Congrats!

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I will never be a conservative who writes paeans to Obama's uplifting message and transcendent candidacy. I don't find him either uplifting or transcendent, and would argue that his opportunism precludes both. But I will try my best to hope for good judgment, pray for pragmatism, and never wish ill for the country just because it would mean ill for Obama and his party.

That has been one of the more execrable tendencies of parts of the far left (and even some elected Democrats) while out of power, and it's one to which Republicans should not succumb.

This is America. We all live to regroup and fight another day. Soon, we'll be back to talking about Obama's self-involved speeches and their inefficacy against rogue regimes going nuclear. And, we may be delving into the small matter of his campaign contributions. But for tonight, congrats to Obama. It was a race well run.

Posted by Mary Katharine Ham on November 4, 2008 11:58 PM (to the Weekly Standard)

...MKH crisps it up nicely for me too!

Comments

Seth says

M 2008-11-05 11:57:20 10793

seth 2008-11-05 11:44:29 10793

M 2008-11-05 11:41:58 10793

[re: item 10795] S left out another Democrat - Jimmy Carter & the "failed presidency" w/ the Iran hostage crisis or Bill Clinton & the "Lewinsky"!

Did they have slogans like the "new deal"?

I think that Jimmy Carter's was the "Raw Deal", eh?

I think Rush had some for Obama, but I will hold onto them for a while for a more appropriate time of insertion. I think though that the Taittinger is still on your breath, though with New Spirit which was also the name of the church down the street from us on Walgrove.

My item is more in the lines of a prediction. I was wondering what he would call his administration, and this just popped out of his speech as the most appropriate. Thanks for poking your fun on your own node and not on mine. I appreciate that.

Mark de LA says

seth 2008-11-05 11:44:29 10793

M 2008-11-05 11:41:58 10793

[re: item 10795] S left out another Democrat - Jimmy Carter & the "failed presidency" w/ the Iran hostage crisis or Bill Clinton & the "Lewinsky"!

Did they have slogans like the "new deal"?

I think that Jimmy Carter's was the "Raw Deal", eh?

Mark de LA says

... & visibly as thin as a small fart reflected in a hall of mirrors!

Seth says

source: M above
A new Spirit is just about as airy-fairy as hope & change

... obviously, yes, they can be. You might, however, try to reconcile that with RS's kind of spirituality. But then maybe you don't believe in spirit.

Mark de LA says

seth 2008-11-07 08:10:20 10793

source: M above
A new Spirit is just about as airy-fairy as hope & change

... obviously, yes, they can be. You might, however, try to reconcile that with RS's kind of spirituality. But then maybe you don't believe in spirit.

Very combative! Is that the so-called new spirit?

As an Anthroposophical friend of mine (Raffi) pointed out to me when I was taking ontological workshops - being & spirit are fairly close in meaning & distinction. I use spirit when I am talking to Anthroposophists; otherwise I use being. I suspect that the Obama camp has more of the common idea of what spirit is like the glow of a rock concert might bring or something like team-spirit in a football game. Spirit & being in my ontology speak to principle & values which your camp has still left unconcealed.

Mark de LA says

M 2008-11-07 07:05:56 10793

57,125,842 (46%) voted against Obama (99% tally via CNN) that's a lot of people watching Obama to see if he really governs from the "center".

349 electorial Obama

53%

64,985,624 total vote count

163 electorial McCain

46%

57,125,842 total vote count

BTW, both totals are more than either Gore or Bush got in the 2000 election!

Seth says

There are lots of ways to spin the final election results ... i like this way:

source: allvoices.com
With about 99 percent of the popular votes tallied, President-elect Barack Obama has surpassed the record set by President Bush in 2004 for the most votes ever received by a U.S. presidential candidate in a single election. He will likely exceed Bush’s '04 vote total by about 3 million votes.

... or perhaps this way: Obama won all of the battleground states with the possible exception of Missouri.

He waged a fine and successful campaign, funded mostly by little people like me. I picked him from the start.

Can i pick them or not?

