Election Results

[movieman]

That's a lot said, however... Obama must now quit his BS and get busy. His jibber jabber was just about how McCain would have been a bad president.

Well, exactly. Neither of the candidates appeared to have any real clue about what they would do if they were elected, just that they'd do it better than the other guy would.

When America is facing some of its toughest problems in decades, Americans were offered the choice between two people who apparently cared about little more than getting elected. If you were to go out across America looking for the best possible candidates for President, those two would be unlikely to even reach the top million on the list.

Goodbye to the Constellation program, I can see that most here are just Orbiter fans, not space fans.

Constellation is a poorly thought out program with big problems and minimal opportunities for expansion; they can barely even get a capsule into orbit, so the odds of getting anything to the Moon are slim and if they then decide they want larger payloads there's little chance of improving on the current performance.

If Obama actually scrapped it and sent NASA back to the drawing board, that would be a big win for 'space fans'. Unfortunately he's probably just going to let the same flawed program bumble along with even less funding.

 

[Hielor]

My browser on my linux machines opens to the BBC RSS feed by default, and I've been too lazy to change it--plus it's nice to see a different view of things sometimes.

I noticed today that there were several (at least 6) items on the news feed which were "<region> congratulates Obama on victory" or some variation thereof. The regions were widely varied, from Asia to Europe to South America to a blurb about Kenya declaring a public holiday.

Since this is the first election I've been old enough to really pay attention to (well, not really, but first i could vote for anyway) I don't really have any basis of comparison--is this sort of reaction from the rest of the world typical? Or is this a special case for some reason?

 

[Andy44]

Well, I see we've chosen the smoother-talking of the two criminals, as expected. No surprise, here.

@ movieman: we occasionally have better candidates run for president here, but they usually have something called "original ideas" and "integrity", and they don't fit in with the orthodox crowd, so they get ignored by the press, labeled kooks, and quickly kicked to the curb.

Instead, we get smooth-talking BS artists or bellicose flag-waving asses, followed by 4 years of disappointment and bad legislation, during which each wing of the Republicrat Party blames the other. Meanwhile, government grows....

I can't wait to see what excuses the Annointed One will offer when he decides to break his promise and leave troops in Iraq indefinitely, like we did in Germany and Japan 63 years ago.

So celebrate, all, bask in the happy glow while it lasts.

 

[Star explorer]

i hope obama doesent get relected in 4 years

 

[Andy44]

Whether he gets re-elected or not depends on who the Stupid Party picks as a nominee. If it's another weakling like McCain or Bob Dole, Obama has it in the bag. All he has to do is play the Bill Clinton-style smooth-talker game and he's got it made in the shade.

I am happy that Americans seem to have goten over the "scare you with the terrorists" BS the Repubs were shoving down their throats for the last 8 years, though. Unfortunately, the destructive mechanisms put in place during the BUsh years will not go away. Obama is not going to just stop the war(s), he is not going to stop tapping your phones or spying on your internet activity, he is not going to give up the new executive powers to incarcerate people without accusing them of a crime or giving them a court hearing, or to declare martial law whenever he feels like it.

It's that power that makes the office of president so scary, and which draws control freaks to it. Unlike Greg, I have little respect for it. I can only hope that not much damage will be done. Maybe I will be surprised, who knows.

 

[joeybigO]

Wow someone sounds angry.

 

[Physicist]

[I don't support the criticism of the previous posts]


First of all, He is my president elect and I will support him the best that I can. After listening to McCain's regression statement, it made me feel better about Obama and what changes he upholds. I am elated that all the negative ads are no longer aired and I have never fallen for such things before. Parties have their on ideals, and that is what I based my opinion on.

I've also noticed there are a few individuals here that aren't from the US and have actually grown somewhat envious. Perhaps this is what was needed all along, the change in direction. I have an open mind and will continue to follow along that path.

(By they way, Greetings Orbiter... I've been lurking for a long time, just thought it was time to say something useful.)

 

[Andy44]

First of all, He is my president elect and I will support him the best that I can.

