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January 20, 2009 10:40 PM UTC

Was it worth the wait?

  • 76 Comments
  • by: Dabee47

(Good question – promoted by redstateblues)

So, now we have it: President Barack Obama.

This very day, what feels like four looong years ago, most of us that frequent this site hoped we’d be celebrating the inauguration of John Kerry.  Of course, that didn’t happen.  But if it had, we wouldn’t have had what we got today.  So, was it worth four more years of Bush to get us to today?  Is the promise of President Obama enough to eventually make the last four years worth the trials and tribulations we’ve endured?

The easy answer seems to be “no.”  That nothing is worth the economic distress, relative social unrest, and international failures of the Bush Administration.

But is it possible that magnitude of what we witnessed this January morning is enough to truly change the future so greatly that the last four years were indeed worth the pain?  That the mere sight of an African American taking that oath and the faces of our soon to be new Cabinet shining in the noon sun are going to be more valuable than the cost of the last four years?  

Is the promise of tomorrow worth the pain of yesterday?

The answer thus becomes a bit less easy, IMO.

On this, the first day of the Obama Administration, I’m reminded of a The West Wing quote:

[…] every time we think we’ve measured our capacity to meet a challenge, we look up and we’re reminded that that capactiy may be limitless.”

Our future truly is limitless…but was it worth the wait?

Very simple poll follows…

Was today worth the wait?

View Results

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76 thoughts on “Was it worth the wait?”

      1. Sorry to Raine on your parade.  Speaking of Raines, I noticed Franklin Raines that theif that nearly bankrupted Fannie Mae up on the stage with Barak Obama.

        1. Franklin Raines? Really? You mean the Fannie Mae CEO who had hardly anything to do with Obama but was used in a nasty racist attack ad just because he was black? Despite the fact that there was a white Fannie Mae CEO who had significantly closer ties to Obama? Really?

          Even John McCain got over his loss, and being President is the only thing he ever wanted to do. Why don’t you try to get over it?

        2. It’s about the way in which you choose to engage with those also on the site. A proud tradition of sockpuppets, of course, but is it so much to wish that the conservatives who join are cut in the LB/Haners mold than the Nancy L Baldwin mold?

  2. THe destruction wrought by the Bush regime will last for generations, if not for the rest of our nation’s history.  

    It truly is a great day for America, but the thousands and thousands of families that have had to deal with the death of their loved ones surely would disagree that 8 years of ineptitude and virtual despotism “was worth it.”

    The tens of thousands that were left to waste in Katrina would likely even disagree with the idea “it was worth it.”

    I think that it is pretty damn callous and short-sighted to even ask the question.  

    1. then everything would be hunky dory? I don’t think so.

      It took 8 years of horrible leadership to finally get someone who can fix what’s broken in Washington–problems, I might add, that have been around for a lot longer than Bush has been President.

      1. If you think that Iraq, Afghanistan, Katrina, the economic meltdown, the destruction of America’s standing in the international community, rampant corruption within the admin, the attempted ruination of our environment, the absolute erosion of our civil liberties, etc would be the same under Kerry, then my friend you are delusional.

        Also, if you are hedging you bets that somehow Pres. Obama can revolutionize the culture of politics, then your have truly set him up in the impossible position of messiah.  He will be a great leader, but he has more on his plate than anyone can chew.

        1. We’ll never know.

          If you want to blame anyone, blame the Democratic Party for running one of the worst presidential candidates in history in 2004.

  3. I am alive to see it! My daughter was 10 when GWB was elected, and my son 13….they lived with a tremendous sense of let down,confusion, sense of betrayal and incompetence in the country of their birth…during their formative years. They have a lot more life ahead of them than myself, and to them, it was certainly worth the wait as they now see wrongs can be corrected. Although, they are still waiting to see what justice the wrong doers will receive.

    Children have a sense of right and wrong that many adults just don’t carry in to their late years. Blessed are the children, as they shall inherit the Earth.

    Just like the years of Reagan, where the U.S. forces slaughtered innocents to pursue economic aims, so too, the years of Bush have been painful.

    I pray this election sets us all on a more just, sustainable and wise course.

      1. If you can’t see the broken promises of leadership, the betrayal of our constitutional ideals, the squanderiing of our children’s blood and national treasure in Iraq, YOU sir, are a fucking idiot.

          1. the wrongful leadership of this country? My children, by the way, are straight A students, one in college, and one heading for college, with hearts of gold.

            That is parenting in the face of tremendous cultural and political dysfunction.

            Get a grip, man. You’re operating off the playing field and are a renegade with your thoughts and attitudes.

            You want to question my parenting and human skills? When and where?

            1. I’ve disagreed with people here before, but attacking someone’s kids and/or parenting skills should be off limits to anyone who’s not a complete asshole.

