the USA thread -

Amazing election. I'm in Ithaca, NY, and it's like Mardi Gras here. Everyone is wide-eyed and thinking "OH MY GOD OBAMA REALLY WON!?"

I haven't seen so many Americans this happy in a very long time (probably my whole life).

Btw... North Carolina voted for a black Democrat for President, and two female Democrats for their highest offices (Governor and Senator). I'm still in shock.

Edit: Obama just took one of Nebraska's electoral votes. :O
 
What the hell is taking Missouri, Indiana and North Carolina so long to be done? I want the final figures so I can laugh (harder) at the local - European - newscasters for being desperate enough to say it was going to be "close" until the very last day.
 
What the hell is taking Missouri, Indiana and North Carolina so long to be done? I want the final figures so I can laugh (harder) at the local - European - newscasters for being desperate enough to say it was going to be "close" until the very last day.

I think in Missouri they might be doing a recount. It's a margin of less than 6,000 votes out of like three million (although McCain seems to be winning). As for NC and IN, Fox called Indiana Obama already. I'm not sure what the hold up is in NC, but it's over 10,000 so I'm guess they'll give it to Obama in the morning.

Apparently the 1 EV from Nebraska was called early, and it's still being sorted out. It makes network people look bad when they call places early and have to change their call (re: Florida / Ohio / NM in 2000 and 2004), so they're just doing due diligence on the final vote count.
 
Though I didn't vote due to an error in my judgement (I was unsure if I was registered, didn't find out I was until last weekend, too late to fill out an absentee ballot or make it home), I am really pleased with the results of this election. At my university people were climbing on things, shouting, congratulating each other and generally going crazy. Its not something I'll forget. Hopefully this is the change that gets the country back to a position of respect and that these problems can be rectified. I'm excited.
 
Though I didn't vote due to an error in my judgement (I was unsure if I was registered, didn't find out I was until last weekend, too late to fill out an absentee ballot or make it home), I am really pleased with the results of this election. At my university people were climbing on things, shouting, congratulating each other and generally going crazy. Its not something I'll forget. Hopefully this is the change that gets the country back to a position of respect and that these problems can be rectified. I'm excited.

There was the same thing when Phillies won the World Series, it was like 2 days in a row (some kind of riot, too), and then last night it was getting not as crazy, but people yelling and beeping in the streets after first results started coming in.

All of a sudden Philly became a really happy town :D
 
There was the same thing when Phillies won the World Series, it was like 2 days in a row (some kind of riot, too), and then last night it was getting not as crazy, but people yelling and beeping in the streets after first results started coming in.

All of a sudden Philly became a really happy town :D

As a Philly fan, this election was the second joy in two short weeks :D. I wish I could have been in the city, but it wasn't economically feasible. Ah well. You should have joined in! I heard there were breasts abound.
 
As a Philly fan, this election was the second joy in two short weeks :D. I wish I could have been in the city, but it wasn't economically feasible. Ah well. You should have joined in! I heard there were breasts abound.

Fuck sports, fuck religion and fuck politics, I witnessed more fucking morons during that "Phillies riot" (just on my way to work, 5 blocks) than in previous years of my life altogether.

Fucking imbeciles yelling, honking, squealing outside two days in a row, smashing windows, going in the street... well, good thing those fuckwads are sitting in their suburban row houses by now.

It was plain dangerous to be around, at least I've got that feeling.
 
:cry::cry:^

Someone wasn't invited. Hey, you could always move to a major US city that doesn't have a sports team.

Oh wait.

I guess suburbia is calling after all.

Idiots can be found anywhere, and that exactly the kind of people I saw in the streets that day. Being a sports fan was barely an excuse.
 
Idiots can be found anywhere, and that exactly the kind of people I saw in the streets that day. Being a sports fan was barely an excuse.

True, so why bother being bothered? Point is, they were likely having one of the better days of their lives. Sports can be very, very important to some people, perhaps too much so, so that joy is real. Philadelphia has a celebratory history when it comes to sports, so I'm surprised they were as "well-behaved" as they were. Some offices were even closed. At any rate, try not to worry about it.
 
