Obama Wins!

[xavier]

A black Muslim, terrorist-loving, communist ?? (and rapist of babies but the McCain campaign didn't address this one since they regarded baby-raping as a deeply personal issue).
MAY GOD HAVE MERCY ON OUR SOULS!

BTW, hilarious stuff from Eric S. Raymond: (by http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=586)

The crackup I thought I was seeing in the Obama campaign didn’t happen. I underestimated the ability of the mainstream media to cover for Obama’s weaknesses. We may all have underestimated the effectiveness of ACORN’s vote-fraud machine.

I’m glad we’ve elected a black man president; I’m sorry it’s one who looks quite so much like a sort of latter-day Manchurian Candidate programmed by his hard-left associates to hate his own country.

I hope we don’t all come to regret this day horribly. We can only hope that Obama is a better man than his influences.

Man, the guy cracks me up, pure comedic genius..

Further proof that anyone with a computer and Internet connection can have their words taken as seriously as those of the New York Times...

[warmi]

A black Muslim, terrorist-loving, communist ?? (and rapist of babies but the McCain campaign didn't address this one since they regarded baby-raping as a deeply personal issue).
MAY GOD HAVE MERCY ON OUR SOULS!

BTW, hilarious stuff from Eric S. Raymond: (by http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=586)

The crackup I thought I was seeing in the Obama campaign didn’t happen. I underestimated the ability of the mainstream media to cover for Obama’s weaknesses. We may all have underestimated the effectiveness of ACORN’s vote-fraud machine.

I’m glad we’ve elected a black man president; I’m sorry it’s one who looks quite so much like a sort of latter-day Manchurian Candidate programmed by his hard-left associates to hate his own country.

I hope we don’t all come to regret this day horribly. We can only hope that Obama is a better man than his influences.

Man, the guy cracks me up, pure comedic genius..

Further proof that anyone with a computer and Internet connection can have their words taken as seriously as those of the New York Times...

It is a good thing.

[xavier]

Further proof that anyone with a computer and Internet connection can have their words taken as seriously as those of the New York Times...

It is a good thing.

Like all things, "good" is a subjective measure:

http://www.godhatesfags.com/

Is that a good thing?

[warmi]

Further proof that anyone with a computer and Internet connection can have their words taken as seriously as those of the New York Times...

It is a good thing.

Like all things, "good" is a subjective measure:

http://www.godhatesfags.com/

Is that a good thing?

Yeah, the fact that he can post this sort of stuff online and not be afraid is a good thing.

We don't have to read it ..

[xavier]

Agreed -- we don't have to read it. But that's not the point I was making. Freedom of speech is not absolute (you can't shout "fire" in a movie theater, for example), and comes with great responsibilities (that many simply ignore).

Someone whose insane or ignorant ravings may, for example, in the past, only have been heard by their cats, now can have their dicta indexed and propagated by the World's Database, Google, and offered as results next to those of the NYT...who have far more restrictions on what they can publish, and with good reason.

[warmi]

Agreed -- we don't have to read it. But that's not the point I was making. Freedom of speech is not absolute (you can't shout "fire" in a movie theater, for example), and comes with great responsibilities (that many simply ignore).

Someone whose insane or ignorant ravings may, for example, in the past, only have been heard by their cats, now can have their dicta indexed and propagated by the World's Database, Google, and offered as results next to those of the NYT...who have far more restrictions on what they can publish, and with good reason.

Yeah, but someone who ended up being influenced by insane ravings of a random lunatic was not exactly a beacon of rationality to begin with …. so all in all, I don't think web sites like that will matter all that much.

Overall, I think the Internet has been the best thing that happened to the public discourse in the long, long time … and, technological limitations aside, I think there is absolutely nothing wrong with it the way it is now … and it should stay in its current, almost completely unregulated form.

[jacmoe]

And what has this to do with Obama being elected?

[warmi]

And what has this to do with Obama being elected?

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/1 ... by-in.html

[jacmoe]

That's a good thing.
About time that the politicians realise the potential of the internet - and other online media for that matter.
People of today are using it to communicate, especially younger people, so why shouldn't they?

[syd]

Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States Tuesday night, crowning an improbable two-year climb that owes much of its success to his command of the internet as a fundraising and organizing tool.

mmm... yeah right the world was supporting Obama because internet connection has becomed widely available, that's a pretty smart explanation

[RedEyeCoder]

Congratulations America!

