The US Election

Subject: The US Election
From: Les in Chorlton
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 08:04 PM

I am following the US Election on BBC.

I think Pensylvania has gone with Obama.

is that it?

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Bill D
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 08:35 PM

several TV outlets have called Penn. for Obama. One source said Penn. is "Republicians fools gold"

It means McCain would have to win states he is VERY unlikely to win...

It looks good.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Bobert
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 08:40 PM

I ain't watchin'...

Watched too many and me watchin' ain't changed nuthin'... I got a killer CD on the pudder and headphones on my feeble head....

Pa. is a good thing... Very, very good...

Now if Florida 'er Ohio falls to Obama then it's gonna be "How do ya' spell 'President Obama'"???

Heck, Virginia would prolly do it, as well...

B~

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Les in Chorlton
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 08:40 PM

It feels, from over the pond, that things look good

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Sawzaw
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 08:48 PM

"How do ya' spell 'President Obama'"???

Dear Leader :=D

Hey Bobert, didja ever listen to http://pandora.com ?

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Bobert
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 08:55 PM

What's that, Sawz??? I ain't gonna go listen to it if if don't rock out... I used to play in band in the 60's and we frequently did gigs with another local band called "Pandora's Box"... We both sucked... lol... No, just way too loud...

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Les in Chorlton
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 09:00 PM

Look Bobert, can you just stay on the main subject?

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Bobert
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 09:01 PM

Sorry... I went away but now I'm back...

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Les in Chorlton
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 09:09 PM

That's good, we in Chorlton, Manchester, UK have bated breath

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: CarolC
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 09:21 PM

Woo Hoo!!! Libby Dole's gone!

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: CarolC
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 09:23 PM

Ohio went to Obama!!!!

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Bobert
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 09:23 PM

Yeah, I can smell it from here...

Aww, just funnin'...

You hang in there, Les...

BTW, you look terrible... When did you folks sleep last??? Hey, if ya'll hadn't put that tax on the tea maybe we wouldn't be havin' this discusssion...

Nevermind that tax stuff... I know it's like 2009 in the UK by now and ya'll been awake fir a couple years now so ya'll ain't expected to make no sense...

I ain't got no reasons fir not makin' no sense other than I gotta lotta experience in it...

B;~)

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Don Firth
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 09:25 PM

New York State goes to Obama. Fifteen states so far. Electoral votes are mounting up nicely. Looks good.

(I hope I hope I hope!!)

Don Firth

P. S. Just about to post when THIS came in! OHIO goes to Obama!!

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Les in Chorlton
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 09:31 PM

Ok, I feel a song coming on but what will it be?

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: CarolC
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 09:43 PM

New Mexico for Obama.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 09:47 PM

Looks like it's sorted for President Obama.   Congratulations. (Touch wood.)

Mind, Dubya's still got a couple of months to go. That's frightening.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Les in Chorlton
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 09:48 PM

The Banks are made of marble?

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Rapparee
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 09:54 PM

CNN is projecting 199 electoral votes for Obama, 69 for McCain. California is still to weigh in.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: CarolC
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 10:00 PM

Iowa for Obama!

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: SINSULL
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 10:02 PM

Elizabeth Dole is gone! Whoo Whoo
Chellie Pingree is in! Whoo Whoo

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Cllr
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 10:08 PM

amazingly UK tv is showing that the McCain party in Phoenix is not being shown the full results just the republican gains and unless they are getting outside information on mobiles is largely unaware of Obama sucesses! (3.am uk time)
Cllr

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: jeffp
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 10:14 PM

My fiancee's office is, unlike herself, heavily McCain. She said they were exhibiting most of the signs of grieving today -- anger, denial, etc. They even brought in food like a post-funeral gathering. Sheesh!

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: GUEST,Rich
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 10:25 PM

pretty much if we don't pick up another state till the west coast we still got it!

North Carolina! Virginia!

Lots of house and senate seats!

Sweet!

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Peace
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 10:28 PM

PDQ, a bluegrass CD would be just fine, buddy.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Bobert
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 10:34 PM

Ya' know, the last place I was asigned to visit today was a trailer way back in Lucas Holler... I knocked on the door... A 30-Somethin' woman came out... She didn't see my Obama pin... She just looked at me and said, "I know why you're here... I voted for Barack and he is gonna win"...

Then I showed her my badge and she said, "Damned right"...

I shoulda known that if this poor woman back in a holler had this "faith" that I should have, as well...

B~

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: jeffp
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 10:42 PM

I am so proud of my country. I remember as a kid (I'm 54), my parents worrying about our pastor as he went to Montgomery and Selma to march in the Freedom Marches. Now a Black man is a major party candidate for President! I'm very glad to have seen this progress.

