Hail to the Cheif

[elleflies]

I hardly ever talk politics on my blog as I hold some decidedly unpopular political opinions (I tend to lean Conservative/Libertarian), but I'm going to break the rule of not talking about it just this once:

Congratulation to President-Elect Obama.

It was a long and hard fought campaign and he overcame much to win the prize.

That being said, I'm probably now going to either get myself royally flamed or de-friended. I don't really care either way.

I did not vote for Obama.

I actually voted for McCain. And even then I did that grudgingly and after much soul searching, as I was close to voting third party. I know a few of my friends are just thankful I vote out of Texas, where it doesn't matter if I think and vote with a conservative slant.

My main and primary reason for not voting for Obama was not that I don't necessarily agree with his politics. I did not vote for him because his supporters scare the ever loving daylights out of me.

I think it's an extremely unwise idea to deify any human being and the amount of love and worship directed at Obama was and is something I find extremely disturbing. I'm hoping it tapers off a bit, as putting anyone on a pedestal basically means the only place for them to go is down.

I may not have voted for the man, but he won and as President I'll support and stand behind him even though I don't agree with him.

In my opinion, which most of you are shaking your heads at about now, it's time to stop being wildly supportive, stop deifying the man and start being critical. I may stand behind him as President but as a citizen and voter I believe its in my best interest to be critical of whoever is in office, be it Republican or Democrat. (and believe me, if you think I give G Dub my support and a blind pass on whatever he wants simply because he's a conservative from Texas... Oh how you would be wrong.)

Obama is a Politician and by his very nature: crooked. They all are. Only with public oversight and public criticism will we get anywhere. I don't envy him he job he fought for so hard for as he's entering it at the very start of some severe economic problems that aren't going to magically resolve themselves.

I could go into this more and I would but I'm exhausted and in my exhaustion I know I could possibly come off as a Conservative Nutjob (which I'm really not - a nutjob that is).

I am proud of my country, not because of who we voted in, but because we can vote, we did vote and our elections and the process of voting is decidedly less corrupt then other places around the globe (although I'm not under any illusions, we still have plenty of corruption in the process) But the people have spoken and I'm proud that we have the opportunity and ability to do so.

So, congrats to all those whose candidate won (which is... about 95% of my flist) enjoy your celebrating.

I'm just going to content myself with the fact that I'm going to Australia.

I thought about going comment-less for this, but I'm not going to. I have a big mouth and I really don't care who hears what I have to say (I remain surprised by how un-inflammatory this post actually turned out. It could have been worse). That being said, if you do argue, I most likely will not be swayed. *g*

Comments

[veracity]

You know I voted for neither of them. Basically, I wasted my vote. Because I can't support either of my options. I just couldn't. I didn't like Obama, I can't support someone that...circular speaking. I listened to McCain's speech, compared to Obama's. McCain's was better. It had more grace, more elegance.

I don't believe in Obama's promises. I don't believe in his "all we need is this..." I can't and won't. I'm glad we have a new president, but I'm not going to pretend I voted for him. Like you, his supporters scared the bejesus out of me. And still do. My flist is practically singing, and really, I'm like you. I don't blindly follow, I'm critical. And all this sudden praise can only lead to some serious disgruntled responses in a year. That doesn't leave me with a lot of faith for my countrymen and women. In 6 months after he gets into office, he'll get the same reactions Bush is getting now. It's simply inevitable. If nothing else, he can't make everyone happy, and he can't keep all the promises. It's politics. I tend to ignore what they say and pay attention to the unspoken parts. This attitude of him being a BNF in a large fandom is scary as hell. Even my godmom fell for it.

I'm not a Democrat, or a Republican. I'm out for me. Which is why I did a write in for a vote that didn't even make the count. But that's okay. I listened to my conscience. That's all I care about. But I'm going to be beating my head into the wall for the next couple of weeks, I'm sure.

[elrina753.livejournal.com]

My flist is singing too. I hit refresh and groan. And I took you into account, you're one of my 5% who isn't having an Obama related orgasm right now.

And babe, I love you for many reasons but one of them is that you do think for yourself and you are critical and those are two extremely good traits I wish more people had.

I'm just grateful I'm out of the states for all this. It's bad hearing about it in Kuwait, but I'm sure I'd be going out of my skull hearing about it in the states.

[veracity]

I groan, too. My Twitter is having the same fits. Seriously, people. It wasn't a surprise, but the counts were kind of disappointing. Not that I wanted McCain (hi, Palin, you scare me as much as the Obama supporters!) but I think it was almost a large brainwash. It's not going to end well when they realize Obama is in fact human; he will royally fuck up at some point. And then we'll be back to the same song. It happens with every president.

I have to be critical. If you rely on someone else to tell you everything, you'll never know anything. At least, that's my take on all this. No one questioned him, ever, and I never understood why. Because he didn't say a lot. Just emptied a lot of false crap that all politicians do. I think the few of us that do think about it are remembering that and heavily sighing.

I wish I was out of the states. Think you could swing by and pick me up illegally? Please? Pretty please? On the plus side, I'll be diving into my homework in order to flee the crazy people. All 99% of my flist. So far you and Jessi are the only ones not cheering.

In other news, I have a) put up pics of the kitties, so they can bring you happy and b) decided that Zachary can go fuck his hand. He sure as hell ain't getting near me. I deleted his phone number AND emails. I'll defriend him tomorrow. For now, my bruised heart and ego can only take so much.

[elrina753.livejournal.com]

So far I haven't seen anyone on my flist not going nuts.

