The Shrine

Barack won proving Tupac wrong on not seeing a black President in your lifetimes.

NOOOOOOOOOO! I hadn't TiVo'd it yet!

Seriously, I'm glad that the margin was this big. On the flip side, I'm disappointed in how the split landed. NBC was mentioning exit polls that said that 25% of the voters cited race as a factor, and 70% of those voted for McCain. So that means that 18% of the US population are admitted racists. That's a pretty high margin.

Not to mention the usual split between counties. Our state (KY) voted for McCain, and the only ones that voted for Obama where the bigger cities that, you know, actually saw and talk to black people on a daily basis. The same type of splits are there for gays as well. Uneducated and uncultured masses will vote for bigotry every fucking time. Hell, both California and Florida are passing anti-gay marriage amendments. California! WTF is wrong with you?

If more people were forced out of their bigoted attitudes and were forced to associate with more than the rest of their old white friends, we would solve so many problems with race, gays, and religious (or unreligious) freedom.

Wow, California surprises me. I always thought of them as one of the most open minded states.

Anyway, I was reading up on Obama's policies, and they seem much more mainstream than what the Bush regime was all about. This is a guy who will improve the US's image significantly throughout the world. Unfortunately, there are a lot of factors that would make me worry about his well-being as well. The race thing, and the fact that he's from the Senate.

Little bit of a misnomer here: Barack only won the popular vote by 3%, 51-48

http://www.torontosun.com/news/world/20 ... 03971.html

There has to be A LOT of pissed of people in Jesusland right now (although New Mexico and the state above it turned blue, same with Florida). I hope to hell there's no assassination attempt, it would really create a huge divide in the country

Also, two other things to note:

- Michelle Obama was AWESOME in her campaigning. She's well-spoken, articulate, and comes across as intelligent, genuine, and really a "regular" person. I think she did wonders for the campaign and is going to be extremely popular as the first lady. It almost seems in that relationship that although Barack is the head, she's definitely the neck :-)

- you gotta give it to McCain, that was easily the best conceding defeat speech I've ever heard. Went far beyond the standard fake "congrats to the other guy" tone of the others I've heard. I actually gained a bit of respect for him.

DC was insane last night after the official announcement around midnight. My Georgetown area had all sorts of people spilling out of the bars to celebrate in the streets. A coworker of mine went to the White House and said there were thousands of people with more funneling over in the area up until 3am.

Good times for the US.

SineSwiper wrote:NBC was mentioning exit polls that said that 25% of the voters cited race as a factor, and 70% of those voted for McCain. So that means that 18% of the US population are admitted racists. That's a pretty high margin.

This USA Today article says the opposite: http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/e ... over_N.htm

Obama not only won 95% of black voters but also 43% of whites — a bit better than John Kerry, a white Democrat, did among white voters in the 2004 presidential election. In surveys at polling places, nine of 10 voters said the race of the candidates wasn't important in their decision of whom to support.

SIGHTS AND SOUNDS: Obama's historic win

Among those who did consider race, Obama benefited. He won a majority of those who said it was an important factor.

What I find the most disturbing is how our elections have really become urban vs. rural. Virginia went Democrat for the first time since Johnson in '64. But if you look at the breakdown by county, it was all of the cities (including Richmond, which was the capital of the Confederacy), plus the sprawling mass of Northern Virginia where I'm from. And Montgomery County, where Blacksburg is, but we're dominated by a large university, so it's not like the surrounding area.

Believe me, the anti-gay marriage stuff is BULLSHIT. $20 Million came from the Mormon church to oppose gay marriage. The Supreme court will more than likely overturn this. Gay people had the right to marry yesterday, today they don't, you effectively just took away someones Civil rights. And yes, there are clear advantages to Marriage vs. Civil Unions, most notably in Hospital scenarios.

Hopefully they'll legalize polygamy soon as well.

