Barack Obama will be president
Barack Obama has defeated John McCain to become the next president of the United States and the first African-American to hold the highest office in the land. At 8pm west coast time, as the polls closed in California, the country's major television networks projected that Obama would win the 270 electoral votes needed for …
To see a black (well, half black, half white) man become the most powerful man in the world... I wouldn't have believed that a year or two ago. Congrats, America. Inspire the world, if it be only for a day.
Seems like nice enough man that Mr Obama, but the real reason I'm pleased is because of people like this:
http://rr-bb.com/forumdisplay.php?f=4
http://www.conservapedia.com/Barack_Obama
http://fstdt.com/fundies/latestcomments.aspx?archive=1
Awesome!
And I want an El Reg raised middle finger icon here... for those red neck racist idiots in the south that made comments that Obama is a terrorist, that a nigger could not be president, that he was not filled with the holy spirit like Palin... etc.
In your effen faces you stupid dumb bastards!! Change has started to happen.
If by that you mean, America doomed to socialist hell!
Goodbye, "El-Reg", I'm done with your political bullcrap!
Deleting my once-liked El-Reg bookmarks, saving storage I can still afford before the socialists tax me to oblivion!
We'll see if it changes much.
It would be nice if, in no particular order they:
Fix the economy,
Fix the damage form Hurricane Katrina
Stop sticking their noses in other countries business
and stop treating the rest of the world as terrorists.
Will we see an end to the endless torrent of ridiculous laws curtailing our freedom?
Will we see America regain its once-respected position on the world stage?
Will we finally be free wars on terror and sacrificing liberties to save the children?
Will we see an end to poverty at least in the West?
Will we see a return of our freedoms in the collapse of the neocons?
Will we see the burgeoning New World Order collapse in its own filth and the beginnings of a Utopian enlightened society?
I say these things because this is the impression I've been getting from people hoping and praying that Obama would win the election. Sadly, I have come to believe that the most likely outcome is - meet the new boss, same as the old boss. That's not to belittle Obama - I wanted him to win and I confess for similar reasons to others. But however noble Obama's intentions, the reality is that the office of the President of the US is controlled by powerful special interests who will make sure that Obama toes their line and keeps feeding them their pork and gravy while tightening the noose of despotism around everyone else's necks - or else he'll end up like President Kennedy.
Given the man's determination to make a difference and improve the lives of the common people, I now have a bet on him being assassinated within the next 6 months. Of course, it'll be just some lone nutbag who "just happened" to slip past security, and anybody connoting that it was the work of high-up powers displeased with his going against their elitist grain will be dismissed as a tinfoil-wearing conspiracy theorist. And the real instigators will never be brought to justice because they're above the law. Remember, you read it here first.
What does this mean for IPV6 adoption?
What does Paris have to say about all this?
Isn't that a zebra? :-)
Mine's the one covered in chad..
PS: I'm happy with this result:
1 - he's unlikely to die of excitement and thus leave the US in the hands of Palin (nice gal, but not quite ready for that role)
2 - Obama was right with his "more of the same" claim. However, it's now up to him to prove he can make a difference. I think he can, and will - besides, making more of a mess of the country and the world is hardly possible..
easy credit being dumped into monetary system to cover other easy credit mistakes, greater debt when the problem was too much phoney debt paper (?!)
there may be some temporary rebound from printing up yet more paper, but it really exasperates the underlying problem of having too much debt and it's enormace current and ludicrous future costs .. basicly, there must be a credit contraction to correct this
Obama and a Democrat Congress are not going to solve that, leading to a worse crash in year 2 or 3 of his Presidency
nor will they promote policies that will keep energy costs low, nor go full on with nuclear tech for electricity .. we will be more dependent on foreign oil ( luckily most from Canada ) with more motivation to *protect* middle eastern, mexican and south american supplies .. electrical costs will sky rocket ( Obama's terms) with his CO2 Cap and Trade plan
as a world recession / depression unfolds, there is much more likelyhood of regional unrest with quite a few places that could explode into a wider conflict / war .... can guarantee you won't be a ground war in the USA ...
it's an awful time for a young man with high expectations and social justice ideology to be taking office .. I hope he's strong enough to overpower the witch Pelosi and the mortician Ried and their minions Todd and Frank respectively .... nothing will get done of consequence in the first 100 days with that power struggle going on .. Obama has both Hillary and McCain who will subtlely make his life hard .. Slick Willi will always be implying his Presidency was better
It will be influence bought ... no real change guys .. sorry ..