            2. Your the one who gave us insight into how you raised your children.

              I am alive to see it! My daughter was 10 when GWB was elected, and my son 13….they lived with a tremendous sense of let down,confusion, sense of betrayal and incompetence in the country of their birth…during their formative years.

              You brought your parenting style into this.  I didn’t.  But maybe there is hope that your kids can escape the poor parenting they have been brought up in.

              We can all hope they will learn to think for themselves.

                  1. Why don’t you break down that $170M for us? Were there any offsetting donations? Have the taxpayers paid for any of this volitionally, and if so, how much? Where do you get your facts? Where do you do your research?

                    My guess….you ain’t no doc.

                    1. Yes he did get some donations from the Wallstreet bankers that received bailout money.

                      My guess is you are a loser.

                    3. See the post below. It’s Nancy L Baldwin.

                      Both Mike Dorsett and Nancy Baldwin are characters from “Sybil.”

                    4. Having now read a half dozen or so of your posts, on this and on another thread about the inaugeration, I have yet to read one that contains any substance. You’ve called people “mindless drones” and “losers,” among other things, but have yet to engage in any dialogue. Why don’t you share with us your thoughts and analyses? If you are concerned that those who disagree with you are poorly informed, or are employing faulty logic, why not present your wares in the marketplace of ideas, and let the strength of your arguments prevail? I promise, for my part, that if you do so, I will read your posts with enough respect to consider your arguments, and will respond to those arguments in kind.

                      Here’s an example of what such healthy political discourse looks like:

                      http://coloradopols.com/showCo…

                      Let’s all be something more than “mindless drones.” Let’s be engaged citizens with differing views, discussing our perceptions and beliefs with one another in the shared enterprise of democratic self-government. We’ll all be the wiser, and better governed, for the effort.

                  2. He spent over 170 Million dollars on his party.  In this economy that is a crime.

                    Most of this was not government money. Most of it is from donations.

                    Instead of bitching, you should be thankful for pumping the economy a bit.  I’m sure the hospitality industry shares your perspective.  

      2. No? I didn’t think so.

        I have 3 daughters and I’m with Sir Robin on this – you teach your children about the world as it truly is, so they can approach life as responsible educated adults. If you don’t do this you end up with children who have no idea of reality and spew out random stupidity similiar to your posts.

        My kids disagree with me a lot. But they do see Bush for what he was – a disaster for this country.

        1. .

          claiming that you apprehend the world as it truly is,

          don’t you think ?  

          Who among us is capable of that ?

          Rather, I think you’ll admit, we all have biases and egos and whatever, and see the world as we see it, and do the best we can.  

          Otherwise, aren’t you saying that you see the Eternal Truth, and anyone disagreeing with you is just plain wrong ?

          Or maybe I’m reading too much into that statement that you teach your children about the world as it truly is.

          .  

          1. I try to get them to look at the world as it is rather than a pretend make-believe. And to try and keep their (and my) biases out of it.

            But yes, we all have biases that affect our observations. It’s the Heisenberg effect writ large.

      3. One daughter became a Republican.

        But, like my other daughters they are all warm, kind, intelligent, loving, excellent parents, hard workers, in general, perfect.  

        1. They have choices and exercised those. At least your family meals don’t involve a total mindless sheep mentality.

          Now failure … that would be having a daughter that makes a living on ‘the pole’.

  5. I voted “yes,” but it really all depends on how radical Obama ends up being. If he turns out like Clinton, pandering to the right and weakening Democrats, then it’s not worth it. If he ends up being serious, and we get universal health care, and poor people get taken care of, and our society starts functioning normally again, then it’ll be worth it.

  6. The market is showing a sense of hope on this inaguration day.

    The down closed down 332 points.

    The market is off over 2000 points since Obama has been elected.

    I can see the sense of hope you all are talking about already.

    2. I know, I know, that’s a real difficult concept, isn’t it?  Even for an alleged M.D.

      The Dow continued to slide after the election of FDR.  I guess that was his fault, too.  Like now, nothing to do with huge economic forces going on in the world.

      Hey!  I just figured out who you are!  That stupid jerk in the restaurant that I mentioned here a few days ago. To his friends, “Have you noticed how since Obama got elected everything has gone downhill?” Fucking moron (like you.) Everything was going downhill WAY before Obama was elected!

      Again, I’m sorry if this is over your mental abilities to understand.  

      1. I get it.  Not Medical Doctor, ‘Mentally Deficient.’  Or perhaps Malevolent Dick. You just come here to say nasty things, attack those you don’t know and be a complete prick?  What a sad miserable life you must have. I am sorry that your parents failed to instill in you a sense of self-worth.  

      3. 2000 points since Obama got elected.  Most people realize that Obama will be a disaster for the economy and so they are getting out while the gettin is good.

        My take anyway.

        But, by all means you should throw good money after bad and invest in Obama’s economy.

