to our resident republicans

dear friends, you know who you are. weve had our disagreements in the past, but now the time has come for us to pull together as a nation and-

oh, f**k it...

IN YOUR FACE!! :green:

Back at you sir... I hope I'm proved wrong about what could go badly, it's obvious what could go well from here.

I can be proud of this election result even though I didn't vote for him. it is a truly historic election and would have been either way. I'm relieved the margins were adequate to avoid the messy recounts, but no so great to win 60 seats in the senate. I'm glad Al Franken didn't get elected, we already have enough jokers in congress, like Murtha and Frank who did get re-elected..

Time to deal with the work before us. The election is over, stick a fork in it.

JR

Hmmmmmmf... -Not too comfortable with the "in your face" bit...

I think that no matter WHICH "side" your vote went to, it's time to move on.

The country has been far too polarised for far too long now, and gloating -while it may feel like fun- is not going to help anything constructive.

Of the two speeches last night, I think that John McCain's was the better-crafted one. -He was truly gracious, he showed a dignity which at times he failed to fully display during the campaign. -In addition, he once again showed a suppressed irritation with the booing when his opponent's name was mentioned... just as he did when the words "arab" and "terr-rrist" were expressed a few (long) weeks ago. -I suspect that he genuinely meant what he said about reaching across the Aisle to help support the Obama administration in the coming months, and I think that his track record shows that if anyone can do that, McCain can.

I was saddened by the repeated booing (John McCain paused to show his disapproval more than once) which I felt was deeply mean-spirited, and sadly is a product of the exaggerated polarity to which the campaigns eventually became aligned.

Things I'm delighted about:

No more robot-calls, yard-signs, fat old ladies on street corners in my neighborhood waving "Obama is un-Ameican" placards (yes... -really), an improved perceived standing from European leaders, and a degree more humility from AM radio show hosts. I'm glad that once again I can say that I'm led by someone who I genuinely believe is smarter than I am. (the last eight years have been the ONLY ones when that has not been true.

Things I'm hopeful about:

When Obama was elected as the first black editor of the Harvard Law Review, many black students expected him to instigate a form of "affirmative action" with regard to "his base" as they saw it. -When he instead steered a more moderate, reasonable and sensible course, he came in for some criticism, and caught a lot of flak. -Even though he has an appreciable party majority in the senate and the house to work with, now is the time for him to MODERATE 'activism', and I hope that grudges won't be seen as worthy of 'avenging'... by anyone in the party.

I'm hopeful that the GLOBAL crisis doesn't pull everyone down... Such events are fertile breeding conditions for extreme politics, and that's NOT what we need, at all.

Keith

sorry, but i cant forget the mean spirited gloating back in 2004, and what 'their' party has done to my country over the last few years. im only human. but i ll give it a rest now.

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood... Right ssltech?

You know someone somewhere in this forum asked me "what are you gonna do Claude if he gets elected?" Easy, work hard.

John McCain wouldn't have made me sucessful and Barack Obama won't either. It's up to me. Might be a little harder under Obama but that's OK too.

Good attitude, Claude. And one I can fully agree with also. I think it's interesting times that a person that is such a moderate IMO (Obama) has stirred up so much fear and anger in moderate republicans and has stirred up so much idol worship in the far left (probably what I'd be considered).

I think Obama is pretty moderate and rational in his views and I'm very glad that we are shifting from so much fear and hatred at the top to his more centrist views (despite what all republican think tank folks tried to paint him as).

Well I hope you"re right mbira.

In many ways the fat lady still hasn't sung. We'll see.

[quote author="ClaudeTucker"]It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood... Right ssltech?[/quote]
Absolutely. -And I'm glad that the outcome was sufficiently clear that there's no room for 2000-style rancorous challenges.

You're also absolutely spot-on, Claude, in terms of day-to-day mindset, relying on Government (capital 'G') is a bad place to be.

[quote author="ClaudeTucker"]In many ways the fat lady still hasn't sung. We'll see.[/quote]

I'm not entirely certain that I'm following you here... In terms of the election, I think she's probably finished singing, taken her bows along with several curtain-calls, scooped up the floral tributes and is presently in the green-room, relaxing in a bath of tequila with one or two of the smooth-skinned chorus-line boys.

In terms of any economic 'miracle' recovery, then absolutely not. -there's simply too much hard work to do, too much digging out to accomplish, and we still haven't really got much of a handle on how many apples in how many barrels are rancid.

-And neither party can -or ever could- do it alone.

McCain's favourite term -"Steady strain"- is highly applicable here; -It's going to take some steady and carefully measured work from EVERYONE to get our foundations stable and deep again... -No slack in the line, and no sudden corrections either. (-My father was a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy during the second world war, so a few of the same analogies and aphorisms were quoted to me while I was growing up.)

I do hope that I'm not deceiving myself, but then again, I hope were ALL not being deceived... -We've had FAR too much of that, of late.

Keith

We have heard nothing but this election for the past 2 years, I do hope we don't hear nothing but it's result for the next 2 :roll: :roll: :roll:

We have heard nothing but this election for the past 2 years, I do hope we don't hear nothing but it's result for the next 2

Click to expand...

