posted by Brit in Bryan's absence
Face it, Barack Obama was the only real option. Most of my American blogging friends are bone-deep Republicans, so they'll be hurting this morning and I understand that, but really, there's no need to fear much and there's an awful lot of consolation to be taken.
Of course Obama will not be some crazed socialist, he's a politician of the Quantum Flux. And it doesn't hurt that he delivers a mean speech. Internationally, you may even find there are benefits to having the leader everybody else wanted and who gives diplomacy a try (the previous regime may have been more right than wrong with the 'Old Europe' jibes, but does saying it out loud really get you anywhere?). There will be a resurgence of international goodwill towards America because of this result - that may be unfair on McCain, but what can you do?
Obama is a hope candidate, and like all hope candidates (Blair being our most recent), he is doomed from the start by absurd expectations and by his own limitations. But this result is about America, which continues to be the most amazing country on the planet. Never again will anybody be able to say that you only elect middle-aged white guys - some of you may groan at that, but it isn't a small thing. In fact, it's a Big, History-Shaped Thing that "anybody can be President" is no longer just a nice theory.
Any nation that can go from George W Bush's second victory to Barack Obama's first within four years is pretty special. You're still Top Dog.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
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A blog about, among other things, imaginary ideas - What ifs? and Imagine thats. What if photographs looked nothing like what we see with our eyes? Imagine that the Berlin Wall had never come down. What if we were the punchline of an interminable joke? All contributions welcome.
How right you are to compare Obama to Tony Blair. Both have used the same tactic with the voters,that is, constantly talking about "change" without actualy specifying what they mean thereby leaving their listeners to fill in the blank with their own hopes. This will lead to disillusion eventualy but by then the damage will have been done. Also like Blair Obama has a load of dodgy friends in the background and a wife with a Douglas Fir on her shoulder by his side.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Patrick, that there will be disillusion, but I disagree that this is a bad thing per se.
ReplyDeleteThe world needs a bit of a honeymoon, even though it won't last. And if you come in saying "Bad luck guys, it's the same old crap and there's nothing I can do about it", all you've got is Gordon Brown, and I bet you give him stick too.
And as my wife pointed out to me this morning - now we can call anti-Americans racists!
ReplyDeletePeople talk as if offering change was a bad thing. Why? Looking at the state of America these past few years, it's an extremely good idea. Besides, by offering hope Obama is the first presidential candidate millions of Afro-Americans, Hispanics and young people have connected with enough to go out and vote for. Afro-Americans and Hispanics will outnumber white Americans before very long. Obama saw this demographic change in the wind; his opponents did not.
ReplyDeleteYes, reel liff and events will change everything again and then again. But we know that and so does Obama, and anyway it's no reason at all to sit there and whinge. A high point of the night was McCain's gracious and civil concession speech. Really, nothing phases this guy. The low point was hearing that a grim-faced, collapso old political grinder - Gordo Broon - was eager to attach himself to Obama's coat-tails.
i distrust Obama. He says he will 'change the world'. Ye Gods, haven't we had enough of politicians doing that? - can't they just say 'look, i'll try not to mess things up any worse than they already are'?
ReplyDeleteStill, it is good that a non-white can become President, i say this as a half-Indian who also dislikes PC caucasian-bashing - if Obama can manage to be no worse than GWB, just being President will be an important symbol. He really needs to dedicate himself to doing as little as possible and to avoid making things any worse than they already are. His grand plans about change will, i predict, lead only to charred ruins, cannibalism, and gout.
If you're right about him being like Blair in 1997, and I think you are, then I can see myself following the same path with him as I did with TB. When elected and everyone thought he was the new Messiah, I thought he was the new Lord Protector of the Republic of Sanctimonia. Flash forward a few years to when his erstwhile worshippers had realised that he wasn't bringing heaven on earth and therefore now despised him, I at last thought there was something good to the man.
ReplyDeleteSo clearly it's going to be "Go" Obama for 2016 for me. Oh hell, they only get two terms, don't they?
It's started already, Barack is promising all, so did Blair, we got f--k all. I must be among the minority, having always thought that Blair was rubbish.
ReplyDeleteAt least both Barack and McCain made excellent speeches, unlike our mumbling bumblers.
The jury's still out.
You, Malty, a skeptic? Whatever next?