I have also seen our country go from taking women for granted to one being the Vice Presidential candidate on each party's ticket at one time or another. Not to mention a serious candidate for President in the primaries. Major changes, indeed.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: catspaw49
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 10:46 PM

WE got her done here in the Buckeye state but I'm still waiting for you Carol.......................Think you can get here sometime soon and put an end to this before California aces you and Florida out?

Good job on Libby though! Bob Dole loved dirty tactics and now one has bitten old Libby right in the ass!

Spaw----as happy as the proverbial clam

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: CarolC
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 10:48 PM

We're working on it. JtS just told me on the phone that the people he's listening to have called Virginia for Obama. I'm watching MSNBC, and they haven't called it yet.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: catspaw49
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 10:57 PM

Not on CNN yet either...

Spaw

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: CarolC
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 11:00 PM

NBC announced for Obama!!!!!

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: jeffp
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 11:01 PM

NBC has just called the election for Obama.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: CarolC
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 11:01 PM

Woo Hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 11:02 PM

He's done it.

273

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Ebbie
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 11:05 PM

I'm here by myself- but it feels like party time! If I'd thought, I'd have provided myself with a bottle of wine; it would be a GREAT time to pop a cork.

Yes, we can!

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: catspaw49
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 11:06 PM

What a night!!!


Spaw

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 11:07 PM

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."


"I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood."

Somehow, I think the Spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr. will be smiling today.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: SINSULL
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 11:09 PM

I am sitting here in tears. Someone is setting off fireworks. Times Square looks like New Years Eve.

I can not believe that in my lifetime a black man has been elected president. I am speechless.

Hope...

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Don Firth
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 11:10 PM

Florida just went for Obama!!!

Ain't that a snort!??

Don Firth

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: catspaw49
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 11:19 PM

While I feel the party comin' on my mind can't help but be overwhelmed at the monumental change that has taken place.

Obama is President.

Forty-five years ago, 4 little girls were killed by a KKK bombing of the 16th Street Baptist church in Birmingham. Somehow I can't help but think of that now and the first song that went through my head was Richard Farina's "Birmingham Sunday."

Come round by my side and I'll sing you a song.
I'll sing it so softly, it'll do no one wrong.
On Birmingham Sunday the blood ran like wine,
And the choirs kept singing of Freedom.
That cold autumn morning no eyes saw the sun,
And Addie Mae Collins, her number was one.
At an old Baptist church there was no need to run.
And the choirs kept singing of Freedom,

The clouds they were grey and the autumn winds blew,
And Denise McNair brought the number to two.
The falcon of death was a creature they knew,
And the choirs kept singing of Freedom,

The church it was crowded, but no one could see
That Cynthia Wesley's dark number was three.
Her prayers and her feelings would shame you and me.
And the choirs kept singing of Freedom.

Young Carol Robertson entered the door
And the number her killers had given was four.
She asked for a blessing but asked for no more,
And the choirs kept singing of Freedom.

On Birmingham Sunday a noise shook the ground.
And people all over the earth turned around.
For no one recalled a more cowardly sound.
And the choirs kept singing of Freedom.

The men in the forest they once asked of me,
How many black berries grew in the Blue Sea.
And I asked them right with a tear in my eye.
How many dark ships in the forest?

The Sunday has come and the Sunday has gone.
And I can't do much more than to sing you a song.
I'll sing it so softly, it'll do no one wrong.
And the choirs keep singing of Freedom.

Tonight we can still sing of freedom but now loudly and with feeling as this country has passed a great milestone in its history. William Sloane Coffin said that to be an American patriot was "to have a love/hate affair with your country." Many times I feel as James Kunen felt when he said, "America.....I love what it could be; I hate what it is."

At least for now and in this moment.....I love what it is.

Spaw

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: CarolC
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 11:22 PM

That's a very good concession speech from McCain.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: jeffp
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 11:28 PM

I really think that when he isn't running his ass off for the Presidency, he is a good man. It's just that the race warped him. I wish him well.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 11:42 PM

Yup, it was a very honourable speech.

What struck me though, was that ALL the faces I saw in his audience, over here on the BBC news, were white....and the cameras swept around the audience a great deal.

In contrast, the earlier pictures of Obama's supporters couldn't have been more different, white, black, hispanic...the whole mixture of the world was there.

And that's the way it should be.

Apparently, President Bush (spit) has just called Barak..I bet that was a strange call. I wonder if he got Barak's name right. ;0)

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: CarolC
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 11:42 PM

Looks like North Carolina's going to go for Obama, but they're not announcing it yet.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Bill D
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 11:54 PM

I was in Mississippi is 64 & 65...and now I see why it was worth the effort and the struggle...

