I'm sentimental, if you know what I mean
I love the country, but I can't stand the scene.
And I'm neither left nor right
I'm just staying home tonight,
getting lost in that hopeless little screen...
But I'm stubborn as those garbage bags
that Time cannot decay
I'm junk but I'm still holding up
this little wild bouquet
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.
And I'm neither left nor right
I'm just staying home tonight,
getting lost in that hopeless little screen...
But I'm stubborn as those garbage bags
that Time cannot decay
I'm junk but I'm still holding up
this little wild bouquet
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.
~Leonard Cohen, "Democracy," from The Future (1992) *
Congratulations to US President-Elect Barack Obama.
Kudos to John McCain for a gracious concession speech.
And to commemorate the occasion, here is a song I've loved for years, from a man I consider to be one of the greatest living songwriters in the world. It has been widely played at various times, after various victories. (You can also get to it by clicking on the graphic above.)
PS ~ Another blogger who is also obviously an LC fan had the same idea, as I'm sure countless others have and will...
* One of my favorite CDs of all time.
16 comments:
Yes congratulations to Mr Obama and what a perfect time to put a black man in the white house. His presidency could not come at a better time for America. Regardless of his policies, his time in office will be tough because America has been on another planet for far too long. The economy is in tatters and to the the rest of the world America pretty much had its head in the sand. As far as racism, monetary policies, etc. goes America didn't have a clue what it looked like from the outside. I believe Mr Obama knew what it looked like from the outside from his own background and he genuinely intends to change things. You've got to wish him the best of luck. It is time for change....
Thanks, Anon. As much as I agree with Steve Salerno on SHAMblog that it's time to stop thinking in terms of race, I do think this is a momentous occasion. And I think that Obama's election is, at the very least, symbolic of progress. No, more than that... I think it's a very encouraging sign, and confess to shedding a tear more than once upon seeing replays of various speeches, present and past, in the wake of the election (e.g., Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech).
How Obama performs as President remains to be seen, of course, and he definitely has his work cut out for him. Besides the challenges in affairs of state that he will be inheriting (wars, economic crisis, etc.), there's that "superhero" factor; so many people are looking to him as a savior of some kind, and inevitably he will disappoint some of these folks. He has already said numerous times that he won't be a perfect president, but I have a feeling that disclaimer has fallen on a lot of deaf ears.
As for America being on another planet for so long, I am sure it has seemed that way to many in other parts of the world. I love my country dearly, but have long acknowledged that we often come across as being in our own narcissistic bubble. (And since I personally am a narcissist, I know from narcissism! :-)) Although it often may not appear to be the case, there are many of us in the US who do care how we are viewed by the rest of the world. I've never been one to believe that what other countries think should dictate our foreign policy, but America is, after all, part of the world...
Like you, I wish Obama luck. I voted for him based upon my belief that there's a good chance he will be able to effect some beneficial change in this country. And, much as I hate to depart from my usual cynical self, I have high hopes for this new President.
Hello Annon & Connie,
The racial issues in the USA is not really that bad. Having been there a couple of weeks ago, I find that Americans are comfortable with people regardless of what race they come from. It is not a perfect world and I believe there will be situations that racial tensions exist.
In saying this, Australia, where I live now, is still a young country relative to United States where immigrants are not really that welcome. The Aussies pride of themselves of having a country of cultural diversity but there is a strong silence of prejudice here. I hope with OBAMA winning the US Election, sends a strong signal to this country. (Don't get me wrong. I will still give Australia a go. Cultural assimilation takes time).
Congratulations to Obama and our "American Cousins." Good on ya!
Discreet J
discreetj from one Aussie to another welcome.
I have to agree that there has been (not dissimilar to America) some racial divides which appear to have been hidden for many generations in Australia, shamefully. I think its become quite clear that in the face of the current situation around the world that is not longer acceptable or an excuse, it must be healed and made better. I see Obamas instatement as that for America so we'll have to wait and see just how well he does at achieving his dreams.
