Even to begin to repair the damage done will take an incredible amount of time, money and dedication.
And we still have the "forgotten but not gone" imbecile in power for every one of those seventy-five long days; the most unpopular and disastrous President in US history, currently engaged in yet another shameful and disgraceful exercise whilst his countryfolk are distracted by the election; that of cynically and spitefully murdering civilians in Pakistan and Syria in a deranged attempt to bring yet more countries into a state of war against the west and make his successor's task ever more difficult.
The whole world is celebrating today and we thank the voters of the USA for finally engaging their brains and crying for a halt to the eight most horrific years in world history since the two great wars of the last century.
The War OF Terror.
The insane greed of an unregulated free market economy.
Those at least may well be reined in, having been shown to be unmitigated disasters.
I do not - as you know - expect any great change in US foreign policy.
However well-meaning President-Elect Obama (doesn't that just bring a grin to your face?) may be, the juggernaut of US commercial interest and fear of "the left" will stymie any attempt to comply with international law as surely as they did under Jimmy Carter.
But this morning I - together with the rest of the world outside US borders - am filled to overflowing with two emotions:
Relief and hope.
-
I have spent this campaign studiously avoiding bad-mouthing Senator Mc.Cain as I both like and respect the man. But twenty-twenty hindsight reveals that he faced an almost impossible task from the beginning.
He was forced to fight a campaign on two fronts: one against a resurgent and angry centrist population of Democrats and the other against the appalling legacy of his erstwhile colleague George W. Bush and his neo-con clique.
Senator McCain is essentially a decent man and in my view his position at the more liberal and reasonable end of Republicanism, together with his sane and thoughtful policy on immigration made him the last great hope for a Republican victory.
Yet he was borne down by two disastrous burdens that saw moderate and intellectual Republicans fleeing from him:
- To ensure the support of the white-supremacist, neo-nazi bloc of extremists within his party (we have those in Europe but they are not allowed to hide behind a "neo-con" label and join the major parties and therefore are marginalised and wield less influence here), he was forced to renounce his deeply-held belief in fairness toward immigrants; a mistake that did not merely alienate fellow moderates but that labelled him as a man too weak to maintain the strength of his own convictions and one who buckles under pressure; and,
- What at first sight seemed a tactical masterstroke of choosing a woman as a running mate when it became clear that Senator Clinton would not be chosen as the Democratic running mate.
This produced a wave of panic amongst Democratic supporters around the world until the woman who shall be forever known as Caribou Barbie opened her mouth and sent whatever moderate voters who remained faithful to Senator McCain running for the hills.
The choice of a more moderate woman as running mate may well have rescued him but pandering to extremists to gain their support would always risk losing moderate voters and this is clearly what happened yesterday.
In the midst of my whooping it up I felt a pang of sorrow and sympathy for Senator McCain, especially whilst listening to his final speech.
The man is truly gracious in defeat and what he said last night will assure him at least a place in history above the mire and disgrace of the fall of Bush and the world's disgust at the neo-con legacy.
As for President-Elect Barack Obama …
I can only have sympathy for him as he accepts the poisoned chalice.
His will be one of the toughest tasks ever faced by a US President.
But his victory does indeed bring relief and hope.
With the possible exception of the fall of the Berlin Wall, not since the end of World War 2 has the whole world been given such a gift and such a reason to celebrate.
Thank you, the people of the United States of America.
37 comments:
We tried to stay up for as long as we could to see the results, but by 130am we gave up. This morning we woke up and was just thrilled and excited that our hope was fulfilled! I'm really glad and relieved myself that finally, the people of the USA saw sense.
I slept through the early part of the night, Joy but woke up around half-one (just as you and Thom turned in) and whooped it up all night.
I'll see you this afternoon for a more personal celebration!
Don't forget WHERE you need to go :D Council Chamber!
I quite respect McCain too, but his decision to have Sarah Palin-folksy-homey-airhead-type running by his side made me lose all hope in his judgement. I think this could be a large reason why he lost.
I'll ask in reception for directions, Joy.
See you there!
Lynn: she was a sop to the God and gun nuts of the extreme right wing but - like yourself - the moderates ran for their lives as soon as she opened her mouth.
Where does all this cynicism and anti-Americanism come from? Yes, it would be nice if the US had not made mistakes and missteps, and I acknowledge the huge errors of which we are guilty, but it would be nice also if critics such as you would acknowledge that we have given hope to many and have made many contributions to the world.