And everything you pointed out, are things that did not please me during the campaign. I'm just concerned at all the legislation that's going to be passed seeing as how one party now controls the House, Senate and Presidency. I wouldn't want that under a Republican administration and I don't want it under a Democratic one. We're only one party away from China as it is...

On the subject of Zachary, I'm sorry it had to end this way but I'm glad you're taking steps to cut him out of your life when it was clear you aren't as important to him as you should be. Rock on my lady.

[veracity]

I have two lone beacons. That's it. I'm not even bothering posting until late in the morning.

I was so unimpressed with this campaign. Honestly, I think if McCain had another running mate, I probably would have voted for him after some careful consideration. There's a level of elegance that he exudes. And humbleness. Obama's seems fake, as a ploy. I'm concerned for the same reasons you are. I voted for Dems in my state, because they were good options. I haven't been happy with the way my state's been run and a change was needed. But if thing had been more efficient, I would have kept people in office. And some did. Like the county sheriff, who is Republican, because he does a damn good job. He offers up his own money in order to try and pinpoint dog fighters and he will rehab abused dogs on his farm.

I'm sorry it had to end that way, too. I should probably tell him, huh? But damn it, when you give me a list of your weekend activities you can't get out of....and they're all voluntary, then screw you. You can miss D&D gaming night to date. I think he assumes dating = booty call. How about no? I don't mind giving the boot up... to someone that makes me a priority. I am not a piece of furniture, nor is it okay to be rude to me on the damn phone. I'm worth more. I just need to lick my wounds and create my own nunnery. You know what he sounds like, to me? A NiceGuy. One of those that aren't willing to take the chance and just hope the girls asks you out. Oh, wait. I did. And I was resoundly ignored. My bad. He's just an asshole with a buttplug too far up his backside.

[beckaandzac.livejournal.com]

I don't want to argue. I am feeling very uncomfortable right now about having a Democratic president AND a strongly Democratic congress working together (we talked about this, right?). What I want most is to see the two-party system GO AWAY. (Hilary Clinton made a statement last night, which essentially amounted to, "Together we Democrats will put America on a better path." Which is not how it is supposed to work at all, in my mind.)

But that said, I think Obama is attempting to be more transparent than a lot of other politicians, and I look forward to being able to criticize him on the basis of his actions in office, instead of his constant concealment of them (which is what I feel like I've been doing with the Bush administration). And I'm glad to have seen more people go into this election with (admittedly sometimes blind) enthusiasm because HOPEFULLY it means they will be more invested in Obama's actions in office, instead of just saying, "This is not my country," and tuning out. So that's what I'm looking forward to.

Have fun in Australia OMG!!

[mtemplar-fic.livejournal.com]

Thank you for writing this. I refuse to talk politics on my journal, but it's nice to know that someone shares my views. I do hope for the country's sake that Mr. Obama is indeed deserving of the deification that I've been seeing on the television as well as on my flist. And just to clarify, I'm registered as an independent voter, and I really didn't feel like I had anyone to vote for in this election, much like the last.

*shoves her personal politics back under her hat* Have a great time in Australia!

[shinyopals.livejournal.com]

I think... a few days of partying and hoping is good. I think it's great that people can get this enthusiastic.

But I also agree that being critical is key. If people don't see Obama as a person, he'll either get away with everything or everyone will turn on him after his first mistake/broken promise.

I'd like to think that he's genuine when he talks about what he wants to do. Not necessarily because I 100% support his policies, but I just think it would be nice if someone were in office who kept their promises to the best of their abilities.

I tend towards loony liberal by the US definition (whee socialism and all that jazz), although for the UK I think I'm probably pretty normal, if a little left of centre!

Hope your trip is good! (Also, I have just noticed you're online at the moment, but I'm commenting anyway! XD)

[elrina753.livejournal.com]

They deserve their party. And I hope they enjoy it.

I just remain extremely cynical of all politicians. Mainly because I think they're all lying crooks. I'd like Obama to keep his promises (not that I agree with all his promises), but I can't get over the fact that he is a Chicago politician, and they aren't really known for their honesty.

I'm a happy little capitalist. I'm all for small government, fiscal responsibility and the government butting out of my damn business. The US will never be as liberal as Europe, personally I think that's a good thing. Something for everyone that way. *g*

I'm about to head out the door. It's gonna be a LONG day.

[loony-moony.livejournal.com]

TARINA! AND YOU DID OBAMA SHOTS WITH US TOO! *OMFG DEFRIENDZ*

:) If anyone removes you from their flists because you think differently, good riddance.

[elrina753.livejournal.com]

Actually *g* I didn't touch the Obama shots. I did the Harry Potter shots and stopped right there. I just didn't want to harsh on your squee so I kept my mouth shut.

:)

[caithream.livejournal.com]

I probably won't ever talk about politics on my LJ (and if so, it'll be under a tight lock and key) but I voted McCain too for most of the reasons you listed. And the sad part is, I haven't really told anyone that at all, because I feel like I'd get burned on a stake, just for saying that I don't agree with his policies.

So yeah. No Obama orgasm (luuuulz) for me either.

[regala-electra.livejournal.com]

Dude we may have voted very differently this election and not see eye-to-eye on many issues, but you know I adore you, right? I value your opinions so much even when I don't agree. *hugs*

And while I've spoken of my hope and optimism during the election process and I'm probably easy to classify as an Obama supporter as you defined in your post, I drift towards cynicism. The political system has always been incredibly shifty and frustrating and I will do my part to be a pain in the ass and make sure all my elected officials are held accountable.

Have an awesome time in Australia, babe.