Mark de LA says

Where are those who were crying in their piss pots about the electorial college system in the 2000 election? This is a fairly decent show of the difference. The popular vote however shows that Obama didn't get a mandate for left-wing mischief in spite of how he spins it.

Mark de LA says

BTW, the M$M seems to be pushing Camelot-II as the stage name of his administration after JFK & Camelot.

Mark de LA says

The Spirit of America, an archangel, is more than an angel & more than a human being in the hierarchy of the Cosmos. In watching Obama's first news conference today I noticed that perhaps he is touched by that sobering realization. The Spirit of America is not some intellectual idea hatched by a human being. I shall use the feminine her & she for a while, but just for brevity; I think an archangel transcends sex. Few, if any, are truly blessed who grok her full being in reality.

Seth says

The Spirit of America waxes and wanes as does all living beings. With this election our tent is bigger, more inclusive, and more hopeful. Perhaps now we have the spirit to solve our energy drain and the leadership to get our people working. I feel better about America now ... don't you?

Mark de LA says

seth 2008-11-08 08:56:33 10793

You sound like you are still thinking in "talking points" - maybe you listened to O's radio address or something. The Spirit of America has been around since before 1776 & may be here long after you & I are gone. Individual presidents & administrations may or not tap into the Being of America with positive or negative consequences. It's too early to tell what BHO is up to yet. Hope is still like gluing wings on worms with the desire of manifesting a butterfly. Hope without some kind of vision, organizing principles, implementation targets, promises & existence systems for those promises is as worthless as a little child sitting around hoping for a puppy at Christmas. Hope is just an intangible feeling that O sold you folks to get elected. See how much hope is worth when you can pay your rising taxes with it. It's not a place to live & get results from.

Seth says

MR 2008-11-08 11:30:08 10793

seth 2008-11-08 08:56:33 10793

Well you sound just as pessimistic and partisan as always. Sure the American Spirit was born in the 18th century, but like all living things it changes and that was my point. This new American Spirit is more inclusive. Who knows what will actually happen in the next eight years and whether the Obama administration will be able to actually change the course of America for the better ... i certainly don't. What i am happy about, though, is that the spirit that came from the Bush administration is now dead. And that is why i will be listening to the presidential news conferences etc with a renewed interest. I will be expecting honesty and transparency and not deceit and behind the scenes double dealings. Will i be dissapointed? I hope not.

Mark de LA says

The Spirit of America is a real being not the spirit you find at a football game or an Obama rally; your partisan, liberal loving, Bush derrangement syndrome infected, 'Bama-juice drinking, right-wrong gaming notwithstanding!

Seth says

M 2008-11-09 10:39:46 10793

The Spirit of America is a real being

Ok, but if the spirit that elected Obama is not part of what you call the real Spirit of America, then that real Spirit of America is nothing at all. Then that "real Spirit of America" is but metaphysical pipe dream ... it is an intelectual concoction based upon faith. If this is an interesting discussion, it is not a political partisan one. This is not about left wing and right wing. This is about what is spirit as being. It's something that you may need to think a bit about before you give a knee jerk response.

Mark de LA says

M 2008-11-09 11:17:27 10793

seth 2008-11-09 10:50:26 10793

M 2008-11-09 10:39:46 10793

The Spirit of America is a real being

Ok, but if the spirit that elected Obama is not part of what you call the real Spirit of America, then that real Spirit of America is nothing at all. Then that "real Spirit of America" is but metaphysical pipe dream ... it is an intelectual concoction based upon faith. If this is an interesting discussion, it is not a political partisan one. This is not about left wing and right wing. This is about what is spirit as being. It's something that you may need to think a bit about before you give a knee jerk response. (just like yours! )Hope is always a metaphysical pipe dream about a fantasy future. - M.

I'm sure she is. That also goes for the Spirit of Iraq which gave the Iraqi Saddam Hussein & the people of Germany during the 30's & 40's Adolf Hitler. In the long haul things are always good. A magnifying glass that looks at just an 8 year period of one administration gives distortion that may or may not be good - remember the Zen story of the farmer & his horse. I am always optimistic in the long view; in the short view who knows?

BTW, here is that Zen Story.

Congrats!

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