Americans are not as stupid as you describe in your many posts. I am dismayed at your impressions.
More politically well informed rantings. Hmmm
And I post about ashing my ciggarette in a caramel tart today.
I sooooooo need a smack.
I understand where Kate is coming from but I guess she should have read your last line again and again - the words she was looking for were there.
Thanks dive for this nice post about McCain, I too was impressed by his gracious bow out.
I withdrew my post with the link to yours, it will reappear tomorrow. I had written it at 2 am when the results were still unclear but this morning when the great news came in I just felt the need to celebrate.
I will repost the other message tomorrow.
Sorry, Kate, but that's just the view from outside your borders.
I am not a critic, merely an observer.
The US has pissed off an awful lot of people over the past few decades and while yesterday's results do give us a tiny glimpse of hope they also come with a big dose of cynicism based on past experience.
Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.
Respect international law and maybe you will earn the respect of other nations.
Ah! Hi, Kate! Nice to hear some healthy Aussie irreverence amongst all this holier-than-thou crap.
You're a little bit too far away to smack, dammit!
Hi, Nathalie.
I noticed the post had gone, but I liked your celebratory one, too.
As for McCain, he is gracious in defeat so the least I'll expect from the Democrats is magnanimity in victory.
We shall see.
Yep, that chalice will take some serious washing.
I think McCain's biggest error in general was to let his advisers have too much say, and he seemed to have lost his voice in his own campaign.
And yes, President-Elect Obama really does bring a smile to my face. I have been saying it this morning just to get used it.
It sure will, Robyn. President-Elect Obama (I love typing that) has an incredibly tough time ahead of him righting wrongs but he gives me hope.
I agree with your opinion of Senator McCain's advisors. If only they'd not been so scared of his moderate views the result might have been different.
your first line sums it up perfectly! the people have spoken and i hope, that everyone understands what lies ahead of us, individually and collectively, will not be easy, will not be overnight and certainly will not be cheap. i think we've made the right choice. today there are no red states or blues states. today we are the United States of America standing with President Barack Obama!
xoxoxoxo
Thank you, Savannah, though after all your packing you must be pretty sick of hard work already!
There is no place now for bitterness and recriminations, but a lot of scope for rapprochement and working together; as you say, a truly UNITED States of America.
xoxox
Watching it all unfold in a decidedly "red" state was very odd. A woman at the bar was very angry about Obama's victory. But as luck would have it there were several librarians at the bar and we all applauded after Obama's speech. It was really agreat night.
Hoorah for librarians, Shazza!
A great night indeed.
I am so proud! It was so amazing watching President-Elect Obama's acceptance speech last night. He is such an inspirational speaker and I am thrilled that he will be the voice of the USA around the world in just a few short months. Yes, lots of work to be done to undo the crap done in the last 8 years, but at least we took the important first step!! Plus Obama's daughters get a new puppy for the White House!
It's a shame becasue George Bush had a great opurtunity to make things better with the rest of the world and as it looks now in present day he failed who kows what he will be looked back at as twenty years from now.
I'm interested in your use of the word "immigration" Are we talking about ILLEGAL immigration here? I am so totally against illegal immiration. Just because Obama was elected does not mean Americans will just go along with any outragous immigration policy that is stuffed down their throats. It's been tried before and has failed. There has to be SOME law and order on immigration for any country. Not to mention all the past and still present immirants who come to the US legally and the sacrifices made to do just that.
Good post,Dive
A new puppy? Yay!
I'm sure they'll love that, Katie, but before they go choosing a puppy they should really find Michelle a new fashion advisor; that dress she had on at the victory speech was simply awful!
Rich: it is a real shame. He's already the most unpopular US President among US citizens and the rest of the world regards him as either a war criminal or insane.
I wonder how history will judge him. I hope for his sake it is less harshly than my own opinion of him.
I rather liked Senator McCain's views on immigration, including letting those illegals already settled in the country stay and pay taxes.
Over here it's a slightly different situation: we have a dwindling pool of young workers and what will very soon become an unsustainably large elderly population and we desperately need more immigrants to fill our jobs and pay the taxes that will fund our pensions.
In a few minutes I am off to Council Chambers to witness the ceremony that will naturalise Joy as a British citizen.
Then we're gonna party!
