05 November 2008 by Published in: General musings 11 comments

Last night, I sat raptly glued to the television set from the time that the polls closed at 7:30 until after President-Elect Obama spoke last night. I’ve always enjoyed politics; I was, after all, a political science major. I’ve always enjoyed watching presidential election returns (but it was strange not seeing Tim Russert doing what he so obviously loved so much), but last night was an especially fascinating night.

Last night, history was made. Only 40 years after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, a black man was elected president of the United States. No less than his opponent, Sen. John McCain (whose concession speech was a paragon of class ad dignity, for which he deserves kudos and respect), recognized the historic nature of what had happened. “This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African Americans and the special pride that must be theirs tonight,” McCain said.

Perhaps with the election of Barack Obama, the last rifts of the Civil War can finally begin to heal. Or so I hope.

Godspeed, Barack Obama. And Godspeed to John McCain, a man of honor and character who knew how to lose with dignity.

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Comments

  1. Wed 05th Nov 2008 at 11:17 pm

    Hey Eric,

    Over the past three days I’ve been putting up posts encouraging folks to vote, nothing overtly political (okay, slightly covert).

    Then, last night I posted a cool photo of some Zulu Wars era Brit reenactors huzzahing – my slant was a “huzzah” for our new president-elect.

    What those simple and pretty non-partisan posts got me were a handful of angry, hateful comments from various “anonymous” readers (which I chose not to publish).

    I’m curious to see if you (or Kevin) will get flamed in a similar manner.

    Here’s to the future!

    Mannie

  2. G.E.
    Thu 06th Nov 2008 at 12:29 am

    Eric,
    I, too, was fascinated with what I saw last night and hoped that the final rifts of the Civil War are over. This is exactly what Duncan fought for!

    Mannie’s comments above ring true; I’ve been hearing really ugly stories of verbal assaults by disappointed Republicans on folks who voted for Obama. I’ve also heard of nasty racist rant going on. Disgusting and disappointing. Whatever happened to civil discourse?

    G.E.

  3. Thu 06th Nov 2008 at 1:18 am

    As a life-long representative of the right wing of the Republican party, I realized long ago that Mike Huckabee had no chance, and the winds of American politics were blowing toward the Democrats. Perhaps it’s a good thing; only time will tell. Despite my personal opposition to many of Mr. Obama’s social programs, I will indeed pray for him.

  4. Thu 06th Nov 2008 at 1:33 am

    I agree with you Eric. A historic day. We haven’t reached the mountain crest yet, but we are on our way to healing the divisions of the Civil War in America.

  5. Bill
    Thu 06th Nov 2008 at 10:33 am

    Civil discourse goes both ways. I would love to forward some of the comments I have received as a supporter of President Bush. There are radicals on both sides of the fence, please, let’s not tmake the mistake of painting one side with a wide brush.

    My best to the President-Elect.

  6. Thu 06th Nov 2008 at 8:11 pm

    I have to agree with Bill about civil discourse being a two-way street. I was hardly enamored with the McCain – Pailin ticket but even less so with Obama – Biden. Now, post election, I’ve been called a racist and a nazi simply because I exercised my right to vote and didn’t vote for Obama. Bottom line is that I think it’s a sad state of affairs that our choices boiled down to these two. I have too much respect for the Country and for the Office of the President not to wish the President-Elect well, but to all of his ardent supporters I’d offer the old words of wisdom: “Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it!”

  7. dan
    Thu 06th Nov 2008 at 11:21 pm

    Mike,
    > Now, post election, I’ve been called a racist and a nazi simply because I exercised my right to vote and didn’t vote for Obama

    Only now! ?

    I’ve been dealing with this lunacy for months. Welcome to the loyal opposition.
    -Dan

  8. Fri 07th Nov 2008 at 1:29 am

    Yes, well Sean Hannity said today he’s sure Democrats will just pass the blame to Bush over the course of the next several years if anything goes wrong under Obama. That’s funny Sean, you’ve been blaming Clinton for the past eight years every time something happened on Bush’s watch. That type of attitude, as much as anything, is why people have turned on the Republicans. The right has grown as unhinged as the left.

  9. Mark Peters
    Fri 07th Nov 2008 at 4:58 am

    Once the current euphoria over the momentous election subsides, I trust wise heads will prevail in Washington.

    Obama has already said that he disagrees with Petraeus over Iraq and Afghanistan. Obama has also suggested that an military incursion into a British Commonwealth member country is also an option under his leadership. Meanwhile, Barney Frank said that the USA will need to cut the military, within the next four years, by as much as 25%.

    I hope for the sake of world stability that Obama chooses wise advisors, and has the wisdom to follow their guidance.

  10. Fri 07th Nov 2008 at 9:54 am

    Re: Mark Peters comment,

    Frankly Pakistan is a problem, just as great or greater as Iran because the former actually has nukes in hand. Oh by the way, Bin Laden is probably there, too.

    With all due respect, Barney Frank is a loon and I hope Obama doesn’t listen to him. But time will tell. Today, however, there was more great news – 240,000 lost jobs and unemployment at 6.5%. Let’s see, Bush has been in the White House for 8 years and Republicans ran Congress for 6 of those 8 years. But today’s numbers are probably somehow Clinton’s fault, or maybe even Obama’s. 🙂

  11. Mark Peters
    Mon 10th Nov 2008 at 1:44 pm

    Eric J.

    In all selfishness, partisan political issues in the US are of little immediate concern to me. As a member of the ‘global community’, and a proud English national, I am however concerned with any event that could destabilise the world.

    A drastic reduction is US forces, invasion of Pakistan, or less than wholehearted support for Israel must all be seen as destabilising the world as we know it. In particular, even with all Pakistan’s faults, I’m sure that all Britons would take a very dim view of a US invasion.

    As for Barney Frank, he may be a loon, but he is a powerful member of the Congress and Chairman of the Financial Services Committee. That position demands that President-Elect Obama must consider his views, and his seniority obviously means that there are many who do not consider Barney a loon.

    As you write, only time will tell whether electing an inxperienced two year Senator was a wise move.

    Best wishes,

    Mark

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