Barack Obama was elected President today.
Not one word on the CNN.com home page, though MSNBC and Fox News buried it on their home pages. Odd. You'd think the election of the President would be a big deal worth more than four column inches.
Although, while it is a fact that Obama was elected President today, MSNBC incorrectly claims It's official. It does not become official until the vote is certified in Congress on January 6.
Cross-posted on <pudge/*>.
Posted by pudge at December 15, 2008 06:29 PM | Email ThisHow could Bush ruin such a grand opprotunity to shine after the ragheads flew those planes into the World Trade Center on 9/11? The guy had nearly everone in the country with him, yet he veered off course into a personal vendetta against Saddam Hussein. That was a waste times, lives and limbs.
And the Afganistan mess is still roaring. Listen, George W., if you're gonna kick a country's butt, kick it and get it over with. Doing a half-assed job just makes it worse for everyone. Get the nastiness over early and move forward. Don't prolong it.
Posted by: Politically Incorrect on December 15, 2008 08:15 PMTaking a more holistic view, one realizes that the action taken today is a direct and wholly dependent result of what happened on 4 November. Just as a democracy is, practically, any form of government in which the governed, at regular intervals, grant authority to the government to continue its governing.
But some people just seem obsessed with semantics! I guess we all have to be passionate about something...
Posted by: AD on December 15, 2008 10:48 PMGo on with our daily lives and pray to God that Obama has more wisdom than he's shown thus far, that he doesn't have the opportunity to run up another trillion dollars in debt with socialist programs, that he he can reign in the Dumb and Dumber heads of the House and Senate and that the countries run by dictators (like Putin) don't take his tendency to dither as an emboldening signal to harm us.
I know you were waiting for whining, crying and tearing of garments in deep despair. Sorry dude, it ain't gonna happen.
We KNOW that our country that we love is bigger than any one man... even a self-proclaimed "the One". Many of us adults already survived the worst known as Carter... we can certainly survive his cinematically charismatic but deeply misguided step-child.
Posted by: Ragnar Danneskjold on December 15, 2008 10:54 PMBy then people should have tired of his gift for gab and lack of action (what can he point to in his 20+ years as a politician...nothing). On what basis would anyone think that BHO would make even a passable President?
Even a rich party boy flake like JFK commanded a PT boat and served in the Senate for while and seemed to actually stand for something (if it made political sense).
Luckily for us, I think by 2009 almost all our problems will have evaporated and BHO will be remembered more for being like Calvin Coolidge than FDR or one of the real greats...
Posted by: John Bailo on December 15, 2008 11:06 PM
You could have just said that. You'd be just as wrong and it would have saved you some time!
Far from an anachronism, the Electoral College is still an important part of our system of governance, as we saw in 2000. Perhaps you forgot what happened in the 2000 election?
But some people just seem obsessed with semantics!
And some people don't know what "semantics" means!
Posted by: pudge on December 15, 2008 11:12 PMThe meaning of the word semantics is not determined by any individual (pudge, Mr. Webster, or whomever, regardless of how authoritative that individual views their own personal opinion). A word gets its meaning from it's common usage. It means what it's generally accepted and understood to mean.
You obviously understood what I said the way everyone would understand it, but you insist on nitpicking. This is a common behavior among uppity individuals whose sole interaction with other human beings occurs via the internet. :(
I'll end my portion of the discussion there. I'm sure you'll one-up me. Congratulations! You're the smartest nit-picker here!!
Posted by: AD on December 15, 2008 11:50 PMHow ironic, and completely illustrative of my point, to argue semantics over the definition of the word "semantics." :)
If your point had been about semantics, then yes, that would have illustrated your point. But no, your point was about a political process you don't find to be useful or interesting. Semantics is about the use of language, but you weren't talking about my use of language. There's no semantic debate: Obama was elected President today. That's not semantics, it's a fact.
A word gets its meaning from it's common usage. It means what it's generally accepted and understood to mean.
Exactly. And you weren't talking about semantics, by any common use of the word.
This is a common behavior among uppity individuals whose sole interaction with other human beings occurs via the internet. :(
Looking in the mirror a bit much today, are we?
Jezzz dude, you don't like what Pudge writes, hell then don't read it. (yeah it's that simple)
Posted by: Medic/Vet on December 16, 2008 06:39 AMReally, like say RON PAUL. (seriously)
You stepped into that one.
Posted by: Medic/Vet on December 16, 2008 06:43 AMOne commenter opined recently they thought Obama got a strong economic team and a strong foreign policy team (hey, at least Clinton has had tea with these leaders to paraphrase Obama) in order to push what he knows best (or thinks he does) which are the social issues.
Posted by: swatter on December 16, 2008 07:19 AMAnd add the adjectives 'inexperienced', 'uneducated' (particularly in economics), 'misleading', 'divisive', 'concealed motives' and 'Alinskyite'.
The poisonous combination of six years of MSM stories calculated to 'prove' that the Bush administration was horrible, plus the growing tendency of folks to adulate celebrities, gave Obama an enormous advantage in the election, despite all those non-executive qualities above. The MSM's see/hear/speak-no-evil of this product of Chicago politics has done the electorate no good either.
The truth will out, but it will take a while, and much damage will be done in the interim.
Posted by: Insufficiently Sensitive on December 16, 2008 07:44 AMIs he really legal before the Senate confirms him & he takes the oath of office??
He was elected yesterday. That election becomes official on January 6 when the Congress certifies the vote. He does not become President until January 20, when he is inaugurated.
Or if & when he shows us his birth certificate which is locked in a vault in Hawaii?? I'll wait until that happens before I judge legality.
