Obama won.

He did. So, how does FAKKU feel about this?

Extremely fucking happy. I've been in hell for the last 8 years, and now I finally have a little faith in Americans, and hope for the future of this country.

............./´¯/'...'/´¯¯`·¸
........../'/.../..../......./¨¯\
........('(...´...´.... ¯~/'...')
.........\.................'...../
..........'\............. _.·´
............\..............(
.............\..............\
BROBAMA FIST!!!

YEAH! America does something right for once. I'm proud of my southern neighbor.





Oh internets, why doesn't it cease to amaze me?

oh how I lol'd at the "Jesus Camp" .gif but yeah I doubt He'll fuck the country up worse than our current president. Though I'm not fond of the Che T-shirt that have been made of him.

I'm excited. I spent my summer working on Obama's campaign, and it's exciting to see him come through, especially with such a strong showing. He has strong intelligence, calm towards a frenetic world and campaign, and a lot more willingness to talk to his opponents and less willingness to fight them than the opposition, things I think this country needs. There is a lot going on right now, and Obama is a promising leader who I think has the chance to be a great president.

Above all, Obama has gotten a lot of new people energized and a lot of cynics to believe in a potential leader again. Of course, plenty of people think he won't be able to do anything special that others couldn't or didn't do, and that he's just the average politician with a silver tongue, but I hope he can do something to increase the confidence of US people in their government. Yes, the government has screwed up and sometimes does to much, but in many spheres the government has an important job to do, and the lack of confidence by US people in the US government, and for many, in the traditional US standing and ideals, has been a big obstacle. If Obama can convince people to believe that government is really trying to make things better for them, then he might be able to mobilize and replicate something like the great moments in history that citizens and pundits look back upon with fondness.

Ultimately, if Obama can resurrect some of the faith in the US and in government that allowed the US to get face challenges such as the Great Depression and WWII with optimism and dynamism, and his campaign shows that he has much more potential than the other candidates to do this, then that will be more important than any policy he can ever enact.


Another note: I called that Obama would win with 353 EVs yesterday, I'll see how close I get.

Has anyone tuned in to Fox news since Obama won? The reporters sound so depressed XD

Wow, I didn't expect the electoral votes be that apart by like a what, 50-70 vote margin?

As a voice of wisdom and a caution to the winds, let's hope Obama does not make the economy worse than it already is. Yes, youth and energy are Obama's trademarks as well as have that untapped potential to do good things for our nation, but because he is young, let's hope he can change our foreign policy for the better and tread more carefully in dealing with international affairs. Aggressiveness will be his strong point, but it can also be bad in the sense that pushing things too much can create a backlash. (JFK pushed for desegragation and equality, and paid it with a bullet... which I hope won't happen to Obama.) The economy is not going to be fixed with a magic solution or genius (unless a world-scale war occurs) and will need time to recover, and I only expect Obama to do things that will help speed the recovery. Any radical change/plan I fear will destabilize the economy even more. And I also hope that the Democratic party isn't going to "hai, hai" to every thing he says because Congress has a democratic majority, and if there isn't debate within the democratic party, and when they start passing out stupid laws and dumb decisions, no one can stop them.

Other than that, this is a moment in American history to remember. (Though I am a Hilary Clinton supporter all the way... Obama was just the lesser of the two evils in comparison to McCain.)

edit: It's also because Obama's young that can also work against him. I'll have to say that his lack of experience bothers me a lot, and it might come back later to haunt us if he's too fresh and inept to deal with things from the national to international level from an executory position, which he has never been in.

GO OBIDEN!

I was an avid supporter of Hilary in the beginning as well, but as the political campaign progressed I slowly cam over to Obama's side. Hopefully he'll fix some of our problems and keep me from fleeing the country.

I LOL'ed on this comment. But first before I go onto this:

I voted for McCain. Why, because I disagree with a lot of things Obama wants to do, I also believe that there will be people going for his life at least a few times, and no one deserves to get assassinated. Now, do I think Obama is a bad guy? No, I find him to be a nice guy, but quite honestly, I just don't like the majority of what he stands for. And even though McCain lost, I hope Obama has a good presidency. And I hope he does help this country out.

Now onto that comment:P I LOL'ED out of my chair! Faith in the government? You need to pick up something other than a standardized US history book. A lot of people hated FDR, but they also hated Hoover, they just chose the "lesser of two evils". Matter of fact, many people, both the common man and the intellectual elite, were opposed to everything he did. He was called and accused of so many things, he was even accused of trying to introduce communism into these United States! Heck, my grandfather talks smack about FDR if you mention him! And my Grandfather is, and always has been a democrat. And don't ask me who he voted for, cause I don't know.

Wow...I don't know what to say.

I fell down and cried. America has once agian become the leader of the free world. We are no longer the bullies of the world, but the heroes.

I believe in a God agian.

That is all.


Oh, expect I now believe in you, not the you that believes in me, but the you that believes you you.

