow did better in his second election...even though everyone knew he was in the midst of a disasterous presidency. Obama's black...and that's what it is...but I look at the excitement more being based on the idea that...hey...the old religious right doesn't run this country anymore and don't decide who leads it regardless of what's best for the nation.

 

Not that I think McCain would have been the disaster that Bush was...but that Bush was so damn bad that the GOP winning again would have fealt like more of the same to, and further disenfranchised, the youth voters.

[JaMarcus Russell's #1 Caucasian Fan 0]

Did you think that in 2004 or even in the beginning of this year, that a black man would be President of the United States? I realize that I didn't have to go through the struggle that my parents, my grandparents and so many others died for to get to this point in time. I can't fathom the indignities, the pain and their bitterness that they still have in their hearts. But it does hit me and a million others that if a black man could become president that I CAN BE WHATEVER I WANT TO BE, SKIN COLOR BE DAMNED. A HUGE barrier has been blown off, and it is still processing with me and I don't it will sink in with me for a long while.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

fly has it down.

[Brett Favre 0]

But during your lifetime, you have always been able to become a teacher, a doctor, own your own business, own your own property, become a mayor, become a governor, become a senator, and a shitload of other things. It's not like Obama was a slave 20 years ago. It should be very different today, which is why it shouldn't hit you as hard.

 

 

[Maztinho 0]

People take things differently, they react differently to different situations. stillfly is filled with hope that things can change, maybe his perspective was one of desolation and thinking that eventhough he got lip service that he could be whatever he wanted that the reality of it was that he couldn't, and Obama's winning the Presidency opened the heaven's as it were.

 

Zoo you might have been raised, or had experiences where you could see yourself doing whatever you put your heart and mind too.

 

Like I've had two friends that had abusive relationships that they escaped from. One of them is now afraid of all men, and distrusts anything with a penis that isn't her own son, and now that he's getting to the ripe old age of 6 he's iffy too. The other is completely the opposite, she found inner strength and moved on.

 

Individual circumstances and personalities build people, even those of similar backgrounds or upbringings on the surface.

[JaMarcus Russell's #1 Caucasian Fan 0]

We will just have to agree to disagree then. I acknowledge that I have had the opportunity to do all the things and am currently working towards going to D.C for law school. I haven't seen the things my parents have seen, but in my 23 years of life I've seen Los Angeles tear itself apart (and scars and pain are still visible), a whole fucking city wiped off the map, racial profiling and other indignities. Just because racism isn't law anymore doesn't mean attitudes have changed. There was and still is a culture of insecurity, self-loathing and mistrust in the black community, a glass wall that sees the best and the brightest achieve but not being able to reach the heights of others without bones being thrown our way. To me, Obama winning is the affirmation of what parents always told me, but to see it last night was very emotional for me and a lot of others. I know I won't change your mind, but I wanted to give you my perspective at least.

[Ced 0]

(Took this from another guy's Photobucket so I don't kill his bandwidth.)

 

[Brett Favre 0]

I guess it depends from person to person. Maybe one of the reasons I feel this way is because I wasn't as emotional.

 

And that's awesome ^.

[bobobrazil1984 0]

from that newsweek link earlier:

The debates unnerved both candidates. When he was preparing for them during the Democratic primaries, Obama was recorded saying, “I don’t consider this to be a good format for me, which makes me more cautious. I often find myself trapped by the questions and thinking to myself, ‘You know, this is a stupid question, but let me … answer it.’ So when Brian Williams is asking me about what’s a personal thing that you’ve done [that’s green], and I say, you know, ‘Well, I planted a bunch of trees.’ And he says, ‘I’m talking about personal.’ What I’m thinking in my head is, ‘Well, the truth is, Brian, we can’t solve global warming because I f—ing changed light bulbs in my house. It’s because of something collective’.”

[NoCalMike 0]

Well a lot of the young black people of today probably come from homes and households where many relatives did go through the struggle. I am 28, my Dad is in his early 60's, he lived in the times of segregation and jim crow laws. That is ONE GENERATION away from that shit still going on. I am not black but it still kind of hits me as remarkable that when my dad was my age(well a little bit younger) black folks were barely winning their civil rights and today Barack Obama is president. Maybe the emotion from the youth is coming from the pride and thankfulness that their own parents and grandparents, aunts, uncles etc....are witnessing history.