So, where can we get a reading of Obamas aura?
And I also want to know how the psychics did on the election results.
Word verifier says 'berks'
That thing is not as random as it makes out, you know.
(In UK, a berk is an idiot.)
Cosmic Connie, Chris Locke has a visitors map gadget on his blog, and it shows visits from everywhere.
Do you have the same few people looking at your blog or do you get more visitors than contributors?
Thank you, DiscreetJ, for your insights as a new resident of Australia. No doubt racism exists everywhere in the world in some form or another. But as the Anon 8:09 whose comment followed yours said, there's hope that America (and perhaps the human race as a whole) is making progress away from all that.
Good luck in your new home; I hope you'll keep in touch. (Oh, and watch out for "Secret" stars who claim to be experts on the stock market and wealth building. ;-))
HHH, I haven't done much research on the psychics' predictions, and none on Obama's aura, but some time ago I had seen predictions about the presidential race on the site of the woman who is Joe Vitale's Vedic astrologer, Joni Patry.
http://www.galacticcenter.org
She seems to be patting herself on the back now about how she was right all along. The following is from her November 2008 "News From The Stars" blog entry):
"Okay, here is the really interesting omen in this particular local play presentation. In the movie 'Tommy,' the lead character is played by Roger Daltrey. He had long blond curly hair and steel blue eyes. Tommy’s parents were played by Ann Margret and Oliver Reed. In the play I saw in Dallas, the parents were white but the actor portraying the boy, and the man once Tommy grew up, were both black. I thought the casting here was very odd. The parents are white, but the boy is black. Why would they cast the play this way? Then I realized the significance! The Universe was telling me, and everyone in the audience this is the story of Obama. I wonder how many understood this? I guarantee my son and I were the only ones, because people don’t see the omens being presented to them on a daily basis. The story is of the new messiah, and he is black, who comes to save us and when he doesn’t succeed the people kill him. I believe America is looking to Obama to save this country from all the ruin they perceive the last presidential regime has inflicted on them."
And so on.
HHH said...
"Cosmic Connie, Chris Locke has a visitors map gadget on his blog, and it shows visits from everywhere. Do you have the same few people looking at your blog or do you get more visitors than contributors?"
I use SiteMeter, which shows me a visual map of current and recent visits, even though it's not set on public-view mode. Most of my visitors are from the US, Australia, Europe and the UK, with a few from Canada, Mexico and Central or South America. Occasionally Japan lights up on the map.
SiteMeter also offers a "details" list which shows information about the last 100 or so visitors (ISP, etc.). That's the free version; if you pay you get the last 500 results. It also shows a list of "referring web sites" and "Google search results" that led people to my site.
The publicly-viewed information is supposedly the number of "original" hits since the day I installed the counter in February 2007.
Oh God you've stopped snarking about that Aussie Looney David Schirmer for just a moment, how incredible. That guy doesn't deserve our noticing and I hope he never makes it to our shores because I for one will be following waiting for him to slip up on his dribble and lies.
Well, Anon, I've heard rumors that David Schirmer's lovely wife Lorna went to the US for some reason... I don't know if she's still here, or where she went, but it's worth following up on so I will.
Hello Connie,
I know the Secret B.S.'s from Australia. I have been following your blog for quite sometime now and have been responding as Annon.
You may want to know that every quarter Australia organises a Mind Body and Spirit festivals. It is a big "flee" market thing where all Spirtual groups "sell" their New Wage thing. Spiritual Commericialism in LOL!
http://www.mbsfestival.com.au/
DiscreetJ
Happy Birth Day Connie!
Have you seen this?
desteni productions :)
Wow, DiscreetJ, that New-Wage festival looks as if it's chock-full of snark targets. We have a lot of those festivals in the US too, of course. Rolling my eyes...
Thanks for the b.d. wishes, Anon 7:38 PM.!
I Googled Desteni Productions and found several links, but couldn't seem to get to any of the videos. Anyway, looks like a real scammer...definitely snarkworthy. :-)
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