This time the whole world, many millions want Obama to succeed-that's VERY unusual. He is the icon of our generation-the facebook, myspace, the computer nerds of the world who correspond with many people on the internet, Obama is just like a combination of many profiles of people on the intenet, that's why people feel so much for this election-he cuts across racial backgrounds, politics. We want ourselves to get beyond the usual politics, and he is a real possibility for a bridge for substantial dialogs of understanding. I am really excited that we could be on the verge of real change for a new chapter in humanity.
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In reply to KaWai:
"We want ourselves to get beyond the usual politics, and he is a real possibility for a bridge for substantial dialogs of understanding. I am really excited that we could be on the verge of real change for a new chapter in humanity."
This exactly what I mean by "SAINTHOOD " .... but he is a politician and as a politician he owns his triumph to many .... and they will come back to him when the opportunity comes to demand their dues .... we humans do nothing for nothing ! ... unless that is if you are called MOTHER THERESA .He is just a human with no powers to heal the whole world as we may wish .... he can try his best but 'one's best ' is never good enough ! ... so let's keep a cool head and wish him the best but always keeping in mind that is not the POPE who has being elected but the next President of the USA ... a great DEMOCRATIC NATION where anything is possible and that has proven wrong the whole racist card !
What I do find to be exiting now is who is he going to chose to have around him as his advisers and cabinet members ? Let's hope he choses them really well !
In reply to Galileo's Universe:
I think you are picking what you want to hear, I meant that this election is not about Obama, it's about people, I think this election has rocked the minds of many people, around the world, that if democracy is exercised, if people are proactive, they could change the course of history, and could change the old stereotype. This election has demonstrated more strongly to the world than using military occupation, the power of voting, the power of democracy, that each of us has the power to change the world. It's the first time in human history where around the world, millions of people closely watched the process of voting in a democratic society, it's a eye opening, stereo shattering experience for us, from Africa to Indonesia, how this election could changed or even has changed people's mindsets of themselves, how they see other possibilities, and how they see other people. I think this election was a very empowering experience, I think many people now realized how important and significant each person's choice could be, that we actually have the power to heal the world, if we could shattered centuries old stereotype. The dialogs have just begun, in many neighborhoods around the US, imagine this Sunday in neighborhood churches, what would be discussed. I don't think people now think he is a Saint, I think Americans and people have a healthy sense of skepticism and cynicism to see that. I am very hopeful that this election would have influence the inner politics of China, Africa and the Middle East, because people have witnessed the overcoming of what seemingly was the unimaginable and the impossible.
In reply to KaWai:
" I think you are picking what you want to hear, I meant that this election is not about Obama, it's about people," ......
Nice try ...:):) ... I don't pick what I want to hear, that is your very personal assumption ! ... I always follow my instinct and I do think that opinions shouldn't be made lightly about anyone's else opinions ..... and just because I do not agree with your way of seeing the world or your very 'passionate' arguments about you wanting people to believe in what you believe ... it doesn't mean that your ' truth ' is the only one, and the just one and who doesn't agree with you therefore is ' naturally ' wrong ... If we all think like that then just forget the whole exercise of ' FREEDOM TO THINK ' ! .... It is not about trying to impose someone's will or thinking ... it is about challenging BLIND believes !
I would like to be convinced by your thoughts but I'm afraid it is all based on personal sentiments and very little facts to back up the arguments .
You talked about the people around he whole world .... putting their hopes on OBAMA, etc ... about changing the course of history, the power of voting, about Africa, Indonesia, empowering, the dialogue has just began ... really I don't understand what are you talking about ???? ... It is not as if the PRESIDENT of the USA suddenly becomes the shinning guiding light who can perform miracles ... a bit over the top if you ask anyone ! ... people have always had the opportunity to make the world better
without having to put the blame on AMERICA .... so you think that now MUGABE is going to become a beacon of GENEROSITY towards his own people just like that or the Iranian dictator is going to say ... ' Adieu Nuclear Missiles ' ? or China is going to become less challenging to AMERICA ? .... Some people call that ... being really NAIVE !