Even in the UK? Wow that really does suck. We don't need another two years like the last.

Yes, ssltech the fat election lady has sung and the stage is dark.

Your second comment was more to my thinking...

In terms of any economic 'miracle' recovery, then absolutely not. -there's simply too much hard work to do, too much digging out to accomplish, and we still haven't really got much of a handle on how many apples in how many barrels are rancid.

Click to expand...

I'd like to have some of my 401-K losses back and I'll probably get them. I'm in it long.

I'm not much of an 'investor'; I have a 401(k) and my UK pension, but I've never really been a 'gambler', and I've always had a sneaking caution about over-exposing myself to risk. -What little I have ever had in is what I can afford to lose, and -perhaps like you, I suspect- it's in there for the long-term.

My wife takes a more 'adventurous' view. She's always telling me me: "you should put more of your money to work"...

Whenever the market takes a sustained downturn like this, I usually get a clip around the ear for commenting on how much work her money is doing for us... -I tell her that it's HARD to dig such a deep hole so quickly! :green:

I wasn't sure if you were suggesting that the election was going to be challenged, but I really didn't see that as a prospect. -My FIRST election experience was voting in Seminole county in November 2000... and I spent a few days dodging on-the-spot reporters in Sanford town center for weeks afterwards, when they had whole fleets of out-of-state OB trucks clogging the town center.

I could've made a reasonable living renting buffered feeds out from dangle-lines outside the County Election Supervisor's office... but it was never going to be a job with any real long-term prospects! :wink:

Keith

[quote author="solder_city"]IN YOUR FACE!! :green: [/quote]

Eloquent... :roll:

I was wondering where solder_city was. It must have required a great amount of restraint to watch and hold the profanity.

But it is not in my face. Yeah, the weak candidate running on the right lost. I was concerned more with a decisive election, which it was. He is my president elect as well, and I support him out of the gate. I think over the next few weeks he will be made privy to many things beyond his previous security clearance, and he will act accordingly, which will surprise many of his supporters. I will have disagreements later, about judicial nominees, tax legislation, national security, and some other junk :wink: , but that is later.
I wonder about a few things. . .
will they keep the new veep locked in Darth Cheney's Death Star, for his own good? and,

will I ever hear the phrase "Mr. Obama" in the national media?

Mike
PS: c'mon Claude, finish that "big bloke" :sam: and sing with me, B sharp buddy. . .
"When you walk through a storm
hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark.
At the end of the storm is a guh. . . guh-holden sk-k-k-y"
"And you'll n-n-nuh-hever walk alone. . ."

:green:

[quote author="sodderboy"]
"When you walk through a storm
hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark.
At the end of the storm is a guh. . . guh-holden sk-k-k-y"
"And you'll n-n-nuh-hever walk alone. . ."

:green:[/quote]

The late great virtuosic drummer Steve Bohannon, mainstay of Don Ellis's big band---the one that specialized in bizarre time signatures---used to do a parody of that tune. I don't recall it in its entirety, some forty years later, but one line was "You'll end up with a noseful of rain".

[quote author="SSLtech"]
Of the two speeches last night, I think that John McCain's was the better-crafted one. -He was truly gracious, he showed a dignity which at times he failed to fully display during the campaign. -In addition, he once again showed a suppressed irritation with the booing when his opponent's name was mentioned... just as he did when the words "arab" and "terr-rrist" were expressed a few (long) weeks ago. -I suspect that he genuinely meant what he said about reaching across the Aisle to help support the Obama administration in the coming months, and I think that his track record shows that if anyone can do that, McCain can.

I was saddened by the repeated booing (John McCain paused to show his disapproval more than once) which I felt was deeply mean-spirited, and sadly is a product of the exaggerated polarity to which the campaigns eventually became aligned.[/quote]

Amen brother.

Very respectful of McCain and shows (what I believe to be) his true character. I also heard on the news that Obama spoke with McCain shortly after his victory was announced and asked McCain for his help since he was such a great leader...or something.

That is a relief in itself.

[quote author="sodderboy"]will I ever hear the phrase "Mr. Obama" in the national media?[/quote]
indeed you will. -It will probably begin abroad, and it probably sounds odd at first, but think back to mid-September 2001, and you NEVER heard anyone say "nine-eleven"... -people were commenting on how it was ALWAYS respectfully pronounced "September the Eleventh". -I recall the first person who I EVER heard say "nine-one-one" and how bizarre and wrong it sounded to me: -It was New year's eve 2001, ten weeks later.

[quote author="sodderboy"]"When you walk through a storm
hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark.
At the end of the storm is a guh. . . guh-holden sk-k-k-y"
"And you'll n-n-nuh-hever walk alone. . ."
[/quote]
To sing it with TRUE passion, you have to wear red, and come from Liverpool:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCn-8MB-v5U

While the tune originated in the USA (Rogers and Hammerstein, IIRC), it's been associated with Liverpool for over forty years, beginning with Gerry Marsden (for whom I've recorded a few times) and continuing ever since as the official anthem of Liverpool. -It's been cast into the Shankley Gates, and since the Hillsborough disaster almost twenty years ago (anniversary very soon), it's been a place of gathering and tribute.

Keith