As my younger brother in Hawaii, Irish Mark, described the 2008 Presidential election outcome:
WOW!
So, there we are: Hope and joy have re-awakened in America overnight, it would seem.
Much of the rest of the world appears to agree. There have been so many well-written, constructive commentaries since yesterday's election, that it would be arrogant of me to attempt something comparable. Thomas Friedman says it beautifully in today's New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/05/opinion/05friedman.html?th&emc=th
I think all Americans can read Mr. Friedman's column with calm reassurance and
confidence. God-willing, the citizens of the United States of America have decided, collectively, to seek a wiser, more humane path to the future. The young people of America have been of immense influence in bringing about this wonderful outcome.
We Old Fellows must work and strive with them and all other participants in the unified re-building of America. We must fight age-discrimination and continully demonstrate that we can contribute. There can be no retirement from the effort to restore and improve America. We must persevere for our country as long as we breath.....
Thank you ..... So Long for now!
Nothing New…..just Pay, Pray and Obey!
10 years ago
3 comments:
I find myself with a feeling of detachment, or relief. I guess it’s like the end of a race, sort of anticlimactic. I expected Obama to win. I have not entered any sort of Pollyannaish state though. I don’t give a damn if the Europeans love us – they are fickle at any rate. But we will continue to provide for their defense so they can enjoy their paradise I suppose (At least until such time that mosques outnumber latte stands.) Who will defend US if we join that quasi-socialist nirvana of Democratic dreams is not something us old farts need to worry about. The youngsters that voted Obama into office on Tuesday will have deal with it when THEY grow up.
Grant Park was interesting. I haven’t seen so many weepy-eyed young women since the Beatles first appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. The expectations are enormous and I hope he will have the courage to stand up not only to foreign adversaries but to the demagogues of his own party and the special interest groups. If he is to succeed he will have to disappoint many who now `love’ him. In fact, he will have to accept being hated by some. That’s the way leadership works.
Last but not least. Obama’s race has been of no concern to me. I worry only about the fact of his slim experience and his far left leanings. But he is the first black American president ( I do not like the term African-American or any other hyphenated descriptions) I hope that we can now finally put race behind us. Let us finally understand that institutionalized racism no longer exists in America. Let us understand that the problems of the black inner cities are not caused by white racism. Let us do away with the politics of victimization. Let us not hear again from Al Sharpton, Jessie Jackson, Louis Farrakhan and their ilk.
Good luck Mr. President Obama.
I'm a youngish fart and am delighted that Obama won.
The GOP in its current incarnation is obsolete--except, perhaps, in some parts of the country that embrace isolationism and are entrenched on the wrong side of the Civil Rights Era.
Another good Friedman column:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/opinion/09friedman.html
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