Obama, Unity, and Our Work

I was not for Mr. Obama. We know so little about this man. Where was he born? Does anyone really know even that little bit about him? While I wasn't very much in sync with Pres. Bush for the last four years, I havd always been forced to admire the man's loyalty to this country of ours. I think John McCain is the same way. Perhaps I've read Mr. Obama wrong; for the sake of our country, I hope so. But I fear him. I really don't give a rat's patootie what color he is. His obvious weaknesses far outweigh his charismatic ability to convert people to his cause. Oh, and by the way, WHAT is his cause?

I'm very disappointed in the way this election went. The way people have taken this into account and all the things that people say McCain and the Republicans made up all these things that were said about Obama, it's not just a coincidence but the truth. People are too blind to admit it. It makes me sad to think about what will happen to our country now, he preaches change and how we need it, but he thinks our country is the best. If that's the case then why should we need change? They say our country needs all this work and what's worse is people talk all this crap about the war. Yall forget who is over there DEFENDING YOU FREEDOM TO BAD MOUTH THEM. They have helped make our country what it is. And it's sad to know that a lot of the soldiers feel forgotten and not cared for anymore because of the stuff Obama and other people want to do. Our country needs someone who can deal with what's going on and has been around long enough to learn from the mistakes we've made in the past. Obama isn't that guy.

This victory has begun to restore my faith in a country that has endured the worst while praying for the best that humanity has to offer by changing course in leadership. It's been so long since I've felt a sense of hope that I'm not quite sure how to express it properly. All I know is that those who are willing to spread fear, hatred and an unrealistic need for supremacy are steadily losing their power in Washington, D.C. and, consequently, throughout the world.
May those who have had a stranglehold for centuries in their racist views finally accept the growing diversity of what can now be a United States and join the majority in our quest for equality, justice, compassion and peaceful co-operation.
May the world see us as leaders by only the best of examples.
Peace be with you all.

Tuesday night we were privileged to experience the triumph of truth over lies, hope over fear and reason over sophistry. May it be the dawning of a new day for our country and the rebirth of a truly UNITED States. That is our hope. - Bryce and Zenith Babcock
"In principle there is no difference between welfare for the poor and tax breaks for the rich. Both consist of government aid to groups of people and are designed to 'spread the wealth around.' It is only the recipient groups that are different." -- Bryce Babcock

Obama won because of ingenious marketing.
In advertising and marketing you say:
"Find out what do people want and then give it to them."
People wanted change and change became the slogan.
Stir emotions with joy and or fear. Fear “Don’t want another four years of Bush”
even though this was irrational, it worked.
To create happy feeling, say “Hope” a very powerful positive word stirring wonderful emotions add the logo of a rising sun and bring it all home with repetition.
Great advertising, great Job! Congratulations David Axelrod.
In the world of selling to the masses you always want to hit the middle.
Perfectly executed by the Obama campaign.
Don’t get bogged down with details and specificity or technicalities, because that overwhelms people and it is boring to the masses.
Give them what they want, and they follow you to the end.
Masses act on emotion not on intellect, facts are of no concern, and after you create the emotion, find a way to spread it and you are home free. Like an endemic that can’t be stopped!
Think for example about the irrational fear of spiders. A person becomes paralyzed in fear over a small creature that can do it no harm.
Emotions if not tempered by thought and intellect create irrationally. This can be used to garner support politically i.e. election or to garner support and success in business, sales, or any other venture sports as well.
This election is a perfect example of emotions won over intellect.
Tyranny of the majority
Recommended reading Steven King Needful Things

Well, at last it is over with. I am skeptical to say the least. I do not trust Obama and I don't believe he will do as he has promised. When reality hits alot of people are going to be surprised. Sometimes change is not like we think it is going to be. Kiss your freedom goodby.

I think Mr. Obama "talked the talk" ! With all the promises he made during the campaign I doubt there will be any money left to help animals. He IS going to raise taxes and that will impact people making donations.

