On this day, let us all be proud of America

to the point. a high end number of high schools yesterday, ceased scholastic material, studies and other "school stuff", to watch the inauguration of the 44th president. that and other absurd measures were taken throughout the country to watch an inexperienced 'would-be' walk. i don't remember this much hype about the last 5 presidents inauguration. why? hmm... because he is black. yea, that's right, this isn't the "we don't know anything about this guy, except he is black and extremely liberal" topic. this is the "lets suck this guy off because he is black and extremely liberal" topic.Edited by the overmind, : No reason given.

Permit me to do a few corrections for you to look a little less stupid.To the point. A high end number of high schools yesterday ceased scholastic material, studies and other "school stuff" to watch the inauguration of the 44th president. That and other absurd measures were taken throughout the country to watch an experienced 'would-be' walk. I don't remember this much hype about the last 5 presidential inaugurations. Why? Hmm... because he is black. Yea, that's right, this isn't the "we don't know anything about this guy except he is black and extremely liberal" topic. This is the "let's suck this guy off because he is black and extremely liberal" topic.There, isn't that a little better?

no, it was a typo.

If a white president messes up, people would be saying "oh well, he messed up..." But if Obama messes up, people would be saying "of course he messed up, he's black..."This is the mentality of bigots and racists. I'm not saying you are one, but I just want to point this out to you.Case in point. Whenever we find out that some politician is having an affair with a young female, half of the people out there would be admiring him for pulling it off while the other half would forget about it the next day. But god forbids if a politician is having a sexual encounter with another man. Half the people out there would be screaming bloody murder while the other half would be saying "of course he's sexually promiscuous... he's a damn faggot."For some reason, society tends to hold those who are in the minority to a much higher standard than the rest of us. Look at people's attitude toward Bush's mistakes and failures. I'm willing to bet half the people out there can't even name one thing Bushed messed up on. But god forbids if Obama so as much as yawns during some boring speech. Half the people would be screaming bloody murder and the other half would be saying "of course he yawned... he's a black man..."Let me be honest. I never supported Obama. I was a disgruntled Hillary supporter. Actually, I'm still disgruntled about it. But at least give the man a fair chance. If people put the worst president in office twice, why the hell are they holding this next president to a much higher standard?Already, one poster called the overmind has said like if Obama finally does something etc etc. Bush has had 8 years to solve the problems we've been facing and nothing has been solved. Obama has only taken office 1 fucking day and we already has someone bitching that Obama hasn't done anything yet.Added by edit.Take a look at the recent news with the gay mayor in Oregon. Oh noes... he had sexual relations with an 18 yr old. BIG FUCKING DEAL!Edited by Taz, : No reason given.

Right... since when did they produce a keyboard that requires you to press 2 seperate buttons if you want to type the number 44?Actually, it was a good thing that you typed 42 instead of 44. You double proved your point that you don't care for this president. 42.. 44... same number anyway.

Banging head into wall. JC, here we go with the freaking conspiracy theories. Not like the Bushes (senior and junior Bush) didn't have any connections with there friends, the House of Saud, and oil industries in Saudi Arabia. Do we really want to go there? Really!?! (As Amy and Seth on SNL would state in their Weekend Update routine).Edited by DevilsAdvocate, : No reason given.Edited by DevilsAdvocate, : No reason given.

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For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
Dr. Carl Sagan

And then to type 'nd' rather than 'th' makes it a pretty impressive typo

For what it's worth: the general sentiment on the other side of the Atlantic is pretty much as follows:As long as Bush was in office, not having major problems totally escalate in the short term(Middle East, global warming, fossil fuels, financial crisis etc. etc.) was the best one could hope for. Damage control. With this new guy in town, the future no longer looks like an inescapable dark abyss. It looks like there grows some grass (not yet sure how green it will be) on the other side of the hill, at least. One never ever had the feeling, not even for a microsecond, that George W. would ever be able to inspire anyone or bring people *together* in some way.Also though, to be fair to Bush, it's probably a lot harder to change course (and being accused of flip-flopping) than to be able to start from scratch.

