The "how I will be watching the election results" thread

[scottdisco]

John McCain is a bigger person than some of his supporters.

very obvious point. yes.

but still worth noting as we sit watching him speak.

 

[craner]

But I will be watching carefully.

 

[luka]

bit wooden but very gracious

and yes of course it was that drooling idiot padrag

 

[luka]

and boom noise liek i said before no one expects him to be a great president. its not about that.... its a sign from god!
the age of aquarius has come
reality is rewritten
everything is up for grabs.

 

[optimum]

JOHN McCLANE JOHN McCLANE JOHN McCLANE JOHN McCLANE!!!

 

[craner]

I certainly second what Scottie said. Those mental ameobas are booing a fine concession speech. What scum.

 

[dubble-u-c]

where the hell is the cynicism?

this blanket frenzy, this multimillion dollar campaign, which is for the most part just mass marketing: where is the politics? where is the policy?

best option politics / personality politics it's just pure guff here.

this man isn't a saviour he is just better choice.

this will be a very short honeymoon

nothing to do with obama especially

but he's just another president

you have not lived in the US for the past 8 years. We do not need any more cynicism here. It has been a very dark and oppressive time in the US.

Obama's million dollar campaign was funded by donations of 50 to 100 or dollars from the common people of the US. he represents a substantial change from the past 8 years in terms of social policy and the in the way he deals with the other nations of the world.

 

[boomnoise]

you have not lived in the US for the past 8 years. We do not need any more cynicism here. It has been a very dark and oppressive time in the US.

Obama's million dollar campaign was funded by donations of 50 to 100 or dollars from the common people of the US.

i know, i'm just being cynical of all the promised change where politicians invariably offer vary little they promise.

it is momentus and historical but i'm just going to see what the change actually is going to be. other than the obvious of course.

 

[craner]

Being spun as them booing Obama. No, the Reps were booing McCain. This is obvious.

 

[scottdisco]

i don't think people on the board are naive boomnoise.

to paraphrase Nick Cohen (i do so advisedly; i know he is a very divisive figure), i am sure for any Americans it is the 'inch of difference' thing, on taxes, Employee Free Choice Act, etc.

out and out Obama fans, fair play.
his running mate's not a tool, which is more than can be said for McCain.

 

[craner]

No, his running mate is a total tool, you're wrong on that score Scottie. Just you wait!

 

[dubble-u-c]

i know, i'm just being cynical of all the promised change where politicians invariably offer vary little they promise.

it is momentus and historical but i'm just going to see what the change actually is going to be. other than the obvious of course.

I know the feeling boom. I have some hope now though now - so I am going to run with that for a while. I have been cynical about politics for a long time and i am giving it one more chance.

 

[craner]

Anyway, locked off, for a few hours.

 

[scottdisco]

boomnoise:

"it is momentus and historical but i'm just going to see what the change actually is going to be. other than the obvious of course."

fair enough, for sure, deffo

 

[scottdisco]

a foot-in-mouth-tool? like a Dem version of, ooh, Meacher..

 

[scottdisco]

i was kinda expecting Evan Bayh at the time, i admit..

 

[boomnoise]

i don't think people on the board are naive boomnoise.

to paraphrase Nick Cohen (i do so advisedly; i know he is a very divisive figure), i am sure for any Americans it is the 'inch of difference' thing, on taxes, Employee Free Choice Act, etc.

out and out Obama fans, fair play.
his running mate's not a tool, which is more than can be said for McCain.

oh, i'm not directing anything at this board particularly, more my internal thoughts right now having followed tonight closely and thoughts post IM convo with a couple of very passionate US friends via IM.

excuse my thinking aloud, slightly inebriated and pondering the success of the mobilization vs the rabble rousing new dawn politics.

 

[scottdisco]

BTW i'm deferring to Ollie on Biden but i must retract my Meacher analogy, that is frankly unfair on Biden..

 

[scottdisco]

oh yeah sorry boomnoise i guess i realised that, my own response could probably have been a bit more cautious. a lot of US friends i have are, shall we say, rather enthused too.. ...i think i know the feeling.

on the plus side Gore Vidal is excellent value

 

[zhao]

YAY!

