McCain concedes, Obama wins 2008 US presidential election

[SolarGirl]

It was a great event!

[Deacon]

What? When the oil market became a free-for-all?

[ReggarBlane]

Every year, it's the same: people vote and wash their hands of the whole ordeal. Our part in the political process doesn't end with elections. It begins with elections. It's our turn to be "Big Brother" (though it has always been our turn). We need to watch everything that the gov tries to do (and not what the gov tries to say). We need to stop letting our elected officials pass legislation behind our backs. If we just sit back and watch the gov like some kind of wind-up toy, we get no credit for when things go right and all the blame when things go wrong. (It's just so much easier to say "they" are not doing the job right when we've done nothing except head-bob at and parrot the media. Words and nods don't do squat. Walking around with elementary-school art projects on sticks doesn't do squat.)

This is a delicate time. (It always is.) There's rumor (keyword: rumor) that some intend to "streamline" Congress. The process is to allow them to do more without having to wait on voters. Streamlining is one way to look at it. Removing voter 'interference' is another way to look at it. There's rumor (keyword: rumor) that some intend to resurrect the "Fairness Doctrine". It is to give opposing people equal time over the airwaves. Fairness is one way to look at it. Forcing private businesses say what they don't want to say and throwing propaganda in front of viewers who had made the choice to watch/listen to something else is another way to look at it.

The President is not the only one in the Capitol. There's an entire (and entirely ill-favored -- worse approval than President Bush) Congress up there. There's the FSC, too. I can't help but feel we re-elected a whole bunch of losers into Congress because we were all mesmerized by the Cult of Personality contest happening for the Presidency. I dare-say it was a slight-of-hand maneuver.

This Republic (and that's what we are) has elected officials to facilitate legislation but not to take our choices out of the picture. We're still part of the political process, but it seems to me that nobody want's to be a part of it any more. IMHO (and opinion is all it is) if you are not willing to go the distance to learn about the candidates for yourself and keep up with the gov after elections, you shouldn't waste our time by voting.

I asked some friends why they were favoring President Obama. The answers were all the same: "He seems sincere." "He wants 'change'." "It's about time we had a Black president." When I press on what they knew about him, I would get a repeat of the same answers. That just blew my mind. I was so close so many times to tell them not to vote (but I have no place to tell that to anyone). Sadly, I got just as ill-informed responses about McCain support and opposition, too. Any questions about other candidates typically had blank stares returned in response. It is my opinion that the majority of voters this time around had absolutely no idea for whom they were voting (and against whom they were voting as well). I don't mean the majorities that won. I mean the majority of voters for every candidate regardless which ones won. If other people had won, it would have still been an election of ignorance. It was almost a 50/50 chance it seems.

Here's why we don't quit: The media is still campaigning to us that President Obama is the right person for the job. Why? 1) They know that if we don't accept their man, we won't lay down and let this country run on autopilot. 2) They want to make sure our attention is pulled away from where legislation starts: Congress.

Here's why you don't trust the media: 10% difference in a popular vote is not a landslide. (That's just 5% off of the middle.) They have used the popular vote to excuse the electoral votes every time their candidates lost in the past. Guess what? It always applies regardless who wins. They tell you it was a landslide to make sure you believe that one side is far stronger than the other, to demoralize their opposition.

There is no opposition. We're all on the same side, but this Cult of Personality BS that we've been fed has done nothing except to separate us when we need to stick together. We need to pay close attention to who the media favored and why, which includes watching the people the media tried to make us forget. To support our representatives doesn't mean we sit back and watch them go wherever the heck they wanna. Supporting them means we stay in control.

Support takes effort. Support our elected officials.

[collegestudent22]

Here's why you don't trust the media: 10% difference in a popular vote is not a landslide.

It wasn't even that big of a divide. It was more like 52-48...

[Deacon]

I can get behind most of that, ReggarBlane. Well said.