ReplyDeleteMalty, i suspect a lifetime of doing real jobs, producing real physical objects, has given you unusual, grouchy wisdom in an age of bright-eyed foolishness.
ReplyDeleteHey, good to see something so close to my own view so soon after a long night. Didn't know about the Quantum Solace, I mean Flux, moniker. But I've always been taken by Milton Friedman's last interview, on the laughable 'end of history':
ReplyDeleteGardels: In the end, your ideas have triumphed over Marx and Keynes. Is this, then, the end of the road for economic thought? Is there anything more to say than free markets are the most efficient way to organize a society? Is it the "end of history," as Francis Fukuyama put it?
Friedman: Oh no. "Free markets" is a very general term. There are all sorts of problems that will emerge. Free markets work best when the transaction between two individuals affects only those individuals. But that isn't the fact. The fact is that, most often, a transaction between you and me affects a third party. That is the source of all problems for government. That is the source of all pollution problems, of the inequality problem. This reality ensures that the end of history will never come.
You cynics are missing the point. Obama is the change. It's about image, and Americas image in the world just got a whole lot more positive. The American national identity just changed permanently as well - no longer will "American" mean "White" unless it's qualified with "Afro-". This kind of thing is intangible, but undeniable.
ReplyDeleteMake of this what you will: I didn't stay up all night to watch the results coming in as I needed to sleep. I dreamed that Mrs Obama came to stay and brought with her a large, house-trained rabbit.
ReplyDeleteBest leave the gin alone sophie, how do you house train a rabbit, shout at it "don't pee there you long eared furry little creep"
ReplyDeleteGin followed by too much pinot noir, to be precise, Malty. And I don't know anything about rabbits, except that they make rather dull eating.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy today, though I have right-wing relatives who are miserable. Tough noogies. In a country with slavery in its past and ongoing racism in its present, this is a BIG change. Obama is indeed the change. And his policies have substance, too. Furthermore, I won't be terrified if some awful turn of events makes his v.p. president. Lord knows what it would have been like if Sarah Palin ("is that the right button?") were to take the helm. Then I *would* be moving to another country!
ReplyDeleteAfter posting a comment to the post below that this comments section was reported MIA whenever I tried to access it, I gave it one last try and here I am! LOL!
ReplyDeleteI was so looking forward to reading Selena's apology today but I see she can't deal with the reality. Or was it Maxine who said Americans were racist and would never ever vote for black man for President? It must be hard for her to deal with the fact that Barack Obama has just received more votes than any other candidate in American history.
Unlike Susan, I derive no comfort in the idea that Joe Biden is but a heartbeat away from the presidency. It is a frightening thought.
ReplyDeletePlease, Susan, elaborate on the substance of O's policies. I must have missed that. That said, good luck to the fellow.
ReplyDeleteAnd I don't know anything about rabbits, except that they make rather dull eating.
ReplyDeleteWell, Sophie, they tend to be quite reserved and even standoffish, but once you have earned their trust, you have a friend for life.
Actually, Sophie, done right, "lapin a la moutarde" is quite a tasty dish. When I lived in Dijon back in the day, it was served to me with regularity. Nor did I know what the heck I was eating until about the third meal -- hereabouts, in the U.S., no one eats rabbit.
ReplyDeleteNot even Elmer Thud, susan?
ReplyDeleteMost of my American blogging friends are bone-deep Republicans, so they'll be hurting this morning.
ReplyDeleteBeing American (definitely) and one of your blogging friends (hopefully), I am a conservative, not a bone-deep Republican.
That said, I am not hurting particularly this morning. In part for want of sufficient drinking last night, in another part for having presumed this outcome.
But, in most part, because I think having a MGA (Melanin Gifted American -- my new term that I try to use in a complete sentence at least once a day) elected president is bound to have beneficial knock-on effects.
And, because I think Pres elect Obama is primarily a pragmatic politician. (BTW, see the NYT article from yesterdayish that started rehabilitating Guantanamo.)
Interestingly, The Who called this over 35 years ago.
He can't catch that wascally wabbit, Malty, dontcha remember?
ReplyDeleteOh right, I see now. Obama has never done anything, so he probably won't do anything. I was thinking of his do-nothingness as a bad thing before. It's if he does anything, that will be bad. Right. Also, today I am realizing why he is the candidate of hope--because after his election, that's all we have now. Got it.
ReplyDeleteYours,
Rus