Freedom US 08
Dear American readers, If you are lucky enough to have a vote in the US elections, please use it. Even though the lines may be long, the system chaotic, the weather bad, your feet sore, the pollsters telling you that you don't need to, he'll win anyway...please vote. Thank you. Really, thank you. And I hope that you have a great day.
Labels: freedom, US elections
posted by Rachel at 8:52 am
Off-topic but possibly still germane: RFT for the new US embassy in London:
http://cryptome.info/0001/usemb-london.htm
It's MI6-convenient!
I was in a long line when the polls opened at 7am. When I cast my vote for Obama I was really choked up because we have lived without hope for such a long time over here, and now it seems to be finally within reach. To watch the government doing such appalling, cruel things in our name, to have the airwaves filled with messages of hate, ignorance and bigotry and to have our voices of dissent unreported and ignored has been terrible. This will feel like the longest day but I am confident that, at the end of it, we will have a president we can finally be proud of. Obama is a man who will be willing to work with the world, not against it.
Hi-five Gaynor!
THANK YOU FOR VOTING!
Fingers crossed and candles lit over here - and wine poured.
hey rachel,
dont forget me. i was #41 at my local polling station. i went there a few minutes after 6 am ny time.people were quite angry and theres no question that republicans at all levels will be the lightning rod for that anger.
it looks like history will be made-with obama over 200 electoral votes,he's a stone's throw from the white house. To my fellow americans-and those around the world-lets give him our prayers and best wishes. I hope that he will get the US back on its feet economically,end this horrible war,and make america the shining beacon of hope,prosperity and the right example for all the world.
Wow, a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage. Some things just never seem to change!
Twas a night, but I think by 2amGMT, it was over for MaCain. Lets hope the republican's don't leave or do anything to make the world a harder place than it is now. Roll on Jan 20th 2009.
Hi Rachel:
It has been quite a while since I posted here. There is no doubt that we have an incredible turn of events over here.
What many abroad might not be paying enough attention to is the effect this has had on the make-up of our Congress. for example, my own state of North Carolina has just elected a Democrat Senator for the first time in a LONG while, a wonderful lady named Kay Hagan. Meaningful change in the US takes more than controlling the White House, and so Democratic gains in the Senate and House were critical.
What remains an open question is what a Democratic Party government can actually accomplish, given the mess they are inheriting. Their options may be very limited in the near future. The most urgent of US needs, consisting of energy planning, environmental action, and health care reform, look hard to address given the financial crisis.
I'm not convinced (yet) that President Obama is going to be able to make things a lot better any time soon, but I voted for him because I'm a) a yellow dog Democrat who ALWAYS votes for Democrats, and b) I was convinced that Senator McCain was absolutely certain to make things even worse, in spite of good intentions.
By the way, when do you want us to return Mr. Blair? I don't think we should keep him indefinitely.
Well they used it! America has spoken with a loud and clear voice. Martin Luther King's dream has come true. The nightmare is over. Thank you, America!
Rachel, I voted two weeks ago and am happy to report that my state went with the Democrat for the first time since the Beatles first hit our shores back in '64. That should put in perspective.
Well done to everyone who voted, I have never seen so many people so engaged and so pleased about a political outcome. Truly the wave that carried Obama to the White House was of the people, for the people, by the people. Hurray!
I was interested to see that so much of the coverage focused on him being black ( in fact, mixed race) - I would have liked to have seen more focus on the fact that he is liberally inclined. That was just as historic for me as the pigmentation of his mother and father's complexions.
Please keep Tony Blair as long as possible.
Rachel:
The wonderful American short story writer, O'Henry, wrote a delightful short story entitled "The Ransom of Red Chief", about kidnappers who had to end up paying the family of a particularly awful child a reverse ransom to take him back. I gather we are in that sort of situation with your former PM. What's the charge? Please remember, when filling out the bill, that we are broke over here thanks to his chum George Bush.
http://change.gov/
Thought you might like to see this
"Not quite two days after his historic election as the nation's 44th president, Barack Obama's transition team already has an active Web site. Located at change.gov, it maintains many of the templates used by the Obama campaign, though very quickly tailored for the purposes of maintaining an open forum for citizens to comment on, and contribute to, the process of transition of power in the executive branch." Quote from http://www.betanews.com/article/First_signs_of_the_Obama_administrations_technological_aptitude/1226007275
YES WE DID! Thanks, Rachel, for your comments and encouragement from London. It's a pleasure to read your blog and know that you are pulling for us from your side of the Atlantic!
I propose an almost trade, we get George Galloway, senatorial subpoenas and all, and Tony Blair can get asylum based on religious persecution.
But I didn't realze that George Bush, in his free time, had set up a three card monte table in Hyde Park and caused the liquidity crisis in British banks. Does he also sneak in at night and deposit all the trash from Grosvenor Square in the subway stations?
Sorry no blogging for the last month - I've been absolutely flat out with a new job which is taking up all my time, and last week I was in Vienna to launch a new counter -extremism initiative set up by Women Without Borders. Of which I hope to write more this weekend, if I have time...
...until then, best wishes to everyone!