I've been thinking about many different aspects of Barack Obama's victory yesterday, and most of them have been talked about by many people. But one thing I keep coming back to, something that hasn't really been focused on very much...is that his victory represents a long-overdue victory for intellectualism. For years, maybe decades, it seems as if Americans have celebrated elected officials, exemplified by George W. Bush, who can barely formulate a complete sentence, who is driven by the most primitive of supersticions, and whose malaproprisms are positively excruciating (although sometimes hilariously funny). And now, after all these years wandering in wilderness, we have a president of whom we can be justly proud, because he's not only inspiring and eloquent, but also...he's simply very bright, well-read, well-travelled, well-educated, well-respected by the rest of the world, not held in contempt.

And as the icing on the cake, I won't have to listen to anyone say "nu-cu-lar" for a long time.

 

The people have spoken, loud and clear!!!I feel an excitement and pride that I haven't felt in awhile!!!
This election shows that you can only bully us for so long...

 

If any of you thought that the election victory was a surprise, you should have a read of the NFL websites, particularly the co-incidences surrounding the Redskins results close to election days...But just to give you all a hint, in all but one of the elections over the last 71 years, when the Redskins have lost so has the party in power...
It was a Redskins loss against the Steelers on Monday night...

 

well said Kimi and i agree. it's about time we had someone who could dress themselves in office. :excited:

but seriously. As a Harvard top graduate, he ain't too shabby when it comes to intelligence.

 

Or "My Friends"

 

We are happy over here though, in the last election the Freedom parties won a lot of votes which is causing problems as they try to form coalitions..Then 1 of the Freedom party leaders went and rolled his expensive car driving home from a nightclub, he was said to have been doing twice the speed limit and more than twice the drink-drive limit..This guy is supposed to be happily married and have children, but it is reported that he was out at the nightclub with a very special man-friend. Who has said in the press that they loved each other...To give a hint of the fun going on here, The Freedom parties are further to the right than the Nazi's....

 

What do you think this means for America, though, Kimiko?

Will we finally see the death of ridiculous ideas like Creationism being taught in public schools?

Will the Christian Fundamentalist ultra-right wing finally be sent back to their caves, tails between their legs?

Will we become a more-European America (for whatever good or ill that may be)?

What does this victory allow us to achieve?

 

Uh uh uh...​

View attachment ​

 

Those are all great questions, BB...and I don't know the answers. But it's progress...and unlike the last eight years, it's not regress. I certainly hope that the influence of the fundamentalist, evangelical Christian right has passed its high-water mark and that it's influence will wane. I also hope that the U.S. will rejoin the internatinal community and put to rest it's rogue-nation status. I hope that Americans will lost their fear of all things European and find that they can actually learn something from them.

But these things happen slowly. I'm just happy to be turned in the right direction.

 

Then 4 years later, just when things are beginning to look good, the wonderful American people will vote for a ex-cowboy...Just like in the 80's

 

Agreed. I'm afraid for a lot of my generation; even though a great deal of us obviously were inspired by Obama and the youth and energy and newness he had to offer America, I think too-large a portion of young men and women my age have been indoctrinated into the Neocon, Ultra-Right-Wing Conservative, Evangelical Christian braintrap.

With Bush as President for 8 whole years, giving not-so-silent consent to all the madness the Evangelicals taught as gospel, with his Faith-based initiatives, with his all-out assault on the Constitution, I'm afraid there is a substantial minority (but a minority nonetheless, thank goodness) that have ascribed themselves to those dangerous, closed-minded views.

I think you might be right about the influence Fundamentalist Christianity waning, but I wonder if it's something in America that will ever know true defeat. They are loud and unashamed of their backwards viewpoints, and the black-and-white way they look at the world is appealing to the ignorant, ill-informed, and easily deluded.

 

I'm interested to see how our country will turn from the election. It was bad enough that America voted Bush in for another term, so either way I will be happy. In a way I was hoping that neither democrats or republicans would win, but I'd be terrified if any of the other parties took the office.

I'll just smile and hope my government doesn't kill me.

 

Can I address your European America question?

You seem to be uncertain as to whether or not this could be a good thing...
As a person living in Europe I can see that most European nations have a long heritage, we've warred amongst ourselves since the fall of the Roman Empire and we've seen the rise and fall of various expansive empires. The people of Europe are different and they think differently, but these differences are tinged with chunks of common ground. The nations of the Old Continent are thoughtful and proactive rather than rash and reactive, the only nation to rush to war in Iraq was Britain (much to her shame) while other nations saw no benefit and declined to get involved.

Your President Elect came to Europe during his campaign, he made common ground with each European leader and in every European country he was hailed by applauding crowds. It genuinely seems that he wants the support of European nations (and all of them, not just Britain) and he can see that the best way to get what he wants and needs is to develop a more European approach. Under an Obama Administration I believe that the United States can look forward to a more inclusive, multicultural, proactive Government.