This is only partially about Obama...it is about the changes in my country that made it possible for Obama to be where he is.

There is still work to do...and John McCain was eloquent in his concession, and made it clear that he DOES care, and will help us go on, even as he deals with defeat.

Thank you, Senator McCain.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: CamiSu
Date: 05 Nov 08 - 12:17 AM

For eight years I have tensed inside when I heard our president's voice. I am truly going to enjoy hearing this man. I am so excited I can hardly stand it. My son has been working almost full time (or more) for Obama and at his "real" job as well. He told me the other day that he was going into campaign headquarters and was not coming out again until Obama was elected. I am laughing and crying and too excited to go to bed.


Wahoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

CamiSu

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 05 Nov 08 - 12:26 AM

"Apparently, President Bush (spit) has just called Barak..I wonder if he got Barak's name right. ;0)"

I don't know how I'm laughing, after being up all night, but what a clanger that was from me..

Barack, Barack, BaraCk. (darn it!) LOL


That was a such a wonderful speech he just gave.


Er...would you guys like to swop Barack for Gordon Brown, by any chance?

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Bill D
Date: 05 Nov 08 - 12:38 AM

umm...no, but thanks anyway

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Amos
Date: 05 Nov 08 - 12:59 AM

The United States has unequivocally and in a landslilde vote elected Barack Obama as their next President.

"Let the word go out from this day forth, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans,."


A

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: CamiSu
Date: 05 Nov 08 - 01:00 AM

Lizzie--

Not on a bet! We JUST got him!

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 05 Nov 08 - 01:02 AM

Now that they're done with election coverage, our PBS station is running "The Windsors: A Royal Dynasty". How weird!

~ Becky in Tucson

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Big Mick
Date: 05 Nov 08 - 01:07 AM

There was this fella from Battle Creek, Michigan. His name was Joe Crump. Joe was a black man, an African American. He was a big man, with a bigger smile, and a much bigger heart. We became friends over 30 years ago. I remember my Father, a victim of the times he was raised in, asking me once why I considered Joe my best friend. I told Da that Joe and I loved each other as brothers, that we watched out for each others backside. My father had a hard time with this. I told Joe that I was so disappointed in my father. He got angry at me, and told me that my Dad was a good man with the prejudices of his times. He told me that my Dad raised me, and I was his best friend. And then Joe let his big smile and bigger heart win my Dad over. When Joe died 2 years ago, my Mom and Dad were in the front row at the funeral and wept openly at the loss of a man they loved like one of their own.

My youngest child, Ciara, was born in 1982. I asked my best friend, Joe, to be her Godfather. Joe was absolutely overjoyed to do it, and from the first moment he loved that little girl. Every where he went brought her postcards, and Uncle Joe travelled a lot. She loved getting them. Every birthday brought a savings bond, and gifts of candy, with the admonishment "don't tell your Mom I gave you this box of candy bars". But Uncle Joe looked so different from the other folks around her, that the little girl just couldn't give her Uncle Joe a hug. I remember being embarassed about that, and my best friend just looked at me like I had a tail, and informed me that "of course she is afraid. Look at me!". But then he admonished me to just cool it. And he let that big smile, and that big heart patiently do is work. One night, when Ciara was 6 years old, Joe and his lady friend, my wife, and Ciara were at a play. Joe's lady friend's daughter was in the high school play. After the play, we all decided to go for pizza. It was dark outside, and as we all walked to our cars, Ciara stopped me, let out a big sigh, and told me she wanted to ride with Uncle Joe. It was clear that this little girl recognized the love Uncle Joe had for her, and was going to overcome her fear of his different looks. Well, Joe puffed up like a biskit with butter in it and put the wee little girl in his car. Took them a half hour to drive the 5 minutes to the pizza parlor. They were inseparable to the day he died, and Ciara still thinks of him every single day.

Joe taught me about prejudice. Joe taught us all about judging people by the content of their character. Joe taught us about pure, unadulterated love of your fellow man. He never judged folks for their racism, just vowed to beat it by his examples of love and service. Joe served on prestigious boards, and worked in the neighborhoods that spawned him. Joe knew Governors and Presidents, and revelled in delivering food baskets in his old neighborhoods. Joe spoke at conventions, but did his best work one on one.

Joe lived his whole life with integrity, and honest love of fellow man, even as he suffered the outrageous slings and arrows of racism. He forgave those whose racism came from the times they were raised in, but was a fierce warrior in the battle against those who used law to further their bigotry.

