Obama and the 46.4% Problem

My early prediction for the US election was McCain over Obama in a squeaker. Possibly closer than the 2000 election. Why? I did not feel that a significant portion of Americans could get over Obama's 'uniqueness' to cast a vote for him. I mean, he was different from any previous president. His name was strange, unAmerican even. Uhh, alright already. Enough whites would not vote for him because he is not white.
But they did. Why? Enough Americans, especially white Americans, realized that their country was in dire straits. You name it, its a disaster:economy, deficit, two wars, environment, education system, justice system, competent government, constitutional freedoms, foreign relations, etc.
The Bush/Cheney/Republican managed to screw up everything they touched in eight years. Now, the electorate had a look at who they were going to trust to get them out of this horrendous mess and by the landslide margin of six per cent of the voting population chose Obama.
Think about that for a second or a minute. After a disastrously incompetent campaign [I hope I don't have to list all the blunders here] with a national joke for a VP, defending the worst President in US history, and including some of the most poorly timed news events possible, McCain still received 46.4% of the popular vote. FORTY-SIX POINT FOUR PER CENT!
And this while running against a candidate who may be one of the finest speakers in presidential history, running a very well organized, very well financed, relatively fault free campaign. Who is also the leader of the 'majority' party. Who also received a huge number of high level endorsements from all across the political spectrum including numerous Republicans. Still FORTY-SIX POINT FOUR PER CENT of Americans decided the old, crooked, lying, angry, Republican, dumb white guy who championed the same policies that got them into the two wars and financial crisis was the right guy to lead the country out of this mess.

If that doesn't scare the hell out of all Americans [and the world] , it should.

Enough Americans put aside their fears and prejudices to give their country a chance. I hope Americans, especially Democrats, don't become complacent and think that everything has changed. They have a lot of work ahead of them to defeat the forces of ignorance, who unfortunately will be heard from very shortly [2010 if not sooner].

Best wishes to Barack Obama and the people of the United States.

November 2008 Update

Its been awhile since I last posted, and strangely, during a time when elections were held in Canada and the US that I followed quite closely. Frankly, I did not write because I was depressed and dreaded the outcomes that I believed were about to occur. In short:

Canada- we had an election about nothing. It was very unlikely anything would change. The accomplishments of this election? Stephane Dion was thrashed as the Liberal leader, the Greens got some much needed airtime and a few hundred thousand more votes, and Harper was further exposed as an opportunistic Bush lite clone. Some people are upset about the waste of energy, money, and time on this election about nothing [philosophically I believe that any practice of our democratic rights is worthwhile], which probably led to the embarrassingly low turnout.
Oh, in case you missed it, NOTHING CHANGED.

US- this was the one I was dreading. Americans were presented with a choice between their past [that would be McCain] and their future[that one]. I fully expected the outstanding qualities of Barack Obama to get buried by an avalanche of sleaze and racism and the US would sink ever lower towards a third world style society: ie. disappearing middle class, tremendously wealthy elite, unbelieveable poverty, increasingly ignorant and uneducated citizenry, and a growing military and police state.
Oh, in case you missed it, SOMETHING CHANGED.

I'll post more about the American election later.

Hummer, Why I hate thee.

While driving in and around Ottawa this weekend, I drove past a couple of Hummers. I could feel my blood pressure rise and my teeth grind. There is just something about those vehicles that puts me over the edge. "Why is that?", I asked aloud, receiving looks of resignation from my wife and youngest daughter as my pathological dislike of Hummers is widely known. To their relief I went over the arguments in my mind, with only the odd snort or snarl to acknowledge that my thought process was continuing.

The Hummer. It is a big, grotesque, ugly, overweight gas guzzler. It is the anti-hybrid. A vehicle born from the womb of the military industrial complex that President Eisenhower warned about in 1960. It is everything that is wrong with the North American car industry, and by extension the United States of America. You know, 'Whats good for GM is good for ....'.

Countries can be defined by the vehicle they produce or hold up as an icon:

England- the Mini or the Jaguar. Overpriced, yet classy and prestigious.
Japan- Honda Civic. High quality, mid priced, and dependable in the long term.
Germany- Mercedes Benz. Expensive, well made and a status symbol.
Sweden- Volvo. Safe, expensive, reliable, and did I say safe?
South Korea- Hyundai. Compact, inexpensive, yet reasonable as far as operating reliability goes,
Russia- Lada. Cheap, low tech, proletarian.
East Europe- Yugo. See above.
Brazil- Volkswagon Bugs. Not sure if they still make them here. Cheap, reliable, accessible, and fun.
Canada- we will take credit for the minivan. We make a lot of them here and we sure drive enough of them. Roomy, good for camping, mid priced, family friendly.

Now the U.S.- The Hummer. A Jeep on steroids. Hugely over priced. Ridiculous operating costs. Butt ugly. Gargantuan. In fact it doesn't appear to be that roomy. Even though it takes up a lane and a half of a city street, not to mention two parking spots. Can't see over it. Can't see around it.
It is the ultimate 'Look at me and what a big raging ass I am and I don't give a damn what you think because I got mine buddy.' kind of vehicle. Its the kind of vehicle that people with more money than brains lust after.

The Hummer is like US foreign policy; intrusive, domineering, wasteful, over tech, and in the end a failure. It is no surprise that this vehicle was originally built for the army. It may work on the battlefield, but why apply it to a civilian environment?

I believe that if all Hummers [with or without their owners] disappeared into a black hole tomorrow, the world would be a better place.

Thanks, I needed to get that off my chest.