I am simply relaxed and relieved and content to no end that we elected Obama last night. I thought McCain's concession speech was wonderful and deserves praise as the example for the future, in that he did attempt to bring people together toward a spirit of cooperation, not Gingrich/Limbaugh/Colter/Moore/Sharpton hate profiteering. That's the McCain people like - even if you disagree with him on something, progress is more important than party edge. Perhaps if his campaign wasn't managed by the vipers of red, he may have had more success.
I loved Obama's speech, in that it was sombre, straightforward, and realistic about mistakes being part of the improvement process toward real political change. I was moved a couple times during the speech, and seeing the raw emotions on TV of MLK's old church was fantastic. I did make my wife laugh pretty hard though - when they showed Jessie Jackson tearing up, we questioned the sincerity of the tears as not being as genuine as Oprah's, and I said, "Let's see you cut off his nuts now, Jessie", in reference to that quote of his from a while back when he was angry at Obama. Good times.
One other event last night horrified me, then settled into relief. I was mortified that Elizabeth Dole accused her opponent of being a godless evil person in her red attack ads. Turns out, the other candidate is a Sunday school teacher. I always knew the day would come when myth-believing Christians would attack non-believers just because it riles up the emotions-based myth believers, but actually seeing it unfold was still disturbing. It became relief when the election results and commentary showed it backfired. While an atheist, I generally do not *push* my beliefs on others, even if I engage in debate in such topics from time to time. I'll make comments like I just did on occasion on myth believers, but that's usually in reaction to an obnoxious xenophobic simpleton. Glad that worked out towards common sense. Shame on you Elizabeth Dole, and the moron(s) that decided the attacks were a good idea.
Obama's win is a great feeling, and I truly hope that Obama, over time can dismiss the fear-based rants on a certain station with cult-like followers simply by helping bring this country back to a better place. Fox, anyone? Perhaps a station name change to The Inflexible Egocentric Redneck Bitter News would be more appropriate.
Oh, happy day.......
3 comments:
Well stated. We will see how much of the campaign was rhetoric. There has been a lot of talk in the past and nothing changed. Obama has an uphill battle as he inherited a mess - both with the economy and two wars to deal with.
Palin was a bad choice. Period.
I didn't vote for O. Quite simply I don't like the thought of a huge government and I detest the thought of punishing the successful.
That doesn't mean I am against Obama as president. As any president, he has earned a position of respect (even though he had my respect to begin with) and I hope that he can stay true to all of the bold promises he made.
As far as the Dole crap. Yup. That was a terrible attack. Mainly because it makes those of us who do truly believe look like a laughing stock. I hate that people think me a simpleton because I have faith. A lot of times it hurts. The easiest thing anyone can do is to NOT have faith. But that is a totally different conversation. And I certainly agree, pushing an opinion or philosophy should not be tolerated. Anyone, atheist or "myth believers", need to lead by example, not by words.
Your blog is well stated Brian. I hope that Obama is more than words, but no matter how you slice it change will be painful.
I dont think that Obama played the race card at all, much to his credit. I think the MEDIA did, but FOX and MSNBC are not really news. They are opinion factories for the truly stupid and lazy who cant generate an original thought or opinion of their own.
Hey Wyatt, thanks for the comment. I do honestly enjoy people's points of view even if they differ slightly from my own.
We'll see about big government. I don't like the thought of that either, but certain regs are crucial. And for the record, I am not a Democrat. I consider myself a true Independent. I may lean a little left, but I have conservative views here and there. Among my friends, I can be a right-wing nutball, while among my wife's friends, I am a tree-hugging commie bastards. Can't win. 8)
As far as the religion thing goes, I am not backtracking when I say I do not consider all Christians simpletons. My wife is a serious Christian and I respect her and her beliefs as she does mine. Makes for intersting talks at times. When I use the pejorative related to Christianity, it's most likely a reaction to a loud xeonmorphic person, who insists they have the absolute truth and gets in your face about it. My entry was in reaction to that Dole thing that really makes me upset about groupthink attitudes. Most Christians I know are really cool people who do not push their views on me, and I do respect that.
Feel free to come back, and I hope my mini-rant on religion hasn't scared you off. Good to hear from you again.
I wasn't offended at all. I was speaking in general terms, I know you well enough to know that your intent was not to offend.
I consider myself the same, independent. There are some issues I lean to the right and others I lean to the left (gay rights and abortion to name two up front).
What happened in California was a travesty.
Bush was a clown-show about all of the financial deregulation. Didn't we learn that lesson back in 1929?
*sigh*
If we could only learn from the sins of our fathers we would be in much better shape.
Post a Comment