I would give anything to look in his eyes tonight and ask him, "Did you ever think, my beloved brother, that you would see this day?" I am sitting here with tears running down my face, at times sobbing, because I wish I could put my arm around my best friends shoulder and tell him that Obama's victory was his victory. I wish I could say to him, and to all the folks that never got the headlines, that I understand that it was by their walking through a world that enslaved them, killed them, economically strangled them,....... and yet they walked with grace, and at this moment, forgives us all. I listened to the gracious concession speech by McCain, and heard a significant part of the crowd try to boo when they heard the name of Obama. Then I watched the crowd in Grant Park, and I saw tears. I listened to a black preacher on the telly speak with forgiveness, and reach out to the other side.

Thanks, Joe. I will love you until the day I draw my last breath on this side. Then we will meet and start to tell jokes and make folks laugh. I wish you could be here so I could thank you, and help you understand, just as you helped me to understand. I would help you understand that by your presence, grace, integrity, honesty, and love of your fellow men, women and children, you paved the way for this moment.

All the best,

Mick

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 05 Nov 08 - 01:26 AM

Beautiful, Mick.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Donuel
Date: 05 Nov 08 - 11:36 AM

Mick for Councilman!




All my closest black friends have died. Some by disease and some by murder. My new black friend was a freedom rider and has the distinction of being a global marathon runner on every continent on Earth.

Yes, including Antarctica.

Now I have Barack as part of my family which if not a personal friend, he is powerful example of character which I am pround to have my children learn from and aspire to be like.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Sawzaw
Date: 05 Nov 08 - 12:43 PM

Shouldn't the US and the UK do a merger?

You guys are missin' out on $2.08 gas, monster truck rallies, pork rinds and a lotta good stuff.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: GUEST,Shimrod
Date: 06 Nov 08 - 05:44 AM

I suppose that in the next few days (it may already have happened) Mr Obama will be invited to a meeting with a few grey men in suits. These men will spell out to him exactly what he can and can't do and what they expect of him. He will be warned not to defy them (look what happened to Abe and Jack and Bobby!).

At some point in the meeting he will attempt to explain to them that he is a deeply moral person with heartfelt concerns for the poor, the dispossessed and the environment. At this point one of the grey men will start to laugh hysterically. The sound will be terrifying and not even remotely human. Then the grey mask will slip, revealing the brutal, vicious lizard thing beneath ...

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Emma B
Date: 06 Nov 08 - 06:15 AM

There was an interesting comparison on BBC Radio 4 this morning between the election of Tony Blair in the UK on the crest of a wave of 'change' after the period of 'Thatcherism' and the election of Obama although the latter was not such a 'landslide' victory.

It was pointed out that Blair failed to live up to the many and varied expectations that the hopeful voters defined as 'change' and urged caution and 'expectation management' following the U.S. election.


Last night I received this communication from a hopeful young, first time, 18 year old voter

I 'finally got religion. Obama IS the second coming.'

I believe, unfortunately for my friend and many like her, the first task will be, as the Vancouver Sun reported yesterday....

'Obama's first task: Lowering expectations'

'President-elect Barack Obama inspired Americans with a promise of change that will improve their lives. He has raised their expectations. His first priority on taking office will be to lower them.

Obama will have to admit to Americans that some of his anti-business rhetoric was pure fiction. For instance, he will have to abandon the notion of a windfall profit tax because there is no such thing as a windfall profit. There is profit for companies that are in the right place at the right time with the right products, and losses for those that aren't. Over the next year or two, there will be less of the former and more of the latter.

He will have to concede that the United States can't create wealth by increasing taxes on the wealthy and expropriating more of the gains investors earn from their investments. His plan to raise capital gains taxes, the first such tax increase since 1986, is a non-starter. Similarly, he will have to moderate his proposed tax increase for households with incomes above $200,000'

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Cluin
Date: 06 Nov 08 - 08:06 AM

Well said, Mick.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: kendall
Date: 06 Nov 08 - 12:12 PM

About the losers,old Maine saying, "Time wounds all heels."

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: dwditty
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 07:27 AM

My wife would say I lack sensitivity, but dammit Mick, I can't count the times you have brought me to tears with your posts. Beautifully said, my friend.

I am certain that many of us are reflecting on the degree of change that has taken place, culminating in Obama's decided victory. For me, I look back to going to a Toddler House (restaurant) with 3 other buds when I was in the Army in South Carolina - 1968. We were seated....3 of us with place settings, but Jim's was replaced with plastic and paper. We left immediately. As much as things have changed, there is still too much of such thinking still around.

dw.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Amos
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 10:33 AM

A picture worth remembering can be seen in this well-written column:

http://warner.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/06/title/.


A

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Charley Noble
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 01:16 PM

Amos-

Thanks for posting that link. What a fine story and what a picture to think about.

