Obama - First Black President

[Charismatic]

I do your job and I don't make a quarter of that.

You're just not working hard enough.

[Kyreth]

I agree with Churchill that the Republican party is going to have to reform its policies if it wishes to stay competitive with Democrats. Based on the voting pattern differences with age, it would seem that the Republican's grasp is just going to continually slip until there is nothing left. In fact, it's similar to the Communist (Soviet) party in Russia which has continued to slip due to the elderly groups slowly disappearing (As opposed to just a sudden drop in votes after the fall of the Soviet Union). Now of course the Russian Communist and US Republican party are not the same in terms of ideology, but the voting trends are similar (Though more extreme in the Russian case).

Very simply, the Republicans need to stop acting like Gingrich and resume acting like Reagan. An actual compassionate conservative, as opposed to mouthing the words and abusing the job like W has. Iraq isn't going to be Vietnam, but a lot of Americans are going to equate Republican with "recession" and "quagmire" for years to come thanks to current events.

Of course, if the Democrats proceed to try and abuse their position, things will swing back in Congress faster than you can say "Clinton-era legislative branch". You can bet the RNC will be working overtime for the next two years setting up races to try and erode that majority, if not overtake it.

[Day]

I wonder if they will get paid enough for all that overtime?

[Dolmen]

If you're making 250k a year, you're not middle class anywhere, period. People who think that are simply out of touch.

Ummm... $250,000/year in my area is middle class. This is going off that average household idea of two parents, two kids, and two cars (which are a necessity here). Between mortgage payments, personal property tax (which our idiot governor is going to repeal the relief of), real estate taxes, gas, food, and other necessities, you really don't have much left over. Thank goodness for Virginia 529 plans, otherwise it would be an insane pain in the ass to save for those kids' college education.

[Maxxthepenguin]

Maxx, you seem like you're searching out conservative blogs. Why would you do such a thing?

I've been reading wackos on all sides of the aisles. The conservative ones are the laughable ones though, so those are what I post.

[Correction]

Ummm... $250,000/year in my area is middle class. This is going off that average household idea of two parents, two kids, and two cars (which are a necessity here). Between mortgage payments, personal property tax (which our idiot governor is going to repeal the relief of), real estate taxes, gas, food, and other necessities, you really don't have much left over. Thank goodness for Virginia 529 plans, otherwise it would be an insane pain in the ass to save for those kids' college education.

In my area families earn much much less than that with two kid/two car households paying down a mortgage. Yes 'middle class' is relative to your purchasing power, but when you live in a neighborhood where a quarter of a mil is 'typical' you don't really live amongst the middle class of America.

[Kyreth]

100 points on the dow isn't that much, specially in the morning.. theres trade all day.

Dropped almost 500 today, but it's not on who got elected. That was the 300 point or so jump yesterday- general optimism. Remember, Bush is still in office, the economy in the toilet, and Wall Street's not looking ahead to Obama, they have to deal with the now.

[Dimmauk]

Ummm... $250,000/year in my area is middle class. This is going off that average household idea of two parents, two kids, and two cars (which are a necessity here). Between mortgage payments, personal property tax (which our idiot governor is going to repeal the relief of), real estate taxes, gas, food, and other necessities, you really don't have much left over. Thank goodness for Virginia 529 plans, otherwise it would be an insane pain in the ass to save for those kids' college education.

What kinda of cars?

[Darus Grey]

Ummm... $250,000/year in my area is middle class. This is going off that average household idea of two parents, two kids, and two cars (which are a necessity here). Between mortgage payments, personal property tax (which our idiot governor is going to repeal the relief of), real estate taxes, gas, food, and other necessities, you really don't have much left over. Thank goodness for Virginia 529 plans, otherwise it would be an insane pain in the ass to save for those kids' college education.

If $250,000 a year is middle class it means you life in a home valued at 1.875million dollars, drive at least two 100,000 luxury cars and *still* have $150,000 a year left over to pay for food/entertainment/kids.