He is legally President regardless of the appearance of a birth certificate upon inauguration on January 20. If it turns out he is not a natural born citizen, then that just means he became our legal President illegally; it does not mean he is not the legal President.
I suggest you start concentrating on taking control of the House and/or Senate in 2010.
Posted by: Politically Incorrect on December 16, 2008 10:53 AMPudge, have you considered law?
Posted by: BA on December 16, 2008 11:43 AMPresident-elect Obama has told us that he does not underestimate "the enormity" of the situation he is inheriting and said we shouldn't worry about the deficit for the next two years. I am relieved. His approval rating is 73 percent. This is a man who has done nothing since his election except talk, hire people, take a tour of the White House, and enroll his daughters in a private school. ...
... Events may prove me wrong, but I do not take Obama to be petty, hypocritical, vindictive, mean-spirited, small-minded, or anti-Semitic -- all of which Jimmy Carter was and is. He may be the first former President to die of a hissy fit. ...Posted by: Ragnar Danneskjold on December 16, 2008 11:52 AM
You can just see the Obama pattern unfolding with the Senate seat fixing scandal.Posted by: Ragnar Danneskjold on December 16, 2008 12:01 PM
1. I don't know him
2. I know him a little
3. I know him but I thought he'd gone to rehab
4. I'm giving a major speech condemning everything he stands for
One good thing for Republicans: Obama is a moronic liar. Clinton was a good liar (much to our annoyance). This cat is a retarded one. That will be helpful.
Hmmm. Don't count on that 'retarded' aspect to last very long. The guy is already a very slick talker ("I had no contact with those evil Senat-seat peddlers" - while his reps almost certainly did), and his street-smarts will help him learn quickly. Not to mention the help he'll get from one Rahm Emmanuel.
Posted by: Insufficiently Sensitive on December 16, 2008 01:07 PMTHIS Rahm Emmanuel born of Chicago political fame?
Dirt coming to a White House near you!
Posted by: Ragnar Danneskjold on December 16, 2008 01:20 PMYou're making the mistake of taking sound politics seriously.
Posted by: Andrew Brown on December 16, 2008 03:09 PMThe preson of many colors.
How should we take you? (switch)
Posted by: Medic/Vet on December 16, 2008 06:32 PMShall we all yet this fool swing on his own rope?
I'm not going to play HIS game. (looking for suckers)
Are they EVER happy???
Posted by: joebandmember on December 16, 2008 08:32 PMI know you have said that you agree with alot of what Paul has to say. Do you agree with him on his monetary points? Have you listened to Peter Schiff at all (Pauls economic advisor during the campaign). Look at our money supply this past summer and look at the amount the fed has increased it. It has nearly doubled! If you are happy and/optimistic given these facts then you deserve John 'the fundamentals of our economy are strong' McCain!
Posted by: Lysander on December 16, 2008 08:45 PMIt's about OPTIMISM. Even in "defeat" we maintain a positive attitude. It's knowing that we do the right thing, believe IN what's right, being certain of those beliefs and IN ourselves. It's about NOT letting circumstances beyond our control define us, momentarily or for a lifetime. It's about being self-contained: we don't need to be 'validated' by anyone except ourselves, nor do our opinions sway like britches on a clothesline: this way and that depending on the direction the wind is blowing.
It is the one true reason liberals depise George W. Bush: he knows who he is, what he stands for and is unapologetic about it. Ditto for Sarah Palin.
I agree with them both. I don't care who likes me, who doesn't or why. If you don't like me, it YOUR problem not mine. GWB won't/didn't change who he was to earn anyones good favor and neither will I: take me as I am... or don't.
And it sure beats the heck out of being perpetually miserable like some/most of our liberal pets, who desperately want OUR misery because they think it would make them feel better about their own.
Their attitude like having the worst most horrible cold ever ... and wishing your spouse would get an even worse one just so that they know (and of course, acknowledge) how badly YOU feel.
It's a sick way to live.
Posted by: Ragnar Danneskjold on December 17, 2008 12:27 AMHeck he's now telling reporters to shut up about it.
Yep HE'S the one alright!
Rags..the next few years age going to be a riot.
Posted by: Medic/Vet on December 17, 2008 06:44 AMI am never 'your guy'. In fact, most of the postings I see from you on SP involve ad hominem attacks on people, and I never want to be a part of that.
I am consistently for small constitutional government, for personal liberty, for free enterprise, for property rights, and on top of all that, I am still a man of christian faith who is able to understand that I don't need to force it on others through social conservatism.
Unfortunately, this seems to perplex you and a few others who actually call me a leftist whenever you disagree, presumably so that you don't need to further dwell on my words, whether they be true or false.
But remember... I am definitely never 'your guy'. I want no part of that given the posts I've seen from you.
Posted by: Andrew Brown on December 17, 2008 10:27 AMGo ahead and attack me if you like, morons, but your party is gonna be in the wilderness for one helluva long time unless you start working towards 2010.
The Dems will inevitably screw up big time in the next 2 years 'cause that's their nature. You folks need to start working on undermining everything about Obama and the Dems or you'll be second class citizens in youown country for a few decades.
Concentrate on the future.
As for me, I voted for Ron Paul, and I still think that was the correct decision for 2008. I voted for Ron Paul, and I don't give a flyin' f**k what any of you think of it!
Posted by: Politically Incorrect on December 17, 2008 03:14 PMIt reminded me of OJ's vow to "search for the real killer" ...
Is there a better synonym for 'SNORT' to express utter disbelief??!
Posted by: Ragnar Danneskjold on December 17, 2008 03:27 PM