God bless Barak Kamina, let his drill lead us on to a brighter path

Polls generally show that the events and people you refer to consistently poll as some of the greatest presidents and moments in the history of the US. Similarly, polls show that confidence in the US government by US citizens has declined. Both of these hold both for academics and non-academics. You can think whatever you want about this, but it's fact. (Inglehart of U of Michigan has done work in this field).

FDR is regarded as a great president, and while we don't have polls to show how popular he was in his own day, he managed to get re-elected until he died, presided over victory over the most important war of the century and over the US recovery from the Great Depression. There were plenty of chances to repudiate FDR, and most of them passed without incident. The notorious court packing scheme is an exception, but it also shows that FDR's biggest opposition was generally not the legislature, the most directly "popular" branch of government, but the appointed for life Supreme Court. Your main piece of evidence to the contrary is hearsay from your grandfather, hmm . . .

Further, large undertakings require a large amount of faith in the government. Wars are the best example; unpopular wars are usually doomed, and reflect directly on confidence in the government's decisions and leadership. Even if a war starts popular, in democracies, if the war doesn't stay popular, it probably won't be successful. (See Vietnam vs. WWI and WWII, Iraq)

So before you fall out of your chair laughing derisively again, I suggest that you actually take the time to assemble some logic and statistics so that you can form an argument that might hold some water.

First, I never used my grandfather as a piece of evidence, but used him as an example as he grew up living under FDR's presidency.

Second - FDR at that time was disliked a lot, much like good ol' Honest Abe was during the Civil War. But since they are both credited with so much, people of course change their tune. And let us not forget, the Great Depression would have never ended as soon as it did without WWII. SO giving him credit for ending it would be giving him TOO much credit.

Third - Again, we go back to the issue of it is not the majority who elects the president, it is the electoral voters who elect the president.

Fourth - WWII was not a very popular war with the folks at home, talk to someone who was old enough to remember, and they'll give you some stories you don't read in history books. Meatless Mondays, try meatless weeks for a many middle and lower class familes. A lot of people hated it, but they also saw it as a necessary evil that must be done to avenge our fallen brothers at Pearl Harbor and to stop Germany's aggression. Also, last I checked, the Iraq war, despite being very short, was never a popular war. What is going on over there now is a conflict.

Please, stop reading a standardized US history book. Because everything you've used to support your evidence is found in that. Go out and TALK to people who lived during that time. I spent quite a bit of time with my Grandfather a few years ago, and spent a lot of time hanging out in the local VFW talking to these guys who ACTUALLY lived during this time. I do believe that someone who lived then would be a more accurate reflection than what is in a book.

Also, I never said FDR wasn't a good president, but the view of him today, is different than the view of him THEN. And I'm looking at the view of him back then.

People got smart, we've had to deal with a dumbass for 8 years no need to deal with another one for 4 more am I right?

Are you sure you are not confusing peoples' normal complaining with genuine dislike? They voted the guy into office 4 times. Did the republicans really managed to nominate such a noxious candidate each and every one of these races, or did people think FDR was good at his job?



FDR won the popular vote in every election he ran in. In fact, his margin actually increased in the second election he ran in. It fell afterward, but never below a majority. Secondly, the way the electoral college works ensures that the popular vote decides the election on a state level. We have not yet had a significant instance of elector defection.



I sat "popular" in the sense that the population supported the war, not in the sense that people were celebrating in the streets that fighting had broken out across the world. In that respect, WWII was a popular war. People generally thought that the US had a just cause and needed to go to war, as you said. When the US first invaded Iraq, a majority of the country favored the action.



I just plain think you are wrong. Talking to people who lived is important for the facts it uncovers and for a more immersive sense of history, but records and statistics are infinitely more reliable than eyewitnesses. This has continued to plague modern day criminal courts. A person's view of their life is necessarily self centric, and memories are changed, consciously and unconsciously, over time. While certainly enriching, your grandfather's cannot be extended to a general trend.

Think about it this way: what is the likelihood that your grandfather and the locals he hung out and talked were a completely representative sample of the nation at that point? Statistically zero. What you are seeing is a small cross-section of a small non-representative group of people in the US at the time. You could make very compelling and accurate claims about these individuals or a group that you could show that they were representative of, but it does reliably not extend beyond that. People who write accepted academic history books generally use documentation and what statistics are available (and accurate, to the best of our knowledge) to draw conclusions because they are constant, and the correct statistics are known mathematically to be able to be expanded to a larger group with considerable accuracy.

On a note, I have talked to my great uncle about WWII, and he told me stories about his life in school at the time. It painted a picture of the times and was certainly helpful in establishing a background, but I would not claim to take his experience as representative historical fact concerning the entire nation.

i think by having the people of the US to elected obama have successfully minimize the bad image/label that the US have. from what i see everyday for the past month, it seems that people all over the world rooting for obama's win and i have never seen people or country besides the US whose rooting for john mccain.

well anyway congratulation for obama & biden and of course the people of the US. from now on, we(people from all around the world) will be in your care for the next 4 years.

off topic sorta of, I'm surprised prop 8 is winning right now...

I guess its safe to assume that FAKKU! leans to the left.

Man I'm really hoping that prop 8 doesn't pass...I'm really hoping that the Bay Area can beat it back.