I live in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California -on 65 acres of pristine natural beauty. Every day when I awaken, I feel truly blessed and honored to be a steward of this magnificant paradise. Where I have always been inspired by the harmony and purity of nature, that inspiration has been in short-supply when it comes to mankind -especially for those in charge of leading our people.
Yet, now...for the first time in my 51 years, I have hope in a president. I have hope in our future -for our children (our future generations) our wildlife, wilderness, and our planet! For the first time in my life, I truly believe that integrity and ethics can be restored back into government.
I have been so moved by Obama and the hope and vision he brings to our world, in fact, I was inspired to write this song/video. It is called 'For the Children' and it is my gift of love to the planet. I hope you enjoy it and share it with everyone you know. -Lynn Zanetta http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gi3VNLhHq4

He voted for the BAILOUT. You think he or McCain were thinking of YOU? Welcome to SOCIALISM! They are systematically erasing our REPUBLIC and you're helping them. You will get what you voted for.

I personally witnessed the apartheid of "Jim Crow" segregation, and the denial of civil rights of black Americans. When I lived in Virginia, in the mid-1950s, about age 8 or 9, our school received bomb threats - and I got shot at by the Klu Klux Klan - because Irish was definitely not white (and Catholic was very definitely not Christian).
Our family then moved, and I did the rest of my growing up on the South Side of Chicago. I finished grade school in Gage Park, went to high school at St. Rita's on 63rd & Oakley, and then went to IIT. I lived at 57th & California, 91st & Laramie, 33rd & Indiana, 31st & Lowe, Halsted & Fullerton.
I witnessed the race-based fears and hatred that shaped the urban landscapes of America into the ghettos of Irish, Polish, Italians, Lithuanians, Jews, Puerto Ricans, Blacks, Chinese, Japanese, Arabs, fearful of crossing a street into another ethnic enclave, youth ready to fight each other to the death over ancient prejudices. I witnessed the racist and sectarian prejudice against Irish and Catholic during the 1960 presidential campaign. I watched uniformed Nazi Party marches in the streets of Chicago in the 1960s, in Marquette Park. I dodged snipers on 39th St. I had my phone tapped. I saw riots, and whole city blocks burning. I saw tanks on the streets, while the whole world watched. Fred Hampton was my neighbor when he - along with others - was assassinated by the FBI and COINTELPRO agents.
Our country has come a great long way in the past half century; far enough that an African-American can be elected president - despite having gone to Columbia and Harvard, despite having taught at University of Chicago.
Despite 28 million copies of the Islamophobic video "Obsession", Obama got 78% of the Jewish-American vote.
But there is much further to go. There is still racism and sectarian prejudice in America, still even at the highest levels of government.
I have been a Muslim for 30 years now. I have seen mosques firebombed here in California. Muslim women friends have been harassed on the streets, and spat at, for wearing hijab. Muslim women wearing hijab have been hustled out of public view at presidential candidates public appearances. Muslims in candidates campaigns have been forced to resign. Presidential candidates have seemingly felt it impolitic even to address Muslim or Arab organizations, apparently for fear of criticism from bigots.
I hope and pray that a new administration will change this, and make efforts to show that there is no longer such trace of racist and sectarian prejudice in America. I have to say, that the new administration will have to take visible and positive steps to show this - there is too much of a legacy of prejudice to just disappear on it's own.
May God guide Mr. Obama, and bless his efforts for the good.
Peace be with you, and God's Mercy, and His Blessings.
Imam Rashid Patch
Oakland, California