Americans as a whole have short attention spans, *we* will be very irritated after a bitter long winter when things don't turn up dramaticly in the spring, just as the 5 and 7 year ARMs all start resetting at about the same level in dollar volume as they did earlier this year
won't be out of Iraq .. maybe there will be a couple of bad months there, maybe worse in Afganistan .. not wishing for it, but it's likely
lot's of bad shit still to happen .. Obama couldn't have picked worse time since 1932 to be President, almost makes me feel sorry for him
I am certain that this election result will have wide-ranging effects in many areas of life for people in the USA and throughout the world. Those effects are quite likely to include IT-related issues but this article does not cogently discuss or even wildly speculate about them.
While I think that calling America "saved" is premature, would you REALLY have been accusing the Reg of "political bullcrap" if the article had been, say, commiserating with McCain? Obvious which way YOU voted, matey, and equally obvious sore loser.
and unreported in the mainstream news, several states including California are passing anti-gay-marriage laws that outlaw the whole practice. People in California who married (ie: George Takai, amongst others) might see their marriages retroactively made illegal.
Welcome to the most hypocritical theocracy on the planet.
Never thought I'd see it in my time, an African-American President. I didn't vote for him b/c of his skin color, however, I voted for him in the hope that the neo-con, totalitarian mentality will be reversed and we can stop "fearing" all the evil-doers in the world; ie: stop starting wars, get back my right to privacy, perhaps a couple war-crime trials(riiiight), reign in the Corporate Cleansing of my wallet, clean up the international messes Butch has made. Maybe just 1 or two would be good.
Keep in mind, kids, hold onto those tinfoil hats. Butch still has 76 days to set his very own "Reichstag Fire".
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/05/20070509-12.html
...rotted and shrivelled scrotum about this?
I look on the front page of El Reg, and I see no fewer than FOURTEEN articles about this fucking election. FOURTEEN?!
I live in Australia. This is a British owned and run website. WHY THE COCKSUCKING HELL am I seeing more coverage about this god damned election - that will have absolutely no direct consequences to me or you Poms - on an IT WEBSITE than the frontpage of news.com.au, which is owned and run by Americans?!
Please keep the god damned propoganda to a minimum.
AC for damn obvious reasons. Fucking Yanktards.
People voted for Obama because they think they're going to get something like that guy on 24.
At the end of the day though, all politicians are lying b*stards.
That being said, I probably would've voted for Obama but one chrome turd is the same as another.
more abortions, more crime, more drugs, more corruption, more... not only them usa are doomed, no, we are doomed, too.
Hmm, in the pic chosen is Sarah Pailin winking, or is that a permanent squint from looking through the telescopic sights of her rifle collection. Not sure, do you need sights on an elephant gun?
You forgot to tag that with joke ahead for the ones who are suffering from humour deficiency and cannot recognise sarcasm even if it hits them at terminal velocity. So I will tag that for you. Enjoy.
Nearly 45% voted for the Palin woman, what the fuck are you thinking? Best of luck to Obama, he will need it with the mess the neo-cons have left behind..... still dont think he will prove to be the lefty all the Europeans are looking for!!!
To keep running the "bob the Builder" theme tune through my head every time he said "Yes we can"?
.. Scoop Muck and Dizzy, Rolly too...
I'll get it while I hum my way out...
Thank you America, for not being totally braindead for once.
short, sweet and to the point. i'm impressed.
What, not even some niggardly acknowledgement that the people expressed their will or something like that.
(what? I'm using the word the right way, aren't I?)
Hang on a second. Given that the majority of people now officially consider Barack Obama to be the better man, surely El Reg must now begin a negative reporting campaign purely for the sake of being contrary?
... there's now a barack man in the white house (groan).
Mine's the one made of Alaskan seal fur with permits to drill right through to Russia and steal their oil reserves stuffed in the pockets, a Walther 22, 500 rounds and a donkey shaped range target.
It is always a relief to know that no matter the event or situation, there will always be a solid, reliable, core of folk who are ready to go that extra yard to blow it all out of proportion and have a tanty on a public forum.
