Election Aftermath.
Several friends called me since the election to make sure that I hadn’t thrown myself in front of a speeding train. Let me say that, other than the frustration of losing internet access on election night (thank screw you, Comcast), and other than the dramatic spike in my alcohol consumption and a dramatic plummet of my happy quotient, I am fine coping.
I am still reeling from the election results, so my thoughts remain somewhat disjointed. But, here are a few snapshots of the kinds of things that are swirling around in my cruller at the moment:
Barack Obama
I believed during the campaign and I believe now that, as President, Mr. Obama, a lifelong leftist and class warfare artist, who has accomplished nothing other than winning elections and who has made no secret of his intentions to redistribute wealth, to gut the military, to increase the size and reach of the federal government and to tax the nation into prosperity, will be a disaster of major proportions to the Republic. The country has elected a man to serve as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, who, by virtue of his past associations, would not be granted a security clearance (as I previously have said) to mop the floors at CIA Headquarters. It is astounding to me.
As I sit here, I cannot think of a single position stated by Mr. Obama with which I agree. There must be one. Gotta be at least one. … Nope. It looks like I’ll have to get back to you on that.
The Press
Perhaps the saddest thing about this election is the death of anything resembling objective news reporting. The mainstream media was too busy slobbering all over The One to spend any time properly vetting him. There was no serious effort to learn about Obama’s activities while he attended Columbia or Harvard or while he served in the State Senate, or worked in his law practice. Someone applying for a middle management job in a corporation has to furnish precisely that type of information and yet the country has “hired†a president without any of it. Astonishing.
The press did manage to swing into rapid action and spring loose hoards of reporters to descend upon Wasilla to seek out dirt on Sarah Palin. In no time, they broke the blockbuster tanning bed story – that is when they weren’t engaged in grotesque speculation about who did and who did not pass through Governor Palin’s birth canal.
News organizations also showed their class and their investigative power when in twenty-four hours they essentially eviscerated a private citizen (with the help of Obama-supporting government workers), whose transgression was asking a question of The One, which caused The One to actually answer truthfully. Disgusting.
The Reality
The reality is that Barack Obama won the election and will be the country’s next President. Yes, I believe he won with the help of a fawning mainstream media, questionable voter registration tactics and boatloads of money, but win he did. Power will peacefully transfer, and that’s a wonderful thing. Is he my President? Yes he is, even though I agree with nothing he stands for. That’s the way it works.
So, like it or not, we are all in this together particularly if the nation’s security is threatened by today’s enemies, who don’t discriminate when it comes to their desire to kill Americans. It matters not to them whether you are rich, poor, middle-class, Christian, Jew, white, black, brown, yellow, red, Democrat or Republican. We pray that, in such circumstances, our President has the wisdom and courage to do what is right for all Americans.
I think you will be surprised by Barack Obama. He is an intelligent and pragmatic man who may very well prove to be one of our best presidents. Let’s be hopeful for the future, but watch him closely.
Comment by Kevin — November 6, 2008 @ 9:11 pm
Grab your firearms, 1861 has come back to haunt us.
Comment by dsgtbeer — November 6, 2008 @ 10:14 pm
Whew!! I kept checking and the longer you were silent the richer the fantasy of your being the first victim of the One’s new Stadt Polizei. I am also racking my brain to see if I can come up with a single policy of Obama’s I agree with. Nothing yet! Wait-I heard he’s sending me $500-don’t think I’ll spend it just yet.
Comment by Ernie Nilsen — November 6, 2008 @ 11:12 pm
There is nothing I can possibly add to this…I was beginning to worry a little myself, and truly, truly feel your pain. Second to 9/11, this is about the sickest reality I have ever had to grapple with.
Maybe one day, when our world is completely homogenized, when it is a crime to wave the American flag, and invoke the ideas of our Founding Fathers, people will finally realize, “Oops — we effed up.”
Maybe those members of the press, who came all over themselves in elevating this pus bucket to the office of the presidency, after he has instituted a state-controlled media, will look back on the choices they had made with a little bit of remorse. But I’m not holding my breath.