Something very beautiful just happened in America!
We mustered the largest voter turnout in nearly 100 years to elect the country's first African-American president by mounting a huge, truly modern, grassroots campaign funded primarily by average Americans like you and I.
An incredible 700 million dollars was raised online, mostly through small donations under $100.
My wife and I together raised nearly $1,000 of that total through our personal fundraising page at BarackObama.com.
It's a crying shame that this amount of money has to be spent to overcome the political influence of Corporatism but it's a reality of our times and an obviously fed-up populace rose to the occasion.
I vote in every election but I am rarely inspired by politicians and this is the first time I've done fundraising for one.
I'm proud to have been a small part of this historic moment and I truly hope Barack Obama can heal some of the mean-spiritedness which has dominated American politics and divided the country in recent decades.
The world is weary of greed, corruption and war, and perhaps President Obama can help restore some of the goodwill America once enjoyed in the international community.
We are also facing very difficult economic times, compounded by the problems of climate change, resource depletion, and increasing social unrest all over the globe.
It's time for diplomacy, dialogue, and responsible leadership to replace blind arrogance and callous brutality on the world stage, time to share the fruits of democracy instead of pursuing a path of world domination through corporate sponsored tyranny.
And, if Barack Obama is to be a successful president, he will need all the support we can give him.
When Barack says we will all need to "sacrifice and work together", I hope people are listening, because there are very hard times ahead.
Remember, Barack Obama is not a saint, a savior, or a magician. He's just a man, an educated thoughtful man with the eloquence to inspire people. The man we chose to help us bring change to America.
No president will be able to effectively address the unprecedented challenges we face without a well-informed participatory and vigilant citizenry lending their voices.
And now too, in a world of new possibilities, all of us should be carefully and consistently re-evaluating our needs while learning to live more sustainably and leave smaller footprints.
On this day of renewed optimism my Hope is that, with strong and thoughtful leadership, we can now begin to realize the magnitude of the Change we need to make as a society, and as individuals, in order to meet the challenges required for building a sustainable future.
To new beginnings, to Hope and Change.

Let's hope that we acheive what President-Elect Obama has promised He will do. We need a national healthcare system that covers everyone. The eradication of the wasteful spending by our elected officials, like all of the grants and handouts that the senate receives and lobby's for that are ridiculous. Instead of spending the money to study the flow of ketchup for example(they actually did this once with a $78,000 grant), it should be spent on us the citizens of the nation. Stop sending our tax money over seas, we need it here first. Take care of our own and then send what is available in our budget to help them. Tuesday was a true American day, we are able to voice our opinion and be heard. Lets hope they take us back to the stability and prosperity that we deserve.

The Wilderness Society is dreaming. With all the promises made, Obama is going to need money. The economy is continung and will continue to fail, given that no one in power has come up with a workable solution. Obama never mentioned conservation of land or the protection of wildlife -- if he did, I did not hear that speech. He might consider selling the land to the highest bidder and expanding trade with Japan and France for the mustangs, etc.
One way to begin solving the crisis is to distribute the $700 billion to all the States for the improvement of the infrastructure. Such an action would mean the immediate employment of tens of thousands across this nation and business for the manufacturers of the materiels needed for the infrastructure improvement and maintenance. There is no sense in giving the $700 billion to entities and people who have proven they do not know how to handle it except for self-aggrandizement and for personal benefits.
Without the money for his dreams of redistributing the wealth, Obama is extremely unlikely to even consider addressing the concerns of The Wilderness Society. He will not fly to your chimney with a sleigh full of goodies at Xmas.
Symbolically, his election was a magnificent and restorative event for the minorities. As evident by the tears in the crowds at Grant Park and elsewhere, the election of a black man was overdue. BUT I would have preferred another black man, not Obama. One who would have not given Acorn $800,000, who would have provided oversight of Acorn's actions, who would not have changed the software used for Internet giving by allowing the use of credit cards without verification of the names of the donors, who has not provided proof of the place of his birth (his paternal family said he was born in Kenya; his maternal family provided the name of two Hawaiian hospitals, which, of course, is impossible), who has withheld permission for the release of his college applications (I suspect that he held himself out on those applications as Muslim and Indonesian in order to take advantage of Affirmative Action programs), and so on. The lack of forthrightness makes his honesty suspect. Yes, I would have preferred another black man, not Obama.
His mantra that he would bring change was eye candy, something to attract and extract supporters from the public.
And racism. Of course there was racism in the election. How else would he have garnered 96 percent of the blacks voting? No white man has ever attracted 96 perceont of the whites voting. I am not saying it was wrong for 96 percent of the voting blacks to vote for him, for I understand their desire to prove to their black youngsters that they, too, can reach the top echelon of or country if they try and work hard enough.
But to hold out hope that Obama will be like a Genii who was let out of a bottle in order to grant everyone's wishes is foolish, if not simply naive.
I hope I am wrong.

