America's new reality

/ 05.11.2008. u 22:32

Komentari: 27
Preporuke: 4
/
Čitanost: 217

Obama. From flickr user Tonx

Coming off the high of yesterday momentous election, I’m still processing America’s new reality.

Last year I had no answer when Serb friends of mine asked which I thought more likely, a woman or a black man as America’s next president. I simply couldn’t believe that America’s politics as usual would make room for either one. Yet here we are, proud citizens of a country on the eve of our first black presidency.

Last night I gathered with friends to watch the results come in. Energy in the room grew with each state declared blue. And when Obama finally took the stage, many, including myself, were moved to tears. His words were touching: “our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared…”; and his poise, inspiring.

But after we applauded and hugged our way through his final “Yes we can,” I couldn’t shake the thought that surely all this is just too good to be true. For as America saw in the civil rights years, and as Serbia saw in March 2003, those who stand for change do so at tremendous personal risk.

And it turns out I wasn’t alone with this fear. On the drive home, my friends all agreed that the Plexiglas barriers in front of Obama’s podium reminded of the fate met by his most referenced predecessors, John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King. But while Americans seem to share this anxiety, it’s a largely unspoken issue in our media – with only fringe characters like Samuel L. Jackson voicing such concern.

But all for the better. For to live in fear goes against the heart of Obama’s message. While to refute it, in Obama’s words, is “to put [our] hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.”

Happy first day of an Obama America.

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loader 23:06 05.11.2008

Novi svetski poredak II ?

Vauh ...!

Kolos sa rodoslovom 23:25 05.11.2008

OBAMANIA

If He can manage to put 50% of His words into work, I'll be happy Serb in America. And I really HOPE...
And I belive plexiglass barrier was there to block the wind.

Better times are coming!
God Bless America!

simkke 23:26 05.11.2008

Re: OBAMANIA

Kolos sa rodoslovom
Better times are coming!God Bless America!

Yeah, sure...

loader 23:47 05.11.2008

Re: OBAMANIA

God Bless Serbia and ...! Hm.. And ...

dusanj92 23:50 05.11.2008

Re: OBAMANIA

Re: OBAMANIA #LinkKolos sa rodoslovomBetter times are coming!God Bless America!

Yeah, sure...

Count me in.

Malopre me pozove prijatelj Sharif . On je crnac i dobar covek i drug. Cesto igramo poker zajedno. Dogovorimo se za partiju za cetvrtak vece i onda me pita sta mislim o novom predsedniku Obami. Ja mu kazem da Obama nije predsednik (izostavim ono "jos"

. On poce malo da se opire kao kako nije pa izabran je, pa ... a onda shvati i ispravi se. Uglavnom kaze da je mnogo radostan. Pitam ga zasto kad nevidim sta ce obama da ucini za mene ili za njega i da moramo da idalje budemo uspesni u pokeru ako zelimo nesto da uspemo. Na to Sharif poce da mi prica o nadi koju ima za predstojece promene. Kada sam ga pitao sta ce se to promeniti poceo je da muca i nije imao konkretan primer. Nisam zeleo da nastavim da ga mucim niti da raspravljam na ovu temu, jer je moj dobar drug i dalja diskusija bi to mogla samo da pokvari. Ostavio sam ga da se i dalje lepo oseca i raduje.
Pre nekoliko nedelje lokalna Obamina grupa za izbore ga je zvala nekoliko puta da pomogne na telefonu da zove ljude i poziva na glasanje. Odbio ih je dva puta u mom prisustvu. Cak je rekao nesto u stilu "ko ih j..." Ipak Sharif je danas radostan.

Ovo je staro mesec dana ali interesantno za cuti. Howard Stern radio program intervjuise potencijalne glasace u Harlemu. To su ljudi koji su juce izabrali predsednika Amerike sa srednjim imenom Husein.