        I for one will not be joining you.

          1. Is defined by the millions of people who are dumping stocks.  If most people agreed with you that Obama is good for America I suspect the market would be going up.

              1. You are ignorant – obviously.  If more people are buying stocks then selling – the market would be up.  Not down.

                But, hey.  In your world pigs fly.  So what the heck.

                1. because you’re an idiot?  

                  The cum hoc ergo propter hoc logical fallacy can be expressed as follows:

                     * A occurs in correlation with B.

                     * Therefore, A causes B.

                  In this type of logical fallacy, one makes a premature conclusion about causality after observing only a correlation between two or more factors. Generally, if one factor (A) is observed to only be correlated with another factor (B), it is sometimes taken for granted that A is causing B even when no evidence supports this. This is a logical fallacy because there are at least four other possibilities:

                    1. B may be the cause of A, or

                    2. some unknown third factor is actually the cause of the relationship between A and B, or

                    3. the “relationship” is so complex it can be labelled coincidental (i.e., two events occurring at the same time that have no simple relationship to each other besides the fact that they are occurring at the same time).

                    4. B may be the cause of A at the same time as A is the cause of B (contradicting that the only relationship between A and B is that A causes B). This describes a self-reinforcing system.

                  In other words, there can be no conclusion made regarding the existence or the direction of a cause and effect relationship only from the fact that A and B are correlated. Determining whether there is an actual cause and effect relationship requires further investigation, even when the relationship between A and B is statistically significant, a large effect size is observed, or a large part of the variance is explained.

                3. actually, there is a one-to-one correspondance for the sales and purchases of stocks. One person can sell to many buyers, or one buyer can buy from many sellers, but for every share sold, a share is bought. Market prices aren’t affected by “more people buying stocks than selling,” which only means that more people are buying smaller portfolios from fewer people selling larger portfolios. What you really mean is that if the DEMAND is greater than the SUPPLY, then prices would be going up. That means that people (not necessarily more people) are more eager to buy than to sell, not that more people ACTUALLY buy than ACTUALLY sell.

                  Maybe its time to stop calling people ignorant.

        1. but I never gave a damn about the Dow Jones average.

          People on this site were claiming the fall of the DJ meant the bailout was essential. I wasn’t one of them.

          Though your definition of “short term” as “six months” is different from my definition of “short term” as “one day.”

  7. My suggestion is when Michael Dorsett D.B. Doofuss Butt posts, one of us posts a simple reply saying he’s clearly wrong and the rest of us ignore him.

    It’s a beautiful day out – clearly due to Obama’s being elected. Enjoy the nice weather.

  8. I do truly grieve for the families of the thousands of Americans killed and maimed during the disaster in Iraq.

    Also for those who suffered from Katrina’s rage, the economic collapse, and our obvious loss of prestige around the globe.

    The last 8 years showed what happens when the electorate becomes disengaged. As the old saying goes, bad people are elected when good people don’t don’t pay attention.

    Having said that, and honestly understanding what Sir Robin said and meant, I believe the opposite will occur in the next 8 years of what happened the last 8. My grandson is 11. He will see a competent, compassionate, capable and honest administration. While I know the disappointment Sir Robin feels, I also believe those same kids will now see the other side of our great country. They’ll see calm, deliberate decision making rather than manic, half cocked ideology.

    It’s been a long road. It probably depends on where you’re at and what happened in every individual situation, but for me, yes it is worth the wait.  

      1. ….but I hear ya.

        Imagine, on our way to another 8 years of peace and prosperity after 16 of them.  Of course, maybe Obama would not have been elected because there would not hae been the need for change, eh?  

    2. I have considered the undemocratic outcome of the 2000 election, and the past 8 years, to be the darkest period in American history since at least Viet Nam (far ourstripping Watergate), and yet, from that darkness, from the tens of thousands of innocent lives sacrificed abroad to American hubris, from the final destruction of America’s long-suffering global reputation, something as brilliant and promising as those events were shameful and tragic has emerged, something heretofore almost unimaginable. It’s hard to be sanguine about enormous suffering inflicted on others, and yet it’s impossible to underestimate the value of the phoenix that has risen from those ashes. This is a pivotal moment, one which may be looked back upon as the beginning of tectonic shifts for the better in the course of world history. If the potential of this moment is even partially fulfilled, then it will have been worth it. If that potential is squandered, then the despair will only have been multiplied by having condemned the world to Tartarus, the apple once again bobbing out of reach, the boulder once again rolling back down the hill.

      I suggest we commit ourselves, with messianic but rational zeal, to ensuring that the boulder doesn’t overpower us this time, but rather that we overpower it.

  12. I have all the respect in the world for Obama and hope he succeeds, but he’s made too many promises that are impossible to keep.  I wonder how long it will be until everyone turns on him.

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