I don’t know about that, zikade. It sure looked like your fellow Germans were having a great, emotionally expressive celebration when the wall came down! (And we here in the States were cheering right along with you!)
(flap flap, land flex wings, sigh)
I am just really glad the elections are over. For many the elections really take nothing more than a few hours at most out of their everyday lives to make a decision on who they wish to represent them.
For me it has been the most stressful event in my life and one that has taken almost two years out of my life. 
My absence from the forums was becuase of the time spent on the elections and now that they are over some sense of reality is coming back.
What I do as a day is working extensively with the elections and supporting counties/states in the actual process of having elections.
One thing that many people never realize about elections is this.
The presidential election is a bigger event than the Superbowl, The World Series (The european equivalent in football/soccer), the Olympics, and The FInal Four combined. A majority of the employees hosting the event are volunteers that usually only work once or twice a year, Each state has different rules and laws and even times for the event and many use different machines and methods, The accuracy rate has to achieve 100%, have tighter security than launching a Nuclear missile strike, have complete transparency and anonymity, have the whole world watching very closely and reporting any and all complaints.
And doing it locally, on something in many cases, using a budget smaller than what the local high school foot ball team has,
And with no thanks, no rewards, no gratitude, and no appreciation.
I myself and proud that I live in country where I have that freedom and that option and I am one person that truly appreciates those voters that do take the time out of their day and stand in line to speak up for who they wish to represent them. I don’t care if it is for a head of lettuce, I am just glad that they voted.
So to each of you americans that Voted Tuesday I thank you personally, no matter who you decided to vote for, because in having your own opinion and expressing your own opinion at the polls validated how hard myself and those that worked so hard to give everyone a fair and just election.
Many thanks to you, wock, and the other people who worked so tirelessly to compile our votes! :mrgreen: I used to cover election nights when I was a reporter, and I’ve been in the back rooms of a few Boards of Elections. It’s a gargantuan, monumental feat that election workers accomplish, at least twice a year, every year, and even moreso during presidential years.
Again, thanks and praise to you!
Mr wock,
If you are only: 0.00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001% responsible for the election of ‘The Man from Chicago’, and the consequential eviction of that shower of shit-houses from The White House, then, I will personally see to it, that:
(a) any outstanding sanctions against you, for whatever felonious activity, from misdemeanour to high treason, be struck from the record. Thereby sparing you from the humiliation and pain, of a Public Plucking.
(b) where`er ye fly, people will stop, point and cry, “Look, see! Tis wock, the winged wonder worker!! Three cheers and one for Good Luck.”
May there always be a bag of corn within easy reach.
Take care Mr wock,
Fluff
The first form of voting we learn was when we like someone when we were very young and we wrote a note in class that said something like this
Will you go out with me?
Check Box
Yes
No
Maybe
Interesting article from the Guardian
Vic
Thanks Vic.
H
The New York Times already has the full text of President Obama’s inaugural speech online! That’s fast, even for the Times! (Still, expect that every last newspaper will be sold out of every last box and newsstand tomorrow morning.)
If that! I couldn’t even snag a copy of the NYT the day after the elections, at 8:30 in the morning.
I know! I’m planning to wait, shivering in the cold, outside my local chain bookstore, waiting to snag my copy when the store opens. And then, the triple-shot skim latte with sugar-free caramel syrup, and a bagel… 
Congratulations America. Whatever political persuasion lives in your heart, today we’re all witnessing history in the making. The son of an African immigrant accepts your highest office, and the whole world smiles. Once upon a time in America…
The future may not appear too rosy right now, but it sure as hell, is a damn sight rosier than it was a this morning. Lets wish him all the luck he needs, and more besides.
Take care
vic
Yes, congratulations to all American Scrivenistas.
The man is the thing, but the speech was all I personally hoped it would be - musical prose that gave a vision of the nation and its heritage we haven’t heard described for a while, and accomplished the difficult task of accurately depicting the challenges while also raising the spirits.
I watched it in a white goods store. Did I see a wetness in the eyes of one or two Brits crowded round the widescreens?
H
A few sweet words in a time of trouble.
The illusion of hope spread worldwide.
Lets see what he does in 100 days.