Anarky wrote:Believe me, the anti-gay marriage stuff is BULLSHIT. $20 Million came from the Mormon church to oppose gay marriage. The Supreme court will more than likely overturn this. Gay people had the right to marry yesterday, today they don't, you effectively just took away someones Civil rights. And yes, there are clear advantages to Marriage vs. Civil Unions, most notably in Hospital scenarios.

This

it's good to know how our country has gotten over prejudices. I mean as long as you ain't queer or nothing....that shits just freaky....

I'm under the impression that the reason we can elect a black man is because there is smething scarier for the fundy whackjobs.....them queers are wantng rights..... Last night I was a proud American fr about 10 minutes. and then it was predicted that prop 8 would pass (And the even more agregious bull shit in ARK)....fucking country of bigts. suddenly I have friends who had dates sceduled who can't get married and others who were but not find themselves with the prospect of not.

Kupek wrote:

CCCCCOMBO BREAKER!!!

I'm happy to see that enough people knew better than to vote for another republican president, especially one who would be the oldest president by far, had a ditzy idiot of a running mate, and spent most of their time with fear tactics. I hate stupid ass twists on words, but McSame was pretty accurate as to what he'd be. That being said I doubt Obama will be the president he claimed he'd be, no president ever was, so I'm just hoping he doesn't fuck things up too badly.

I was also very shocked about all the gay marriage bans... but luckily Colorado struck down that vote to say that a person started at conception. We talked about all this at lunch, and when we got to the gay marriage bans one of my friends was like "They banned it? YES!" and I just looked at him in disbelief... never really pegged him for a huge bigot.

Do we really still have to wait 2 months to kick Still President Bush out?

I'm curious to see what Barack does. He's a good speaker but I'm much more concerned about action than I am words

Kupek wrote:

SineSwiper wrote:NBC was mentioning exit polls that said that 25% of the voters cited race as a factor, and 70% of those voted for McCain. So that means that 18% of the US population are admitted racists. That's a pretty high margin.

This USA Today article says the opposite: http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/e ... over_N.htm

God, those fucking assholes at NBC! I remember watching the numbers right there with whats-her-name (asian NBC chick) in this "hologram" green screen thing showing the poll figures, and those were the figures. Now, I try to look up the numbers, and a WSJ/NBC poll (which was probably the same one) has different numbers.

Kupek wrote:What I find the most disturbing is how our elections have really become urban vs. rural. Virginia went Democrat for the first time since Johnson in '64. But if you look at the breakdown by county, it was all of the cities (including Richmond, which was the capital of the Confederacy), plus the sprawling mass of Northern Virginia where I'm from. And Montgomery County, where Blacksburg is, but we're dominated by a large university, so it's not like the surrounding area.

Yeah, exactly what I was saying above. It makes absolutely no sense, because the Democrats are typically there to help the poor and middle classes that you'll find in rural areas.

It seems like the D vs R thing comes down to intelligence and cultural experience versus stupidity and easily tricked people. Sure, there are some class separations there, but the poor/middle class FAR outnumber the rich.

I watched it on the BBC and all I can say is that John Bolton is a retard.

Obama's Acceptance Speech (and also has links to McCain's speech). Both were really good.

EDIT: Some really good pictures here.

bovine wrote:I watched it on the BBC and all I can say is that John Bolton is a retard.

What did he do now? This? He sounds like a neocon, through and through, but he does make some good points. At least he's not afraid of admitting the failures in the Bush administration, but I have the feeling that he's the type that would blame everybody except himself.

Do you think Obama will make any statements like this one by a former US Senator/President?

“The very word ‘secrecy’ is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it… And there is very grave danger that an announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment… I am asking your help in the tremendous task of informing and alerting the American people. For I have complete confidence in the response and dedication of our citizens whenever they are fully informed.…the Athenian lawmaker Solon decreed it a crime for any citizen to shrink from controversy… we look for strength and assistance, confident that with your help man will be what he was born to be: free and independent.” – John F. Kennedy