So many people today cop out and simply "suck it up" or "take it like a man". Others are obsessed with "perspective" and "proportion" and never commit themselves to the sort of irrational knee-jerkism required to really fuel a decent dummy spit.
Still more have an intellectually rich and interesting "real" life where their ideas can be intelligently expressed, and discussed, and informed, and molded, and revisited to the point where they just dont have the energy or inclination for anonymous hissy fits in front of strangers.
So a salute to you, the irritable cranks of the world. You show your caliber - like the princess and the pea - by railing at the slightest irritation of your regally sensitive hide. Your thin skin and short temper, and disproportionate response, set you apart as folk of noble, or at least unusual, breeding.
Roll on, anonymous petulant tantrums! Roll on!
As chairman of the welcoming committee, it's a pleasure to present a Laurel and Hardy handshake to our new....
...President
"more abortions, more crime, more drugs..."?
Why, is he personally going to go around and impregnate half the US while breaking windows and throwing in free bags of illicit drugs?
It's just as well I'm misanthropic, or else I'd find it so unfunny just how doomed to fecking failure the human race is.
That's the only word for it.
At best, Obama does a good job. But this won't be enough to measure up to the expectations a lot of people seem to have and they'll end up disappointed. Really he should have started to manage the expectations to match reality, though I guess the main thing was getting the job!
At worst, he turns out to be even closer to the Blair model than he currently appears and either turns out to be unable to turn vague talk into implementable policy, or even turns out to be actively destructive while doing what he thinks is 'right'. Like Blair he'll have enough of a party majority in the legislature to get things through whatever they may be.
I don't think there was much of a choice, neither candidate was exactly great but the level of hype that grew up around the Obama campaign - both inside and outside the US - is scary.
Hope it turns out well. I fear the fallout if it doesn't.
On the other hand at least it isn't more of the same so there's a possibility some of the policies and measures of the past few years may be reversed. Unfortunately I don't hold out much hope as all governments ultimately end up being much the same; only the level of incompetence varies!
And we will again in two years, and again two years after that. Etc.
Life goes on. The life of me&mine[tm] isn't going to change meaningfully overnight. Or even this week. Or this month, or year. Hopefully, things will become better with time.
Same as any other general election.
> Palin stood beside him, but did not speak.
Uh ... she tried, but her husband moved her away from the mics.
Smart man, that. Has he considered politics?
I wish you all the best.
@ 1# AC Bye Bye have a nice day, now you wont be reading El Reg you can concentrate on Genesis.
@ Steve Roper:- Wot you said!
@ Who gives a rats:- You are clearly not too interested in politics, unfortunately what happens in the USA now affects all of us including Barby 'n tinny land. Particularly as you have most of the world's currently known Uranium supplies, if Obama should turn out to be pro-nuke power,beware friendly yanks carrying shovels.
@ sauerkraut:- life's a bitch but at least we're one short in the White House. Clinton was a democrat, his sexual appetites may have played too big a part in his presidency but he left the US in a fairly good condition after his two terms. Overall he wasn't a bad president. Maybe you have been listening to AC #1 too much.
Quote=Who gives a rats...
By Anonymous Coward Posted Wednesday 5th November 2008 06:38 GMT
...rotted and shrivelled scrotum about this?
I look on the front page of El Reg, and I see no fewer than FOURTEEN articles about this fucking election. FOURTEEN?!
I live in Australia. This is a British owned and run website. WHY THE COCKSUCKING HELL am I seeing more coverage about this god damned election - that will have absolutely no direct consequences to me or you Poms - on an IT WEBSITE...<
Why are you so pissed? because you have to read a British website about IT? Or because your own government are about to go Chinese on your web access? We Brits know nothing happens in a vacuum, our access to IT info, and freedom of web privacy is all tied into Yank policy. Where they go our fearful leaders follow - generally six months to a year later, but still...
Barac <sp?> winning is good for the world (including Australia), even if he only begins talking to those parts of the world that we're now at war with. Take away the fear of terrorism and you remove the need for ID cards and policing the www. And there's your IT angle.
Was there a presidential election in the US?
How come there was nothing in the papers about it?
but a landslide anniliation of McCain/Palin.