True, so why bother being bothered? Point is, they were likely having one of the better days of their lives. Sports can be very, very important to some people, perhaps too much so, so that joy is real. Philadelphia has a celebratory history when it comes to sports, so I'm surprised they were as "well-behaved" as they were. Some offices were even closed. At any rate, try not to worry about it.

When I can't walk in the street because fucking mammals with glass eyes wander around and there's shit everywhere, and I live right there - these are just a few concerns.

Friend of a friend had windows in her house smashed by "fans" the night they won. Hha!

And take a look at this:

http://www.faniq.com/blog/Video-Philadelphia-Phillies-Fans-Riot-Raid-Luggage-Store-Blog-13323

"GIMME A BAG!!!"

I work across the street from that place. Very center of the city (Broad and Walnut).
 
Sorry to have missed the Obama boat, but I thought some of you people might be interested in this.

As you know I live in Chicago where we had an almost 1/4 million people show up in Grant Park for the election. The various news channels broadcast that everything was happy, festive, etc and I believe it was. What they didn't tell you was on the West side of Chicago (predominantly black population) there was plenty of celebratory gun fire, stores being looted, and cars being tipped over. The town next to the one I work for was getting reports of gun fire all night and even we had to deal with store break-ins and assaults. Was there any kind of coverage on all the destruction and violence? Not a fucking peep.

OBAMA FOR CHANGE!!
 
Sorry to have missed the Obama boat, but I thought some of you people might be interested in this.

As you know I live in Chicago where we had an almost 1/4 million people show up in Grant Park for the election. The various news channels broadcast that everything was happy, festive, etc and I believe it was. What they didn't tell you was on the West side of Chicago (predominantly black population) there was plenty of celebratory gun fire, stores being looted, and cars being tipped over. The town next to the one I work for was getting reports of gun fire all night and even we had to deal with store break-ins and assaults. Was there any kind of coverage on all the destruction and violence? Not a fucking peep.

OBAMA FOR CHANGE!!

Probably because gunfire, store break ins, and assaults are not notable in that part of the city? It was also worse when the Bulls won in the 1990s, much worse. My cousins lived in the city and I spent four years in Hyde Park (which is surrounded by some of the worst neighborhoods in Chicago). You just can't help the fact that there are morons out there, especially in the worst neighborhoods of a city that has some of the worst neighborhoods in the country.
 
Sorry to have missed the Obama boat, but I thought some of you people might be interested in this.

As you know I live in Chicago where we had an almost 1/4 million people show up in Grant Park for the election. The various news channels broadcast that everything was happy, festive, etc and I believe it was. What they didn't tell you was on the West side of Chicago (predominantly black population) there was plenty of celebratory gun fire, stores being looted, and cars being tipped over. The town next to the one I work for was getting reports of gun fire all night and even we had to deal with store break-ins and assaults. Was there any kind of coverage on all the destruction and violence? Not a fucking peep.

OBAMA FOR CHANGE!!

Woah.
 
What they didn't tell you was on the West side of Chicago (predominantly black population) there was plenty of celebratory gun fire, stores being looted, and cars being tipped over. The town next to the one I work for was getting reports of gun fire all night and even we had to deal with store break-ins and assaults. Was there any kind of coverage on all the destruction and violence? Not a fucking peep.
OBAMA FOR CHANGE!!

Not a fucking peep???
you're fucking peeping about it

'predominantly black population', so its not 100% black, so it could of been whites doing it

'The town next to the one I work for was getting reports of gun fire all night and even we had to deal with store break-ins and assaults'
could i see a link to these reports, remember hearsay evidence is not admissible in court

'Was there any kind of coverage on all the destruction and violence?'
maybe Al Capone paid off the newspapers/TV to keep it quiet,
so Chicago can keeps it Second City image pristine

thank you usa voters for electing Barack Obama

@ wolfie, you now have a black man as your leader and daddy :p
 
Not a fucking peep???
you're fucking peeping about it

'predominantly black population', so its not 100% black, so it could of been whites doing it