[Delekii]

Ummm... $250,000/year in my area is middle class. This is going off that average household idea of two parents, two kids, and two cars (which are a necessity here). Between mortgage payments, personal property tax (which our idiot governor is going to repeal the relief of), real estate taxes, gas, food, and other necessities, you really don't have much left over. Thank goodness for Virginia 529 plans, otherwise it would be an insane pain in the ass to save for those kids' college education.

Relativity. Middle class in your area would be upper class in almost anywhere else.

[Beckwin]

Reagan wasn't compassionate, he was charismatic. Policy-wise though, the GOPs problem is they're still hinged on Reagan with the War on Terror replacing the War on Communism.

[aurik]

Assuming that each of your parents earn equally, they're both being paid a $125k/yr salary.

Earning 6 figures is not middle class. I don't care where you live.

[Tristam]

Ummm... $250,000/year in my area is middle class. This is going off that average household idea of two parents, two kids, and two cars (which are a necessity here). Between mortgage payments, personal property tax (which our idiot governor is going to repeal the relief of), real estate taxes, gas, food, and other necessities, you really don't have much left over. Thank goodness for Virginia 529 plans, otherwise it would be an insane pain in the ass to save for those kids' college education.

So if I'm a millionaire hanging out with billionaires then I'm poor?

Also the median family income in Ashburn VA is 103k/yr, so even by the upper class scales of your neighbors, 250k/year is over double what most families make.

There's something odd about how everyone likes to think of themselves as middle class.

[Kyreth]

I really don't think any Republican would have won this election. McCain is a better Republican candidate for President than their past nominees. Although, yes, the addition of Palin to the ticket didn't really help his chances of winning, but McCain himself doesn't deserve a whole lot of ridicule, especially after his speech last night.

To be honest, if McCain had won vs. Bush back in 2000/4 or so, the country would be in a much better place and the neocons wouldn't be foaming at the mouth right now. In fact, the country might well STILL be Republican at this point.

Instead, they put an incompetent idiot up for the highest office in the land, polished that turd till it shone brighter than the subprime mortgage schemes, and sold it hard to the people, then sold it harder on the back of a "fear and terror" package 4 years later, and used him to push an agenda that polarized the American people into "red" and "blue" and turned Bush I/Clinton recoveries into epic fail.

If the Democrats repeat it along their own lines, the nation is collectively fucked as it'll be the next century till we look at our neighbors as either marching in lockstep or "Unamericans"...as we really do need everyone pulling together, harder than ever thanks to the downward drift we've taken since 2000.

[Dimmauk]

Obama victory sparks cheers around the globe


By JOHN LEICESTER, Associated Press Writer John Leicester, Associated Press Writer – Wed Nov 5, 1:37 pm ET

PARIS – Barack Obama's election as America's first black president unleashed a renewed love for the United States after years of dwindling goodwill, and many said Wednesday that U.S. voters had blazed a trail that minorities elsewhere could follow.

People across Africa stayed up all night or woke before dawn to watch U.S. history being made, while the president of Kenya — where Obama's father was born — declared a public holiday.

In Indonesia, where Obama lived as child, hundreds of students at his former elementary school erupted in cheers when he was declared winner and poured into the courtyard where they hugged each other, danced in the rain and chanted "Obama! Obama!"

"Your victory has demonstrated that no person anywhere in the world should not dare to dream of wanting to change the world for a better place," South Africa's first black president, Nelson Mandela, said in a letter of congratulations to Obama.

Many expressed amazement and satisfaction that the United States could overcome centuries of racial strife and elect an African-American as president.

"This is the fall of the Berlin Wall times ten," Rama Yade, France's black junior minister for human rights, told French radio. "America is rebecoming a New World.

"On this morning, we all want to be American so we can take a bite of this dream unfolding before our eyes," she said.

In Britain, The Sun newspaper borrowed from Neil Armstrong's 1969 moon landing in describing Obama's election as "one giant leap for mankind."

Yet celebrations were often tempered by sobering concerns that Obama faces global challenges as momentous as the hopes his campaign inspired — wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the nuclear ambitions of Iran, the elusive hunt for peace in the Middle East and a global economy in turmoil.