DejanOz 23:53 05.11.2008

Re: OBAMANIA

Kolos sa rodoslovom
If He can manage to put 50% of His words into work, I'll be happy Serb in America. And I really HOPE...

Hmm.... reality check. Here's what Obama said he stands for during the campaign:
tax-cuts
”pro-growth, free-market”
opposition to mandatory health insurance
doubling the funding for charter schools
performance-based salaries for teachers
increase the size of the army and marine corps by 100,000
a “surge” in Afghanistan
defending the right to own guns
supporting the death penalty
blaming crime in black communities on the breakdown of the family and traditional values

Yep, that's Obama.

Kolos sa rodoslovom 00:54 06.11.2008

Re: OBAMANIA

Yeah, sure...

Well, for me. Don't know about you...

Kolos sa rodoslovom 00:56 06.11.2008

Re: OBAMANIA

tax-cuts
”pro-growth, free-market”
opposition to mandatory health insurance
doubling the funding for charter schools
performance-based salaries for teachers
increase the size of the army and marine corps by 100,000
a “surge” in Afghanistan
defending the right to own guns
supporting the death penalty
blaming crime in black communities on the breakdown of the family and traditional values

That's exactly what I had in mind!

dusanj92 17:34 06.11.2008

Re: OBAMANIA

tax-cuts
”pro-growth, free-market”
opposition to mandatory health insurance
doubling the funding for charter schools
performance-based salaries for teachers
increase the size of the army and marine corps by 100,000
a “surge” in Afghanistan
defending the right to own guns
supporting the death penalty
blaming crime in black communities on the breakdown of the family and traditional values

Hmm...... guns, surge, tax cut, death penalty ...... zvuci kao da je republikanac.

dreamreader 20:48 07.11.2008

Re: OBAMANIA

DejanOz
Kolos sa rodoslovom
If He can manage to put 50% of His words into work, I'll be happy Serb in America. And I really HOPE...

Hmm.... reality check. Here's what Obama said he stands for during the campaign:
tax-cuts
”pro-growth, free-market”
opposition to mandatory health insurance
doubling the funding for charter schools
performance-based salaries for teachers
increase the size of the army and marine corps by 100,000
a “surge” in Afghanistan
defending the right to own guns
supporting the death penalty
blaming crime in black communities on the breakdown of the family and traditional values

Yep, that's Obama.

First of all, you might wanna check your "facts" before posting them as such. "Free-market"? Then why is he labeled as "protectionist" and the one who'll endanger free-markets by his protectionism of American products? Ask those who "can't wait" to hear his plan for CAFTA, NAFTA, WTO "stopping unfair government subsidies to foreign exporters" etc.

Second, tax-cuts, well...not really, one of the highlights of his campaign and reason of so much grief on McCain's side was that Obama was for raising taxes for those that earn 250,000$ and more annually, namely the rich of America. Is there something wrong with that? Some relatively significant tax-cuts for the poor and middle-class families are just symbolic compared to not being raised.

Third, "opposition to mandatory health insurance"?! You surely want to inform yourself better before stating something like this, here's where you can do it - LINK. He is for mandatory health coverage for children, and the only difference between his and Sen. Clinton's "insistence on mandatory coverage for adults" - is minor, because you will get everyone covered if insurance is affordable (as Obama plans) and not by merely insisting every adult should have one.

On death penalty - it's not that simple as you're trying to present it - he supports capital punishment in cases "so heinous, so beyond the pale, that the community is justified in expressing the full measure of its outrage by meting out the ultimate punishment.", like in case of child rapists. But he also gives solutions on how to prevent wrongful executions.