Yay!
I agree with you on your take on Bush. George Bush was indeed an awful President and no one will be happier to see him leave office than me. I must however disagree on your comment about "free market economy." Without a free market economy the US would turn into another France. No reasonable American will buy into that. I order for Omama to flourish he must restore the housing market and the job market. He will do neither by raising taxes on the middle class. And he MUST raise taxes on the middle class in order to redistribute the wealth. Hoover tried doing the same thing in 1930 and it was a disaster. WW2 pulled us out of that depression 12 years later. I truly hope Obama succeeds. I am an American first and foremost.
dive-alish...i am beyond tired, but what a night. tomorrow i'll move into my new house and then my personal work begins! i'll do my part for stimulating the economy by buying a new washer and dryer on friday! xoxoxo
now i need to hop over to joy's place and congratulate her!
"Sorry, Kate, but that's just the view from outside your borders."
Dive, as eloquent as you are, I don't think you can speak for everyone.
Kate I am certainly not antiAmerican. I admit to being anti Palin! Not to her personally; I'm sure she's a lovely person, but to be given that position was plain crazy in my opinion. I don't want you, Kate, to think that Dive's view of Americans is the view of everyone outside your borders. It is not!
That's a pretty good assessment of John McCain who seemed like a decent sort of a bloke ... by Republican standards.
I must admit to having had a tear in my eye when I watched the Obama speech this morning, but I'm sure there'll be the usual cynicism setting in within a few days ... oh well ... for the moment I'll just breathe a sigh of relief at the result.
Has there been an election ?
Hi Dive, I've gotta take a breather from this politico hashing. But, I did give a weak little "Yeah, what he said." after one of Mark's comments-baha.
My head is spinning between my facebook friends who are grieving and quoting the Bible in their status lines, and this group of friends, who are all whooping it up.
It's making me feel like a cat at the vet-half of the time claws out grabbing for something to anchor to-the other half limp and despondent, disassociating with the whole business.
Oh well. Such is life. Our new Pres. Elect has made history and I am glad for us all in that respect. My only personal agenda is to stay the course I'm on and try to keep the Holy Spirit as the loudest voice in my head during these ever changing times. Do I sound like Sarah Palin when I say these things? You betcha!
Congratulations to Joy, btw!!! What a great day for dualing!! :D
Hi, Mark.
I love the phrase "Without a free market economy the US would turn into another France."
Hee hee.
Urbane, chic, intellectual, cultural capital of the world?
What's wrong with that?
We all wish we could turn into France.
If only for the food!
But I do appreciate what you say and I approve of your patriotism. You are a true patriot and not one of those who mistake nationalism with patriotism (which seems to be the current vogue over there).
Savannah: Tomorrow? Woohoo! Good luck with the move. I hope everything goes smoothly and effortlessly. You deserve it.
Joy's naturalisation ceremony was a wonderful and very moving affair. I'll post photos later but right now I am pooped. having been up all last night watching your election results come in.
A great day all round.
xoxoxo
Lynn: Hokay, so that's everybody outside the USA except you, but then you are a royalist and that's a bit like having a mad aunt in the house.
OW!
Hee hee.
Betty: I was worried when the Republicans first chose him because he is indeed a good guy; a genuine war hero (as opposed to his cowardly predecessor) with decent, moderate views. Until the right wing extremists managed to force him to renounce his own beliefs and then foisted a God and gun nut on him I thought he stood a chance.
A sigh of relief indeed.
Phil: No. I made it all up for a laugh.
Hi, Shan. You come over HERE for a break from politico-bashing? That's a bit like me marching into your local church to read Marx!
I am truly impressed by your wonderful even-handedness in all of this. I don't think you sound like Ms. Palin; I think you sound like somebody who knows that the word of God that Jesus taught us was "compassion". You can see both sides and we need people like you not to disassociate from the whole business but to help heal and bring us together again.
Joy is now a British citizen. Yay!
I'll post about the ceremony later, but it was great.
The first task we set her as an Englishwoman was to make us a nice cup of tea.
Hee hee.
I have to say... I feel like the Republicans beat McCain if that makes any sense. Like he didn't stand a chance - and it wasn't 100% because of his political stance.
I know exactly what you mean, TC and I suspect you are absolutely right.
Nice of you to drop by.
