Hail to the Chief!

CNN asked people watching the inauguration from the National Mall to send their pictures of "the moment" so they could create an interactive graphic of the moment Barack Obama took the oath of office.... here's the moment Barack Obama raised his hand from my point of view....ok, ok, I had to settle for watching it on t.v..... I was planning to schedule an interview in Baltimore to coincide with the inauguration, so I could be there in person... but obviously that didn't turn out.... even back in September when I was looking into it and Obama was still just candidate Obama, it was already hard to find an affordable hotel room in D.C.... oh well, at least I had a front row seat.... I can't believe that after all the anticipation for "the moment", it didn't go so smoothly with Obama jumping the gun, and the Chief Justice screwing up the words...

haha... oh well, it was a momentous enough event to not be overshadowed by some minor imperfections.... I didn't hear the usual soaring rhetoric that I was hoping for in his inaugural address though..... you know, the kind of speech that parts the clouds and ushers in the sparkling rays of the shining sun that he usually delivers?.... I did hear angels sing "aaaaaaaahhh" a couple of times during the speech though.... if you missed it here it is....

In classic Obama style, the new president will restore the tradition of making the first foreign trip of the new president to Canada, in a gesture to re-establish the Canadian-American bff relationship which Bush wrote off... so you better believe I will be there to see him in person that time around....

Congratulations President Obama, Congratulations People of America, Congratulations People of Earth!

TECHNORATI TAGS: President Barack Obama

Oh No He Di'int!

OH YES HE DID... 338 electoral votes? Whaaaaat.... yaaah boooyyyy!

My faith in America was restored at 11:00 PM EST on November 4, 2008....

Wow, the words my mind sang to itself..."we shall overcome".... my faith in a persevering hope in better tomorrows was also restored tonight.... I never thought that I would see this day, this soon.... I used to be an optimist, so I imagined maybe seeing this day in the distant future, with grandkids on my lap telling them that a black president would never have been elected in my day..... in a few hours I'm going to wake up to a world with a little more hope in it, and with a renewed sense of optimism..... God bless America....

But now, what am I going to watch on t.v.?

TECHNORATI TAGS: president elect barack obama

We Interrupt Regular Programming To Bring You This Message

I AM CANADIAN, AND I APPROVE THIS MESSAGE....

canadavotesobama.com

TECHNORATI TAGS: Canada Votes Obama

Yes, We Can

I just voted in the Canadian federal election.... yaaawwnnn, oh sorry, excuse me..... Ya there was an election here too, I almost forgot, what with all the commotion down south of the border.... Canadian politics?.... meh.... maybe it's election fatigue, I mean this was the third election in the past four years.... maybe its because this election was a choice between meh, meh, meh, and more meh.... if we actually got to vote for the party leader, I might not have even voted, but since we vote for a local Member of Parliament, I was motivated.... this is because the last time I voted FOR my local MP, he went ahead and switched sides after he was elected!.... can these slimy politicians do that?.... he betrayed the constituency that gave him the right to sit in the House of Commons, and we no longer have any say about it?..... I voted for him because of his political party not because he inspired me as an individual.... I should have figured out from the questionable and unconvincing hair(piece) on his opportunistic head that he shouldn't be trusted.... so I didn't just vote FOR a candidate this time round, I voted AGAINST that traitor.... I actually like the current situation of a minority government, it keeps these politicians on their toes, I'm just sick of all these snap elections....

I have never been inspired by a politician, and with politicians like my (hopefully former) MP, how can you be inspired to even trust them?.... at least that follicley-challenged traitor to the electorate made Canadian politics a little more interesting for me.... now, politics in the United States of America? Yeeeehaaaaw! .... I actually rushed home so I could re-hook my IV back into CNN.... reality t.v. has never been so interesting..... oh sorry I meant reality, sometimes I can't tell.... it's more than just the historic nature of this US election..... yes, this election may very well lead to the first black president of the the free world, but with Barack Obama, I finally know what my parents' generation meant when they were inspired by another young politician.... JFK.... yes people will say that Obama is just good at delivering a speech, but I am not the one you should ask whether one should believe that words have power.... not just the power to inspire you to feel good, but the power to inspire the individual to action and affect real change for the better.... I for one have watched these past eight years with dismay and a sense of despondence at the direction the world is heading towards.... in Canada, we liken our relationship with the US as a mouse in bed with an elephant.... of course the US is the elephant.... whenever the elephant moves, the mouse feels it.... this analogy can easily apply to the United States' relationship with the rest of the world.... I was leaning towards the propaganda that the US of America was just a bully rather than the propaganda that America, from its founding is the beacon of liberty, hope, freedom, democracy, hope, opportunity, justice, equality, hope, etc, for all peoples of the world, unlike any other nation on earth..... I could use a little bit of hope right now, and Barack Obama gives me the hope that there are leaders out there who can inspire and lead with a cool, smart, and steady hand, rather than with moronic trigger happy fingers....

Whether a change in the White House will lead to a change in the world towards cooperation and good will, remains to be seen... One thing is for sure here in North America, we can choose our leaders, we can hold them accountable, we can change them, we can question our government's propaganda, we can stand up to our governments, we have a say in what direction we want our societies to head, we can agree to disagree on our differing ideologies, we have the right to make up our own minds, and believe what we choose to believe.... yes, we can.... si, se puede.... oui, c'est possible... pwede yan.... やれば、できるんだ.... 我 们 做 得 到....

A belated Happy Canadian Thanksgiving, we have a lot to be thankful for in our democracy.... I hope you all participate in democracy and vote.... I can't wait to see what happens on November 4 with our cousins down south....

"in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope..."

TECHNORATI TAGS: yes we can, man who stands up to tanks in tianenmen square