Americans Weep in Joy at Obama's Election Posted by Ted Keer on 11/04, 9:44pm
Living in Manhattan I can report that black people, even those who voted for McCain, to their own surprise, have been crying tears of joy tonight. One thing is obvious. People voted their hopes in this election. That should be celebrated. Nor did people vote for a communist, whoever Barack Obama may be. That too i...(Read more...)
I'm changing my mind. I'm not sorry Obama won. I'm glad of it. I hope he wins again. I hope for the next eight to sixteen years we have a president Obama or Jr.
'Oh God, I'm so afraid of what the world will do! They're going to attack us now!' Get real.
'Oh no, we might have to pay more taxes!' Yeah, and I'm sure McCain was going to stop that. Get real.
'Oh my, Obama's going to take my money and give it to some poor black woman!' And the Republicans will take it through inflation plus, and give it to farmers and business and banks and international peace keeping 'organizations'.
You guys need to get real. Who was the last president you were able to vote for with a clear conscience? Was it Bush II or Bush I or perhaps The Actor?
Yep, I'm pleased Obama won and I hope he wins again. And after that I hope another socialist wins. You vote for Republicans, hoping they are the answer, who only want to slow the train toward state control. Republicans want to get there, they are just afraid to go too fast.
I just don't get it. I don't understand why some of you feel like shouting at the rain.
It's simple, Steve. According to the Objectionist Manifesto, each person has a right to persue his own happiness. And some people are not happy unless they are miserable. (Kinda cool, huh, like Goedel's Theorem.)
Chimpanzees also shake the branches and scream when it rains.
Our country has seen a generational voting shift - and it is to the left.
Our new congress and president are to the left of the country's new position.
The new congress is not filibuster proof.
Our new president is likely to be hostile to business, even in a recession.
Our new president will have a lot of power, with this congress, during his honeymoon, in part due to the passion of his supporters and his mandate to make change.
Looking at the vote, clearly, people understand less about polictical and economic prinicples than even I would have imagined.
A very high percentage of Black Americans see politics as a place where it is acceptable to vote along racial lines, period.
The Good News:
One form of racism can be ruled out - as dead and gone. White racism in the political area does not exist on any significant scale.
Obama is smart and flexible and largely unknown - while watching him like a hawk, we can hope he will moderate his ambitions in hopes of securing a 2nd term, and to play it safe.
It is clearly easier than one would have thought to run a campaign without ever being specific, not so with being president.
It is easier to educate the populace on capitalism when you have two conditions: A crisis (and there will more coming in the next 4 years), and Liberals in power who can get the blame.
Things to do:
Needless to say, race politics is a bad thing. After the honeymoon is over, after those who are crying with joy for this proof that a black man can rise to the highest land in the office, have returned to seeing Obama as a man and not the savior, it will be time to speak out against race in politics as whites have not done since civil rights.
Educate the public on Economic principles. And recognize that allowing decades of liberal rot in the universities is a ugly chicken that came to roost with yesterday's vote. It will get much worse if the universities are not taken away from the liberals.
Provide the clearest, most articulate and moral statements opposing all of the new programs that the left trots out.
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One final note: What the Hell is that other Steve going on about... Someone on an Objectivist forum is advocating for Socialism, cheering it on, wanting more of it? Am I nuts? Maybe I'm completely misunderstanding him... if not throw him in dissent.
You can't look at the faces of those in Chicago and see anything but gladness and hope. (Steve)
Obviously my face didn't make the news, then. I should've tried harder to get on camera. Sorry.
When this thread first appeared, I actually thought it was a joke.
The constant "achievement" touted by the mainstream media as having elected the first black President is nothing more than ugly collectivism, and not something I would think any Objectivist would partake in such an idiotic celebration. Black people did not win yesterday, Barack Obama did. (John)
As the only (obviously) black person posting here at present, I was afraid I was going to have to explain that point to our celebrants here. Thank you John, for doing it for me.
There is a great deal of Hero Worship to be witnessed in the Obama's devoted following. The tears of joy that were shed last night were evidence of the sincere belief that their candidate represents a new Holy Messiah, a man perfect in every way, who will wave a magic wand and solve all of the world's problems once in office. (Eric; bold words are mine.)
Fixed that for you, Eric.
I have previously mentioned what I believed the only benefit of an Obama presidency would be, and Steve Wolfer mentioned it:
One form of racism can be ruled out - as dead and gone. White racism in the political area does not exist on any significant scale.
Guys like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have been rendered completely, and totally obsolete; and they can both just fade into (really, really bitter) obscurity now.
It's simple, Steve. According to the Objectionist Manifesto, each person has a right to persue his own happiness. And some people are not happy unless they are miserable. (Kinda cool, huh, like Goedel's Theorem.)
Chimpanzees also shake the branches and scream when it rains. (Ted)
Wow, Ted, that was insulting beyond even your usual patronizing standards. Kudos...you have outdone yourself.
