Day-after-election Facebook Statuses

[Moosader]

Statuses?  Statusii?

Anyway, I was getting pretty steamed over some friends and acquaintances statuses on Facebook today, enough to end up posting a note about it.

Here they are:

"is... well at least he voted."  (I don't really mind this one)

"thinks it is time to invest in a secluded island.  Who's with me?"

"is celebrating!  Woo!" (yay, one of my atheist friends)

"Shame on you, America!"

"thinks everyone is blowing this WAY out of proportion, but is annoyed because the only reason he won is because of the color of his skin."

"is fuck yeah."

"wants the world to shut it's mouth and open it's ears and eyes."

(not a status, but group news:) * joined the group The death of a great country.

"Obama's proposals are so left it would cripple the US more."


I'm feeling a bit suffocated about now.  It's odd since the campus had Obama flyers all over, and pro-democrat stuff written all over the sidewalks in chalk, and yet most people I know seem to abhor Obama.

Anyone else starting to feel a little cramped?

Anyway, I ended up posting this to see if anyone will respond to it:
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I would like to debate.
Not about who was a better candidate for president, but about WHY you guys have reached your conclusions about, not Obama's policies, but his decency as a person.

First off-- how can anyone think that, because a Democrat/Black guy/Liberal was elected, that the country will end?
Please tell me, when has the USA ever ENDED because a candidate from EITHER SIDE was elected? How can anyone think that "Obama will cripple the US", when it's the country has already been incredibly harmed from the past eight years?

What would John McCain do, that Obama won't, and vice versa? How would that help or hurt the country?

PLEASE TELL ME. What is Obama going to do that's so horrible and so radical from anything that's ever happened in the past?


Secondly-- I'm tired of people saying that he was only elected because of the "color of his skin". I know Americans are effing shallow, but we're not that damn shallow.

To me, McCain seemed like an angry, offensive guy, and Palin seemed just as hateful. I saw ads against McCain, but they were against his policies and not against him as a person. How many people think Obama is Muslim because of their stupid slander?

Obama is the first politician I've seen in a long while (though I'm not THAT old) who seemed... modest. He seems calm, intelligent, respectful, proud, but isn't a huge ego maniac like most politicians.

Along the same lines, I don't think any Atheist like me can seriously vote Republican. We're so ostracized by the Right, like you don't even think we're human beings. It's another note to be written sometime, but damnit, I don't do what I do because I think it'll harm people or destroy the world. I think anyone who knows me knows that I try to help people out and be a good person, despite my flaws (which, may I remind you, everyone has).

I don't understand how ANYONE can honestly believe another person does what they do for malicious reasons. Not normal people, anyway. Capitalists, sure. ;P
Please explain this to me while you're at it. I don't get it.
I don't really think other people have a "hidden agenda" of hurting others, everyone is just trying to live their life as best they can, while being decent people.

Hum, that's all I can think of for now.
I hope SOMEBODY replies. I don't want to argue, I just want to debate. I want to understand other peoples' viewpoints, I want someone to make me think about my own, and I want others to think about theirs, and hopefully be a bit more optimistic about the world.

[Tom62]

The way I and many other Europeans see it,  the Democrat and Republican parties are on the right side of the political spectrum. The Democrats are a bit more to the middle and the Republicans more to the right. Both parties have good idea's, but since the Republicans moved more into religion and super arrogant  patriotism I lost "faith" in them. Personally I think that the Democratic party is a more realistic party, which is open to idea's of others. Obama is a very clever and realistic guy, not a left winger. During his speech here in Berlin (attended by half a million people!) people were amazed that he was not the socialist that they thought he was. I believe that Obama is a realist and a very hard worker, who will gather a lot of experienced people around him to solve the most critical problems that the USA (and the world) is facing today. Most important problem right now is the economical crisis. The downfall of McCain was caused by the fact that he didn't have any economical knowledge. This makes him, in my eyes and many others, a very lazy and incompetent senator. By choosing a VP candidate that was even more brainless than him ("drill baby, drill"), the American people had no confidence that McCain could handle the economical crisis. Apart from that I really feel sorry for you guys and gals in the USA that you don't have a proper health care system in place. This might well be one of the most important reasons for me and my wife not to retire in the USA. I've heard so many horror stories about old folks who cannot pay their medical bills and the outrageous prices charged by doctors and hospitals, that your government really need to do something about it. That is not a socialist point of view, but true patriotism. The USA needs a president who gets things done. I think that Obama is the right person for the job, but he needs help from both democrats and republicans. The only way to solve the US problems is to put ideologies aside and work together to fix them. In many cases the USA could also learn from other western countries. They could for example "steal" the Swiss health care system (in my opinion the best and most cost effective in the world); the French railroad system (fast speed trains, connecting all regions of  France) and the environment friendlier European policies and products.

[curiosityandthecat]

The USA needs a president who gets things done.