'The town next to the one I work for was getting reports of gun fire all night and even we had to deal with store break-ins and assaults'
could i see a link to these reports, remember hearsay evidence is not admissible in court

'Was there any kind of coverage on all the destruction and violence?'
maybe Al Capone paid off the newspapers/TV to keep it quiet,
so Chicago can keeps it Second City image pristine

thank you usa voters for electing Barack Obama

@ wolfie, you now have a black man as your leader and daddy :p

so its not 100% black, so it could of been whites doing it.
You can look the pop stats on the west side of chicago if you want, I dont care enough to post a link, but it's roughly 99.4% black

could i see a link to these reports, remember hearsay evidence is not admissible in court

Actually no, almost all police departments (mine included) dont make police reports publicly accessible.

maybe Al Capone paid off the newspapers/TV to keep it quiet,
so Chicago can keeps it Second City image pristine

I'm not even going to answer this one with anything of substance.

@dada: I can really care less what the color of someones skin is. The actual matter is probably how well they will help run the country and if you think that taxing already struggling small businesses and full term abortion is the way to go then OBAMA FOR CHANGE.

Edit: and I believe the point I was actually trying to make is that record amounts of black voters turned out for this election. Many in this area were all 'high spirits and things are gonna change around here' and when he wins they fucking destroy and loot.
 
@Wolvie
I can't believe you're actually complaining, I mean, anything and I mean ANYTHING is better than McBush.
And not even so much cos of McBush, but cos he might die and then you'd end up with someone who
doesn't even know Africa is fucking continent as a president.
 
I think everyone who's paid attention to national and international politics ever in his life (and regardless of where they're from) ought to have come to the conclusion that most voters everywhere are idiots. I'm not surprised that in Chicago or anywhere else there's no lack of dimwits who are ready to "celebrate" in the way Nick described. However, I don't believe idiots being true to their nature should be put in connection with any of the following: Obama's campaign appealing specifically to idiots; Obama's willingness to promote change being less than authentic; Obama's electoral promises being any less valid. I'm not saying all of these assumptions have to be true, I'm just saying there's no connection.

As a more subjective aside, I think saying Obama wants to tax small businesses and supports full term abortion is incorrect in a certain propaganda kind of way.
 
I can really care less what the color of someones skin is. The actual matter is probably how well they will help run the country and if you think that taxing already struggling small businesses and full term abortion is the way to go then OBAMA FOR CHANGE.

Full-term abortion, or at least most of the more "gruesome" types of abortion are now illegal - partial-birth or what have you. Besides, abortion wasn't a major issue in this election, its an ideological one and a method of deflection because it plays to the emotion and is intentionally divisive. Addendum because it just occurred to me: the youtube video that made rounds shortly before the election was most likely was brought out because of the above tactic. Just saying, because I have an inclination as to that being what you are talking about. If I'm wrong, please let me know.

The economy is much more relevant, and I think its important that it changes. I'd like to see where, in Obama's plan, he specifically states he'll tax small businesses heavily and why. I admit I haven't read Obama's entire plan (excerpts) and if you care enough to offer proof as to this then I'll go from there. I am of the opinion that, based on articles I have read both online and in USA Today that Obama was the better economic candidate based on policy and his promises. I also think he is more motivated to fix the country than McCain based on the fact that he doesn't have quite as strong of a foreign policy and the majority of his campaign promises were based at home, with the exception of when the war comes up.

At any rate, I don't care to challenge your beliefs or ideology (the exception with the latter is above, when its brought out to deflect from other issues) or change them. I understand your feelings are personal, along with the fact that its already over, so its mostly moot anyway. I just haven't talked to anyone that has sided with McCain for economic purposes (perhaps a product of living in a blue state, but then again so do you), unless they make a boatload of money or if you're the owner of those aforementioned small businesses, the latter which is far more likely. Though I admit I'd really like to see where he says he's going to tax them more heavily. He wrote up that he's going to tax those in the higher income bracket as well as repeal the corporation's tax breaks. I think it would be on paper some where.