Anyway, on all the issues that you stated so simplistically there are many aspects and details to be considered before just trying to capture some attention with bombastic lines and presenting a somewhat liberal Democrat for a die-hard Republican.

rivera 00:23 06.11.2008

UTISAK

Imam utisak da se vise gradjana Srbije obradovalo izboru Baraka Obame za predsednika SAD,nego svojevremeno izboru Borisa Tadica za predsednika Srbije!
Ako je to tacno,bio bih slobodan da ustvrdim da je to zato sto nasa sudbina vise zavisi od americkog nego od naseg predsednika.
Mada,protokom svog mandata,Tadic postaje sve crnji u licu,pa,velim,ko zna!

drug.clan 01:36 06.11.2008

Re: UTISAK

rivera
Imam utisak da se vise gradjana Srbije obradovalo izboru Baraka Obame za predsednika SAD,nego svojevremeno izboru Borisa Tadica za predsednika Srbije!
Ako je to tacno,bio bih slobodan da ustvrdim da je to zato sto nasa sudbina vise zavisi od americkog nego od naseg predsednika.
Mada,protokom svog mandata,Tadic postaje sve crnji u licu,pa,velim,ko zna!

Nazalost ne samo sve crnji u licu vec i "po obrazu"

Aleksandar Stosic 00:32 06.11.2008

BO

Happy first day of an Obama America.

happy indeed

dusanj92 01:10 06.11.2008

Re: BO

Happy first day of an Obama America.

happy indeed

Toliko smo Happy da je Dow Jones imao najveci pad u istoriji na dan posle izbora. Malo opravdanje moze da bude trenutna ekonomska kriza ali toga je bilo i ranijih godina.

aguero 20:55 08.11.2008

Re: BO

dusanj92
Happy first day of an Obama America. happy indeedToliko smo Happy da je Dow Jones imao najveci pad u istoriji na dan posle izbora. Malo opravdanje moze da bude trenutna ekonomska kriza ali toga je bilo i ranijih godina.

Polako....,docice sve na svoje mesto!Obama stupa u najgorem trenutku na duznost,s jedne strane,ali i u najboljem za njega,s druge strane.Bice i dalje raznih padova i lomova,ali sa B.O. krivulja razvoja ide na gore!

Goran Vučković 00:37 06.11.2008

Good luck

LTNS Lucy, glad to see you back.

I hope that Obama will deserve one more term and live happily until that and beyound (ref your fears).

Congratulations also for dismantling one more "psychological barrier" related to the presidency. It has been a pleasure to watch - but I am sure that it matters so much more to those who participated.

Kolos sa rodoslovom 00:58 06.11.2008

Real Obama

dusanj92 01:09 06.11.2008

Re: Real Obama

Kolos sa rodoslovom

To o cemu Nader govori su dogovorili i uredili kao zakon o izborima 1996 Clinton i Bob Dole. Od tada niko vise nema prava da ravnopravno ucestvuje u trci sa Demokratima i Republikancima. Neko moze da kaze zakon je zakon pa ... ali ipak ostaje cinjenica da je Ross Perot dobio skoro 20% glasova 1992 godine i da su "veliki" morali da nesto ucine i onemoguce da neko ponovo uspe. Ross Perot tako nije mogao da ponovi uspeh. Ove godine smo imali kampanju gde strane zemlje i drzavljani daju novac kandidatima za kampanju.

simkke 01:36 06.11.2008

Re: Real Obama

dusanj92

Ove godine smo imali kampanju gde strane zemlje i drzavljani daju novac kandidatima za kampanju.

Jbt, koji je to stadijum...

nsarski 02:04 06.11.2008

Don't get me wrong...

I spent two hours in line waiting to vote for Obama. Which I did.
Not because he is the incarnation of the Second Coming, or the embodiment of the Dream, but because he is infinitely better solution than the other guy. (As they say - if God wanted us to vote, he would have sent us candidates).
Obamerica still has to live up to its promises. And I wish it all the best.

dali76 02:59 06.11.2008

we would still...