All the pundits in the middle or on the left are saying exactly that about President Elect Obama. All of them. Only O'Reilly, Limbaugh and the other screwnuts are saying that things will get worse instead of better. Not surprising in the least.

Good to know that the rest of the world is as happy as the majority of Americans, though!

[Wraitchel]

Pay no attention to the sour grapes of the losing party. They worked themselves into such a fearful state during the campaign season, it will take some time to calm down. I believe that Obama will take some decisive actions early on that will no doubt enrage a few even further, but will probably pacify most. The pundits say he will use his momentum to push through the hard stuff first, with the goal of resolving some major problems as quickly as possible. I'm guessing he'll tackle an economic stimulus package first, unless it happens before he takes office. The haters will hate. They have that right. I hope they choke on it.

R

[rlrose328]

Hey, Moosader... I'm on Facebook too (Kerri Russ) and I see nothing but HOORAYS from my friends.  Most of my friends are atheists though.  LOL!  I'm just now adding medical transcriptionist friends but most of them are either not political or don't share it.

Look me up... I'd love to add you!

[rlrose328]

While I'm not seeing many comments that are negative to Obama, I'm looking through the Flair (buttons) right now and the majority of the "most popular" are all knocking Obama.  I wasn't aware how conservative or republican Facebook was.  And the further I go, I run into negative Obama campaign buttons but VERY few negative McCain buttons.  It's approximately a 1:10 ratio.

Gee willikers...

I want to throw down the "Well he's our president and we have to support him" line like was thrown at me so much over the last 4 years.

[curiosityandthecat]

I want to throw down the "Well he's our president and we have to support him" line like was thrown at me so much over the last 4 years.

Do it!  

[Whitney]

To add to the list...Someone who is a friend on my facebook (I don't really remember being friends with her but I recognize her name) had this as her status wednesday "realizes everyone has the right to their own opinion...so do I. We may have elected a new president yesterday but today Jesus Christ is still the King."  She's probably one of those idiots who thinks Obama is a follower of Islam.  She also said earlier in the week:  "was already feeling awful this morning but now I just want someone to shoot me! God help us all cause our country is in trouble!"   My thoughts on this...what?! Like our country was not already in trouble?

To make up for it, the following was said by some of my more enlightened facebook friends:
"Great speech by Obama. Regardless of how his presidency turns out, this is indeed a historical moment that I'll remember forever."
"is thinking that there are too many ridiculous, closed-minded people around."
"no kidding. By some of the reactions from conservatives you would think far worse things had transpired..."
"Some people are acting like the world as we know it is ending...give me a break"
"I'd say you should move to California since we're more open-minded and progressive out here, but based on the way people voted on Prop 8, that'd be a lie. "
"is proud we did it!"
"is so proud that America got out yesterday and overwhelmingly made her voice heard."
"OBAMA HAS DONE IT!!!"
"...so it is ok to take from the poor and give to the rich but when someone suggests taking from the top 5% to give to the poor, it is called socialism?"
"is come on, if you're going to criticize, do it on policy, not the color of someone's skin."
"is excited for change!"
"is shouting from the rooftops."
"is congratulating Obama. HAIL TO THE CHIEF!" "Amen! This is the first time my vote actually counted for something! You should see the excitement pouring in the streets of DC/ Virginia!"

Anyway, I hope you are able to get some of your friends to think about their position.  All the reasonable republicans seem to be optimistic (or at least neutral) about Obama even if they didn't vote for him.

[MariaEvri]

well my friends didnt even mention anything about it
of course none are american heh

[SilviaGTO]

Everyone around me is saying that America is going to turn socialist, taxes are going to go up and small businesses will suffer.

I ask them to explain 1) The definition of socialism and  2) Exactly what part of Obama's plans will screw them over.

They cannot explain either to me. Then they go on anti-gay rants and making abortion illegal.  

[Moosader]

Hey, Moosader... I'm on Facebook too (Kerri Russ) and I see nothing but HOORAYS from my friends.  Most of my friends are atheists though.  LOL!  I'm just now adding medical transcriptionist friends but most of them are either not political or don't share it.

Look me up... I'd love to add you!

Agh, I looked you up and I just get a big list of "Kerri Russell"s. @_@
I'm Rachel Morris, the one with a Snorlax hat on in her picture. =P

[Titan]

I just find it absolutely hilarious that the two sides simply reverse roles when they lose. When the democrats would lose they would cry about how the world is coming to an end now the republicans are doing the same thing.

One thing is that Obama's redistribution plan is insane from an economics perspective, I'm willing to debate this with anyone.

I'm not terrified, just a little bit worried. I hope Obama's plans succeed and he does well but part of me is slightly skeptical.

[Moosader]

Well, at least for the people who said the world was going to end when Bush was elected...

I think many, many more did so when he was re-elected.

[Titan]

LOL, ouch.