Yes, I agree.  McCain showed great class and grace.  Let us do the same.  Congratulations to President Elect Obama.  May God Bless America and God bless us- everyone.

You are so right!  I shared this with Krislynn earlier and have been telling friends, family and coworkers the same.  We have been praying for the "right' man to be put into office.  But if we would put the right man in our heart we could make a difference.  It doesn't matter who is in the oval office.  God is still on the throne and He reigns on high.  I'm glad He still has His hands on America.  She has seen worse days and Lord willing, we will rise above it.

Our nation is making history right now and I'm just praying that history doesn't repeat itself in many bad ways.  May God's blessings be upon us all and may we all go to sleep tonight and arise in the morning with a determination to do our part for this land that we love.

"Today is the tomorrow we put off yesterday."  Keep praying and believing.  Congratulations to all of you out there who fought hard to make this victory come true and to those who wanted McCain just remember: "Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall."  We are still ONE NATION UNDER GOD!!!  

It was such a huge victory for President Elect Obama; one which is well deserved, as well as historical!

The final result of this campaign has left me with somewhat of a restored confidence.  A confidence in people.  I am so happy to see that the majority of the United States did not think of Obama as the candidate that is a "terrorist", as a "messiah", as a "communist", etc, etc., but just a very small percentage of republicans that were afraid to open up their minds to change.  The name calling during this campaign was atrocious.  The outcries at McCain rallies was deplorable.  

During John McCain's speech he appeared, to me, to be the most sincere I have seen him through this entire campaign.  While standing next to him in her usual unprofessional manner, stood Sarah Palin.  As the crowd booed, when McCain mentioned President Elect Obama, she stood there laughing....she's a real class act.  Is she back in Alaska yet?

I welcome our new President and Vice President and welcome their ideas. 

I am so very glad I did vote today!

mysticstarfish said…
It was such a huge victory for President Elect Obama; one which is well deserved, as well as historical!

The final result of this campaign has left me with somewhat of a restored confidence.  A confidence in people.  I am so happy to see that the majority of the United States did not think of Obama as the candidate that is a "terrorist", as a "messiah", as a "communist", etc, etc., but just a very small percentage of republicans that were afraid to open up their minds to change.  The name calling during this campaign was atrocious.  The outcries at McCain rallies was deplorable.  

During John McCain's speech he appeared, to me, to be the most sincere I have seen him through this entire campaign.  While standing next to him in her usual unprofessional manner, stood Sarah Palin.  As the crowd booed, when McCain mentioned President Elect Obama, she stood there laughing....she's a real class act.  Is she back in Alaska yet?

I welcome our new President and Vice President and welcome their ideas. 

I am so very glad I did vote today!

---

I can appreciate your feelings about Sarah Palin, although I don't share them.   Please don't attack her anymore.  It's over.  I voted for McCain and you don't see me or any of theother people on this post attacking Obama or Biden, do you?  Now is the time for graciousness and healing.  Let the attacking be over with. On both sides.

I agree with you Mike. It's over. Whomever we personally wanted for president doesn't matter now. Like John McCain said, it's time to unite. There should be no more name calling on either side.

We all want the same thing and that's peace, security, and a better tomorrow. Let's start by uniting here.

MikeMaroon said…

mysticstarfish said…
It was such a huge victory for President Elect Obama; one which is well deserved, as well as historical!

The final result of this campaign has left me with somewhat of a restored confidence.  A confidence in people.  I am so happy to see that the majority of the United States did not think of Obama as the candidate that is a "terrorist", as a "messiah", as a "communist", etc, etc., but just a very small percentage of republicans that were afraid to open up their minds to change.  The name calling during this campaign was atrocious.  The outcries at McCain rallies was deplorable.  

During John McCain's speech he appeared, to me, to be the most sincere I have seen him through this entire campaign.  While standing next to him in her usual unprofessional manner, stood Sarah Palin.  As the crowd booed, when McCain mentioned President Elect Obama, she stood there laughing....she's a real class act.  Is she back in Alaska yet?