I do believe that a choice in politics is rather choice between less and more evil than has been a choice between good and evil.
Yet, I don’t understand the people who are fussing about everything while declaring :
That They have to work “tomorrow” as they have worked “yesterday”.
They would have to play poker tomorrow night same as they did play last night….
I guess that for some people individuality is rather viewed “it’s all about ME”
Individuality has always been a virtue unless it became selfishness.
I don’t see anything wrong with Mr. Obama middle name, but I do see the reasons , whi some people emphasize this.
The Fact that Obama won presidential election despite of his middle name talks something about America.
Regarding with this interviews with people fromHarlem who have no clue about politics while supporting Obama only because he is black :
Yeah, try to go to east Texas and ask those people there about policy of eather of former candidates.
Do you believe they know better?or do they care ?

The election results talk better than that.
Bush had his chance and he did what he did.
We judge him today history will judge about him tomorrow.
We can’t judge about things that never happened ; so let us see what Obama can and can’t do.
And guess what, We would have to work tomorrow as we did yesterday…

dexter92 18:25 06.11.2008

re:fear

JFK said: "Every man in this country with a rifle can kill me".
Zoran Djindjic knew that there was an unseccesfull atempt of assasination on him him few weeks before he was really killed.
Therefore i support plexiglas shields and everything else that is necessary. If dictators can live for decades and avoid assassinations attempts than i expect that true democrats can do much better. There is nothing heroic that someone goes through crowd where every lunatic can kill him. In the matter or fact that is irrisponsible. Irrisponsible to his family, his own life and all the people who voted for him.

dexter92 18:40 06.11.2008

Re: re:fear

One more thing.
Yesterday, I saw that some black American are delighted that an afro-American was elected for a president. Something like : "We did it, OUR man is on the top of the state" . That kind of thinking was a kind of immature for me. On the other hand many media put in the first plan that the new US president is black, like that is the most important thing.
I think that people should listen to what politicians say rather than to watch how politicians look.

Exitus Letalis 19:59 06.11.2008

Re: re:fear

On the other hand many media put in the first plan that the new US president is black, like that is the most important thing.

između ostalog i to je važno, jer pokazuje zrelost američkog društva.
jer to su belci prevazišli. i to je samo zbog toga the most important thing.

mada ne može da se zaboravi kroz kolike patnje su prosli crnci i to ne tako davno.
nisu dzaba svi plakali u grand parku. jer to je i pobeda njihove borbe koja je trajala vek i po.

u svakom slučaju, čestitam amerikancima na izboru bez kalkulisanja.
čovek je kvalitet po sebi.
obrazovan najbolje, dobro izgleda, mlad, zdrav...
svaka cast i njemu i amerikancima.
pokazali su da su nacija dostojna poštovanja.

bobo92 21:37 06.11.2008

Re: re:fear

Exitus Letalis

između ostalog i to je važno, jer pokazuje zrelost američkog društva.

Jako zrelo. Uveli konstitucionalnu zabranu na gay brakove u tri drzave istog dana, isti glasaci.

Exitus Letalis 22:32 06.11.2008

Re: re:fear

bobo92
Exitus Letalis

između ostalog i to je važno, jer pokazuje zrelost američkog društva.

Jako zrelo. Uveli konstitucionalnu zabranu na gay brakove u tri drzave istog dana, isti glasaci.

i to ce da dodje na svoje. al bar negde ima.
kako te stvari stoje kod nas?
popovi predvode fasite da mlate homoseksualce.

Kolos sa rodoslovom 23:14 06.11.2008

Re: re:fear

Jako zrelo. Uveli konstitucionalnu zabranu na gay brakove u tri drzave istog dana, isti glasaci.

Sinoc je u West Hollywood gey ekipa izasla na ulice da izrazi svoje nezadovoljstvo prouzrokovano vecim brojem glasova za propoziciju 8 kojom se zabranjuje brak gay para.
Ja sam podruzao gay bracu i sestre dok mnogi moji prijatelji nisu, iznoseci prilicno valjane argumente o kojima ne bih sada i ovde raspravljao...

Znam da su jos uvek demonstrirali kada sam prosao u 1am.
Razgoropadjene lezbejke!