Showing posts with label John McCain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John McCain. Show all posts

PostHeaderIcon Barack Obama: Elected First Afro-American US President

11/05/2008 | Posted by andygimpaya | Edit Post

There will be no long night in the US elections 2008. As soon as the polls in California and other western states closed at 11 PM eastern time and without waiting for the initial results from the area, Wolf Blitzer of CNN projects that Barack Obama has garnered enough electoral votes and called the race. Barack Obama becomes the first Afro-American elected president of the United States.

CNN's announcement was greeted by emotional cheers by a sea of Obama supporters at Grant Park Chicago. A crowd of 4000 students from a nearby university, rushed to the gate of the White House cheering for Obama while demanding immediate eviction of President George W. Bush. Cheering crowds were also noted in Wall Street and Dr. Martin Luther King's church in Atlanta.

The world too rejoices. As far as Obama's root country of Kenya, huge crowds celebrate.

Shortly after, John McCain delivered his concession speech before teary-eyed supporters and promises support for an Obama presidency. A couple of times, McCain had to control boos from disappointed supporters. McCain 's "extraordinarily gracious" words after running a bitter, often venomous, campaign is now a footnote to history.

Obama's victory is self-healing for America. After electing the like of George Bush twice, America fights back by choosing a leader who promises to transform not only America but the world as well. It is classic battle between message of hope and change on one hand and experience on the other. It is also a repudiation of negative campaign tactics, personal attacks, stunts and gimmicks. It is also a triumph of ethical journalism over propagandist media like the FoxNews and News Corp. Millions of bloggers in the Web proved effective in flagging down lies and falsehoods. Incidentally, McCain's loss is the fifth time that American voters refused to elect a decorated war hero to the presidency. This is also the first time that an anti-war candidate wins the US Presidency while America is at war. It is expected that under Obama's leadership, America will self-correct previous mistakes and failures.

The Obama-McCain race is for the ages. It is the stuff that songs, poetry and epics celebrating the triumph of the good guy who takes the high road are made of. Americans and non-Americans will certainly remember where they are on this historic moment. The whole world embraces Barack Obama and see him as the leader of the world. A British news headline even calls Obama's victory. " one giant leap for mankind," a direct quote from John F. Kennedy referring to the first human landing in the moon in 1969.
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PostHeaderIcon Barack Obama wins as the 44th US President

11/05/2008 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post
In a campaign which promises change and hope, Sen. Barack Obama (D) wins over Sen. John McCain (R) in a bid to be the 44th president of the United States. A charistmatic liberal democrat, Obama makes history as the first black president in the White House.

On election day, November 5, 2008 at 11:20 PM (Eastern Time,) Sen. McCain graciously concedes his defeat by exhorting the American people to move on and rally behind the next president in the name of unity and prosperity of the country.

In a classy and elegant remark, Sen. McCain accepts the voice of the electorate and looks forward for a unified nation. (Photo Credit: laphoto1) ==0=
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PostHeaderIcon Election Day

11/04/2008 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post
“In the US, voters cast ballots for individual candidates who are not bound to any party program except rhetorically, and not always then. Some Republicans are more liberal than some Democrats, some libertarians are more radical than some socialists, and many local candidates run without any party identification. No American citizen can vote intelligently without knowledge of the ideas, political background, and commitments of each individual candidate.”---Ben H. Bagdikian (American educator & journalist)

Months of campaign has finally brought the Americans to decide and vote on November 4, 2008. They have been treated with presidential debates, talk show humor, media analysts’ opinions, TV advertisements and radio commentaries, but still there is a pall of uncertainty whether the electorate really is deciding for the best candidates who’ll defend their interest.

Certainly, there are those who think passionately that they are doubly sure of their choice taking into account not only the economy, but also the culture USA is taking. And there are also those who are spooked by the immensity of the candidates' eloquent promises which beg for action.

Today the voters silently cast their vote. It’s a regular working day for most Americans who approach the polls in their own terms. Whatever they decide will define the course of their lives and the whole nation. (Photo Credits: wwww.linesandcolors.com; m4roon3d)=0=

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PostHeaderIcon Alaska's Largest Newspaper Endorses Obama

10/26/2008 | Posted by andygimpaya | Edit Post
Earlier this week when the New York Times endorsed Obama for president, Republican sympathizers jokingly feigned shock and disbelief, calling it good for a few good laughs. Who will endorse who next? FoxNews and News Corp. endorsing McCain? NBC to finally officially endorse Obama?

But this one will probably stun rather make the GOP laugh. Citing the need for a steady hand to handle America's crisis, Alaska's largest newspaper, Anchorage Daily News, endorses Barack Obama for President.

Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee, brings far more promise to the office. In a time of grave economic crisis, he displays thoughtful analysis, enlists wise counsel and operates with a cool, steady hand. The same cannot be said of Sen. McCain.

While still maintaining that Palin would be ready to assume the job of a Vice President, present serious problems like economic meltdown, two deadly wars and a deteriorating climate crisis would be stretching their governor beyond her range. The editorial concludes that putting Sarah Palin a heart-beat away "from the leadership of the free world is just too risky at this time."

This endorsement from the Alaska newspaper certainly throws everyone into genuine surprise and disbelief, given that Sarah Palin is the governor of the State with purported 80% approval. If at all significant, this highlights McCain-Palin ticket's continuing trouble with the mainstream media on issues that matter.

Read the Anchorage Daily editorial here.
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PostHeaderIcon On Filipino’s support for McCain: “This goes deeper than ignorance.”

10/24/2008 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post
“Seventy (70) countries, two billion world citizens prefer Obama 4 to 1. Except Georgia and....the Philippines! It seems the majority Republican sentiments in this group are reflective of our origins. So what do we have in common with Georgia aside from being a small, poor and war torn country? Could it be the Catholic Conscience voter...?

This was announced on CNN last night. I have never in my entire life felt so ASHAMED to be a Filipino. For this goes deeper than ignorance which can be cured. A nation of bigoted fools is hopeless... ‘---A FilAm Liberal Democrat (FLD)

I got the above blistering statements in my email from an egroup on Oct 22, 2008. I missed seeing that CNN show, but if true, FLD sounded exactly like first-lady wannabee Michelle Obama when she expressed scorn for her country early on in the campaign, only to be blunted by restraint to talk more about it.

Overtly secular, FLD can be accused of condescension for denouncing the “ignorance” of Filipinos who come from a "bigoted nation of fools." Antipathy and intolerance roil against those who don't share the media-backed liberal view of the democrats. I know FLD as a learned doctor who prescribes cure for Filipinos. Although her view is part of freedom’s guaranteed perks, it made me ponder why, to my surprise, many kababayans would prefer McCain over Obama. Sharing with you my humble opinion on this issue before the US Presidential Election day in an article to follow...to be continued...Abangan! (Photo Credit: byatis547)=0=

UPDATE: The continuation can be found on my blog dated October 30, 2008 entitled "Win or lose, after the election we go shopping." AFM
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PostHeaderIcon Republican Party on Journey to Oblivion?

10/23/2008 | Posted by andygimpaya | Edit Post
When George W. Bush narrowly pulled off two Presidential elections, concerns were raised of Democrats going the way of the Whigs. Things have dramatically changed and this dire prospect is now talked about the Republicans rather than the Democrats. After the election the GOP is expected to be in shambles.

Collin Powell might have already hammered the first nail. As he endorsed Barack Obama for President, Powell complained that his party has moved too much to the right and criticized McCain for employing negative attacks as campaign tactics. Apparently, Powell is now concerned about his legacy. All indications point to McCain trying to win nasty rather than lose badly. And Powell will have none of it.

At the same time, Powell complained that the GOP's vice-presidential candidate and crown princess of the party, Sarah Palin, is totally unprepared for the Presidency, which to Powell is actually the job of the Vice President. After initially energizing the party's base, Palin has slowly turned out to be a polarizing figure to the Americans and even to her own party. Even conservative opinion makers started to attack her after sub-par performances in unscripted interviews. Kathleen Parker called Palin "out of her league" and even proposed that she drop out of the race. David Brooks called Palin "fatal cancer to Republican party." Both Parker and Brooks cast doubts on McCain's judgment over his choice of Palin as Vice-Presidential candidate. McCain answers only with "amazed" response. An Associated Press investigation released today finds out that Alaska pays for the travels of Palin's children, and Palin revised filed expense records to make these expenses official when reporters started to get nosey. Worse still, Palin charged some hotel expenses when in fact she was staying at her home. In a separate interview with CNN today, Palin continue to insist that she is even more experienced than Obama, prompting a chuckling Larry King to ask one Republican panelist, "Are you now seeing the end of the race?"

Even as he considers himself a Republican, Powell, like Clinton and Obama and other Democrat leaders, talks seriously about the need of America to regain the respect and admiration of the world. Neither McCain nor Palin tackles this theme. Instead, both talk of being non-apologetic for their actions in dealing with allies.

