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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Congrats US

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Change has in deed come to the website :)

http://www.whitehouse.gov/

Seen from abroad, I do NOT expect miracles, but it seems that reconsiliation is indeed coming just from the change of precident. Agreed, that's not due to any doing on Mr Obama's behalf, other than NOT being Mr Bush, but it's still felt.

Also the message about cooperation and negotiations has changed a lot of attitude towards the US. Have to agree with arrinick there...
 
Clint Johnson said:
he is just another politician with all the attendant megalomania and burning desire to control others that comes with that career choice.
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I don't know our President personally so I can't speak to HIS motivations(I seriously doubt you're right though), but I know plenty of other public servants and politicians personally that you are dead wrong about. Blanket stereotypes like this make it pretty difficult to take anything else you say on this subject seriously.
 
Let us who are pleased, who are proud, and who have some hope, not be cast as sheep- most especially not by any who joined the flock that put W in for two terms. I am of independent mind, as free from shephards, cults or kool-aid than any man can hope to be, least wise. In general, I don't even like a small crowd, but this election has given me more hope than any I have been alive for. From me, that's not saying much- and I'm not saying much, just that I am glad, but I'm not stupid: of course he's a politician, he's still in Washington, he's still working with bureaucracy, and forced to dance and talk counter to his nature at least to some degree. So he acts, but his act does inspire communication, and as we've read: hope- Could this not be beneficial in itself?
I'm not stupid: I never have voted, and never will, for that fool W or anybody in his family. Sheep.

Congrats US, indeed, although I reserve a special pool of pessimism for the government, as all free people should, today I am happier than I was this time last year, by an absurd margin. Thank you all!
 
As an American living in Sydney, it's nice to FINALLY be able to admit being a U.S. citizen.

Until now I would just say I'm Canadian ey? :bleh:
 
(I'd say that restoring at least some of the people of the worlds faith in the US is a pretty major accomplishment for his first day.)

I agree completely, as I have spent the better part of 20 years working around the world. America has a very poor record out there and it is not unfounded. President Obama has already achieved something of tremendous value to America. There is now a greater openness and to use the his words, Hope, among millions of people outside the US as well as within. Hope that the U.S. will steer back towards it's professed ideals. Yes, we are all responsible for this, but the Commander in Chief has always been the front man.

President Obama has shown himself to be a man of vision, something that Bush lacked, and McCain was unable to articulate. Politics has always been a treacherous game, but you have to be in it to play it.

I was in high school in D.C. during the 60's and shot stills at many of the civil rights rallies back then and sold some to the Washington post to pay for my darkroom gear. I'm not sure that anyone who hasn't experienced martial law in a major US city back then can really feel how far this country has come much less appreciate the significance of this new President. Nonetheless, many seem to. It is his vision of hope that has galvanized a new generation of Americans as well as the old guard, and without a vision nothing can be done.

Try going out to shoot a show without a script, a treatment or a plan. I view the naysayers who sow the seeds of doubt to be naive at best and ignorant at worst. Back in the 60's, one of the sayings was, "if you're not part of the solution, then you're part of the problem." God bless America.

I don't have time to make many posts, especially since I got Red #2566, but I couldn't pass this one up.

Bruce Stanford
 
But what do Radio guys have against him?

But what do Radio guys have against him?

I've been driving back from Colorado listening NPR and other talk shows to see what the had to say. I hardly ever listen to AM radio and have rarely heard what the talk show hosts have to say, but I was appalled but what I was hearing from Rush Limbaughl and another guy that came on after him. I could not believe how negative and almost malicious. Both of these guys WANT President Obama to fail. They do not care one bit about what our country is facing.

I am still shocked that they can get away with this. Is it always like this with them? Incredible.
 
I'm happy to see someone in the White House who is intelligent and well spoken, can inspire others and be curious as to how to better the world.

This seemed to have been lacking for the last 8 years.
 
Joe Taylor said:
I've been driving back from Colorado listening NPR and other talk shows to see what the had to say. I hardly ever listen to AM radio and have rarely heard what the talk show hosts have to say, but I was appalled but what I was hearing from Rush Limbaughl and another guy that came on after him. I could not believe how negative and almost malicious. Both of these guys WANT President Obama to fail. They do not care one bit about what our country is facing.

I am still shocked that they can get away with this. Is it always like this with them? Incredible.
Click to expand...

Well talk radio really is dominated by conservative loonies so I wouldn't expect much else unless Alan Colmes is still doing his radio show at night or your listing to ring of fire on air america.
 
I saw my grandpa in my dreams last night. I cried of joy this morning.

