Thoughts on President-elect Barack Obama

[cenacle]

I'm so happy I made it to this night. For so long I've walked among the resistance--at times hardly hardly more angry than hopeless--& it didn't even seem that things needed to be so bad--nor had they always been--yet the days & months & years did not cease them--soon even the rotten leaders were mauling each other, shitting blame all around--I don't suppose any of this was unique--humans greed for power & yet rarely keep their ideals & decency when it's been won--

Will this new leader be different? Perhaps. If his desire to do good remains more powerful than his weaknesses--if he keeps to the high road he tries to walk--if he is terribly lucky. If he keeps his heart lined with hope & his thoughts close to the single fate the greatest to the least of us takes a hand in authoring. If his mistakes are few, acknowledged, kept as lessons & reminders. If he remains humble before the world's many mysteries, even as he inspires many to suckle their juice for knowledge & pleasure. If, finally, those who made them their leader feel, most of their hours, that his gestures onward are toward what each of them can reach, & better likely reach as a strange & various whole. I wish him the good fortune we each of us deserves.

Peace,
Raymond

[OBODAOUR]

I'm so happy and excited. Obama did it, and I hope he can deliver the change he has promised. I have such hope for things to be better. What an amazing race and I'm so glad it's finally done. *Happy Dance*

Peace,
ObOdAoUr

 :smoke:3

[Glandmaster]

I hope the hangover that comes from electing someone via a process you dont understand to an office you understand less on the basis of speeches and other marketing methods works out better this time than it normally does. Also I hope now that the interwebs calms down a tad and returns to topic somewhat. The gaming blogs have been the worst for election spam as it happens but (/me eyes cenacle) they are not alone  :x

Here is some art from one of my pals at the Maybe Logic Academy - when mass stupidity leads to nice pop art how can even I remain grumpy?  

[laughingwillow]

Fuck your mass stupidity.

Obama won.

lw

[JRL]

Indeed he did. Mass stupidity?? Tell us how to do it better please or stfu.

[Stonehenge]

I didn't even stay up to follow the results. I already knew what would happen. I was braced for there being little to no news in the paper in the morning. They had to use most of the space to gloat. I'm glad just so that canacle doesn't have to jump off a bridge or go into a deep funk for months. It was so obvious he would win it lost any sense of uncertainty.

Now he gets to clean up after shrub's mess. The busted stock market, the busted housing market, the busted job market, the busted financial market, the busted... I think you get the idea. We are bankrupt, in deep debt and the rest of the world is headed the same way. But Obama will save us.

[Bushpig]

I hope the hangover that comes from electing someone via a process you dont understand to an office you understand less on the basis of speeches and other marketing methods works out better this time than it normally does.

I wish I could have said it like that

Booshpig

[JRL]

I think maybe its you two brits lacking in undertanding. it certainly seemed that way when we spoke of the voting process.

But really I would like you to enlighten us colonists as to how our country works.

[JRL]

And just let me add this: give the man a chance!!!

[cenacle]

You know, I just got laid off again, this morning, twice in the course of six months. But last night I was happy. Happy because millions of people chose hope over cynicism and fear. So I came into my work today feeling good, and even now, freshly laid off, an hour ago, from a small company, the owner practically in tears that he had to tell me and another person the news, I still feel good.

I've seen how the world changes based upon belief, hope, despair. I've seen kind acts that would break any heart, and cruelty to make one think humans are really a pox on the planet. I see how I and each of us every day chooses to act by ideal or by self-preservation. I see again and again how a generous act, a generous heart, a gesture of hope or kindness, can affect and ripple in ways unknowable. I've also seen how fear drives a soul into a dark place, no matter the daylight, no matter the loving people that might be around.

I know that Obama has had his dark nights, his struggling hours. Even recently when he lost his grandmother. I know he comes from a father-less home, from a home where buying groceries involved food stamps, not a point of pride for anyone (my family was there too years ago). Further, I've heard his story of rising up from these circumstances to attend Harvard, become a community organizer, then seek elected office. I've read his words, mulled his thoughts. He does not come from privilege and family fortune as others elected to high office in the US often do.

He does not take office as savior that's not what is needed. What is needed, simply, is hope and hard work. The persistence of a heart and mind allowing for success to happen, and having at it every single day.

Say that hundreds of millions of people were fooled, were bamboozled into thinking this election means something, their vote counts, the result will affect their lives every single day hereon. Say it. I won't stop you. If that is what your life has led you to believe, then so be it. You live with a burden I do not. You live with a paranoia about the nature of humanity that I do not feel. For I believe humans make choices, every single day, little ones that add up to habits, habits that sum to a set of perspectives about how life works. I know the evil, the selfishness possible, as you have been saying over and over, but I also know that the hope, the generosity, the curiosity, the desire to make a good world and not leave anyone out, is there, is part of the human equation. I know this. I knew this before Obama began running, before he won, before I lost another job to a shitty economy that another man destroyed in his willful ignorance.

I know I will be OK because I have hope and I am going to work fucking hard to get back on my feet, again. I believe more today than yesterday that we as a race, as part of a world, will be OK, because millions and millions of us chose hope, and that choice is powerful. The world is a little bit better today.

So, you can let go a bit of how you feel, allow for some of this hope too, or you can keep your thoughts close, and every time something doesn't work out, you can cry out that you were right. It's up to you. Nothing anyone has said here convinces me that having hope, working hard from the best one has to offer, and getting a little good luck along the way, is wrong. My finite life, my set of choices, the good ones and the stupid ones, my conclusion about things at this point.