Have high expectations of Obama and expect him to deliver. Your expectations of President Obama could never exceed his own expectations.

 

Please, don't misunderstand me. I think an America that behaves more like its European cousins is a great, wonderful thing to strive for. America has too long attempted to play Policeman or Parent to the world, rather than simply joining in the World Community. I think electing Barack Obama will do a great deal to change that.

The ambiguousness of my statement about a more European America in my previous post was for the benefit of those who still bash France, who fear "socialist" Obama, who are angry that the rest of Europe didn't jump to our side like well-trained dogs when we invaded Iraq.

I'm eager for this new dawn of American foreign relations.

 

This is also something I've been thinking about and is perhaps my highest hope. We heard so much about Obama being untested, inexperienced, not ready to lead. But none of those are the qualities of leadership. What defines a leader is how well they can think, what knowledge base they have draw from and how they react. So if we want to know what kind of leader Barack Obama is going to be all we have to do is look at his campaign.

Looking back on it what was his biggest set backs. Getting stomped by Hillary Clinton in the Pennsylvania primaries was one. Rev. Wright was another one. And there was the constant attacks from McCain and Palin as well as the conservatives.

How did he handle them. Last night they were reporting that after the loss to Clinton in Pennsylvania Obama took over his own campaign and made Pennsylvania one of top priorities. He had some problems there. His statement about rural people clinging to their guns and religion did not go over well at all. He was not popular or trusted with white working class males. Obama and his staff held nightly conference calls on how to win the hearts and minds of the majority of People in Pennsylvania and he did just that.

Concerning Rev. Wright he decided to break with him, but also took the opportunist to address race relations in the US. His speech was brilliant and probably as much as anything else diluted the factor of race being a significant factor in this election. He united rather than divided.

As to the constant attacks for the most part he (and especially his wife Michelle) rose above them. Instead hammering on the issues while still drawing important contrasts between himself and John McCain.

Those to me are examples of true intellectualism at work.

Like you I am very happy that it seems our nation has taken a step towards a thinking and reasoned approach to dealing with our own problems and our relationship with the rest of the world.

I also think these are great questions and I hope I have an answer for you but I could be wrong. My theory has been that the reason the religious right has seemed so powerful and things like creationism and mixing church with state has been so popular is because that's what our leaders said they believed.

I do think that a different kind of leader will make a huge difference in the encroachment of the christian right and once people begin to look at it through different eyes they will see it for what it really is. I bunch on nonsense cherished notions that really have no place in our lives or government.

I think that's what this victory might allow us to achieve. But lets not forget that this is a double edged sword. The liberals and intellectuals of this nation will now have to deliver. And I truly believe they can.

I think if there is one thing that has endeared Obama to the world more than anything else it what you are saying on this thread. First the rest of the world looked at George Bush and saw an arrogant, dogmatic, moron. Then after actually inviting the rest of the world to join us in a world economy, Bush shunned the opinions of the rest of the world and struck out on his own. I think that terrified the rest of the world. It was bad enough for the US to suddenly take of on its own, but with a moron at the helm it was just too much.

That's why I think the rest of the world is so over joyed that we have elected Obama as our new president. I think the rest of the world breathed a collective sigh of relief.

BB I've said this many times during this election but certainly the most hopeful sign I've seen since I was your age is the participation of American youth in this election and the amount of thoughtful intelligence they brought with them. This is in sharp contrast to the apathy I've seen in the past and their participation is what helped Obama win this election. I can't over state what an amazing and wonderful thing that is to me.

And I do think the old ways will be rapidly changing.

Igor this is beautiful in my opinion. I could not have done it better myself. Could you do me one more favor though. Could you tell me which countries in Europe are considered Socialist as opposed to just democratic?

 

And I gather that that very special man friend is the deputy leader of the party. Things could get really interesting there, eh??

 

I think America may have reached a turning point in their history, black voters have learned that their vote does count and I think their politicians will have to learn that too.
You may find that black voters may be more important in the future and rightly so.
It's not set in stone though is it? It's not you guys that actually vote for the president, it's that there electoral college. They technically have the right to vote for anyone eligible to be president, don't they? It'll only be official on December 15th.

 

Possibly, but for some reason I was thinking something a little more sinister during the election. Don't get me wrong I am very happy at the way it turned out, but I also couldn't help but think my strings were being pulled. During the past eight years, government has gained unprecedented powers and special interest have raped country. Could it be possible now that this bone was simply thrown to the people to try and rekindle some sense of patriotism so we fall back in line without them ever really having to answer for past sins? Between these two candidates I don't really know that McCain was ever designed to win, but instead to represent a social defeat of the things so many of us hate. I don't think it impossible that there are people working both sides of fence to manufacture this illusion of choice for us.

 

Kimiko, I PARTIALLY agree with you, but do not forget that we had an intellectual in the White Houe during the Clinton years (and BILL was pretty smart, too)-----so it has only been 8 years that the mansion on Pennsylvania Avenue has been occupied by a pea-brain.