(By they way, Greetings Orbiter... I've been lurking for a long time, just thought it was time to say something useful.)

Well, since you're a new guy, I'll be nice...

 

[Hielor]

Well, since you're a new guy, I'll be nice...

You know, no one is forcing you to live in the US.

 

[tl8]

Come on guys!

 

[eveningsky339]

I'd like to meet some of the people who elected a man who wants to reduce military spending in a time of international tension and security threats.

At least now Americans have the opportunity to learn what many other governments have learned in the past: socialism doesn't work. Only in a perfect world, I'm afraid.

 

[willy88]

At least now Americans have the opportunity to learn what many other governments have learned in the past: socialism doesn't work. Only in a perfect world, I'm afraid.

Sorry, but [citation needed].

 

[Hielor]

I'd like to meet some of the people who elected a man who wants to reduce military spending in a time of international tension and security threats.

Considering the rather large margin of victory, it would seem that all you have to do is look around and you'll find them.

At least now Americans have the opportunity to learn what many other governments have learned in the past: socialism doesn't work. Only in a perfect world, I'm afraid.

Obama isn't going to turn the US into a socialist country...to say so is blatant and intentional hyperbole.

 

[eveningsky339]

Considering the rather large margin of victory, it would seem that all you have to do is look around and you'll find them.

Reducing troop levels in this post 9/11 world is never a good idea, no matter how high the margin of victory.

The biggest problem we've run into is using troops poorly. Take, for example, those "weapons of mass destruction" which were apparently dropped into Iraq by the tooth fairy. That meaningless war costs us trillions of dollars while the Taliban recovered from our initial attacks.

Obama isn't going to turn the US into a socialist country...to say so is blatant and intentional hyperbole.

Certainly not in four years, but he has made comments about redistributing the wealth and he wants to centralize the government into what will become a sort of welfare state.

Most people throw the word "socialism" around as if it is a curse word, but I do think that socialism could work in the proper environment. America is not geared towards socialism and was founded on capitalist principles.

Sorry, but [citation needed].

In Soviet Russia, citation needs you!

 

[Thunder Chicken]

Most people throw the word "socialism" around as if it is a curse word, but I do think that socialism could work in the proper environment. America is not geared towards socialism and was founded on capitalist principles.

The U.S. survived the Depression and 4 terms of FDR's New Deal without tipping to the Dark Side (*gasp*, socialism!). When the tide came back in after during and after WWII, capitalism was back as strong as ever.

Pure capitalism or pure socialism won't ever work long term - whether a stable balance between the two can be struck in any society is a question, but certainly sometimes a lean toward one or the other is warranted. There are certainly times (e.g. the Depression) when capitalism is stuck in the mud and needs to call a tow truck (government-led recovery & stimulus).

 

[Andy44]

You know, no one is forcing you to live in the US.

Spoken like a true Republican. That didn't take long!

 

[joeybigO]

No one will truly be happy either way. The happiness would be a dictatorship with no vote for some, others would argue about Democracy.

What will change???

Go back to a president that was almost as popular as Regan. "ask not what your country can do for you, but what can you do for your country.".

What has anyone done other than vote? Well that and taxes.

Most here are just disgruntled because Bush was a bad president.

I really can't let loose and say what I really want to say but. Oh well.

 

[Missioncmdr]

I am not going to weigh in on my opinion on this, but I think there is one thing everyone should remember when dealing with a subject like this:

Rule #1 of Life: Life is not fair. Life sucks. GET OVER IT.

 

[Andy44]

What has anyone done other than vote? Well that and taxes.

There are other ways of being active besides voting. Voting, actually, is probably the least effective form of activism. At the local level, especially, a handfull of activists and a little bit of time make a big difference. It's tougher at the federal level, of course, because it's hard to scale up, but there are ways.

 

[Hielor]

Spoken like a true Republican. That didn't take long!

You are complaining that a democrat has won the presidency. I'm telling you that if your issues with that are as severe as you make them sound, you have the option to remove yourself from the country.

How does that make me a republican, when you're the one complaining about democrats?