Today's event may only be undeniable in its emotional weight. I am realist who too often sees the glass half empty. I wish you can believe that when I say it. What I speak of here only has to do with the fact that I feel I somehow know, being born and mostly raised outside of the country, that today's event was powerful, and that its symbolism will have a measurable positive effect on the whole world.

I wonder why my grandpa came to visit me now... I never see him in my dreams, not since he died years ago. I wonder why the setting felt like it was the new American frontier. I followed him as he traveled where nobody dared to go before, with a patience that rooted from wisdom, and a courage that could only inspire those around him to follow. His family escaped Benito Mussolini's Italy, but their ship got to NYC once they had closed the gates due to the war. They traveled South, and reached Buenos Aires, an other land that I love. Decades later I am a citizen of the United States of America. I took my oath not much more than a month ago. Not because I needed it, only because I wanted it.

I feel the United States becoming more like that beacon of evolution and courage that enchanted me long ago when I was just a dreaming boy.

Days like these remind you of the make up of this nation, the courage of the boys of Normandy, the vision of our founding fathers... and so many more countless acts of good that pull tears right out of my soul.

ausflag1.gif


I stand amongst the proudest citizens today, I will do my part soon, no matter how small, so long as it is aligned with these acts of love that made me dream of being part of this country when I was just a boy.

The greatest trait a society could value is the ability to be continuously reborn. I hope history will prove today was yet an other step up the helix we travel.
 
jimhare said:
Is it always like this with them?

Rush Limbaughl? Yes it is...
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The really sad part of Rush Limbaugh is:
He is only on the radio because he has a very large audience and following....
if that doesn't scare the life out of you, it should!!

Dave
 
Bro, I had a strong feeling something mystical was going on yesterday, we touched on a frequency, maybe thats why he made an appearance.


DogDay.
 
You cynical critics are too funny. Your criticism of all the hyperbole is hypocritical. You'll take exactly the opposite stance in the name of representing a supposed reality check. Obama instills hope and has lofty goals and, yes, much is expected of him. But, hey, aim high, try to be perfect, but when that ultimately fails, the probability of greater accomplishments will be more then if you just had the attitude that he's just like the rest of 'em. Are you saying there are no great presidents? (Lincoln) Or bad ones? (Bush) Obama is off to a good start. I'm rooting for him, not worshiping him. There are many like me. Aren't people being "extreme" by ONLY looking at and quoting the extremists and fanatics (fans)?
 
Clint Johnson said:
he can never live up to the mythic greatness that has already been draped over his shoulders.
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He's a black man that got elected President to a white country. That's mythic. Only 40 years ago Bobby Kennedy was kicked out of a diner and refused service because he brought two black people with him. He was Attorney General of the United States at the time.

Today is historic. Yeah, mythic.

Obama (and the American people who voted for him) has already delivered in one day what the man he replaces could not in 8 years. Worldwide respect for this country.

If he delivers on his transparency and participation promises he will have proven himself a much greater man than the one that preceded him. I hope it's so.

(Oh and Obama has already achieved the first speech in 8 years that didn't mangle the English language.)
 
From today onwards ends the worst eight years in American presidential history. The words enshrined in our declaration of independence "all men are created equal" has been proven anew. As a first generation American I am truly proud to say that we are still the land of opportunity.

Please, at this moment of victory of measured rationality over blind belief, of inclusiveness over bigotry, of competence over callous political calculation, remember how we as a nation have a responsibility towards each other, not as "patriots" blindly waving flags but as common neighbors accepting the universal truth of mutual self-interest that shows us how only through cooperation and true fairness can we prosper.

We, as filmmakers, have an extra responsibility due to the profound, and some could say distorted effect, of media in a ultra-mediated society to be beacons of not just vacuous entertainment best illustrated by the "gladiators" of ancient Rome and abundantly repeated in the casual violence glorified in so many of our contemporary dramas, but educators or even better instruments of enlightenment towards building a society that better serves those that we ourselves and our families are part of. We must push every day, even if in the end ineffectually, towards a common goal. Every minute nudge will in the end count towards something; the point is to believe in a common good and not in a selfish and short-term prosperity that is mortgaged on others, and indeed on our own children's, and their subsequent children's suffering.

As we as a country have elected a new leader that represents profound change we must also look in towards ourselves and ask the question "how can we be ourselves agents of change." It is only through a collective will that we can prosper.

peace
 
Thanks for the kind words Nick!

I send my love to Rush... and way more importantly, to G. W. Bush. I believe they both want the best they can dream of for this nation. Nobody is perfect, not Rush not Bush and not Obama... we are human.

You can't get to from one point to another without trekking though what lies between, and that goes for both sides of this conversation. In the end we are all brothers, idealogs and blind liberals, conservative on both sides, everyone and anyone is included... but don't forget that also everyone outside of this nation... we are humanity man... an babies at that.

