The Great Republic
That`s what Winston Churchill called it, and the moniker still fits. After an arduous, hard-fought campaign, the American people have spoken.
They argued, they debated, they campaigned, they mobilized, and they voted. Sure, there were irregularities, and it is certain that a legion of lawyers will find employment dealing with the petty squables that will inevitably follow the process; recounts, inconclusive results in some races, public officials contesting their defeats and such. But all this will be done in an orderly manner, free of violence and civil strife, and the transfer of power will be peaceful.
The fact remains that the Americans have once again shown the world that in the United States of America, the greatest democracy on earth, it really is the people that decide.
Now I'm going to listen to a powerful orator give what I hope will be an inspiring speech, and just maybe I'll go to bed feeling, dare I say it... hopeful?
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Monday, November 03, 2008
One More Day... Then Everything's OK!
It is entirely appropriate at this juncture to declare that the American media have abdicated their role. They are no longer in the journalism business, but in the Obama-electing business. I’m also looking for the “landslide” calls to start coming in sometime early in the evening. Game over, people, why bother fighting the inevitable?
Of course, not everyone in the media has settled comfortably into this new job. Nobody has laid a glove on Ovama for months, and now with seconds to spare, some are belatedly waking up to the fact that he has gotten a bit of an easy ride? "Quick, fellahs uh, come up with something! Anything!!!" says the drowsy editor as he comes out of his year-long stupor.
Slate thinks the campaign should release their donor's list? Are you kidding me? Don't you think Obama's people have better things to do? Like planning the victory rally!?! Besides, how the hell do they explain all those silly pseudonyms if they do that! Sheesh, the nerve of some people.
Contrary to most of the unconverted, I blame none of this on Obama himself. His campaign would have been stupid to not take advantage of the felicitous circumstances they have found themselves in for months now. But if (or, as some would have it, when), we discover that the emperor has no clothes, the media will bear a share of the responsibility.
At this point, expectations have been raised to such a ridiculous level that the chosen one could not possibly deliver on everything he has pledged. The result, of course, will be bitterness and dissappointment for some when the Obama begin to artfully scale back those expectations, as some claim they have already begun doing.
What has driven this twenty-month phenomenon? Is it idealism? The immense personal charisma of one man? The dream of a new golden age? The desire to turn the page on race once and for all? The unseemly urge to be “liked” by the rest of the world, as if that was of any consequence? I'm baffled, but I look on in amazement as America takes this titanic leap of faith into the abyss.
It is entirely appropriate at this juncture to declare that the American media have abdicated their role. They are no longer in the journalism business, but in the Obama-electing business. I’m also looking for the “landslide” calls to start coming in sometime early in the evening. Game over, people, why bother fighting the inevitable?
Of course, not everyone in the media has settled comfortably into this new job. Nobody has laid a glove on Ovama for months, and now with seconds to spare, some are belatedly waking up to the fact that he has gotten a bit of an easy ride? "Quick, fellahs uh, come up with something! Anything!!!" says the drowsy editor as he comes out of his year-long stupor.
Slate thinks the campaign should release their donor's list? Are you kidding me? Don't you think Obama's people have better things to do? Like planning the victory rally!?! Besides, how the hell do they explain all those silly pseudonyms if they do that! Sheesh, the nerve of some people.
Contrary to most of the unconverted, I blame none of this on Obama himself. His campaign would have been stupid to not take advantage of the felicitous circumstances they have found themselves in for months now. But if (or, as some would have it, when), we discover that the emperor has no clothes, the media will bear a share of the responsibility.
At this point, expectations have been raised to such a ridiculous level that the chosen one could not possibly deliver on everything he has pledged. The result, of course, will be bitterness and dissappointment for some when the Obama begin to artfully scale back those expectations, as some claim they have already begun doing.
What has driven this twenty-month phenomenon? Is it idealism? The immense personal charisma of one man? The dream of a new golden age? The desire to turn the page on race once and for all? The unseemly urge to be “liked” by the rest of the world, as if that was of any consequence? I'm baffled, but I look on in amazement as America takes this titanic leap of faith into the abyss.
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