It sure brings back a flood of memories of African-Americans that I have worked with over the years.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Alice
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 06:22 PM

now at the White House, (click)

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 08 Nov 08 - 08:24 AM

..but not final "g"s.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Amos
Date: 10 Nov 08 - 10:31 AM

Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said that even though his party didn't win the presidential election, he has at least one thing to be happy about.

"I can get back into the bedroom, so there's the big advantage," the California governor said Sunday on CNN's "Late Edition."

Schwarzenegger, a leading Republican, is married to Maria Shriver, a member of the very Democratic Kennedy clan.

Shriver endorsed Barack Obama in February, just days after her husband announced his support of John McCain.

Schwarzenegger said his wife has been "gloating now for these last few days" and running around the house with a life-size cutout of Obama saying, "We won."

Striking a more serious tone, Schwarzenegger said he doesn't see how any incumbent party could have held onto power this year, given the economic situation and the housing crisis.

"I think no one knew that it's going to be that bad. I think the Republicans were trying to hold on to, you know, if it would have been just the housing crisis or the mortgage crisis. But then when the stock market crash came, I think it was just too much," he said.

---

Shades of Lysistrata!

A

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Donuel
Date: 10 Nov 08 - 11:41 AM

The idea that the real American is the rural conservative white family guided by new religion and Limbaugh talk radio is fading into history.

The vituberation of wild talk by fear mongers will continue but at the receeding fringes of society.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Amos
Date: 10 Nov 08 - 11:43 AM

I take it that "vituberation" is a neologism meaning the vibrations of hateful signals?


A

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Amos
Date: 10 Nov 08 - 12:06 PM

"... on the day that the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. famously called "the most segregated day of the week," black and white Christian clergy members asked God to give Obama the wisdom and strength to lead the country out of what many consider a wilderness of despair and gloom.

At Hungary Road Baptist Church in a working-class suburb of Richmond, Va., the service was part celebration, part history lesson, led by a pastor who had felt the sting of the Jim Crow South. The Rev. J. Rayfield Vines Jr., pastor of the predominantly African-American congregation, paused briefly as he recalled the indignities he endured but did not bow to while growing up Suffolk, in southeastern Virginia.

"I was there when you had ride in the back of the bus," Vines said under a simple cross illuminated by eight light bulbs. "I was there when you went to the department store and you couldn't try on the clothes. I was there when they had a colored toilet and a white toilet."

The pastor said he shared his humiliations Sunday to help give those "who had not tasted the bitterness of segregation ... an idea why we all shouted."

Inside Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church, member Sheila Chestnut, 61, proudly wore a rhinestone Obama pin on her suit lapel.

"I am so happy," she said. "I cried so much. I never thought that in this lifetime I would live to see an African-American become president of these United States."

When the Rev. Calvin Butts invited the congregation to stand up "and give God praise for the election," several hundred churchgoers rose as one, lifted their hands and gave a sustained cheer, then chanted, "Yes we can! Yes we can!"

At Apostolic Church of God on Chicago's South Side, less than two miles from Obama's home, jubilant Sunday services were peppered with references to the election and calls to be grateful for his victory.

"We thank the Lord for this second Sunday (in November) after the first Tuesday," Dr. Byron Brazier said to resounding applause and cheers from the mostly black congregation. "This is a wonderful time to be alive."

Obama spoke at Apostolic on Father's Day in his first address to a congregation after leaving his longtime church, Trinity United Church of Christ, following inflammatory remarks there by his former longtime pastor and others.

In Los Angeles, tears flowed freely at the First AME Church during the raucous two-hour service of house-busting music and prayer. There were some white and yellow faces among the congregants, and the Rev. John J. Hunter felt the need to let them know they were not being left out.

"The smiles on our faces are not gloating looks of victory," he said. "The smiles on our faces are not the sign or any symbol that it is now our time and our chance to get even. Rather, the smiles on our faces are expressions of thanksgiving."

At a white church in Mississippi, where roughly nine in 10 whites voted for Republican John McCain, the scene was more muted.

The neighborhood around the Alta Woods United Methodist Church in Jackson has seen its demographics shift from white to black in recent decades, and most of the parishioners have moved to the suburbs. While the Rev. David W. Carroll recognized Obama's election as a "historic shift," he spent just as much time praising McCain's patriotism in defeat.

"As the crowd began to boo a little bit ... he quieted them down and said, 'Now is not my time, but I'm an American first and I will serve the president-elect,'" he said. "In a loss, he showed us still how he could win through his service."

In his Web message last week, the Rev. Gregg Matte of Houston's mostly white First Baptist Church decried a society that has turned to government as its savior. "Today," he wrote, "Hollywood is our pastor, technology is our Bible, charisma is our value and Barack Obama is our President."