Do you know a better place where you'd want to live once you consider their full history? Is there a perfect country out there? I am sure that it will be debatable no matter who you put under the loupe.

Let's be happy together... be happy that you could elect G. W. Bush and that you could elect B. H. Obama right after... THAT is what makes this nation great. That we are probably as free as anyone could be under the circumstances of this period of humanity's evolution that we live in today. Change speaks of our willingness to grow, irregardless of where the arrow points towards at any given moment in the flapping winds... The passion behind the millions of votes, posts and signs you've probably seen speaks of our concern with our impact on this existence. Let's be happy that we care and that we will continue to work as hard as we can for what we believe in...

To everyone in this world: We are together in this, regardless of how our governments are made up and interconnected. All we do affects everyone else, and I hope I will be able to generate and maintain the strength to have a big impact on you and me. I hope we will all continue to become wiser at an exponential rate and that we find new frontiers, of every kind, so that we never stop evolving.

It has to be some sort of helix man! It just makes too much logical sense... :clown2:
 
Dominic Cochran said:
I don't know our President personally so I can't speak to HIS motivations(I seriously doubt you're right though), but I know plenty of other public servants and politicians personally that you are dead wrong about. Blanket stereotypes like this make it pretty difficult to take anything else you say on this subject seriously.
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I am not an anarchist, I understand that we need a governing body of some kind or it leaves a power vacuum that will be filled. I also understand that governments are a horrible blunt instrument that are based on the threat of violence and outright coercion- which attracts a certain sort of person. Governing is the act of forcing your will on the population at large and to even consider running for office requires a superiority complex. This isn't a judgement on anyone's actual versus perceived superiority. You may well be the smartest person in the land, but if you didn't believe in your heart that you know better than everyone else, why would you seek the power to force everyone else to your way of thinking? In a monarchy or dictatorship, this megalomania and superiority complex can be in full display as a useful tool to instill an inferiority complex in those you wish to control. In a democracy, you need the ability to conceal this core personality trait from others or you will never get elected.


Joel Kaye said:
He's a black man that got elected President to a white country. That's mythic. Only 40 years ago Bobby Kennedy was kicked out of a diner and refused service because he brought two black people with him. He was Attorney General of the United States at the time.

Today is historic. Yeah, mythic.

Obama (and the American people who voted for him) has already delivered in one day what the man he replaces could not in 8 years. Worldwide respect for this country.

If he delivers on his transparency and participation promises he will have proven himself a much greater man than the one that preceded him. I hope it's so.

(Oh and Obama has already achieved the first speech in 8 years that didn't mangle the English language.)
Click to expand...

There is one undeniably great thing that Obama has accomplished and that is the very act of getting elected itself. No matter what else he does or does not do, nothing will take away the fact that a significant portion of the population finally sees someone in the highest elected office that reflects who they see in the mirror.

This effect is not mythic- it is a historic, real and a wonderful thing.

What flirts at mythology, and is rather scary, is the near divinity that has been accorded him and expectations of greatness that are based on blind faith backed by no actual record of performance. He has said nothing that hasn't been said a thousand times before... what sets him apart from the Republicans and Democrats before him is that he has better speech writers and recites what they wrote with greater eloquence.

The man certainly raises the bar. Future candidates will have to bolster their campaign finance raising ability with even more serious acting and rhetorical training.
 
Excuse me for interrupting this well informed Political discussion but I have a question for you guys ...

Would it be possible for Arnold Schwarzenegger to run for office as President of The United States next term? ... After all he does have some Acting Skills and I think from what I have gathered from his background he possesses that Elusive Killer Instinct needed to get elected...Blind Ambition.

"The American Dream"

http://se.youtube.com/watch?v=sCJTR3XeiAc


DogDay.
 
Clint Johnson said:
blind faith backed by no actual record of performance.
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First, I don't know who's elevating Barack to a God. There is literally NO ONE of importance that thinks Barack can tap his heels together and fix this economy in short order. Unlike the folks who had blind faith that Iraq would be a pushover, Barack supporters know he's got a serious challenge ahead.

The blind faith we had going into Iraq trounces the measured hope most Americans have for Barack.

Additionally, Barack DOES have a record of accomplishment. He ran the most effective Presidential campaign possibly ever. That's a very large organization, with hundreds of millions in the budget and many, many critical decisions, debates and appearances to weather. Barack clearly has excellent managerial and leadership skills.

John McCain, despite all his "experience" failed catastrophically at the same task. No one will argue that.

Barack has already put together a well regarded cabinet and I believe he's done it in record time.

Barack has accomplished plenty and no one expects him to be "God". The whole "divinity" accusation is just right wing talking point bullshit. Might as well call him Paris Hilton while you're at it. It has ZERO basis in reality.
 
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