There’s an old joke about a contest in which first prize is a weekend in Buzzards Bay (pick your own awful spot), and second prize is two weeks in Buzzards Bay.
Senator Obama just won second prize, the mess that the Republicans have created and that Bush continues to pile on with destructive executive orders now that he’s been repudiated.
But The Lion gives the Senator credit for not tossing out a bunch of tired bromides in his victory speech last night. He told us there’s a hard row ahead, that it’s not going to be easy, that he’s not a savior. Nice to finally find a politician with his head on straight after these years of twisted loonies.
Three things from last night’s events stand out in The Lion’s mind.
The first was the crowd at McCain’s concession reading. White to the last person. A small pond of white. Sad white faces who weren’t smart enough to see this coming on the day they brought the first slaves over from Africa a few centuries ago.
The second was Jesse Jackson standing in the Obama crowd, listening to the Senator speak. Tears filled his eyes. The Lion doubts he was thinking about cutting off Obama’s nuts this time. And his tears weren’t as copious as Oprah Winfrey’s, but you could see the long road of Jackson’s life in those tears, from Martin Luther King to Barack Obama.
And the third thing was The Lion’s tears as he watched all this. But if you tell anybody The Lion will snip the cable to your keyboard. After all, The Lion has a reputation to maintain.
Grumpy Lion 
I have tears in my eyes seeing the long road we’ve travelled when I see you refer to our keyboards requiring cables. 😉
I too enjoyed how sobering his speech was, but I also caught the little nod of how everything might not be possible to do in “just one term”. The campaign for 2012 also started last night.
What almost got entirely drowned out by the networks was before Obama gave his speech, some minister went to the podium to lead everyone in prayer. THAT is not what I call being inclusive.
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“Historic election” aside, America’s still very divided.
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philly –
Yeah, well how about I just steal your mouse batteries, huh, huh?
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steph –
Yeah, but not quite so much. Hey, ya think we could ship Limbaugh over to England and slap him with an ASBO?
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philly –
I was turned off by the preacher guy too. And some other guy referred to as a bishop who kept repeating how much Obama needed the people’s prayers. I yelled at him, “Screw the prayer crap. How about you get off your fatass knees and do something practical and useful?” I’m pretty sure he didn’t hear me because he just kept on blathering the same crap to every question put to him.
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I have a cordless keyboard.
I also have a question for people: Is Todd Palin Stupid?
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Not only do I have a wireless keyboard and mouse (a couple of them actually), I have a program that lets my keyboard sound like an old IBM Selectric typewriter. Makes me feel at home. Unfortunately I can’t get it to work with Vista. Oh well, I had to join this century sometime, I suppose. Maybe one of these years I’ll get a cellphone. Don’t know who I’d talk to though. Maybe some other misanthropes…
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“Historic election” aside, water still freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit.
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@ Ric
But what about the other 56,302,959 who voted for McCain/Palin?
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Senator Obama just won second prize, the mess that the Republicans have created and that Bush continues to pile on with destructive executive orders now that he’s been repudiated.
I agree that Obama is inheriting a mess, and I’ll confess that I have no idea why he would want the job he’s getting. Still, I feel a lot better that he, rather than McCain, will soon be sitting in the Oval Office.
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Ric,
Congratulations to Obama. If he can capture some of this momentum and rejuvenate the country, by all means, full steam ahead.
Would like, though, to introduce a couple of numbers from an exit poll, and invite comments.
According to CNN, and based on a sample of 1,594 New Yorkers, 48% of white men and 57% of white women voted for Obama, compared with 100% of black men and 99% of black women. National exit polls vary by 3 – 4%.
Thoughts?
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Does that mean that between 96% and 104% of black men voted for Obama in New YorK?
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Bravo, Billy. Of course that’s what it means.
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“And the third thing was The Lion’s tears as he watched all this. But if you tell anybody The Lion will snip the cable to your keyboard. After all, The Lion has a reputation to maintain.”
Absolutely, Lion. That’s why, after working as a poll watcher for Obama all day, I headed home instead of to one of the parties. If word ever got out to my students that I teared up, I’d never live it down!
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Hurray for us – as in “U.S.”. For a change…
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sk –
Don’t care. He’s in. Moving on.
steph –
We’re shipping them to a small atoll in the Pacific where they can deny global warming as much as they want.
() –
Good math, kid!
philly –
What about salt water?
girldujour –
I think Jon Stewart said it best: The Palins are a family of grifters. Nothing else matters.
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@ Ric
Decimation might work. Start with Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Bolton.
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Decimation would only take out a tenth of them. I’m thinking more along the lines of annihilation, or at least getting them all to cry ‘Uncle’.
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Ric,
“Don’t care?” That’s a watershed in “Lion” thought, is it not? I’m moving on, too, and am enthusiastic about what might come, but ignoring the overt role that racism played in the outcome of this election is, well, rather pigeon-livered of you. Had a block Christian vote played as strong a part, you and every other “progressive” would be casting every order of insult.
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sk-
I suspect the various forms of white racism cancelled themselves out. Blacks voting for Obama, yeah, so what? That hardly carries the threat of redneck yahoo Christians screaming ‘Nigger!’ as they murder blacks. And as for block Christian voting, yes, objectionable, since they vote from superstition and ignorance with the intent of forcing their stupidities on the rest of the country. Apples and oranges.
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Sk: Your analogy isn’t exactly a good one. A block Christian vote would be more clearly evident of what the voter’s intent was, like denying equal rights to a segment of Americans. A block racial vote is open to speculation. Blacks could have mindlessly voted for another black, or, being statistically more likely to be under that $250,000/yr income level, could have been motivated by their economic best interest, or who knows what else? Unless the CNN poll also includes reasons people gave for making their vote, the only thoughts possible are purely speculative.
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PhillyChief,
Are you suggesting Obama’s platfrom appealed to nearly every single African American voter in the country, regardless of age, income level and education? Don’t most Americans earn less than $250,000 year?
My main point is that the word “racism” hasn’t even been mentioned. Instead and with profound irony, post-election commentary blathers on about–of all things–unity and how America has once again shown the world that she is capable of greatness. It’s laughable.
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