Monday, November 3, 2008

On the verge of history

It is truly a remarkable feeling knowing that by tomorrow night at this time history will have been made. We will either have the first black president or the first completely incompetent female vice president. Whichever, we'll be a part of that history in the making. Whichever the outcome, I hope that this election is decisive. I hope that there is a clear cut winner and a clear cut not winner. I hope that there is no contesting the election, no hanging chads, dimpled chads or the like. I hope that the supreme court is not dragged into this fight and determine who will be in office for the next four years.
Most of all I pray for hope. Hope that we end the war in Iraq in a timely fashion, that we bring our brave men and women home safely. That we can redirect that $10 billion we spend there monthly on our own needs and not the needs of an ungrateful nation. I hope that we can address the issues of poverty and hunger in this nation. I hope that we can provide some basic form of health insurance for those in need and i hope that we as a nation can heal the wounds that have been caused by the last eight years.
George Bush leaves a path of death and destruction in his wake. American service people killed in a seemingly endless war, our economy in tatters and increasing infighting and backbiting amongst the American people. I truly hope that next four years see the removal of Karl Rove from politics and a return to civility in the USA.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Were your last blog posts ghost written by Moveon.org?

I think we need to talk. Your attacks on McCain and especially Palin followed by your latest blog that we should all get along were a bit bi-polar in tone. I personally think your criticism of Palin was as unfair as the left-wing media’s treatment of her during the electiion. I would have loved it if she had more opportunities with fair and objective journalists(?) to speak to the American people but her job was to make the case for McCain not Palin. Regarding her lack of experience. You don’t have to be a Harvard Law Grad to know the difference between liberating a country and occupying one (i.e Russia’s Iinvasion of Georgia). A sense of right and wrong is sometimes more important..



As the new left takes over the government, I think we can expect less freedom – of speech, to live where we want, less protection of private property, less support for democracies abroad, more psuedo-diplomacy (pretending masquerading as diplomacy), more subordination of our soveriegnty. I hope the American people can stay involved and act as a check on the government. At the very least, President-elect Obama is ambitious. I am very worried that the new leadership in Congress and the White House is a bit rudderless and not grounded enough to appreciate the value of our basic principals. .



I am glad that America is now a post-racial society and appreciate the historical importance of overcoming the “race barrier” that existed for so much of our history. I think for African Americas especially this must be a joyous time. Sort of a Kennedy moment – for Irish Catholics.

Adam G. Chaikin said...

The last eight years have left me bitter and angry. The Bush administration has taken this country down the wrong path, got us into an unnecessary war, and has viewed the constitution as a minor inconvenience. Perhaps I was taking a lot of this out on Palin however we are all entitiled to our views.

I personally felt that McCain's campaign got negative and nasty. It stooped to a level that even shocked those that know and adore Karl Rove (scary). I think McCain jeopardized his legacy by going negative and now has to do damage control to rebuild it.

The selection of Palin as a running mate caused many people to take pause and wonder. If he is going to make quick judgements on something serious- like a running mate- and come up with her as the best and brightest, a future leader of the Republican party and potentially this country, what woudl he do when the Ruskies put nukes on the Poland border? Start fueling the birds?

I personally don't want to have a folksy type of relationship with my Presidient and VP. I want to trust that the best and brightest are running the country and letting me sleep easy at night. The joe six pack and hockey mom comments by Palin dummy down the office. He rlack of experience on the world stage concern me, especailly in light of McCain's health. The financial situation this country has gotten into is dire. I just didn't feel like the two of them had fresh and new ideas that could solve these complex problems.

The great thing about America is that we can agree to disagree. We can have civil debates about the qualifications of our elected officials. We can see two situations totally differently and still be friends.

I appreciate your thoughts and comments. The Bush administration has caused a great chasm to be created between blue and red. Perhaps you don't see that as you've been on the 'winning team' for the last eight years. In my opinion it is going to take a heck of a lot of healing to bring this nation together. It needs to start now.

I don;t agree with your characterizations of the liberal left (what else is new). You seem to feel that Democrats are somewhat less patriotic, somewhat less american, somewhat reluctant to die for our flag. I don't see it that way. I think that we are willing to govern the world we live in by trying to work with our allies. Not by stating, 'You are either for us or against us!' And I believe that we can do so in within the confines of the constitution.

It surprises me that you think that the government is now going to encroach on the personal lives of the US people. Have you been asleep? Have you not seen what has been happening in the last eight years? Wire tapping american citizens?

The Bush administration has spent without restraint for 8 years. Our budget deficit is the largest ever. Our national debt is the largest ever - 11 trillion dollars. Who the fuck is going to pay that off?

I guess Cheney said it the best, 'Reagan proved that deficits don't matter.' Do you support this?

I can go on and on but in the end, I am glad we have fresh blood in there and we can as a nation move forward from where we are today.

seeker25 said...

Coming from a systems background, I'd say this is a new version of the political system in this country which has a rippling effect on the rest of the world. America as a leader once again showed why it's the pioneer in every walk of life. In as much as the different sides of the road exist, the passion for making things better has never been so loud and clear. When asked by agent Smith in Matrix III why he persists and wouldn't give up, Neo says "because I choose to". That is exactly what the American people did - they chose to persist inspite of the challenges they faced in electing their leader. They came almost close the last time around but I think the worries of security overtook all the other concerns.

USA under the leadership of the Bush Administration was off the target from the get go. You think it's really the faulty intelligence reports that led the nation to war in Iraq? You think it's the freelance policy of the Republicans to deregulate the economy so companies/individuals can compete to make more money? I don't think so. The oil prices having a roller coaster ride recently shows how screwed up this economy has become. It started eating up the very roots on which it grew and let others grow. Oh by the way, the reason for the hike was the unforeseen demand in China and India. I don't know whatever happened to that demand in Asia but the people's uproar against the hike took the oil companies/lobbyists back to reality reminding them that their games are not so popular.

Did I mention that this trough in the prices could be an election gimmick and a desparate tactic to make people forget the economy woes?

All in all it was indeed a historic moment filled with all it's bells and whistles(thanks to Joe the Plumber,Tina Faye..err..Sarah Palin)!

We have only learned in our history classes about the great leaders of the past but I've never seen a leader being born/in the making in my life and I consider myself lucky to see one today. People may say Obama can only talk but I think he has more to offer than just talking. Gandhi attracted countless people(rich, poor,lawyers,teachers,industrialists, soldiers, doctors etc) just by his speeches alone and abiding to what he believed in. Likewise Obama is attracting all the intellectuals that are very much needed to help him make things better for this country and I'm sure he'll succeed in what he believes in.

Coming to the comments by Mr.Anonymous about the media and the lack of objective journalists - I recently came to know that Fox Channel is not considered as a media anymore. It is officially the voice of the GOP and they are considering to change the name to VoGOP. Shocking? Me too!

Just kidding. It's as funny as GOPians complaining about media being biased.

I couldn't help but to say that the Republican ticket lost the very thing in this election they said is their asset - character. They chose to ignore the reason why they'd like to get elected and just concentrated on collecting all the mud they could find to throw on the Democrat ticket. We have a saying - if you step on shit and that too very hard, it splashes on your face. It's very disappointing to see McCain hiring the very people who helped Bush in his negative campaigning towards him. Republicans have a long road ahead of them and I think they realize that now.

I would like to write more but I've to end it here so I can go to bed. I strongly suggest that the Republicans should start seeing all Americans as being one. It's ridiculous to think that a Democrat is less patriotic than a Republican. One would be surprised to see how many soldiers are actually Democrats.