I intend never to be someone who fully believes that his fellow human beings are without the possibility of redemption, that we as a race are lost to making the world better. Even if you don't agree, wish me well in this intent.

[JRL]

Sorry about your job Ray.

Great post, I totally agree. I mean if you doubt the wisdom of  millions does that mean you no longer believe in democracy? Can you have it both ways? And how would you have liked the election to go?

I say give the man his chance, he certainly earned it.

[JRL]

And you fellas do have big balls accusing us of not understanding how our country works. Not sure where you get off with that.

[azure]

Cen/Bassman...I appreciate the heart y'all speak from. Keep in mind that in the wake of this election, we're going to be hearing ALOT of untenable and desperate arguments. There's a whole generation of kids (American and otherwise) who have been bred and fed on despair and cynicism. I've been struggling with this sort of anti-social attitude on chann. for quite a long time now: it's a sort of post-modern wasteland, these kids have no soul, nothing matters. But the truth of the matter is we just witnessed the most successful political campaign in human history, we just went from Bush Co. to electing a highly progressive colored man who has the respect of basically the entire globe. Bottom line, these kids just don't have the balls to really and truly care, they're entirely self-absorbed; they're pissed off because all of their whining and complaining and cynical post-modern bullshit is being exposed as a big ol' stinking pile of shit and lies. In fact, during the campaign itself they were whining about how it's all rigged, how it doesn't matter, and I laid a bet down on the table: not one of them could put their money where their mouth was.

'name caller,' whatever, at least JRL has the balls to stand up for something GOOD for a change. I mean, some of these people don't even vote: they basically NEED problems to bitch about because if they bothered DOING something about it, they wouldn't have anything to whine about. It's a deep apathy and impotence of the soul, these kids just can't seem to get it up.

Personally, having almost ended up in jail because of my opposition to the war in Iraq, having family members come home irreversibly injured, 8 years of Bush Co and what has happened to our economy, what has happened in Iraq: fuck the haters man, fuck 'em! What we witnessed last night was a new generation in politics and human governance, the cynical post-modern wasteland and it's residents just simply don't matter. So keep the faith y'all, there ARE people who still care.

from the heart,

Azure

[Stonehenge]

Sorry to hear about the job situation, cen. That really sucks. But you will find something. We are all pulling for you.

Here are Ron Paul's comments on Obama. I don't agree totally with Ron and I think some of his policies are unworkable. But just as an outside opinion, here is how he sees it.

http://www.infowars.net/articles/novemb ... 08Paul.htm

Ron Paul Warns Of Great Shift Toward Global Government Under Obama
Congressman says president elect was chosen long ago to take care of the corporate elite
      

Steve Watson
Infowars.net
Wednesday, Nov 5, 2008
   
   
   
StumbleUpon

Texas Congressman and 2008 presidential candidate Ron Paul has warned that the euphoria surrounding the election of Barack Obama combined with the overwhelming fear of major international crises could facilitate a cataclysmic shift toward a new world order.

Appearing live on the Alex Jones show earlier today, the Congressman spoke of a feeling of dread surrounding the change of guard both in the White House and on Capitol Hill:

"I do feel it but I don't think it's brand new, I didn't wake up with it, I've had it for a while, I don't think the election was a surprise, but the rhetoric is getting pretty strong and they are getting very bold." he commented.

Speaking on the stage management of the election, and calling it a "huge distraction" from real issues, the Congressman outlined how both candidates were pre-positioned by the elite interests with the knowledge that either would satisfactorily serve their agenda:

"I think McCain was obviously a back up candidate in case something happened where Obama didn't win, they'd have been satisfied with McCain, but they have been positioning Obama for a long long time."

"This started even before he announced he was running. Anybody who would have gotten that much favorable coverage for so long, you know that the plans are laid for him to be the individual that's going to be taking care of the corporate elite." the Congressman continued.

Paul also warned that Democrats gains within the House and the Senate make for a particularly worrying situation of absolute power, similar to that held by the Republican party eight years ago.

"Just as a Republican Congress wouldn't say boo to a Republican Congress, you know that the Democratic Congress is NEVER going to stand up."

"I think it is very dangerous and the first year is going to be the most dangerous year." Paul stated. "Just think of Bush's first year, he also had the 9/11 thing that he could use to scare everybody to death. And Obama will use the financial crisis, which will get worse, and there will be more military skirmishes around the world." Paul asserted.

The Congressman also warned that many Republican representatives may go along with Obama just to win favor with the electorate and be seen to follow popular opinion

[cenacle]

Sorry to hear about the job situation, cen. That really sucks. But you will find something. We are all pulling for you.

Thanks, Stoney, that means a lot to me. This thread shows me two things: that we each come to the table with a different set of opinions. And that this community is OUR table. I'm still in shock. I guess now my personal fate is ever more tied to how Obama approaches this mess.

He needs to pretty much take over now. He's getting his staff picks made, getting Cabinet selections ready. If ever we needed his brand of bi-partisanship to make the government work, it's now and in the coming months. He promised to listen to those who disagree, like Ron Paul, and they have to think in a new way, disagreeing but still working together.

These are hard times, I knew that before I got laid off. We're in this together. I know this now more than ever.

Peace,
Raymond