(but the above would be in an even bigger size if i didn't harbor some of the same doubts as boom-noise)

you have not lived in the US for the past 8 years. We do not need any more cynicism here. It has been a very dark and oppressive time in the US.

i know, i'm just being cynical of all the promised change where politicians invariably offer vary little they promise.

this has played out multiple times with me and friends... me as boomnoise. while i can see how many feel that "now (pre-results) was just not the time for cynicism, because to talk about the 2 parties being the same thing, one man can't do much, or anything along those lines is just 'shitting on people's hope'"; at the same time i do think keeping at least a few toes on the ground is probably a good idea.

and about being cynical, how about now, is now (post results) an OK time?

what did Gore Vidal say about it? always great to hear the man speak. all i found were pre-election stuff:

Does he (Vidal) think Obama can beat John McCain?

His views on the man the Democratic candidate will have to beat are even more brutal than his views on Hillary: “ You could beat McCain! I’ve never met anyone in America who has the slightest respect for him. He went to a private school and came bottom of his class. He smashed up his aeroplane and became a prisoner of war, which he is trying to parlay into ‘war hero’.”

In his view, McCain is “a goddamned fool. He was on television talking about mortgages, and it was quite clear he does not know what a mortgage is. His head rattles as he walks”.

However, in Vidal’s eyes, McCain is just a symptom of the real malaise affecting America today: the cynical subversion of the US constitution. “The Bush people”, he says, “have virtually got rid of Magna Carta and habeas corpus. In a normal republic I would probably have raised an army and overthrown them. D i love this man - zhao) It will take a hundred years to put it all back.”

By now he has worked himself up to a crisp fury: “Those neocons, lawyers, the big corporations – worse than that, extremists – want to get rid of the great power of oversight of the executive. See what they’ll try to do to Obama. They’re crooks. They’re just gangsters. They are the enemy of the United States. There’s no such thing as a war on terrorism. It’s idiotic. There are slogans. It’s advertising, which is the only art form we’ve invented and developed. It’s lies. (love love love)”

and his letter to Obama:

DO NOT CONCEDE!
Both of the last two elections were conceded by the Democratic presidential candidate. The 2004 election was handed to George Bush while votes were still being counted in closely-fought Ohio. While the 2000 election was contested to the Supreme Court, it too
was ultimately conceded to Bush “for the good of the country.”

Some good.

Numerous politicians, investigators and authors, including Robert Kennedy, Jr., agree the 2004 election was stolen, not only in Ohio but in several other battleground states. Tactics included purging of legitimate voters and the use of nefarious voting software--but when even these actions did not yield the required numbers, Republican election officials simply changed the vote tallies in several states, all without a peep from the Democratic Party.

DO NOT CONCEDE!
In the time since the last general election the public has learned much about these scandals, which have led some states to reject electronic touchscreen voting (and which caused the infamous Diebold voting machines corporation to hide behind a new corporate
name,) yet the Democratic Party seems to have learned nothing.

THREE STRIKES AND WE'RE OUT!
If we cannot afford another Republican administration, we cannot afford a third concession in the face of election fraud. Already there is evidence of massive fraud such as voter purging and caging of Democratic voters, and “flipping” of votes in early voting on electronic touchscreen machines. It is reasonable to once again expect further manipulation on election night by some Republican operatives and election officials, as was seen in 2004; should we also expect our Democratic Party leaders and candidates to repeat history, by once again conceding in the face of such blatant fraud? Senator Obama, we need you, our Party and all candidates to stand firm, come what may on election night. You ask us to work for you, contribute to you--and to have your back; we ask that you promise to have our back: We ask that you PLEDGE TO STAND FIRM, AND NOT CONCEDE THE COMING ELECTION in the face of election irregularities, no matter how long it takes to contest such fraud, while there remains any doubt as to any part of the process. Be assured, Democratic voters will be more--not less--energized if we see you promise to stand firm.

Senator Obama, if there is any reason to contest the election,
DO NOT CONCEDE!