It was a very special moment. Here in Australia, a lot of people in my office streamed Obama's great speech live over the tubes. I am grateful to have bared witness to this event.

[xavier]

Congratulations America!

It was a very special moment. Here in Australia, a lot of people in my office streamed Obama's great speech live over the tubes. I am grateful to have bared witness to this event.

It was definitely a good speech, and delivered well (as expected). I just hope that Obama's speechwriter remains on staff for the next four years, because he's pretty good.

I'm still trying to figure out how those clear teleprompters work (he had one on each side of the stage out front, which is why he was always looking left and right, in case you were wondering) -- either the network camera placement was such that you could never see the text from their angles, or it was a trick of polarization. Anyone know?

[weshowe]

This was something I did not know about either. But my brief research I found this sentence pretty much sums it up:

the reflector is usually a piece of glass with a special partially reflective coating

So the reflectors can be fixed, like you saw, or they can be attached to the camera so that when reading they are looking directly at the camera instead of slightly to one side.

[Game_Ender]

In my eyes the most respectable thing about this election is the very high election turnout. If nearly everyone who registered actually voted the turnout is about 88%.

Turnout is up, but not to the crazy level the media has hyped. See more here. In short it will be up a few points from last time, but there were no huge jumps, even among the youth vote (up somewhere between 5%-15%).

[Game_Ender]

johnhpus, you really are a little crazy. The conservatives on the board are hoping Obama does the best job possible. Bush and McCain have both made honest, and earnest pledges to help Obama's transition to power and smooth the transition for him to the White House. Which should be a welcome change from what the way it has been handled in the past. All because they want the best for our country. They have also acknowledged the power of his message, and historic nature of his win and up coming presidency.

Yet all you can do is go off on a far left talking point and witching burning craze?

[johnhpus]

I'm pretty sure that ever outgoing President ever has pledged to help make the transition as easy as possible. Anything else would be pretty surprising. I don't know by what knowledge you can certify that the pledges of Bush and McCain were honest and earnest. I've certainly been given enough reasons not to always take what Bush says at face value.

I don't consider the Rove issue a far-left talking point (well, it may be, but that position has no bearing on me). I just want to see justice served and I think it will set a terrible precedent to let these things pass unanswered.

And I damn sure don't consider the wiretaps just a talking point. But however, Bush assaulted the rights given us in the constitution in any number of ways. Obviously I'd like to see anyone involved punishment. As had been pointed out that is exceedingly unlikely, so fine, I just hope that Obama will work to undo the damage that has been done.

[VictorMoran]

Thanks god... now let's see Rove arrested for ignoring those subpoenas, and Bush for the wiretaps, and all the other evil bastards for their evil deeds.

Indeed.

Rove is a felon, there is a congressional subpoena pending on him which he violated claiming privileges he does not has.
On those bases alone his should be in Jail. Let us see if this invigorated congress has the stomach to enforce it.

If anyone cared any longer, perhaps. Fact is, there are far far far more important things on peoples' minds right now.

Get over it. Move on.

Really? would you say the same for any person who ever committed a crime in the pass? What is your level of comfort for crimes that are allowed to be committed by government officials?

Justice is based on precedent and not prosecuting a government official for breaking the laws set a precedent.
You of all people should know that, Wasn’t Clinton impeached for lien about having sex in the oval office.
The crimes Rove is accused of had severe implications ranging from high treason, to changing the fabric of American democracy.
For the record Card Rove did not have immunity.
Government clearance is not immunity, and Immunity is given to government dignitaries working on a foreign country suggested to non American laws.
Carl Rove should go to congress is take the first amendment just like Monica Goodling did.

[warmi]

Indeed.

Rove is a felon, there is a congressional subpoena pending on him which he violated claiming privileges he does not has.
On those bases alone his should be in Jail. Let us see if this invigorated congress has the stomach to enforce it.

If anyone cared any longer, perhaps. Fact is, there are far far far more important things on peoples' minds right now.

Get over it. Move on.

Really? would you say the same for any person who ever committed a crime in the pass? What is your level of comfort for crimes that are allowed to be committed by government officials?

Justice is based on precedent and not prosecuting a government official for breaking the laws set a precedent.
You of all people should know that, Wasn’t Clinton impeached for lien about having sex in the oval office.
The crimes Rove is accused of had severe implications ranging from high treason, to changing the fabric of American democracy.
For the record Card Rove did not have immunity.
Government clearance is not immunity, and Immunity is given to government dignitaries working on a foreign country suggested to non American laws.
Carl Rove should go to congress is take the first amendment just like Monica Goodling did.