I welcome our new President and Vice President and welcome their ideas. 

I am so very glad I did vote today!

---

I can appreciate your feelings about Sarah Palin, although I don't share them.   Please don't attack her anymore.  It's over.  I voted for McCain and you don't see me or any of theother people on this post attacking Obama or Biden, do you?  Now is the time for graciousness and healing.  Let the attacking be over with. On both sides.

---

Don't be a hypocrite Mike....you sat here spewing at other posters on other boards, but I cannot post how I feel.  Sorry, but that was what I saw tonight and, to me, was an ugly closure to an absolutely ugly campaign. No attack....fact.  Your comment is condescending and uncalled for.  Don't start a discussion if you don't want to hear what the other person has to say. 

mysticstarfish said…

MikeMaroon said…

mysticstarfish said…
It was such a huge victory for President Elect Obama; one which is well deserved, as well as historical!

The final result of this campaign has left me with somewhat of a restored confidence.  A confidence in people.  I am so happy to see that the majority of the United States did not think of Obama as the candidate that is a "terrorist", as a "messiah", as a "communist", etc, etc., but just a very small percentage of republicans that were afraid to open up their minds to change.  The name calling during this campaign was atrocious.  The outcries at McCain rallies was deplorable.  

During John McCain's speech he appeared, to me, to be the most sincere I have seen him through this entire campaign.  While standing next to him in her usual unprofessional manner, stood Sarah Palin.  As the crowd booed, when McCain mentioned President Elect Obama, she stood there laughing....she's a real class act.  Is she back in Alaska yet?

I welcome our new President and Vice President and welcome their ideas. 

I am so very glad I did vote today!

---

I can appreciate your feelings about Sarah Palin, although I don't share them.   Please don't attack her anymore.  It's over.  I voted for McCain and you don't see me or any of theother people on this post attacking Obama or Biden, do you?  Now is the time for graciousness and healing.  Let the attacking be over with. On both sides.

---

Don't be a hypocrite Mike....you sat here spewing at other posters on other boards, but I cannot post how I feel.  Sorry, but that was what I saw tonight and, to me, was an ugly closure to an absolutely ugly campaign. No attack....fact.  Your comment is condescending and uncalled for.  Don't start a discussion if you don't want to hear what the other person has to say. 

---

Not being a hypocrite ma'am.  Sorry to upset you to the point of name calling.  Before the election everything is fair game and yes, even after the election you or anyone else is entitled to how they feel.  I never spewed at anyone, in any case.  The spirit of this post was conciliatory and I'm simply asking we maintain that tone on this post.  Free country, you can say what you want and if you want to be ungracious in victory, that's certainly your right.

I have no comments about Obama and I can't bring myself to offer congratulations (sorry).

I just pray that GOD will watch over and protect us!!

redfireant said…

I have no comments about Obama and I can't bring myself to offer congratulations (sorry).

I just pray that GOD will watch over and protect us!!

---

Fair enough.

Congrats to President-Elect Obama and to everyone that was behind him! I voted for McCain. Sure, I was disappointed that he didn't win, but I'm glad I had the chance to vote. Like Gigi said, both of us have been praying for the "right" man to win. I totally agree with her if we would just put the right man in our heart all of us could make a difference. No doubt Obama has made history, but this is the time to unite and make the right decision for us and our country. 

This is not the time to be making attacks. The election is over. Keep praying for our country to have security, peace, and unity. God Bless us all.    

I will always respect the office of President.  Sadly, most presidents don't earn my respect.  I was tempted to write in "Snoopy" this year.  I wanted to vote just as much...or more for state and local issues.  Never overlook them when voting.

We had 3 local questions. One was about reducing the state tax. Amazingly it didn't go through. Although it sounds great it wasn't. It would have taken money away from state agencies i.e. schools.

The second was to not make it criminal to have less than an ounce of marijuana. The theory was that the police have more to do than spend their time on one ounce. It passed.