Just so I have this straight...Objectivists who choose not to be carried by the torrent of Obama (great fucking post, by the way, Luke) are "people who aren't happy unless they're miserable"? Is that right?
For the record, I am not miserable. I am hopeful. Really.
I'm hopeful that he won't be as bad as I feared.
Hopeful like Christopher Buckley, who thinks Obama can be reasoned with, and convinced to not be such a Marxist in office.
But unlike Buckley, I wasn't rooting for Obama to be elected, and I sure as hell am not going to celebrate the fact that he was. But since it's happened, I will hope for the best.
Can’t you see past the guff and recognize the essence? One country is dedicated to the proposition that man has no rights, that the collective is all. The individual held as evil, the mass—as God. No motive and no virtue permitted—except that of service to the proletariat. That’s one version. Here’s another. A country dedicated to the proposition that man has no rights, that the State is all. The individual held as evil, the race—as God. No motive and no virtue permitted—except that of service to the race. Am I raving or is this the cold reality of two continents already? Watch the pincer movement. If you’re sick of one version, we push you into the other. We get you coming and going. We’ve closed the doors. We’ve fixed the coin. Heads—collectivism, and tails—collectivism. Fight the doctrine which slaughters the individual with a doctrine which slaughters the individual. Give up your soul to a council—or give it up to a leader. But give it up, give it up, give it up. My technique, Peter. Offer poison as food and poison as antidote.
Read that and tell me I'm wrong about John McCain, Bob Barr, Barack Obama, George Bush (I and II), Clinton (Mrs. and Mr.) and The Actor. Read that and tell me I'm wrong about the Republicans. Read that and tell me, try and tell me if you can, that voting for the lessor of two evils somehow transforms a vote into one for the greater.
The only thing I hate more than liberalism is conservatism. The Democrats are easy to peg. They're socialist and have been for decades. No one needs to argue that point to me. The Republicans are a harder beast to classify. They claim to be the champions of freedom, the champions of capitalism, but I don't see anything representing capitalism from them, not in what they mean or in what they enact. The liberals offer us socialism as food. The conservative antidote: socialism lite.
I'm young, tactless and idealistic. One day, maybe my hopes and dreams will have been stomped out of me too. But, until then, I will vote for the best and only the best. I don't have any use for second best or almost best or if only (fill in the blank) best.
Where, Erica, did I say that I am happy that Obama got elected, that people should be happy that Obama got elected, or that the people who are happy that Obama got elected are happy for the right man?
My point, which I didn't think wouldn't think was so hard to get, is that most of the people who voted for Obama did so not because they support what he truly believes, but because they had projected their personal hopes on him. Probably one fifth of the people who voted for him are indeed just outright communist scum. But a large and benevolent majority of those who voted for him did so because they saw him as "for people like them" or "inspirational" or so forth.
And the emotional response among common people cannot possibly be explained by their joy that a Communist got elected. It is because they feel validated as Americans by this victory. (I'm not talking about the professional black victim mongers that you saw on TV - I'm talking about real black people in the streets.) They feel that they finally have proof, due to the symbolic nature of the presidency, (See Rand) that they "belong." I am not saying that this is a valid rational inference on their part. Obama is a shyster who was simply lucky that way. We here all know that he is a political disaster. I'm just saying that that's the symbolic meaning.
The common man did not see what we saw. The response of blacks who wept at his election (and I saw and respect many who did) wept because of their spiritual interpretation of the meaning of his election. There may have been naivete in their ignorance of the evil of the man whom they allowed to be the vehicle of their self-validation. But there was no evil in what it was that they thought they were celebrating.
Both the Left and the Conservative Right are mistaken if they see Obama's victory as a mandate for socialism, victimization, or anything of the sort on the part of the common voter. The common voters saw a smart and inspirational man. They did not understand the undercurrent of his message. There is plenty to be worried about economically. That is not something I dispute. I am afraid that Obama will be the worst president ever. But I don't think his election says anything bad about the country.
Yet we get Robert's typically happy comment that "indeed" we will "get what we voted for." It looks like Michael Marotta said something with the word fraud in it. Darling Teresa says "excuse me for mourning the death of economic liberty." (Who said I disagreed, or was even talking about that in my simple observation? Obama is a disaster - in case I haven't repeated that over and over again often enough.) Ed and Rodney pop in to mourn along with Teresa. Sam was funny, I sanctioned him. (Boydstun may be smart - but damn, what is he smoking?) Then John Armaos and Luke join in the doom and gloom. Luke quotes Rand at me as if I were praising Obama...I mean, come on! Jeff (who thinks I think Libertarian voters are deathwishers) actually saw my point, and then talked of doom and gloom for 500 words. Maurone (see him here at Radicals for Happiness) even chimed in and joined Teresa's pity party. And then even Sam!
Well, mourn if you guys want to. If you were here I'd give you all a pat and a sigh and a hug, if it would make you feel better. I'm not telling anyone to be happy that Obama was elected. Just happy, maybe, that those who cried at his election could not possibly have cried because they are Communists.
