44

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

That day must be today.

10 PM                         7 AM                       8:30 AM                   BAMBI!

Michael Grunwald, Time Magazine

And now a guy who would have had to ride the back of the bus in some of this country when he was a kid has grown up to run this country. Historians will remember that.

When historians look back at the 2008 presidential landslide, they won’t focus on the fact that Barack Obama – soon to be our 44th President and our first African-American Commander in Chief – ran a smart and steady campaign. They won’t focus on William Ayers or Joe the Plumber or socialism or racism. They won’t debate whether John McCain blew it by targeting Pennsylvania or by avoiding the press or by ignoring the Rev. Jeremiah Wright or by picking Sarah Palin as a running mate. They won’t remember the robo-calls or “cling” or the Paris Hilton ad or the crazy chick who carved the B into her face. The pundits filling airtime on their 24-hour news channels might have cared, but posterity won’t.

No, when historians analyze the 2008 campaign, they’re going to remember that the two-term Republican President had 20% approval ratings, that the economy was in meltdown, and that Americans didn’t want another Republican President. They’ll also remember that Obama was a change candidate in a change election. And of course they’ll remember that America elected a biracial leader less than a half-century after Jim Crow. But that’s just about all they’ll remember. Politics is a lot simpler than the pundits pretend. 

It is morning again in America, says Robert Scheer in Truthdig
“How refreshing for Americans to have elected a leader who was among the first to reject the imperial hubris that led this nation to invade Iraq over the objection of most of our allies. A leader who had the courage in the midst of a hotly contested primary election campaign to refuse to play the inveterate hawk in order to qualify as commander in chief, and instead had the audacity to advocate efforts at dialogue even with those we despise.”

The tag cloud and the Editorial in Times

Mr. Obama will now need the support of all Americans. Mr. McCain made an elegant concession speech Tuesday night in which he called on his followers not just to honor the vote, but to stand behind Mr. Obama. After a nasty, dispiriting campaign, he seemed on that stage to be the senator we long respected for his service to this country and his willingness to compromise.

That is a start. The nation’s many challenges are beyond the reach of any one man, or any one political party.

Barack Obama inherits a terrible legacy at probably the worst time in history to be President of the USA, Thanks to 8 years of George Bush.

John Mcain, gracious in  defeat will probably be one of the greatest Presidents the USA never had, Thanks to 8 years of George Bush.

The Guardian in its true style suggests a few New Jobs for George Bush, who has screwed up anything that chanced to come his way.

Biographer, George Bush Sr: A thorough trashing of his father’s legacy could one day see Dubya become widely regarded as only the second-worst president of the US, but he’ll need someone to check his spelling.

But perhaps the most enduring feeling of this historic day, will be that this guy  in the cartoon and the other founding fathers actually got it right.