The third was to ban dog racing in MA. It didn't pass 4 years ago. Thankfully it did this time.

I didn't vote for Obama, but am excited to see what he'll bring to our country.  Also, I think it's going to be fun to watch his little girls in the White House.  What an experience for them! 

It has been a remarkable experience for me to watch a peaceful election process. I was surprised when I woke up in the morning of the 4th, there was no shooting or looting, no screaming or bleeding!

Election day? And none of these indicators? Amazing...Of course when I left my country, it was election day and my 4 year old daughter almost kissed a stray bullet. What a blessing to be in America at this point in history?

I grew up in apartheid, which was a South African slavery, and came to America with hope for justice. Every day that I have been here my eyes and mind have been opened wider to see that even here in America there is still apartheid, slavery. I applaud the efforts of those who seek peace and justice to make America and the entire universe a safety harlem to each one of us.

As I conclude, I want to share something that I have learned during this campaign. That the hatred you have, the hatred I have, for the other person is the hatred in you, in me, not in the other person you and I hate. I learned that those who seek after higher virtues have cultivated and continue to cultivate calamity within themselves. Consequently, you find you can point at a fault or an error wthout wishing harm upon the other.

"Morena a boloke America, President Obama le bakhethoa ba hae 'moho le bohle ba iphumanang ba le mohaung oa poloko ea Hae."

 

 

Mike,

Thank you for the posting and well wishes for OUR new President-elect.  At the end of this process we are all Americans!  Now comes the hard part: making our country a better place to live by starting to resolve all of the issues that brought us to this point.

And I congratulate Mr. McCain for a wonderful speech; there were shades of the old McCain, I respected so much in 2000, in his words. Mr. McCain, last night, was the embodiment of a true American hero!    

Congrats Mr. Obama. It's a great day when we can break down the taboo barriers of our society and move towards a greater acceptance of one another regardless of race, creed, religion (or lack thereof), etc.

Now we just have to wait and see what "change" we are going to get for our money.

That's the skeptic in me talkin.

Jo said…

The third was to ban dog racing in MA. It didn't pass 4 years ago. Thankfully it did this time.

---

Oh, Jo that is wonderful news!  We adopted a retired greyhound when we lived in Connecticut.  What a sweet, magestic animal she was.

I am with you about the children.  We had Chelsea as a preteen and Amy Carter.  Other than that it would probably go all the way back to the days of JFK with John, Jr. and Caroline.  The only thing with children in the White House--we also hear more about any little petty thing they do and why?  Let them be little girls, blunders and all.  Our misgivings aren't publicized so why should theirs be?  

Welcome to America and thank you for sharing your story.  I hope that we prove ourselves worthy to you and that you will be proud to call America your home!

Can you translate your final statement or is it best that we not know?

Many blessings to you and your family!  ~Gigi 

Gigi, Thank you for the hearty welcome! I am thankful to be in America where I can express myself and not be afraid to vanish when others disagree with me.

"Morena a boloke America, President Obama le bakhethoa ba hae 'moho le bohle ba iphumanang ba le mohaung oa poloko ea Hae."

You asked me to translate the statement above to English. First let me give you a little background. The language I use here is Sesotho, spoken by the Basotho who are the natives of the Kingdom of Lesotho. This country is totally enveloped by South Africa. I will provide you with literal translation of the phrase and leave you to make the grammar work....he he he!

"Morena a boloke America,

( God to preserve America) .

President Obama le bakhethoa ba hae 'moho le

(President Obama and those he endorses including)

bohle ba iphumanang ba le mohaung oa poloko ea Hae.

(those who find themselves at the mercy of His(meaning God) protection.

Thank you again, Gigi.

 

 

 

That sounds beautiful.  At first I thought you were going to tell me it was Swahili or something like that.  How long have you and your daughter been in America?