Now that the Democrats control the Presidency, the Senate and the House, a top priority must be to finally create a new Wilderness Bill for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The key coastal habitat area that was left out of the original ANWR Wilderness Bill, MUST now be placed under the protection of the Wilderness Act.
President Obama could make the entire ANWR a National Monument, however, with our new Congress, the entire ANWR must also be made WILDERNESS. Making ANWR enirely WILDERNESS would finally end the maddness of trying to explore and drill for oil and gas in this special place.
Please help make this happen.
Ed Loosli
Dayton, Oregon

As an immigrant from Europe who lived under socialism I am bitterly disappointed that Obama won.
I love this country very much and I know how important it is to keep America safe.
Unless Obama can stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons I am afraid we will become hostages to foreign will under the thread of nuclear disaster.
I don't know how this land will look if we were attacked by nuclear weapons but I can imagine it would be devastating for humans, animal, the environment. Just one dirty bomb could cost irreparable damage not only to humans but to the environment..
Unfortunately Obama has not been clear about any of his plans, for national security. Disarming America won't work, cutting our military by 25 will be a mistake.
So here I am living in America for 20 years and I would never have thought we would elect a person that has said so little about important issues and what he’s said is not what I wanted to hear. I don't even remember him making specific commitments about many of the issues that I am interested in.
I would love to see the American Mustang saved and declared a protected species.
I don’t like that the beautiful horses are being rounded up for slaughter to be sold to the French and Japanese and others as delicatessen. I think it’s deplorable.
I would love to see Infanticide abolished. I respect All Life that is why I am a vegetarian and I reject all fur and leather. I have written an email to the Obama campaign but never received a response. I would love to see more done to eliminate animal abuse in slaughterhouses. I would love to see the Obamas promoting vegetarianism. I can't remember hearing any answers about those issues coming from Obama.
The most important thing however before everything else is nationals security for me. Without a free country we can't protect anything.
I was born not to long after WWII and know what it was for people to live under communism. The iron curtain and the oppression in East Germany. When you have to stand in food lines and worry about the KGB knockin’ on your door, you start not to care too much about pollution. So freedom and liberty goes first so that we can enjoy the beautiful majestic country of America.
I don’t think Obama has enough experience to protect us I hope I am wrong but I see disaster in the making, sort of like a perfect storm! Iran gaining nuclear weapons, Russia already arming it’s border to Poland, Venezuela and Russia engaged in military training mission in the Caribbean. All bad signs! God Save the USA !
I am disap

We may have turned an important corner in consciousness. I have felt for a long time that we people are capable of so much more than we were showing. I wondered what we could do if we had a visionary leader who could mobilize us to work for the common good, not just for ourselves and for other humans but for the whole planet...plants and animals. Whatever has happened in this election has renewed hope in me that we can change and with good leadership, we will change. I have no illusions about the scope of what needs to happen, nor am I blind to the difficulties. I just hope that now we will have the leadership and channels to express the best part of ourselves. It's like the dam bursting and all that pent up energy is being released. If harnassed it could be wonderful.

Green, Green, Green
I actually hope that considering the financial crises that investment in "Green" tech will be bolstered and used by the new Pesident Obama as a means to help assist in rebuilding our economy and add jobs etc...France had a similar situation when they built Nuclear plants in the 60's( however I am not talking about Nuk Plants for us!) and 90% of there energy is from Nuc Power...We can do the same now with True Green energy tech!
Peace
Alan

Electing our first black president is indeed progress and something for Americans to be proud of, but Obama is not the right person for the job. McCain was a far better choice. The consequences of this election could be disastrous. Time will tell.