Is it time?

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The economist seems to think so.

America should take a chance and make Barack Obama the next leader of the free world
It is impossible to forecast how important any presidency will be. Back in 2000 America stood tall as the undisputed superpower, at peace with a generally admiring world. The main argument was over what to do with the federal government’s huge budget surplus. Nobody foresaw the seismic events of the next eight years. When Americans go to the polls next week the mood will be very different. The United States is unhappy, divided and foundering both at home and abroad. Its self-belief and values are under attack.

For all the shortcomings of the campaign, both John McCain and Barack Obama offer hope of national redemption. Now America has to choose between them. The Economist does not have a vote, but if it did, it would cast it for Mr Obama. We do so wholeheartedly: the Democratic candidate has clearly shown that he offers the better chance of restoring America’s self-confidence. But we acknowledge it is a gamble. Given Mr Obama’s inexperience, the lack of clarity about some of his beliefs and the prospect of a stridently Democratic Congress, voting for him is a risk. Yet it is one America should take, given the steep road ahead.
Read the rest: www.economist.com

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About big jonny

The man, the legend. The guy who started it all back in the Year of Our Lord Beer, 2000, with a couple of pages worth of idiotic ranting hardcoded on some random porn site that would host anything you uploaded, a book called HTML for Dummies (which was completely appropriate), a bad attitude (which hasn’t much changed), and a Dell desktop running Win95 with 64 mgs of ram and a six gig hard drive. Those were the days. Then he went to law school. Go figure. Flagstaff, Arizona, USA

17 Replies to “Is it time?”

  1. Make sure to follow in Obama’s footsteps and when it comes time to vote… vote “present”. 

  2. Im sure McSame has cast many of those ‘Present’ votes himself.

    As for the line “the prospect of a stridently Democratic Congress, voting for him is a risk.”  Let’s see… Did they say the same about GW and the stridently Republican congress??? I’m guessing no.

    Bunch of fucking jackasses IMHO.

  3. Frankly, I am simply glad that in tomorrow will mark the beginning of the end of the the Bush presidency.   I have waited for this since January 29, 2002.

  4. We’re long overdue for a change, but anyone who’s giddy at the prospect of an Obama Presidency needs to hop on the reality bike and do some repeats up to the top of Reality Road.  The best choice available?  Sure.  The best person for the job?  No fucking way, not someone who could put his resume on the back of a business card.

  5. Every few decades this country redeems itself by charting a new course which puts us back on course…this feels like, smells like, and sounds like one of those redemptive periods.  The beauty of Obama is his clarity about what makes America a great nation…his resume is full of accomplishment, put your resume next to his!

  6. The Economist is my favorite non-bikecentric mag.  If Sarah Palin had just read the cover story they did on Sarkozy last year (she reads all the magazines and papers, right?), she wouldn’t have gotten punk’d by the Quebecois.  I bet her staffers know the 450 area code isn’t Paris now.

  7. Consider that regardless of who will be taking over or continuing in which ever office come January doesn’t make a damn bit of difference. Problem is, our best interests are close to the top of their priorities. Even if they were, what about those whose best interests do not reflect our own? This is the problem with democracy and government in general.
    Democracy is aggression. Whether you are holding the gun or not, when you vote to put individuals in power,  you aggress against anyone who may oppose those individual’s ideals. For if we do not agree and dare dissent, we may be forced with threat of direct violence, be it the barrel of a gun or imprisonment, to submit. Fact is fact, and this is the path you are choosing.
    As George Washington stated, “Government is not reason, it is not eloquence. It is force. And force like fire is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”
    Fuck Voting – Ride Your Bike

  8. If you want change for the better vote against anyone that voted for the ‘no banker left behind’ : bail-out.
    If you don’t or haven’t been reading “The Market Ticker” site its time to start!

  9. …let’s not sugar coat it,  KG (lookit that…i even capitalized yer initials, so you’d be sure not to miss this)…the truth is, you are a whiny fucking bitch, dude…when it comes to politics, you don’t contribute any thing positive or constructive to this blogsite whatsoever…

    …you sit back, make yer coy, snide little comments & that’s all you do…it’s like your blind faith in the g.o.p. hasn’t allowed you to take a serious look around you…you suffer from limited vision…for the next 4 fucking years, it would be nice to see you add something positive here if you’re gonna talk politics…or stick to bicycles & nascar…

    …the disingenuous morons that you’ve been supporting for the last eight years have “screwed the pooch” so badly & yet so intentionally, that it will take decades to resolve the problems that have been created, wherein a very limited number of people have & do   prosper…

    …do i think obama is the be all, end all ???…do i buy into this “saviour” bullshit ???…do i think obama will always have the right solution for the problems he’ll encounter ???…no sir, i don’t,  not even close…he’s a politican in basically a two party system & things are so fucked up that that would be virtually immpossible…