This election was mostly about BUSH and the REPUBLICANS, this election was about who had the biggest bulk of money to expend, this election was about telling people what they want to hear ! .... this election was about the DEMOCRATS being able to get to power again and about Obama certainly !.... just like every election ! with the big difference that the candidate is African America ( weird word by the way ... why not just American ?) . All the elections are about AMBITIOUS people called politicians so please spare me the tears about this election ... the only thing we are missing are the violins to made the picture perfect !... :):):)
When it comes to politics I'm really hard to be convinced ... not that anyone should care ..... I FIRST HAVE TO SEE THE " MIRACLES " they promise they will perform and then I might CONVERT ! ...
Uhmmm talking about picking what one may want to hear ..... you made me wonder now ... lol !!
In reply to Galileo's Universe:
I did say that "I think Americans and people have healthy sense of skepticism and cynicism to see that" Obama is not a miracle worker, but I think millions in the world have more hopes within themselves now in believing that they could change their lives, and they could overcome extreme barriers, it's no longer a dream. It's not America has become shining lights, but ordinary people could change old stereotype. I don't think I am naive to believe that this election has impacted people outside the US, I really am hopeful that perhaps this has lifted people's hopes up even just a bit, we have seen a new possibility, I think this is beyond politics, it's about people now believing in themselves a bit more. I really think the result of this election means so much more to many people than just change of politics, and it has impacts on people in everyday life in how they carry themselves, their goals and aspirations, their attitudes, how they treat each other. Many black people have voted for Obama because he is black, but many of them also voted because they felt he was the better candidate between the two.
KA WAI hier the following just to prove the points I have made ! :
" Obama faces an unsettled world on taking office "
By Warren P. Strobel and Jonathan S. Landay, McClatchy Newspapers
Wed Nov 5
WASHINGTON — In 74 days, President Barack Obama will assume responsibility for guiding the nation out of two wars and through a daunting array of real and potential global crises, even as a pressing domestic agenda and a depleted federal treasury hamper his flexibility abroad.
Obama is likely to benefit from initial goodwill across much of the planet, where there's profound relief that the Bush years are ending. President Bush himself has taken steps, such as outreach to Iran and Syria , in his waning months that could provide Obama with diplomatic opportunities.
Still, the new president — untested in foreign affairs — faces what may be the most unsettled global scene since the 1930s and '40s.
Iraq , where Obama has promised to withdraw U.S. troops by summer 2010, is less violent, but far from stable or self-reliant. Al Qaida and the Taliban have grown stronger and now control parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan's tribal areas. Neither sanctions nor sweeteners have halted Iran's nuclear development. North Korea's leader is ailing, raising questions about the stability of the nuclear-armed dictatorship.
The United States is still the world's dominant power, but it's less dominant than it was and increasingly is challenged by China , Russia and others.
"President Obama will be a wartime president from day one, and he will have to make immediate decisions and come to grips with immediate national security priorities," Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies , a Washington policy institute, wrote in an analysis Wednesday.
In a speech last week, Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell predicted that the election victor's euphoria "is going to be dampened somewhat when he begins to focus on the realities of the myriad of changes and challenges we are going to face in the future."
Obama's first test may already have come Wednesday, his first full day as president-elect.
Russian President Dmitri Medvedev announced in his first state of the nation speech that Russia will station short-range missiles near its border with Poland if Obama proceeds with Bush's plan to station missile defense systems in Poland and the Czech Republic .
It was reminder that Russia , which seemed cooperative during most of the tenure of Obama's two predecessors, has turned sharply anti-Western.
Obama on Thursday will get his first full look at the challenges facing the nation when McConnell gives him his first President's Daily Brief, the mostly highly classified briefing produced by the U.S. intelligence community, according to a senior U.S. official who requested anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
Thereafter, Obama's daily briefing will be overseen by Michael J. Morell , the head of the CIA's analytical branch, the official said.
