Liberals, including myself, are waiting for the final word on voting screw-ups. How many people were not allowed to vote? Actor, human rights and voters’ advocate Tim Robbins was turned away from the polls. He went to the City Board of Elections and got proof that he was registered. Now that’s crazy!!!
Last night at about four in the morning I had a “surge” (pun intended) of activity on my blog. Hundreds of people found my blog out of nowhere. I’m always happy for the traffic. About 20 or so people left comments on this post. All the comments were warning us real Americans of the dire consequences of a Barack Obama administration. This post will do nothing to calm your fears because nothing I can say can make irrational thought rational.
Barack Obama will not take away your guns. Neither Barack Obama nor the Democratic Party have any desire to round up every gun in the United States. If you’re hunting with your gun, good for you. Be safe. If you are protecting your home with your gun, good for you. Please make sure that everyone in your household is familiar with gun safety. If you are a criminal with a gun, expect to do time. Steven, Barack Obama is not against your having guns in your homes. He hasn’t said anything like this throughout the campaign or even previously. Put down the crack pipe.
Someone had a kooky idea that Barack Obama wanted to manacle the “little people” to the government. Nothing can be further from the truth. Instead, Barack Obama would like to empower the poor. He would like to give them the tools they need to go to school if that is their intent. He would like to give them the tools to be successful if they would like to apply themselves and work hard. Education is the key out of poverty. Barack Obama would like to give everyone a chance to use that key.
Ralph complained about Barack Obama’s choice to opt out of the public financing system. It is clear that we need to fix our public financing system. We will need a large coalition of informed voters to pressure our elected officials on the subject. What Barack Obama managed to do cannot be replicated by everyone. We need to come up with a system that is equitable and flexible. It is unreasonable for the American people to expect their politicians to raise a half a billion dollars in order to run for president. (I’m aware that Barack Obama raised more than this.)
Tim thought we were stepping closer to socialism. I would ask Tim to define the word “socialism.” We are moving our tax system back to where we were under President Clinton. If we were a socialistic system eight years ago, then, yes, we’re moving back to that system. One of the strangest things in this country is that people believe that all rich people have worked for their money. Some have and some have not. There is a segment of our population which believes that the rich deserve the salaries that they get. My question is what do the workers deserve? In a capitalistic society, individual workers are not valued. As a matter of fact, it is seen in a positive light to pit workers against each other so that they will serve to help you drive down their own wages. Monopolies, the end result of all unregulated systems, are by definition the only game in town. Therefore, you work for almost nothing or you are out of work. I suggested there is a happy medium between all-out capitalism and all-out socialism. There is a place where workers are valued and those with initiative, smarts and good fortune can make an extraordinary living. That is the sweet spot that Barack Obama is looking for.
Nelson, there really isn’t anything that I can say to you. Your thought processes are so bizarre that I can only recommend good medication. With lots of therapy, you could be able to let back into society in two or three years.
CK, I hope you lodged your complaint with someone other than my blog. There are several voter advocacy groups. I hope you got in touch with one of them.
Carla, if you are a Christian, how can you not always be in prayer? There is no evidence that Barack Obama will be anything but a staunch ally of Israel. He has said this. Barack Obama is also a Christian, so why would he persecute Christians. Are you suggesting that he will persecute himself?
Barack Obama may be a bust. Don’t forget that even George W. Bush was supposed to be a great president. He was not. Let’s give Barack Obama an opportunity…one he has earned.
Just sit back and listen to President-Elect Barack Obama!
Text of Obama’s speech:
If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
It’s the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference.
It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled – Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America. [Read more →]
This is the John McCain that I liked in 2000. He was thoughtful and caring. We saw just a touch of this in the election but we also saw the very ugly John McCain in the election. John McCain lost this election because he was trying to be the neocon that he is NOT. He was trying to embrace Bush when in fact he needed to separate himself from Bush. He was trying to walk a tightrope that was just too thin to walk.
I was just thinking – It was an amazing night. The fears of 2000/2004 returned. How were states really going to go? Was Georgia really in play? Where’s Florida? Were those machines fixed? It had been hours and Virginia seems to be using a crayon and stone tablet to add up their vote totals.
Pennsylvania was the first big swing state that clearly went for Obama. For weeks, the talking heads were trying to make this close (this particular state and really the whole race) but it wasn’t. It never was. This race hadn’t been close for over a month yet the talking heads were going on and on about John McCain’s surge in the polls. NOT! There was no significant surge. For reasons that were unclear to me, McCain threw time and money into Pennsylvania in the last three or four weeks. Why? None of the poll numbers hinted that Pennsylvania was close. Some polls had McCain down by 10 points, yet he and Sarah Palin were out there (and don’t forget the implied presence of Joe the Plumber). The final vote total revealed no surprises in Pennsylvania. Obama won there by 11 points.
About an hour later, Ohio went for Obama. I found it peculiar that there was so little talk about Ohio. The talking heads didn’t go on and on over Ohio…why? Ohio was really interesting with 2004 as a backdrop. The conservative Cincinnati vs. the liberal Cleveland. There was so much to talk about that would have been interesting and informative but we got almost nothing. Then the real waiting had begun.
My question for all of you is – When did John McCain know that this race was over? When did he know that he lost to Bush for the third time? We all know that John McCain lost to Bush in 2000. I think that you can say that McCain wanted to run in 2004 but it wasn’t politically possible. So he lost again in 2004. Now with his being so unpopular, President Bush dragged McCain and other Republicans down in this election. Elizabeth Dole is a great example. She really didn’t do anything wrong. Incumbents usually lose for screwing up…not merely for being worthless. If Bush would have gotten his approval numbers into the low 40s, he could have helped McCain. In the end, John McCain lost not only to Barack Obama but also to George W. Bush, again.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, just before 10 pm EST Barack Obama had passed the magic number. He was sitting at just over 200 electoral votes and California, Oregon, Washington State and Hawaii were clearly his but not counted yet because those polls hadn’t closed. The writing was on the wall. The game was over. The fat lady was singing. Elvis had left the building. It didn’t matter how Virginia, North Carolina, Indiana, Missouri and Montana went. Barack Obama didn’t need them for victory but he did need them for a mandate.
Tonight, Barack Obama received a mandate from the American people. There are still a few races which are too close to call (Al Franken in Minnesota) and a couple of states that remain too close to call (Indiana, Missouri and North Carolina). America, with our young and old, our rich and our poor, our black, white, and brown party, WON TONIGHT. We needed to wake up and begin to figure out how to change this country that we love.
Errington C. Thompson, MD, is a surgeon, scholar, full-time sports fan and part-time political activist. He is active in a number of community projects and initiatives. Through medicine, he strives to improve the physical health of all he treats...