Paul
The americans do like ceremonies, don’t they? Can’t blame them. Even watched CNN the whole evening. Funny enough, the on-scene presenters on CNN seemed to end their statements with “wuff”, which is, in german, the transcription of a dogs’ bark. So indeed it was a funny evening at my home. Only later I reasoned that it actually was the name of the shows’ host, probably Wolfe or something alike; even my ears are getting older, I’d guess.
If now this country over here would have at least a government worth mentioning…
However, I learned to enjoy the free fall which I suspect will end - as most free falls do - rather abrupt.
Have fun out there!
The only people that can judge a leader are the historians. Attempting to forsee how well or how bad a person will lead before they are actually put to the test is nothing more than prediction.
Only time will tell.
To give an example of warning about prediction and judging before testing…
There was another man in history that had a father from another country, that was first taught another religion then adopted christianity and who in his thirties with little experience dove into the political arena. He was a gifted at oration and had spirit lifting speeches and by the time he was in his forties, he became the leader of his country when his country faced turmoil and unease and uplifted the spirits of the people of his nation. He promised them change and delivered that change and his people followed him blindly with pride for their nation driving their hearts.
His name was Hitler.
Nicely put. But then, Hitler tried - and failed - in an attempted revolution before and was put in jail for it. If only they would have him retained some more years…
Wishful thinking. But then, I’d guess, you wouldn’t bet your new leader will go along that road, would you?
And there, any similarities come to a sharp and abrupt end. Hitler preached a doctrine of hatred and stereotyping. Obama doesn’t. Hitler was not well educated, grew up in a family permeated with abuse, and did not have the talent to succeed at his chosen occupation before he decided to foment rebellion. Obama grew up nurtured by a loving mother and loving grandparents, was educated at Ivy-league schools, and was successful in his chosen profession before he entered politics. Hitler offered to put other peoples under Aryans’ bootheels. Obama told us all yesterday that it’s time we all grow up and pull ourselves up by our national bootstraps like adults.
And yet a nation blindly followed his lead. Were all the Germans sociopaths? Were they all suffering dementia from syphilis? Were they all bigots and racists?
The answer is no. Did they blindly follow down a path of corruption? Yes.
The million dollar question is not about Hitler. It is about the nation of people that blindly followed him.
The point is simple. One should never ASSUME one will be a great leader before they are put to the test. The only people that can tell you if a leader was good are the Historians and that can only be judged after the fact.
Look at JFK. Great leader? Bay of Pigs? Reagan. Iran Contras.
In the end one has to wait and see where their leader takes them. The only thing a citizen can do is to practice good judgement before following a leader blindly or one could make the same mistake the Germans made in 1939. To think Hitler’s power was solely his own is a big misunderstanding. The only power he had was the power given to him by the people. During that time I bet they thought he was the greatest thing since sliced bread. After the fact they each have had to carry the burden of knowing they were the key to many millions of people losing their lives. All in the hopes of a “better world.”
I am not saying in any way that Obama is another Hitler. The only thing I am saying is he is showing the same “power” over the people in his charm that Hitler did in his oratory skills and charisma. There are some that already think he could do no harm. There were many Germans that felt the same about Hitler.
Let us not forget that although many across the World hated Bush and despised his policies the PEOPLE elected him to power.
Not once
But TWICE.
Sorry, I didn’t catch the meaning fully. My fault, be patient - english IS a foreign language to me.
Since thats out of the way:
You are right - if Obama will be a great leader, history will tell. I even read his books and watched some of the speeches he made. So I think, being half a planet away, he has shown one thing I do miss on most politicians: integrity. What he will do, being president of the USA, remains yet unknown. But I think it is also important to know that we can indeed change the world we live if only we work for it, getting ourselves organized. And that is the example Obama gave, if he intended to or not. If two years ago somebody told me that a guy named “Barack Hussein Obama”, not even a white man, will be the next president of the US… I’d have said: No fucking way.
For me, that in itself is probably more important right now. But then I am not living in the US, so you may differ
About why Hitler succeeded. Well, thats not so easy to explain - but I think it is because the germans wanted a scapegoat - jews, gays, communists and so on. If Hitler hadn’t presented them, the people back then would have been responsible for their own failures, not somebody else; so I think they wanted to believe him. And, since after my ancestors started killing them by the numbers they simply had to keep going…
Have fun!