The movie script ending...
So it's finally over... for the last 18 months Tory Bear has been watching from afar the events of the most exciting presidential election in his lifetime. Election night was a depressing affair and TB refrained from commenting until the full implications of the results have sunk in, apologies to those who were asking for comment or opinion in the last 24 hours. Now after a plane ride home, a stiff drink and a very long sleep here goes...
The one thing that stopped this being a total annihilation and wipe out for the Republicans was John McCain. He stood firm and fought as hard as he damn well could. If only he had beaten Bush to the nomination in 2000 - the world would no doubt be a very different place with a McCain White House dealing with the post 9/11 climate. Palin mobilised the base which no doubt shored up a solid chunk of the McCain vote, but had it been any other Republican candidate against Obama then the TB feels the margin of victory would have been a lot greater.
McCain was gracious and humble in defeat and handled his crowd perfectly. People have made a big hoohaa out of the fact that the crowd were booing Obama but TB saw this as frustration rather than anything more malicious. These people have slaved away for months on end and given it their all. The hacks who have been flown in from around the world in business class for the champagne and glory part of the election should bear in mind what the people they are so quick to dismiss have been through in the last year. The fact the media had the audacity to attack a few McCain staffers for venting their despair and upset with a boo is sickening in light of the fact the riot police were on standby across the country in case Obama lost.
So where are we now? Despite the fact it seems the Democrats have missed out on their "super majority" in the Senate they do however control every branch of government. Things are going to be very tough for conservatives in America in the next four years and TB fully expects to see Obama's true colours very quickly revealed in a full scale aggressive leftist agenda. There is nothing the Republicans can do to stop it and the world woke up on Wednesday morning truly a different place. Yes it's fantastic that America is finally one small step toward atonement for it's years of sin but at the end of the day this is one gesture and as many poignant clips on the news channels have said today- this is just the beginning of an end to racism in America. Whether any true change will come around remains to be seen.
The world has changed for a very different reason though; America and it's standing in the world is at a crossroads. It's economy is in tatters, it's army is overstretched and losing on two fronts, and it resources are waning. The end of America as a super power is emerging and the election of a socialist leader is arguably a dying gasp of a dying superpower. With this sharp shift to the left we will see an amateur tackling the middle east, things could get very messy indeed. Obama has promised to pull the troops out of Iraq and soon, this is going to cause the entire region to descend into chaos and America's name will once again be mud. With America declining on the world stage and embracing leftist ideals of sitting down to talk with murderers and terrorist dictators, as Obama has promised to do, new countries will emerge to fill the power gap. China and Russia are in the ascendancy and soon will be truly the new superpowers as America declines back into its shell.
That is why the election of John McCain was so vital and that is why TB is so worried for the next eight years. TB has always been a defender of America and it's people but he is extremely angry at the moment. When people say to him that Americans are dumb or idiots etc etc he stands up for them but right now TB barely has the energy. Someone came along that was shiny and glossy, trendy and new and like the Pied Piper has led them up the mountain to their own destruction. People will study the campaign for years to come as a textbook way to manipulate an entire country. There is no denying his fantastic oratory and his campaign skills but to be fair 800 million dollars goes a bloody long way. Especially when your opponent is capped at $85 million.
So America has reached the end of an era. Small c conservatism has taken one hell of a hit in the last 72 hours and while it will be incredible to see a black family enter the White House on 20th January the price at which that image comes and the socialist baggage that comes with it, leaves a very bitter aftertaste in the mouth... even if there is a little cute fluffy puppy too.
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11 comments:
Very well put Mr Bear, very well put.
Nicely written and sentiments I agree with.
The fact that riot police were on standby in certain parts of the US isn't really terribly significant. There was, in the end, no violence and at no stage was there a credible threat of violence. And, lest we forget, the sole threats of violence so far have come in the form of death threats against Obama from the extreme right.
It's also worth noting that the single major act of domestic US terrorism of the last 30 years was the attack by McVeigh (an extreme right-winger) against what he perceived as an overarching socialist government.
Your implication that somehow the Democrats were ready to start Civil War II if their man didn't win really are not borne out by facts and, if one looks at the history, it's clear enough that US political violence has generally been directed by the extreme right against the centre-left.
you and i both know there would have been blood on the streets if mccain had won. that many people assembling in an open space. man that shit would have gone down.
why do morons like you comment on blogs. no one wants to hear your fucking stupid views. now fuck off.
Surely the Democrats control the White House, the Senate and the House of Reps - but not the legislative branch, the Supreme Court. A bit pedantic mabe, but the third branch of government is far more important in the US, with it's written constitution...
"America's name will once again be mud" ... what, as opposed to the pristine shine which George Bush Jr brought to it? America's decline is partly because of their foreign policy, not in spite of it, though when the war in Iraq began, it's true to say the vast majority of Americans and Brits were in favour, no matter what they think now.
"the Democrats control the White House, the Senate and the House of Reps - but not the legislative branch"
er?
TBs thoughts exactly Rory..
seems young dan j is a bit out of his depth.
TB
Oooooops. Should have read judiciary, obviously.
But my embarrassment at dropping such a clanger is heavily tempred by being called 'young' by the editor. So kind, so kind.
haha well in terms of generating legislation the left is in control.. and given the health and age of some supreme court justices there will come a point when the left can control the supreme court too.
arrrrgh.
TB has no idea how old you are but if you patronise him, he will fight back...
TB
Whomever thinks that a mass of people in the disappointment of defeat would begin rioting is actually a grade A twat - out of touch, much?
Perhaps when you get annoyed with mummy you throw a little tantrum but normal people can control themselves.
A good article TB but one big objection...you refer to your fears over "the next eight years". Let's not right off 2012 as a done-deal for BHO.
The right candidate could well swing it back to us after only one term. Defeatism is not our friend here. Keep your chin up.