Thanks Savannah and Shan! It was a very moving event, and quite emotional for me. Dive loved the food afterwards :D
OW Indeed. :)
Full what a giggle to see your funny little face surfacing after all this time; that was just the perfect comment in the cirumstances! Where have you beeeeeeeeen? :(
I was never a McCain basher. I actually agreed with a lot of his views before he started his bid for the presidency. After that, I felt strongly that he was like a puppet for the party, I hated seeing him spout party lines when I had known the real McCain to be a pretty straight shooter who didn't mind stepping on a few Republican's toes.
I think that if he had run on THAT side of his maverick, he would have had a better chance.
Dive,
I agree that McCain was gracious in defeat. I really agree with Scout's opinion that somewhere along the way, McCain lost his voice. He started preaching the Rove gospel. I used to respect McCain, but as the campaign unfolded, I started losing it. Obama, is going to have one heck of a time dealing with the mess Bush made. Obama, however is one of those rare types who made us all feel good to be American again. (I haven't felt that way in a long time). If he handles the presidency in the same way he handled his campaign, I think we will be okay.
Well said Dive. I know that 20:20 hindsight is a wonderful thing but I always knew P-E Obama would win; never had any doubt at all. I've seen enough of politics close at hand to know that when facing a no-win election, someone has to be the lead man with his head on the chopping block and it's a task that not many are willing to take on. McCain knew it from day 1. Palin would never have known it. McCain knows bravery and courage and he was the perfect person for the job and he did it exceedingly well. He kept the faith with his party and gave it his all, all the while knowing what was ahead. THEN, in his concession speech, he took the blame entirely on himself and let the people off the hook. If ever there was a more generous AND compassionate act in politics, I don't know about it.
Shan: I read what you said sweetheart and I imagine that your world is in chaos right now. You do need to listen to the inner voice of the spirit but exposing yourself to different views is the way in which you grow into maturity to the point where you know your own mind clearly, not swayed by the church leaders and your church friends, nor by what some might call the "extreme" views of our delightful host, Dive.
Kate: Sure there is some anti-American sentiment out there (and a few irreverent flakes) but there is also enormous goodwill too, especially down here in Australia with your country's Alliance partners. Our security is very much tied up with that Alliance and we respect it, as well as need it. I've never quite understood the stand some aussies take - they clearly don't understand the ramifications for our country of a US NOT engaged in our region.
Besides, when Dive talks about the US annoying the rest of the world, he doesn't mean ordinary citizens, most of whom are generous, hospitable, ordinary people; he means big business and even bigger government.
Many of us understand the enormous contribution the US does make in other parts of the world in terms of food and medical and logistical aid. However, I guess that we are often served up the image of a ridiculously wealthy society - an image that belongs to celebrities and billionaires - of which there are so many in the US whereas the average person can barely afford health care. It is the same here and the rich/poor divide is why Dive in particular is a proclaimed marxist, I suspect.
Shan: There is nothing wrong with progressive taxation and wealth redistribution. It doesn't have to be excessive; even a very modest amount can achieve monumental things, particularly in an economy the size of the US.
Joy: Congratulations!
Senator Obama will do the right thing; he will be an excellent spokesman for the US both domestically and internationally. He is strong and strong-willed, faithful and honest and has the ability to lead from the top, unlike B... junior.
Sure it will be tough but the US is in for a much better future.
Dive dearest, sorry to have written so much but I just couldn't let this go without a tiny speech myself. How ridiculously indulgent. Apologies.
Well said, Dive.
Well said.
Merci beau coup, Mme Benaut :D
HI, Joy!
I'll do the post tomorrow. Today is Racket day. Thanks again for inviting me and for Jong's yummy food after!
Lynn: He's still working eight days a week down t'mill.
Maria: I agree entirely.
Neetzy: I think you're right about him. If nothing else, yesterday gave the whole world more hope than it has had for a very long time indeed.
Hi, Mme:
You're so right in you assessments of McCain and Palin, and yes, McCain's concession speech will give him a far more exalted place in history than any Republican for decades.
Oh, and I've been a Marxist since college; it had nothing to do with the US and negative thoughts; it's entirely a positive and life-affirming thing that has grown stronger over the ensuing decades.
T: Thank you!
Joy: She's a darling, isn't she?
Relief and hope. It's a thrill to know the world feels it with us.
And some of us DO know why you burned effigies and blew shit up on the 5th. But I know you know that.
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