We won't make you vanish but sometimes strange things happen on the website--like people's profile pictures vanishing ;+)

In all seriousness--I hope that we are more tolerant of people and their differences.  I hope that we are a nation that people want to come to and that people will be proud to write home about.  I'm glad that when our soldiers go to foreign fields they look forward to returning home and some even kiss American soil.

I'm proud to live in the great land of opportunity and to have freedoms that many fight for on a daily basis.  I don't take any of this for granted.

Thanks for sharing with us and I look forward to reading many more of your contributions.  ~Gigi

Gigi, You thought well because in South Africa there are many tribes with different languages:Swahili, Sesotho, Setswana,SeXhoza, Sepedi,Seshangana, and so forth. I would say we have been here for roughly 8 years.

What brought you to Salt Lake City?  [inquiring minds want to know]

Welcome! It is great to have you here at Viewpoints and here in our/your new country. God Bless you and your family! ~Krista Lynn 

Thank you Krista Lynn.

Meri, 

Inquiring minds shall receive the knowledge they seek. How much they want to know is another story.

Political reasons. I had a choice to go to Canada or America. I chose America. I chose Utah because I thought that it was a good place to raise children. It still is but I didn't know that I could wake up  everyday and defend my blackness, especially in Holladay. Downtown Salt Lake and Ogden are other areas I lived that had generational colour issues. In Holladay the issues are more general than generational. I decided to stay here for now and so far everything looks good! I decided not to apologise for how  I look!

The rest of my story in Utah is a slap in the face for something that I respected and thought to be a religion of the world. This story is in my novel still being edited overseas: "God are You a Small Boy?" The ending of the story is; And if you are not a small boy, why did you allow a man to ban blacks from your holy grounds?

Thank you for asking. Have a lovely night!

 

 

You have a very interesting story and I welcome any additional information you want to share with us, the members at Viewpoints. 

When Meri asked you what brought you to Utah I was going to pick and say it must have been the Mormons.  I would not have said that to offend but to acknowledge that in Salt Lake, that is a large sect of a religious population here in the U.S.

Af you have witnessed during your last 8 years here.  We are not perfect, none are, but praise God I believe we are or rather should be very tolerant of others and their race, religious creed, socioeconomic status and so forth.  I live in the south AKA as the Bible belt--lots of conservative Baptists.  My area is also known as the belt buckle--I guess that gets into the very conservative.

I wish you much love and happiness in the US.  Since you are in Utah: Do you enjoy skiing and snow sports?  Wow--that had to be a big change from Africa.  If you ever run into Marie Osmond or any of the Osmond Brothers tell them I said hello :+)  LOL

I would love to read the book you made reference to.  God bless!   

FYI if you want a commemorative sticker you can get one for free

https://pol.moveon.org/shepstickers/leposters.html

I can't imagine what you have gone through.  It takes great courage to leave everything you know to seek out a better life.  One of my daughter-in-law's Father defected from Romania so that his one day family would have the advantages of freedom.  My own grandmother immigrated here from Czechoslovakia.  My great grandmother was miserable here.  She spoke little English and chose not to learn it.  It kept her isolated and she was happy to be miserable.  I have a letter she wrote to her Mother that was translated for me.  In it she wrote of the strange tradition of May Day, she wrote about different culture traditions around Easter and Palm Sunday, that people kidnap babies here [it was the time of the Lindberg kidnapping but it made it sound like it was common place], she then told of the good things.  She wrote about the river, the walks she took with the kids, the flowers, the quality of goods she could buy at low prices.  She went on and on for another two pages on the good things here [never acknowledging they were good- I don't think she realized they were because she was so miserable.]  She ended the letter with, "What does it matter if you can't get a good beer?"  Eventually she made some friends, her life got easier and she was happy but it took a long time.

I am so sorry that you have had a hard time here and I hope that things will start to straighten out and you will be happy too.  Americans are not perfect; the same as other people but there are many good hearted people in the states.  There are many wonderful things here.  If you look for them you will find them.  I can promise you that.  God never said it would be easy- just worth it.  I will pray for you and your boys.