But from the pulpit Sunday, Matte asked the 1,000 or so mostly white faces staring back at him to "lift up President-elect Obama" even if he wasn't their choice on Tuesday.

"Regardless of whether you voted for him or not, he's now our president come Jan. 20," he said. "So we're going to come behind him and pray for him and pray for wisdom, that God will give him wisdom and be able to really speak to his heart."

Perhaps nowhere was the weight of history more palpable Sunday than at Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church, from whose pulpit King spread his message of inclusion and across from which he lies entombed.

When the Rev. Raphael G. Warnock tried to put into words what it meant for Obama to win Virginia, where the first American slaves landed nearly 400 years ago, his words were drowned out by applause and cheers from a capacity crowd whose faces captured the spectrum of the human rainbow.

"Barack Obama stood against the fierce tide of history and achieved the unimaginable," he said. "But he did not get here by himself. Give God some credit. He is the Lord."

But while he told the congregation that it was a time for celebration, he also reminded them it was a serious time.

"We still have a whole lot of work to do," he said. "You have two little girls who will grow up in the White House. Around the corner, you have two little girls who will grow up in a crack house."
****
Among those in attendance was the slain civil rights leader's sister, Christine King Farris. She was reminded of her brother's prescience.

"As he predicted the night before he left us, 'I may not be with you, but as a people we will reach the promised land,'" she said stoically. "That promised land was realized Tuesday. Yes, it is our promised land."...
****

From AJC.com from AP.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: GUEST,beardedbruce
Date: 11 Nov 08 - 05:03 PM

Obama likely to escape campaign audit
By KENNETH P. VOGEL | 11/11/08 11:14 AM EST   

Barack Obama's campaign will likely not undergo an audit by the FEC.

The Federal Election Commission is unlikely to conduct a potentially embarrassing audit of how Barack Obama raised and spent his presidential campaign's record-shattering windfall, despite allegations of questionable donations and accounting that had the McCain campaign crying foul.

Adding insult to injury for Republicans: The FEC is obligated to complete a rigorous audit of McCain's campaign coffers, which will take months, if not years, and cost McCain millions of dollars to defend.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15497.html

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Amos
Date: 11 Nov 08 - 05:29 PM

"Potentially embarassing"??? IS that equivalent to "Potentially NOT embarassing"? What does it mean? Or is it a snarky innuendo? Hell, at my age getting dressed int he morning is potentially embarassing!!! :D


A

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: GUEST,beardedbruce
Date: 11 Nov 08 - 06:52 PM

Amos,

If you are not willing to read the article, and see what is being claimed, then you are certainly not interested in maintaining any kind of watch on the Obama presidency, unlike your constant scrutiny of the Bush admoinistration.

OK by me if you want to treat Obama like he does not have to comply with the law, but at least admit you were lying when you said you would give him the same level of oversight as you did Bush. _If this were the Bush campaigne, you would have already called for summary executions and impeachment.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: CarolC
Date: 11 Nov 08 - 10:16 PM

'The Obama campaign does not expect to be audited, but spokesman Ben LaBolt said it would be ready in the event it is.

"We have had a first rate compliance operation for an unprecedented national grassroots fundraising effort," LaBolt said.'

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Amos
Date: 11 Nov 08 - 10:20 PM

I don't think so Bruce. I never lambasted the Bush Administration for their campaign finances, nor any other politician as far as I recall. What I lambasted them for continuously was their harmful policies and tactics.

So far the noise surrounding the Obama ramp up includes rolling back some of the more egregious executive orders that Bush is putting out, including those which allow or encourage environmental damage, and rolling back the scandals of Gitmo and the usurpation of habeas corpus. So far so good.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: GUEST,Sawzaw
Date: 12 Nov 08 - 06:14 PM

Die Tageszeitung, a Berlin newspaper that supports socialist and leftist causes, predicted Obama's election in June when it published a large front-page photo of the White House under the headline, "Uncle Barack's Cabin."

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Little Hawk
Date: 12 Nov 08 - 08:14 PM

So?

Just about everyone in Germany and the whole rest of Europe (not to mention the rest of the world except for Israel) massively favored the election of Obama over McCain in this past election.

AAAAGGHHHH!!!! They must ALL be "socialists"! Be afraid. Be very afraid. (grin)

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Riginslinger
Date: 13 Nov 08 - 06:43 PM

They aren't afraid yet. They haven't come to know the real Obama.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Barry Finn
Date: 13 Nov 08 - 07:00 PM

Obviously you haven't either Rig, probably never will but the rest of US have a pretty good picture, that's why he won by a landslide.
The world is saying "he's the man". You always seem to be the odd man out?????????