At least 40% of American voters still adore the McCain-Palin ticket and are thrilled at whatever the duo brings to the White House. But as issues are discussed daily at the backdrop of terrible wounding of capitalism as an economic ideology, the GOP is proving to be on the wrong side of history. The Republican candidates are trailing so badly in the congressional races that they now only talk of salvaging a few seats in both house and senate, so that at least their right to filibuster will be safeguarded.

The Republican party is obviously feeling the weight of the generally unsympathetic mainstream media. This morning, McCain was talking mad at the NBC crew because the network did not carry the recent Biden story. McCain has prohibited many reporters of the mainstream media from traveling with him in his campaign plane. From now on he will probably surround himself only with sympathetic Fox News (derided in the Web as FauxNews or Fox-machine), New York Post, Weekly Standard and Wall Street Journal---all part of Rupert Murdoch's media empire. You bet, GOP will likely also use MySpace as the official social network. Partisans will also exclusively patronize 20th Century Fox productions and boycott Michael Moore's movies. Very soon you may find National Geographic defending Palin's view on global warming so they can promote drill-drill-drill.

The blogoshere certainly would not be left behind in pushing the GOP to oblivion. Millions of blogs on US elections 2008 do not show admiration for McCain, Palin nor the Republicans. The last time the a Republican president get elected was in YouTube-free 2004. That was the time when blogs were few and bloggers were still too shy to weight in on anything that matters. Playing hard ball to win an election was the rule and candidates with few resources can only swear in silence or simply watch helplessly. FoxNews anchors would praise the wealthy Republicans to high heavens. One male anchor, I remember, had the bravery to announce that "Republicans get laid more often because they are fabulously rich."

That was an era the Republicans could now only recall with misty eyes. Now their attempts at gimmicks, stunts and propaganda over the Web get flagged down before they stick. Blogging is passion and bloggers are generally extremely unforgiving when lied to. The Web is a domain unfriendly to GOP.

Headed by a self-proclaimed computer illiterate, the GOP was quite late in jumping into the Web this election year. Obama, from the start, has built-his small donors base and has successfully used the Web for organization, human resource mobilization and fund raising. The donation button at barackobama.com has produced hundreds of millions of dollars for his campaign and the joke circulating around is that Obama has a serious money problem. Less than 2 weeks until election day, Obama has $134M in the bank and donations still pour in at the rate of $5M a day. His "problematic" campaign is running out of time spending all those money before election day.

During the Democratic primaries, Obama promised to re-shape the US electoral map. He already did. He also promised to change America and change the world. Obama uses "change"and "transform" interchangeably. However he puts it, there is little reason not to bet on his promise.

Millard Fillmore, is immortalized as the last Whig US president. Signs do not point to John McCain getting the consolation of being remembered as the last Republican president. His long-time pal, the not-anymore-his-president George W. Bush would likely get the distinction.
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PostHeaderIcon Richard Lugar Praises Obama on Foreign Policy

10/16/2008 | Posted by andygimpaya | Edit Post

Republican Indiana Sen. Richard G. Lugar and a prominent member of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee said in his speech at the National Defense University that there are benefits to talking with enemies of the US, as against use of military force.

Generally, Lugar praised Barack Obama who John McCain called "naive" for saying that as US President he would talk with the likes of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Isolation does not resolve contentious issues, Lugar added in agreement with Obama's line. In campaign speeches in a presidential debate, Obama repeatedly says that, while he does not take military option off the table, not talking to an enemy regime as a form of punishment does not make sense. Lugar rebuked McCaine by saying that exclusive use of isolation or military force in dealing with enemies of America may not be desirable. "In some cases, refusing to talk can even be dangerous."

McCain recently took a flack when he turned cold shoulder on the prospect of meeting the Prime Minister of Spain. Spain's sin: it pulled out its troops from Iraq when the US-initiated invasion started to get messy and unpopular. Since that time, President Bush has snubbed Spain's leaders, a cue apparently not lost to Senator McCain.

Noting recent diplomatic success in dealing with North Korea, Lugar suggested further diplomatic engagement with Syria and Iran. He suggested though that McCain may be right when the Republican nominee warned that "there are times when diplomatic approaches to rogue regimes have little efficacy."

In July, one Obama campaign ad mentioned Lugar by name and Lugar says he is "pleased" to have worked with the Democratic nominee on nuclear proliferation issues.

We here in the Philippines remember then Congressman Richard Lugar as the head of a US conressional committee who attempted and failed to broker a deal betwen President Ferdinand Marcos and Cory Aquino as the Marcos regime started to crumble in the aftermath of Ninoy Aquino assassination. At that time, Marcos was a SOB but "he is our SOB." Incidentally, Obama promises not to have none of these SOBs.

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