The global economic crisis, more than any other factor, could limit Obama's flexibility in defense and foreign affairs, whether it's increasing the size of the U.S. military, as he's promised to do, or ramping up foreign aid in an attempt to expand American influence, former U.S. officials said.
"I do think it will soak up a good deal of the president's time and attention until it is resolved," said James Dobbins of the RAND Corp. , a defense and international relations research company.
"The administration is not going to come out of the box" immediately with large new foreign policy initiatives, said Dobbins, a former assistant secretary of state. "Frankly, that's not necessarily a bad thing."
Richard Haass , the president of the Council on Foreign Relations , said that what makes the current situation unique isn't the multiplicity of challenges facing the United States , but the fact that the U.S. military is stretched in Iraq and Afghanistan and the economic crisis demands attention.
"It's going to be the president's first priority. It will probably limit the availability of resources. It could lead to increased instability in certain countries around the world," Haass said.
Bush is hosting 20 leaders of the world's largest economies for a summit here in 10 days. While Obama seems unlikely to attend, he could meet the leaders while they're in Washington .
Obama has pledged to remove U.S. troops from Iraq in 16 months after taking office and to increase U.S. forces in Afghanistan . Whether he can meet that deadline remains to be seen, and the future of the U.S. troop presence is caught up in an agreement Bush is negotiating with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki that's been delayed repeatedly.
Obama has also promised to open diplomatic talks with U.S. adversaries such as Iran . Both Dobbins and Haass said that by reversing course in his final months and sending out feelers to Syria and allowing a senior U.S. diplomat to attend talks with Iran , Bush has helped Obama. Bush is expected to announce his intent to establish a U.S. diplomatic post in Tehran in coming weeks.
If history is a guide, Obama will face early tests from abroad as president, either from leaders seeking to gauge his mettle, or from surprise events.
Bush was challenged early in his presidency when a U.S. spy plane collided with a Chinese military jet and crash-landed on Chinese territory. President Bill Clinton's first year saw the 1993 bombing of New York's World Trade Center and the deaths of 18 U.S. soldiers in Mogadishu, Somalia .
Obama seems unlikely to escape a similar welcome.
While foreign leaders may or may not choose to test Obama, "the one thing I'm sure of is, events will test him," Haass said. "There will be coups. . . . There will be genocide. . . . There will be terrorism."
( Jonathan S. Landay contributed)
Yesterday on the streets in San Francisco, on the subway, people were more quiet than I had thought, I thought they would be chatting about the election, but most people seemed to be in a self reflective mood, in their thoughts. I felt on the streets a sense of serene, people were not as frazzled, they were still trying to sink in this fact that it's a new ball game, for themselves. This kind of change from within could potential have unimaginable positive impact on an entire society. That's the reason why I said we could be on the verge of a new chapter in humanity.
Gali: Do you really think people in the US judged Obama more kindly because he is black? Or voted for him because he is black?
In reply to KaWai:
In my opinion of no importance .... it was a mixture of many things and that the Republican candidates were a total disaster, that was certainly in Obama's favour plus the fact that Obama had more money to pay for his spin doctors ! ... and certainly a highest percentage of black voters voted for him because of his colour and right they should !!! .. so let's not beat about the bush ... Wasn't this election the largest turn out in history of black voters ? Do please correct me if I'm wrong.
He is the PRESIDENT NOW ... the elections have been completed so the only thing now left is to hope that he will be wiser than all the presidents before him .... and that, indeed, the BULLIES around the world will respect him and his country ... but can the HYENAS of this world suddenly become little lambs with Obama now in charge, I wonder ? ... That would require certainly MIRACLES of the most unlikely kind !!
I think we are talking about 2 issues, you are talking about Bush and politics, I am seeing change in people, and their perception being shifted about the status quote. http://sg.biz.yahoo.com/081105/16/4k16b.html
http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=2b1c84a9-89db-45e4-8c57-d22936c2cdef