Barry

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Riginslinger
Date: 13 Nov 08 - 07:10 PM

Yes, well, pointing people in the correct direction is a full time proposition.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: the pom
Date: 14 Nov 08 - 07:07 AM

The best man won
Kevin asked George if he was going to the G20 meeting in NY
George :What's the G20?
The question was too difficult. Should have asked him if he was going to the G8

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Riginslinger
Date: 14 Nov 08 - 08:43 AM

Come on! If he'd taken his shoes off he could have gotten to 20:-)

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Amos
Date: 14 Nov 08 - 08:33 PM

Defend your assertion that there is an unknown "real" Obama that would somehow alienate his present supporters, sir.



A

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Riginslinger
Date: 14 Nov 08 - 09:00 PM

He has to reveal himself first. So far he hasn't said anything.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: CarolC
Date: 14 Nov 08 - 09:24 PM

LOL!

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: the lemonade lady
Date: 15 Nov 08 - 08:25 PM

The US Election.... enuf already!

Thank God it's over. Maybe now we English folk can have some English programs to watch on TV!

Sal

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Ebbie
Date: 15 Nov 08 - 11:36 PM

I read the article, bb, and beyond. There are several questionable assertions one could point to. Such as 'the first candidate to forgo public funding', without going on to say that he is the first since Watergate.

Vogel also says that Obama went back on his word to limit himself to public funding if McCain did, which is patently false, as he himself tacitly admits when he quotes the actual transaction: "In response to a questionnaire in November from the Midwest Democracy Network, which is made up of nonpartisan government oversight groups, Obama said: "Senator John McCain has already pledged to accept this fundraising pledge. If I am the Democratic nominee, I will aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election."

As CarolC and others long since have shown, "aggressively pursue an agreement" is not at all the same thing as saying that he would do it if McCain would. Vogel lists the negating factors that deterred Obama from the final agreement.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Ebbie
Date: 15 Nov 08 - 11:41 PM

I meant to also refer to Emma B's November 4, 6:15 pm post where she cites an article that says 'President-elect Barack Obama inspired Americans with a promise of change that will improve their lives.'

I can't speak for other Americans but I will speak for myself: I don't expect President Obama to "improve my life". I don't need that. However, I do expect that President Obama will improve the standing of the United States of America. We do need that.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Amos
Date: 16 Nov 08 - 03:38 AM

Ah, Riginslimer, you have upheld your shining reputation once again.



A

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Don(Wyziwyg)T
Date: 16 Nov 08 - 11:59 AM

""Die Tageszeitung, a Berlin newspaper that supports socialist and leftist causes, predicted Obama's election in June when it published a large front-page photo of the White House under the headline, "Uncle Barack's Cabin.""


If you actually knew anything about literature, you would know that the book having its title parodied here was "Uncle Tom's Cabin", by Harriet Beecher-Stowe.

You would also understand that the main character referred to as Uncle Tom was the kind of black slave who pandered to the white slave owners, and their cronies by being servile and obsequious in the extreme.

In short, he would have been tugging his forelock and saying Yassuh Massa Rig, sho' nuff Massa Sawzaw.

Not, you will have to admit, characteristics exhibited by Barack Obama, and I derive considerable pleasure from the fact that many republicans, to their eternal chagrin, will have to say Yessir MR. President to him for at least four years.

Don T.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 16 Nov 08 - 12:52 PM

Except that the actual Uncle Tom in the book isn't the least "servile and obsequious".

Here is the text of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Searchable text - which indicates that there is not a single "Massa" in the book.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Alice
Date: 16 Nov 08 - 01:10 PM

Ask anyone in the USA the definition of an "Uncle Tom". It is as Don T said.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Amos
Date: 16 Nov 08 - 01:30 PM

The phrase "Uncle Tom", however, was coopted by the Black Power movement in the 60-70's to disdainfully refer to a black person who "cooperated with Whitey" -- cooperating with the system instead of standing up militantly for his race.

A

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 16 Nov 08 - 01:31 PM

Of course that's what "Uncle Tom" has come to mean. But it doesn't bear much relationship to the character as written. Probably the fault of stage or screen adaptations.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Don(Wyziwyg)T
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 03:39 AM

Whatever it is, or is not, it bears NO relationship to any characteristic of Obama's personality, and the use of it in referring to him is simply another example of how low some people will sink in a desperate attempt to hide the fact that they have run out of LOGICAL arguments.

Don T.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: katlaughing
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 01:52 PM

Just got this in the email: Click Here

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: CarolC
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 01:54 PM

We need the login info for that email account if we want to read the emails in it.