The huge weight of responsibilities on Obama's shoulders was also a concern for some. French former Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said Obama's biggest challenge would be managing a punishing agenda of various crises in the United States and the world. "He will need to fight on every front," he said.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said he hoped the incoming administration will take steps to improve badly damaged U.S. ties with Russia. Tensions have been driven to a post-Cold War high by Moscow's war with U.S. ally Georgia.

"I stress that we have no problem with the American people, no inborn anti-Americanism. And we hope that our partners, the U.S. administration, will make a choice in favor of full-fledged relations with Russia," Medvedev said.

Europe, where Obama is overwhelmingly popular, is one region that looked eagerly to an Obama administration for a revival in warm relations after the Bush government's chilly rift with the continent over the Iraq war.

"At a time when we have to confront immense challenges together, your election raises great hopes in France, in Europe and in the rest of the world," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in a congratulations letter to Obama.

Poland's Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski spoke of "a new America with a new credit of trust in the world."

Skepticism, however, was high in the Muslim world. The Bush administration alienated those in the Middle East by mistreating prisoners at its detention center for terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and inmates at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison — human rights violations also condemned worldwide.

Some Iraqis, who have suffered through five years of a war ignited by the United States and its allies, said they would believe positive change when they saw it.

"Obama's victory will do nothing for the Iraqi issue nor for the Palestinian issue," said Muneer Jamal, a Baghdad resident. "I think all the promises Obama made during the campaign will remain mere promises."

In Pakistan, a country vital to the U.S.-led war on the al-Qaida terrorist network and neighbor to Afghanistan, many hoped Obama would bring some respite from rising militant violence that many blame on Bush.

Still, Mohammed Arshad, a 28-year-old schoolteacher in the capital, Islamabad, doubted Obama's ability to change U.S. foreign policy dramatically.

"It is true that Bush gave America a very bad name. He has become a symbol of hate. But I don't think the change of face will suddenly make any big difference," he said.

Obama's victory was greeted with cheers across Latin America, a region that has shifted sharply to the left during the Bush years. From Mexico to Chile, leaders expressed hope for warmer relations based on mutual respect — a quality many felt has been missing from U.S. foreign policy.

Venezuela and Bolivia, which booted out the U.S. ambassadors after accusing the Bush administration of meddling in their internal politics, said they were ready to reestablish diplomatic relations, and Brazil's president was among several leaders urging Obama to be more flexible toward Cuba.

On the streets of Rio de Janeiro, people expressed a mixture of joy, disbelief, and hope for the future.

"It's the beginning of a different era," police officer Emmanuel Miranda said. "The United States is a country to dream about, and for us black Brazilians, it is even easier to do so now."

Many around the world found Obama's international roots — his father was Kenyan, and he lived four years in Indonesia as a child — compelling and attractive.

"What an inspiration. He is the first truly global U.S. president the world has ever had," said Pracha Kanjananont, a 29-year-old Thai sitting at a Starbuck's in Bangkok. "He had an Asian childhood, African parentage and has a Middle Eastern name. He is a truly global president."

[Charismatic]

Reagan wasn't compassionate, he was charismatic.

NO

[Ishido]

NO

I chuckled.

[Tristam]

"This is the fall of the Berlin Wall times ten," Rama Yade, France's black junior minister for human rights, told French radio. "America is rebecoming a New World.

"On this morning, we all want to be American so we can take a bite of this dream unfolding before our eyes," she said.

In Britain, The Sun newspaper borrowed from Neil Armstrong's 1969 moon landing in describing Obama's election as "one giant leap for mankind."

No pressure buddy!

But it is good to see that our collective standing in the world got bumped a notch.

[Correction]

I chuckled.

Quick, get a mod to change his title to 'Ronald Reagan'

[Lordwafik]

Gotta love how in that article, the whole world is in celebration and looking forward to the future, including 2 nations that kicked their US ambassador, except the muslim world who once again clings to yesterday and remains living in the past.

I really hope that the people in that world can find the light in this era so they can let shit go and look towards the future.