Ain't gonna happen.

His "crimes" are generally limited to bad judgment and being a pain in the ass for the Democrats for so long ...

If anything, I would look into Bush/ Rumsfeld /Cheney in relation to their authorization of torture ... but even that will be very hard to prove.

[xavier]

If anything, I would look into Bush/ Rumsfeld /Cheney in relation to their authorization of torture ... but even that will be very hard to prove.

And more than anything, people don't care. They've moved on. They just want to forget the last eight years happened, and dragging everyone through a highly politicized legal process just to make people like Victor feel more smug than they already do, doesn't accomplish anything -- least of all putting the last eight years behind us (which, if you listen to the man speak, is one of the main themes of Obama's platform).

Didn't we learn anything from the Clinton "impeachment" proceedings?

And before I hear anything more about "absolute justice in all cases" (to which Victor is alluding), bear in mind that prosecutors all over the country, many times every day, decline to proceed with valid criminal complaints for various reason -- in other words, "crimes" go "unpunished" all the time, so like I said, Victor, get over it.

[sinbad]

I'm pretty inspired by the whole election this year (I stayed up until 3am until it was clear Obama had won) - sure Obama isn't perfect but to my eyes he's got a huge amount of potential to really change things for the better.

And about his left-leaning - he actually occupies the central political ground to anyone outside of the USA, which is naturally right-leaning. Personally I think the USA can use a whole lot more moderation at the political level

I think the US is a country that really needs to feel good about itself again, and I get the feeling Obama is the man for that job. I already feel better about the world just knowing he'll be in charge of the primary superpower for the next 4 years.

He's also a hugely inspirational figure to a lot of people, me included. He's smart and he's mostly got to where he is on his wits, despite people claiming the US wasn't ready for a black / mixed-race president. Aside from race, he also didn't start off with a massive leg-up in the political arena like so many previous presidents did (especially Bush) - he had a fairly unconventional family background which was no doubt challenging at times. I'm in the unfamiliar position of genuinely admiring the next US president, and if I ever got the chance I would be very honoured to shake his hand.

[VictorMoran]

Umm I find it very peculiar that a simple call for justice against real crimes, violations of the bill of right, and violations of the constitution by key people in the Bush administration, is criticized with a comment like:
“dragging everyone through a highly politicized legal process just to make people like Victor feel more smug than they already doâ€

[jacmoe]

I think he's just saying that politics is politics. As dirty as a war. So get over it.

[xavier]

Xavier, I do not know what to say. You being such hard liner on everything around here, I have seen you crushing people dreams for simple dare asking a questions about making a MMO game,
and you are willing to give a pass to a felon like Karl Rove, it is quite remarkable.

Actually, no, I am a pragmatist and a realist. I live in the "real world", in other words, not whatever it is that you inhabit. You know, the "real world", where things actually have to get done? I guess to you that's "hard-liner" -- if that means I understand how the world *actually* works, then color me guilty.

[VictorMoran]

Is that so?
I think I understand your position; you are a product of your ideology and that is OK, what I do not get is your rage toward other peoples opinions.
There are people like you all across the spectrum in the Republican Party.
They usually say "I am a pragmatist and a realist" or “I am an independent minded person therefore I am right an other people must follow my leadâ€

[_tommo_]

Xavier, I do not know what to say. You being such hard liner on everything around here, I have seen you crushing people dreams for simple dare asking a questions about making a MMO game,
and you are willing to give a pass to a felon like Karl Rove, it is quite remarkable.

Actually, no, I am a pragmatist and a realist. I live in the "real world", in other words, not whatever it is that you inhabit. You know, the "real world", where things actually have to get done? I guess to you that's "hard-liner" -- if that means I understand how the world *actually* works, then color me guilty.

For me, understanding how the world actually works, and doing nothing to change it IS guilty... and there's really no merit.
You could use that knowledge to warn others about bad actions, instead to justify this way who does wrong.

IMHO, this is a bad point of view, that leads to gritty individualism and prevarication... i'm not talking of you, but for example of some Italians people and politics who condone the worst thing because "everyone does this way", or "everybody did this way, i should be stupid to sacrifice myself".
So, to make an example, Italy works in a way where 40% of the people don't pay taxes, or where nearly all meridional shops pay money to the mafia.
And well, things don't get solved if everyone is "realist" and moves on.