    …do i think he has the integrity, grit & determination to TRY & right this ship that has gone way off course ???…yes, i do…do i honestly think he might offer some “hope” to not just people in this country but people around the globe who’ve lost a huge amount of faith in america due to the machinations of the bush administration ???…yes, i do…

    …this election cycle should have proved to most americans, just what type of conniving, sneaky & whiny individual mccain has become…the man used to have integrity & while most of us still have a certain respect for what the man endured in the past, his latest actions have clearly defined the man… it doesn’t matter who designs the campaign, if the man in charge agrees to it’s path, then that’s the direction he leads his people…

    …while i don’t need to take the time to spell out the bullshit for you at this late date,  i’m sure the results, despite falling in obama’s favor, will show us just how many folks will buy  lies & mistruths if you just keep on lying to them…if 90% of the voters turned out for obama, i might start having faith in our collective intelligence, but i know that won’t be the case…

    …& at the same time, as we all focus on this election, fucking bushco is trying to ram as many changes as they can manage, through the system…the tables are so irrevocably turned against the will of the majority that vast amounts of time, energy & resources will be wasted just to bring things back around to an even keel…

  10. good points…and that brings up what I REALLY FUCKING HATE about party politics.
    We get to the point where a one staunch party advocate would never concede someone on “the other side” could actually do something good, have a decent idea. 
    Is there a savior choice,  of course not.  whoever wins is going to inherit a mess, make mistakes, and the other party is going to pick it to death, and then pick some more.  Obama wins he will be torched relentlessly by bitter republicans who will look for every opportunity to show how underqualified he is etc.
    Same with McCain, more Bush etc, but for some reason I think it is going to be worse for Obama.  I don’t recall ever seeing a candidate bringing out such anger by some opposing voters.  Scary shit to me.

    There will be plenty of high and mighty losers that will spend the next 4 years detailing every real, possible, conceivable mistake, soundbite etc.  And to that I say fuck off.  Dem or Rep.
    Got a gripe, then bring it up as a valid argument, logical counterpoint…something that could be remotely construed as anything other than simple, pissy criticism.  Don’t just complain because you didn’t get your way.  Go and tell someone they are wrong and they are an asshole and see how many minds you open up to your perspective.
    Happy election day.

  11. bgw,
    yeap.  heapum.

    been too busy with school to deal with the arguments.  I decided it wasn’t worth my time to argue with people this close to the election.  No point.  I just called Godwin’s Law on the whole bloody thing.  KG hasn’t actually read a thing anyone has said, I wouldn’t even bother with him anymore.  He won’t even say whether he likes what McCain has become.  What happens tomorrow will happen.  The Republicans will steal it or they won’t.  I’ve already cast my vote and I’ll make my decisions about the aftermath when we know what we have to deal with.

  12. Alright, I had some a few local IPAs with the lads at the bar next to my hotel (pissing cold rain in Portland OR tonight) and we sorted this mess out for y’all. Here’s what’s happened so far:

    The so-called fiscal conservatives screwed the dog, panicked and spent $700B to nationalize the banking system. Some tax payers (myself included, I must confess) became disenchanted. Worse, this made it untenable to label tax-and-spend Dempublicans as “socialists,” so basically the Repmocrats flushed an easy election down the drain.

    Here’s what happens tomorrow:

    Darth Cheney has a U.S. airliner shot down by “terrorists” and declares martial law. You think it’s crazy? It’s been done many times, you just have to examine the data. Joe Strummer was right:

    When they kick in your front door
    How you gonna come?
    With your hands on your head
    Or on the trigger of your gun?

    Helpful as always, Mikey

  13. …mike godwin’s law…the definitive finalization of “the jumped shark”, as per any discussion…

    …& while my very inelegant manner of calling certain people rude yet appropriate names is admittedly childish, damn, it IS a release…

    …& also, in my opinion, some people deserve it…hah !!!…

    …so, yeah…fingers crossed that “we don’t get fooled again”…

  14. “We get to the point where a one staunch party advocate would never concede someone on “the other side” could actually do something good, have a decent idea.”

    Pirata-  HUGE point right there.  McCain was the “reach across the aisle” guy…he certainly wasn’t high on W’s list for just about the ENTIRE 8 years…he would work with those that Republican hardliners turned a blind-eye and deaf ear to…and it very nearly cost him his career.  But in order to get the nomination, he folded in upon himself and his beliefs, cowed to the Republican fear-mongering, made the HUMONGOUS mistake of choosing Sarah Palin…and then tried to keep telling us he was different than Bush.  The “maverick” moniker certainly rings hollow these days. 

    It is my fervent hope that there will me SOME cooperation between the parties to dig us out of this freakin’ mess…I don’t think hard-line politics from either side will be able to do it.