 

I was pretty damn sure I would see a black president in MY liftime, but maybe not in my parent's lifetime, so it is nice for them to witness history as well.

[jester 0]

If you're like 19 years old, and this is one of the greatest moments in your life to see a black president, then maybe we haven't progressed much at all. I'm happy Obama won, but it never hit me that the reason is because he's black.

 

I see where you're coming from, but there's the ideal, and there's the reality. People are happy in part because this is final clinching proof that a black person really can be president of the US. It's not just a theory. I think this is going to help racial identity quite a bit and I can see why people are hailing this as a milestone for black people, even thought there's more to it than this.

 

And I have a feeling that not just any black person could have done this. If McCain was Black and Obama was white, I don't think there would be a black president.

 

People are also happy because Bush is done, and a person who they perceive as being an extension of him is not going to be in office.

 

 

 

[bobobrazil1984 0]

its not just "a black person became president" its also part of Obama as a candidate, people are genuinely moved by his story and speechifying. A good portion of these people wouldn't care one whit if Jesse Jackson was up there as President. A lot of people got into the poltical process during the Bush years or the tail end of the Clinton years. This is probably the first time they've experienced being realy happy and proud for a specific president.

[PUT THAT DICK IN MY MOUTH! 0]

i do not recognize obama as my president, nor as the legitimate president of the united states.

 

it is all pretty simple and straight forward to me.

the man is a political fraud.

he hid who he was.

he hid what he is.

he denied his friends, and he denied their beliefs, and he denied his adherence to them as friends and their shared beliefs.

so, while this son of a bitch paraded himself as an honest, open and fresh breath of air, ... , a rebirth of honest politics, he did so while running a campaign of deceit about who he is, what he believes, and what his convictions are.

i believe that there can only be one reason for this.

he is also hiding what he intends to do as president. he says he is a democrat. i think he does so to hide that he is a committed marxist leninist who intends to impose a marxist dictatorhip upon this country, which advancig the interests of islam.

he will attempt to either impose or import sharia, and sharia financing into this country.

he will stifle free discussion by the use of the "fairness doctrine," and he will seek the imposition of hate speech law, laws prohibiting discussing islam critically, and will seek added preferential treatment for muslims in our immigration law.

and, then there is the matter of the promised "civilian security force" the size, prestige, force and cost of the united states military. i do not believe this to be idle chatter on his part.

finally, i have grave fears, mortal fears, for the fate of israel. i do not believe that he will rise to her defense, and believe that he is in cohoots with those who seek to destroy her. pelosi's and reid's trip to the middle east convinced that such is the general agenda of the democratic party for several years now, and obama recent "chats" wiht abbas have done nothing to dissuade me from that feeling.

so, no, i concede nothing with regard to obama.

he was elected under false pretenses, and he will govern under false pretenses, and the only reason for doing so is to hide his evil intent with regard to the fate of the country he "rules."

 

he is not my president. i do not accept him we have no deals, mr. obama and i, as he has vitiated them by a fundamental and far reaching fraud. he has evil designes and intents upon me and mine, upon thee and me.

[bobobrazil1984 0]

:lol:

[NoCalMike 0]

MikeSC has been unbanned again?

[Guest C*Z*E*C*H]

Jesse must be crying because he's been rendered useless. Well, he's always been worthelss to anyone with a brain, but at least Obama's victory should spell the end of our favorite jive-talking shakedown artist. Gabe: Jesse Junior to the Senate? They wouldn't dare, would they? Maybe they'll give it to Dan Seals. They've been trying to push him as the Metra to Obama's CTA for a while now, but he keeps losing to Kirk, because he's apparently no damn good. (The 10th is where I work and used to live.) Just appoint him to Obama's seat. Half-black professor with a winning smile. Some of the old farts in the Senate might not even be able to tell the difference.

 

 

I'm guessing Rod the Bod appoints himself to the seat so that he can escape being imprisoned, though I'm certain that Obama has a presidential pardon all lined up for that crook (but more importantly, Chicago Democrat.) He'll look out for his guy. He's gotta guy. MY GUY. Dat's exactly right.

[SamoaRowe 0]

objet petit a's rant is simply too hilarious to even start addressing. I'm just going to copy and paste it to share with my friends, who will surely also have a good laugh.