Comment by Erica — November 7, 2008 @ 1:03 am
That is very admirable of you to accept that fool as your president. I however, have not acceptd that fact and quite frankly, I’m not sure I will.
Comment by Mick — November 7, 2008 @ 2:04 am
Naaa, I am starting already with the same thing the left wing said about Bush..He ain’t my president! I have ordered me the bumper sticker that I will attach to the Red Ram soon..”DON’T BLAME ME I VOTED FOR MCCAIN”
But I will support him when I think he is right and I will slam him when I think he is wrong…and if he does what he says he is gonna do I will be doing a lot of slamming.
I am not a conservative…by definition conservative means no change or slow change…I want change…mostly in my pockets and under this sumbitch I don’t figure to have much of it.
Comment by GUYK — November 7, 2008 @ 9:13 am
I accept that he’s managed to get into office, of course.
But to be hopeful about what he’ll DO while there, well, it’s to hope for socialism — based on his own WELL-DOCUMENTED statements. So I can’t support him unless HE changes. Which maybe he will, now that he’s starting to see daily security briefings and economic briefings and other things not shared with the public.
I can’t support a man who, so very hypocritically, has THOROUGHLY enjoyed and used the BEST of the very American system he claims is so horribly broken and so badly in need of chaaaange. What a phony ass.
Comment by dogette — November 7, 2008 @ 9:18 am
I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again:
Tuesday’s election wasn’t an election at all, it was an IQ test, and America flunked it big time.
Also ..
On my own blog, I’ll be tallying the number of days our troops are still in Iraq, and the number of days “Club Gitmo” is still open. After all, according to the left, shouldn’t we care enough about the troops so much that we ought to bring them home immediately? Let’s use their own medicine on them.
Finally ..
I am absolutely shocked at the high number of idiotic voters in America. I never thought so many of my fellow Americans could be so effin’ stupid. I guess I was wrong. Tuesday proved that all too clearly.
I’m just sayin’
Comment by Braden — November 7, 2008 @ 9:47 am
To quote Ann Coulter: “For now, we have a new president-elect. In the spirit of reaching across the aisle, we owe it to the Democrats to show their president the exact same kind of respect and loyalty that they have shown our recent Republican president”.
My feelings exactly. Bah! I’m spending the next four years with Mr. Scotch
Comment by JerryK — November 7, 2008 @ 9:59 am
“The Press
Perhaps the saddest thing about this election is the death of anything resembling objective news reporting.”
Not sad at all Jim there has not been objective news reporting for a while.
One GOOD result of the Election is the Mainstream Media
has completely OUTED itself,
NO ONE (with more than one active grey cells) is going to take anything they say in the future without vetting it.
I heard an audio of Tom Brokaw talking about Obama yesterday he must have repeated the phrase
We don’t know 6 or 7 times.
My reaction was, here the H have you been the last 2 years?
Y’al keep telling us you are journalists so why didn’t you do your jobs???
Recounting what you don’t know about Obama the day after the election does not show a whole lot of competance in your profession.
Comment by Dan Kauffman — November 7, 2008 @ 10:12 am
I see you have as much love for Comcast as I do right now.
Comment by John — November 7, 2008 @ 11:43 am
The other part of this – even though McCain ran a lousy campaign and he was not a popular candidate within his own party – he didn’t lose by as much as one would think.
Sadly the Republicans have shot themselves in the foot once too often and this time they couldn’t recover. It remains to be seen if they can turn anything around in the party during the next 4 years.
Comment by Teresa — November 7, 2008 @ 11:54 am
We shall certainly see. But, as has been said already, I’m not holding my breath waiting for anything positive to happen.
Gotta go. Got a handbasket waiting at the curb.
Comment by Dan O — November 7, 2008 @ 1:32 pm
Cuba once voted for a young leader promising ‘Change’; look where they are now!
I hope our country survives,,,
Comment by Michele — November 7, 2008 @ 7:25 pm
Amen, Jimbo… Amen…
Comment by Mike R. — November 7, 2008 @ 11:03 pm