And to AC#1"It's called a democracy- if you don't like it, move to China"
Aw, did the nasty democracy not make the same choice as you? Diddums.
Howabout because, whether you like it or not, the outcome of the US elections affects *everybody*?
A couple of questions...
1. Will Barack Obama be able to clean up George W Bush's mess?
2. Will he be able to bring stability back into the world?
3. Is he the Golden Child who will bring prosperity to America and the world?
Mr Obama, the eyes of the world are watching you, especially on every mistake that you will make. Just make sure they are few and far between.
Apart from, that is, the millions of babies killed for being inconvenient. Not, of course, that the UK is any better.
that Obama really does turn out to be what he promised and nothing like the last elected leader to make such promises and claims, back in 1997, in the UK.
I do feel like change could well be coming and am pleased with the result but I hope he's no Tony Blair....
It's all too reminiscent of Blair's triumphalist victory in '97. And look how badly that turned out!
I also remember the last time a radical young president was elected. Despite his mastery of rhetoric, despite his popularity, despite being hailed as the saviour of the free world, he was assassinated.
That said, it's deeply satisfying that Bush and the fascist neocons who pulled his strings have been roundly trounced: it's a testament to common sense that Palin couldn't fool most of the people; and it might even be true that American racism has suffered a body blow.
Bush was a belligerent moron who did enormous damage to America's standing in the world and I am not yet convinced that Obama can undo it. Besides, my enemy's enemy is not necessarily my friend.
Simple, if you do anything online that the US think is serious then you'll be extradited and you might then be interested in how you will get treated.
Something like cracking the protection on Blu-ray (even though they may be a legit reason, to watch films on Linux) would be enough to get you over there these days given how well represented the media giants are in the senate.
What I find interesting about this is that lots of people in the comments above are saying how thankful they are that the 'neo-cons' have been voted out of office. Thankful because they believe Obama is not going to take as much tax and give up as many of their freedoms as the current administration are doing.
To me this just proves that America and the UK are not really governed by the elected party occupying the offices of state.
The observation I am making here is between citizens of the UK complaining about loss of freedoms and very high taxes while the citizens of America are complaining about exactly the same thing. Therefore, Britain and America are being run by the same people with the same agenda.
In Britain we believe our next administration will be conservative rather than socialist (the opposite of the American cycle) and that this change will do for us what those American commentators above believe this election will do for them.
And let the sad disillusionment of Obama-adherants begin... The last time I saw a politician with a campaign as slick as that, campaigning on soundbites of "hope" and "change" it was a guy called Tony Blair. And Obama *should* have had a slick campaign, it did after all cost over a billion US dollars. A couple of million to Google, US$40 budgeted to "win Florida", it all added up. It was a neat trick to present oneself as the underdog and the radical whilst at the same time outspending his opponent by millions in marketing.
So very much discussion of what he represents, what he believes, what he feels and so little fucking discussion of stated policies. On critical matters such as Israel, Iraq, national debt, there was nothing much to choose between them. But few people seem to have noticed amidst the soundbites of hope and change and photos of a confident male.
As to the issue of his being part-black, does it really matter the colour of the president's skin? It IS a good thing that there is a positive role-model for young black people, (though he's not the first ever successful and intelligent black person, so let's not ignore everyone else). But it's a bad thing that people assume that they have some connection with him because of a shared ethnicity. Rich and poor are the natural divisions of commonality in the US, not black and white. A higher percentage of black people are in poverty in the US than with white people and that should change. But a poor black person has more in common with a poor white person than they do with a rich black person. There should be no confusion on that.
Paris - because I'd genuinely have preferred it if she won.
We currently have a socialist administration? Could have fooled me...
The last US pres dragged your PM and mine into a war that's killed a fuckload of people, and has raised such ire that islamist terorrism, once confirmed to Israel, is now killing australian tourists in Bali and commuters in London.
By rights you should weep with joy at the election of a moderate whose policies will have the single biggest effect on the planet, in an election 95% of the planet had no say in. Thanks, yanks, and I really mean it.
Anyway I was in Sydney for your election and I loved it. - Johhny had been embarrasing you for far too long. Embrace the globalization, bitch.
That noise that woke you up in the middle of the night, was a million comedians realising they have lost McCain and Palin, said goodbye to Bush and are actually going to have to do some work, rather than let the jokes write themselves.
