Good Grief, That Was a Close Call

[elanorgardner]

Some of you may not want to read this, desiring to remain positive now that the campaign is over. I respect that and I am putting it under a cut tag, but my concern is that some of us need to know exactly how close we came to putting someone so extremely unqualified and unsuitable one heartbeat away from the Presidency, and how very lucky we ALL

Comments

[blackbird_song]

All I can say is thank God the American people had the sense not to vote for her! (I'm sorry, but really, that's what it boiled down to.) The scary part is, though, that they rejected her by too narrow a margin for any sane person's comfort. Will we retain that modicum of sanity for 2012?

On a slightly related note, another thing I've found distressing is that one of my (older) students hadn't known about McCain's reversal of position on the torture issue. I wonder how many other people are/were unaware of that? Things like that, especially when a matter of public record and much media scrutiny, really shouldn't go unnoticed in America.

I'm just going to be over here in the corner, using the Braino before retconning myself.

Catherine

[lame_pegasus]

On a slightly related note, another thing I've found distressing is that one of my (older) students hadn't known about McCain's reversal of position on the torture issue.

Oh, was there a reversal? That was one of the things about him that earned my respect.

[blackbird_song]

He ended up voting for 'extraordinary rendition'. It was after a small change was made, but it was still a vote for torture, since waterboarding was included in the list of acceptable activities. He lost me forever when he did that.

Catherine

[iolanthe_rosa]

Yup. He never had me as a voter, but he had my respect as a candidate - until then. Then Sarah Palin was just the nail in the coffin. I think it's a very sad thing how much he compromised himself. If he had stayed true to his ideals he might well have won the election -- it was neck and neck until September when the economy collapsed. But he insisted on pandering to the extreme right.

[elanorgardner]

Don't even get me started on torture. That is one of the reasons I really did not like the series "24" and was rather aghast that the American public seemed to eat it up. Torture is one of my hot buttons. I can't even talk about it. (There are times when I think it is a past life thing, the feelings are so strong.)

[blackbird_song]

Agreed, on all counts.

There had once been a time when I might have considered voting for him as the lesser of two evils, but after the torture vote, I just couldn't countenance him, at all. His campaign and choice of running mate did in all of the respect I had for him, and though he redeemed himself a bit with his wonderful concession speech, he has a steep climb ahead of him to win back any credibility with the public at large, imho.

Catherine

[samena]

I don't live in the US, so my perception may be off, but I got the impression that a lot of Republicans and/or conservatives voted McCain because of religious beliefs, and such, and not because of him. They seem to think that with Obama in the White House, it will be gay marriages and abortions coming out of their noses, but they don't look at the big picture - what will happen to their country, and the world, in general. They endorse the war in Iraq but make a big stink out of two same-sex people getting married. It's very narrow-minded, and I totally understand how concerning it is for everyone who does see the big picture.

But for now we have Obama and Biden, and we can take a deep, relieved breath!

[elanorgardner]

Yes, a percentage of those voting for McCain are good people who voted on one issue, and only one issue -- abortion. They voted a single issue on the platform and ignored everything else, almost to the point of being "blindfolded" by the issue. I can't fault them, because they sincerely believe that way and no amount of pointing out all the other horrors will change their mind about what they perceive as the ulimate horror. A lot of my relatives are this way. And even some of them were wavering toward the end.

I could only be relieved briefly, now I start wringing my hands.

[elanorgardner]

Don't retcon yourself. We need to remember.

There is a lot of joy amongst those of us in the reality-based community, but what we don't see right now is the level of disappointment, fear, and even hate on the right.

The fact that gun sales are spiking right now should give us all pause....

[blackbird_song]

Good points, all. I've noted the seething on the right, and it would behoove us all to be aware of it. Obama's really going to have to reach out and allay their fears about things, and I worry that he won't get that right.

I hadn't known about the spike in gun sales. That is horrid, and I worry for all of us on that count. I sincerely hope that the Secret Service understands the extreme threat to Obama's life, not to mention those of his wife and daughters. I'm not entirely sure that anyone in any sort of power quite understands how deep it might be, in comparison to others in the same position.

Catherine