I have to admit that I am pleasantly surprised. I'm not shocked that a black man was elected President of the US -- I felt that Colin Powell would have had a decent shot at it if he weren't a member of a party too dominated by its lunatic fringes to nominate someone someone who had a shred of intelligence or sanity.I would have expected Powell, a conservative black man, to be considered the "safe type" of black man to elect. I am very surprised (and could probably go into shock if I were to think about it more) that we have managed to elect a black President who, if not actually liberal, is at least is widely seen as a liberal.I am also pleasantly surprised that the attempt to swift boat him (that Jeremiah Wright/Bill Ayers nonsense) never really got any traction. So there are several reasons to hope, just maybe hope, that American political society may be growing up just a little.

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Speaking personally, I find few things more awesome than contemplating this vast and majestic process of evolution, the ebb and flow of successive biotas through geological time. Creationists and others who cannot for ideological or religious reasons accept the fact of evolution miss out a great deal, and are left with a claustrophobic little universe in which nothing happens and nothing changes.
-- M. Alan Kazlev

I've noticed over the years that this seems to be the common theme among the religious conservatives. If you don't like a candidate, just start accusing him of being a terrorist, muslim, puppet, or whatever else they could think of. After all, if you repeat a lie enough times, even YOU will start believing it.

i really should apologize for my aggressive nature from before about obama. it's just that i disagree with most liberal/democratic principles, and i don't think that its OK to advocate this guy, knowing so little about him, just because he is black. that really goes against the foundations of the equality movement. he is the president, so i truly hope he does a good job and makes good conservative decisions to move this country in the right direction. and i do recognize and appreciate the fact that the first black man has become president considering our countries, not so distant, history.

And since very few, if any, people advocated for Obama because he's black, you must be feeling pretty relieved.Noting that the election of a black President in the US, which has a long history of racism (a history which still isn't over, by the way), is a positive development is not the same thing as advocating for him "just because he's black".Edited by Chiroptera, : Awkward grammar

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Speaking personally, I find few things more awesome than contemplating this vast and majestic process of evolution, the ebb and flow of successive biotas through geological time. Creationists and others who cannot for ideological or religious reasons accept the fact of evolution miss out a great deal, and are left with a claustrophobic little universe in which nothing happens and nothing changes.
-- M. Alan Kazlev

It would be hard to statistically show that African Americans chose race in the election, as historically, roughly 94% of African Americans vote Democrat to begin with.Now, if Alan Keyes were running on the GOP ticket against Joe Biden and 94% of blacks voted for Keyes, I would say it would be fair to say they did so because he was black.Did Obama's presence on the DNC ticket result in greater African American turnout? Although I have no numbers to go by, I would say , of course. There is nothing wrong with that. Many minotirties are disenchanted with the politcial system and it is natural that they would feel more connected to the process.Politics is image. People turn out to vote and select candidates for all kinds of reasons. During debates and public appearances, the strategists and planners always know the candidates should not where certain color ties because opinion dynamic polls have shown appearance has a lot to do with perception. Some thought Mitt Romney was too 'slick' looking and distrusted him for this reason.People are free to vote for a candidate for any reason they wish.It took more than the African American vote to elect Obama. Analysts are stating that without the support of white women, the election would have likely went in favor of McCain. McCain knew this and it was part of the reason he chose Palin as a running mate.Arguing about who voted for whom and why is meanignless and now a moot point. This is something of interest only to the statisicians who are gearing up for 2012.

Over the years? Uh, what were the other election occasions?

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BUZSAW B 4 U 2 C Y BUZ SAW.
The immeasurable present eternally extends the infinite past and infinitely consumes the eternal future.

Nonsense? You mean you can refute the Wright/Bill Ayers relationship to Obama? How about opening a thread on that to do so if you're serious and want to support your nonsense.

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BUZSAW B 4 U 2 C Y BUZ SAW.
The immeasurable present eternally extends the infinite past and infinitely consumes the eternal future.