;-)

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: CarolC
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 01:56 PM

(just kidding... don't post the login info)

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Don Firth
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 03:38 PM

I watched Steve Kroft's interview with Barack Obama on 60 Minutes last night - the whole program - and I firmly believe that for the first time in a long time, as of January 20th, 2009, the United States will have a real president.

Watch for yourself.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Don(Wyziwyg)T
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 04:20 AM

I couldn't agree more, Don, and half the world is waiting, with baited breath, for the inauguration and the promised change.

Personally, I reckon he has already started, behind the scenes, and I'm confident that there will be rapid progress.

It's not just a question of a real president, but a real MAN too, a complete departure from the cardboard cut-outs of recent years.

This one has BALLS and a BRAIN.

Don T.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 05:39 AM

I don't think balls are necessary for a good president.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Don(Wyziwyg)T
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 10:14 AM

They certainly help make a better incumbent than the last corporate lackey. I think this one may have sufficient to say NO to vested interests.

I'd have thought you would be pro Obama, McG

Don T.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: katlaughing
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 10:16 AM

Thanks, McGrath. I think a woman could manage the job, too, just as long as it's not Palin!**bg** That said, I am ecstatic about Obama's win!

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Ebbie
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 10:37 AM

Last night on television they ran a panel made up of five men and a moderator (believe me, they commented on the fact that there were no women present. The moderator said that the schedule had not fit any woman but Dean said that was inexcusable)

Here is a Summary of those participating:

A panelists (sic) who worked for various 2008 presidential campaigns discussed what strategies worked, what lessons were learned, and how the winner prevailed. Kenneth Walsh moderated.

Cornell Belcher was a pollster for the Barack Obama campaign,
Frank Donatelli was a senior adviser to the John McCain campaign, Geoffrey Garin was a pollster and strategist for the Hillary Clinton campaign, and
Kevin Madden was national press secretary and senior communications specialist for the Mitt Romney campaign.

(http://www.c-spanarchives.org/library/index.php?main_page=product_video_info&products_id=282377-1)

It was interesting, to say the least. They were polite to each other but they also punched. I love Howard Dean. Not to mention, Cornell Belcher!

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Bill D
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 03:36 PM

To be fair, I have seen a couple of panels where there were 3-4 women and no men. Hadn't thought much about it till now. The salient point is, there ARE plenty of women reporters, pundits, politicians etc. now and we are seeing more of them. I no longer worry about the makeup of any one group....unless it 'feels' obviously loaded and unbalanced.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Don(Wyziwyg)T
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 08:05 PM

""Thanks, McGrath. I think a woman could manage the job, too,""

Sorry Kat, just realised I gave an unintended impression.

The kind of balls I was talking about are not an exclusively male trait, in fact not necessarily even a PREDOMINANTLY male trait.

There are plenty of women who could do as good a job as any man, and IMHO there are NO women who couldn't do better than Geedubya, except possibly Palin, and that would be a CLOSE race.

Don T.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 08:41 PM

If there wasn't any way out of having one of that pair, I think I'd opt for Palin.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Don Firth
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 08:53 PM

Well, I dunno, Kevin. George W. is crafty, but he's not what could be called smart. No really well-formed personal philosophy other that a collection of clichés, and his main asset to the neo-cons was that he would do what he was told. He didn't really have an agenda of his own.

Palin, on the other hand, is smart. And her personal philosophy is right in line with the neo-cons and with the extreme religious right. And she definitely has an agenda.

If I had to chose one or the other as the lesser of two evils (which, thank God, I don't!) I might just have to opt for George.

'Scuse me a moment. I think I'm gonna be sick!

Don Firth

P. S. And this, by the way, has nothing to do with gender. Strictly which one of them would be more dangerous.

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Amos
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 08:58 PM

One reason for making that awful choice is that he has already caused the deaths of hundreds/thousands of people and probably would less enthusiastic about doing so a second time that one like Ms P whose dath toll is limited to wolves, moose and other desperate critturs of the wild. Plus pulling the wings off of flies.


A

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Riginslinger
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 09:17 PM

It can all be traced back to substance abuse!

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Amos
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 09:43 PM

What substance abuse was Ms Palin's preferred variety? Ice-crystals with oxygen?



A

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: Riginslinger
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 06:53 AM

Christianity

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: CarolC
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 08:38 AM

The consequences of either W or Palin would both be the same in the long run because they both have the same crew pulling their strings (the right wing dominionist Christian crowd and the oil companies).

Subject: RE: The US Election
From: katlaughing
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 09:59 AM

DonT, I was pretty sure you weren't one of them! **bg** Thanks for the clarification, though.