So, how about last night?
Pretty cool, huh? Obviously some people on here aren't going to think so, but I do. I mean, thank God that it was a decisive victory. I think that we can all agree that a repeat of the last two elections with disputed states and bare minimums for victory would have been a bad thing. Regardless of who won, we had to have a clear victor or there would have been serious problems with the ability of the winner to govern. Of course I, as an opponent of pretty much everything that has happened under Bush's administration, am very glad that Obama was the one who ended up winning the night with way more electoral votes than he ever needed to gain the victory. I don't think that this country could have handled four more years of Rove and Cheney-style politics which is almost certainly what would have resulted from electing John McCain. I also hope that this will begin to repair our standing in the world. I did a semester abroad in London in the winter and spring after Bush won his first election, and while there was no violence or outward anger against Americans there was certainly a feeling that we had given the middle finger to the rest of the world. I remember hearing about Americans passing themselves off as Canadians, not only in the Middle East or other parts of the world that have always had suspicions about us but in countries like England and France where we're supposed to be friendly. Now that the eight-year nightmare of Bush-Cheney is almost over, perhaps we can start healing those divisions that have caused us to become an island apart in a world that desperately needs something from us other than war and economic exploitation.
I wish people would stop with the "Obama is a socialist" stuff, the only reason that Obama looks even close to one is because we're so far to the right on economic issues in this country that anything sane looks ultra-liberal. I mean, I looked at my sample ballot last week and there were three socialist parties represented between candidates for the various races. I wonder how they, the genuine socialists, feel when people are accusing Obama of being one of them simply because he opposes the current state of health care. Wanting to create a system that ensures health care for everybody without pumping billions of taxpayer dollars into the coffers of greedy HMOs is not socialism. Believing that people who earn more should pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes is not socialism (in fact, I understand that Adam Smith was himself an advocate of progressive tax systems). Believing that the United States is in a unique position to champion green technology, and that our economy can see a renaissance through the production of such technology, is not socialism. Envisioning a world where America once again sees itself as a member of the world community rather than as its tyrant is not socialism. If some people are indebted to this idea of Obama as socialist, then I'd hate to see what they'd think if they actually lived in a genuine socialist nation. I don't personally think that it's such a bad idea to embrace socialism, but I certainly would argue that we have a long way to go before we reach that point.
I wish people would stop with the "Obama is a socialist" stuff, the only reason that Obama looks even close to one is because we're so far to the right on economic issues in this country that anything sane looks ultra-liberal. I mean, I looked at my sample ballot last week and there were three socialist parties represented between candidates for the various races. I wonder how they, the genuine socialists, feel when people are accusing Obama of being one of them simply because he opposes the current state of health care. Wanting to create a system that ensures health care for everybody without pumping billions of taxpayer dollars into the coffers of greedy HMOs is not socialism. Believing that people who earn more should pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes is not socialism (in fact, I understand that Adam Smith was himself an advocate of progressive tax systems). Believing that the United States is in a unique position to champion green technology, and that our economy can see a renaissance through the production of such technology, is not socialism. Envisioning a world where America once again sees itself as a member of the world community rather than as its tyrant is not socialism. If some people are indebted to this idea of Obama as socialist, then I'd hate to see what they'd think if they actually lived in a genuine socialist nation. I don't personally think that it's such a bad idea to embrace socialism, but I certainly would argue that we have a long way to go before we reach that point.