It's still incredible to realize this Obama chap is about to be our next President...

[Bicoastal]

...when I was a kid, we were implicitly taught that the president would always like your typical local TV anchorman: silver-haired, middle-aged, and yes, WHITE.

Of course, nowadays, the local TV anchorman is just as likely to look like Barack Obama as Ted Baxter. What an awesome time to live in.

[Clio the Leo]

1. Isn't he grande? Isn't LIFE grande? NT

[Alter Ego]

2. "Chap"?

You're one a' them Limeys! He's our President and you can't have him! x(

[Bicoastal]

3. I am NOT! Born in the USA!

Should I have said "dude?"

"...This Obama punk..."

[jobycom]

5. I think "guy" is the preferred nomenclature, in the parlance of our times.

[Bicoastal]

7. Also, "Chinaman" is not the preferred nomenclature.

Asian-American, please.

;)

[jobycom]

8. I did not watch my buddies die face down in the muck...!!!

STFU, Donnie.

[tridim]

11. I'm not into the whole brevity thing.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

9. young geezer?

what abot bloke?

[jobycom]

4. Meh. I'm past that. I'm already working on what great things he can achieve.

Health care, rational foreign policy, hopefully an understanding that our next economic boom will come from the technological requirements of cleaner fuel and environment. That's the difference between Republicans and Democrats. Democrats look forward for answers, Republicans fight to maintain a status quo that has already failed.

As in driving, you choose D to go forward, R to go backwards.

[mtnsnake]

6. If he lives up to his rhetoric, he could go down as 1 of the best world leaders ever

The world became a safer place the minute he beat McCain. However, staying a safer place all depends on him following through on all the beautiful speeches he has given in the past. If he follows through, we'll have the luxury of seeing the end to cowboy diplomacy and the beginning of getting back to the kind of diplomacy that Dennis Kucinich (and Obama himself) have been preaching for a long time. Time will tell.

[jobycom]

10. Heh. If he lives up to the rhetoric, he may displace Jesus AND John Lennon.

I don't even dream that big. :rofl:

[BeFree]

12. You have doubts?

well, with expectations like that, you'd have too, eh?

Remember, Obama has to wade thru miles of republicans, blue dogs and other possible enemies, not including the ones who might wander in here.

So, unless we back him up, he'll never stand a chance. He said as much as part of his 'Rhetoric' which seems to me to be used around here as a derisive term. YMMV._{Your Mileage May Vary.}

[jobycom]

13. I have more mundane expectations.

I'm hoping he does well, and have been impressed with the speed with which he has taken charge already. But he could be the next Bill Clinton and still fall short of what some expect.

Wasn't implying anything negative about him, just about the way some have deified him. Deification necessarily leads to let-down. To me, he's a skilled professional whom we have just hired, and I am watching him to see how well he performs, with every expectation that he will fill the role nicely. I even have barely-expressed hopes that he will amaze me. Beyond that, it is unfair to burden him with some of the expectations heaped on him. He has to do a job, and he can't do it if every action of his is required to be a miracle. He needs room to move. He moves well when he has that.