And of course, we have the yelling and screaming and panic at SOLOP and OL with people calling for lynchings, and warning people to stay away from black neighborhoods, and saying "I told you so!" and saying "See, you should have voted Libertarian because we (all 489 of us) sent (telepathically?) a "message" or saying "See!" - (screaming in panic) "There was voter fraud and Obama is in the pocket of the Elders of Zion!"
And you know what? I am happy anyway. A bastard got elected. But he didn't do it by subborning the courts like Algor tried to do. He lied about himself, and the press abetted him, but he did it fair and square. McCain was too good to win. Too goody-good-good that is. (Ed, you would use that funny word "altruism" here.) McCain didn't want to make an issue of who Obama was. Obama could have been swiftboated out of the election in August, but McCain would rather lose as a gentleman than win as a politician. And he did.
So, using what very little of Rand I understand, I made a simple observation about the meaning of the spiritual reaction of some people to Obama's election. And I observed that their reaction, while based upon a misinterpretation of who Obama is, was still an indication of the general decency of the common man. A decency which both the Suspicious Conservatives and the Conspiratorial Left seem not to recognize. Meanwhile, others react to circumstances outside their control with flailing anger. The anger might be justified. I can understand it; I expect to share it all too often in the future. And I happen to like chimps, as Ed can testify.
But I am not going to yell in rage at the rain right now.
Ted, when I sanctioned Teresa, I was referring to her comment about America. I wasn't referring to your post. I am understanding of WHY you wrote it, and I'm not saying you support Obama. You cited my contribution to RADICALS FOR HAPPINESS in relation to my comments here...so let me say that I like the idea of your site and what you are trying to do, so I can accept the spirit of your post here. I am glad that America is now able to elect a black man as president; but I personally don't think the joy is justified for other reasons. Still, I am reminded of something Mary Ann Sures wrote about Rand's interpretation of a movie Sures liked:
"And Ayn pointed this out to me: that I was respond ing to the abstraction of determination and heroism, and overlooking some of the unsavory concretes. It was selective awareness, on my part. I remember very clearly one thing she said: that this is an example of some one see ing past the bad directorial touches in the movie, seeing past the things that undercut the characters of both Hepburn and Bogart. She was sympathetic about my desire to see some thing heroic in human behavior, but she pointed out what I had failed to see in the movie—or, more exactly, the aspects I dismissed or glossed over in my appraisal and, consequently, in my response."
That's how I understand anyone trying to put a positive spin on the election, more power to them.
But do me one favor?
Don't try to intimidate myself or others into repressing our disappointment.
Ted, I think people are much more socialist than you are claiming. Only 1/5 people who voted for Obama are socialist? Yea right. Maybe 1/5 people understand basic economics and are socialist, and 4/5 don't understand basic economics and are socialist.
I "roll with" socialists. I go out on the town with them. I see their daily reactions to others. I intellectually interact with them. I see part of the insides of their minds.
I was at a socialist-couple's house the other day. The wife said that capitalism thrives off of perpetuating poverty. The husband said that he thinks that capitalism does more evil than good. GW Bush, by practicing probably the worst form of "crony-capitalism", has given them the moral sanction to concur with Obama's attacks on capitalism when he brings up "the failed economic philosophy of the last 8 years."
"Obama's right" they say to me, citing the last 8 years (6 of which I have been personally warning about) of stagnant or declining median wages. I am in an unecessary defensive position about it. I plead with them, "But Bush is not a capitalist, he's a crony-capitalist!" My arguments don't have the power that they would if Bush had not been elected.
urQ In one article, Obama expressed he goal for appointing new Supreme Court Justices who (paraphrasing) "understand what it's like to be poor and black" rather than being concerned about understanding and upholding the Constitution.
I agree with your concern, but thought it worth mentioning that Republicans have been trying to do the same (stacking the court) for the 'religious right' extremists who share their beds.
Someone sent me a quote they found on Twitter (I don't know what that really is either) which referred to this election as "the end of an error", to which I would add "and the beginning of a new error."
About the only thing that might hold Obama and congress back from doing greater damage is the damaged state of the economy. Taxing and spending will only cause further damage. There isn't money to cover all the entitlements existing now, let alone to add new ones. And this may be the only good news. The state of world politics is more dynamic than healthy. I should be surprised if Biden was not right about Obama being tested. I would not be surprised if it comes as a costly test.
I would be a good thing if both parties were assaulted in the press and in the streets on their failed philosophies, and ethics were given a closer look by our citizenry. More published articles and letters to the editor, local television interviews, etc. Provide the general public some reasoned, well spoken, and simple to understand principles to help inform their actions.
Where, Erica, did I say that I am happy that Obama got elected, that people should be happy that Obama got elected, or that the people who are happy that Obama got elected are happy for the right man?
Well, mourn if you guys want to. If you were here I'd give you all a pat and a sigh and a hug, if it would make you feel better. I'm not telling anyone to be happy that Obama was elected. Just happy, maybe, that those who cried at his election could not possibly have cried because they are Communists.
