So what will actually change under Obama to make the world a better place?

[MadameCastafiore]

Honestly I would like to know what you expect him to be able to do?

That's so true, MI.

"and that this was America's original sin which had now been redeemed by Obama's election."

i'd agree with your sentiment that it is this kind of hperbole that has lead to the cynicism on here and to the deiphication (sp) by others. like all elections it has been one huge pr campaign and the winner (regardless of side it would have been true if mccain had won as well) will have received a large amount of votes from people who know nothing about their policies/stance on issues but instead liked the candidates as a person or for another vague reason.just listen to howard sterns piece the other day or the video of mccain supporters someone posted on this section a while ago.huge amounts of ignorance and voting preferences trying to be justified by absolute inaccuracies. so in that sense so far Obama has proved nothing yet, but he has a great chance now to make good his word and i don't think anyone is wishing for anything other than him to do a good job now that he is in the white house.

i can't find the mccain video link (it was in a thread called "scary people with a vote" or something to that efeect.
this is a youtubelink to the howard stern piece ie.youtube.com/watch?v=NyvqhdllXgU

Onager - Thatcher was very much a woman - it is depressing that people who disagreed with her policies ( I was one of them) keep going on about her being more like a man. She was the first woman PM, expert at manipulating men and getting other women out of the picture - I know a lot of women who operate that way - even at just parties. We just didn't like her much - although clearly the voting majority did for quite a while. Deal with it and let's hope the next female PM has different ideas. She'll have to be pretty tough to get there though - even tougher than the average male politician I'll bet.

Totally agree with dittany - she said what I was trying to say but with more clarity.

I completely agree it was important that Thatcher was PM, even though she was a monster. She was definitely an all-woman monster.

I also found it amazingly moving that Obama's acceptance speech explicitly mentioned 'gay or straight: disabled and non-disabled'. Getting a kneejerk response, perhaps - but jerking in the right direction, dammit.

Of course America has already had its first disabled president in Roosevelt, only nobody knew about it!

And yes, I would like, today, the opportunity to be for once uncynical and to weep into my morning espresso (which I did). I've been involved in enough uphill struggles, including spending my entire early adulthood under bloody Thatcher. I'm quite aware that Obama is not the Second Coming. I also enjoy the opportunity to revel in a bit of rhetoric and envisage the possibility of a new beginning.

Wholeheartedly agree MI (except that I had no access to espresso this morning, and I did actually have a brief moment when I imagined that he might be the second coming... but that would have been the lack of caffeine).

Can I just add my

'I

Quite a lot of laydeez will go into quite a reverie at the thought of a second coming with Barack Obama....(sorry Michelle)

I agree BO was the better candidate. But there wasn't much to choose. I am relieved as opposed to delighted really.

Thank you for lowering the tone, mabanana

Yeah, whoop-de-doo, Obama mentioned 'gay or straight' in his speech - and gay marriage was banned in California, in large part thank to the very voters who put Obama in office according to the stats. Finding that out has really peed in my coffee today.

I'm enjoying the phrase "peed in my coffee". But I'm still determined to believe for the rest of the day that Obama is going to heal the world and will have the global economy, climate change and Palestine fixed by Christmas.

LOL at the Big O.

It's great dammit.

I'm scared he might be another Blair, it feels a bit the same (although i never voted blair).

if he closes guatanomo (sorry re spelling) and does even just a little to help the environment, the world will be a safer and better place for my DS and DD.

Feeling depressed that he is younger than my DH though - i must really be getting old.

I think Obama has already improved "Brand America" around the world which must be a good thing. Bush did huge damage with Guantanemo (sorry if spelt wrongly), torture etc. America should be a beacon, that people feel they will never be subject to such things if they end up on US soil. I'd also love to see him abolish capital punishment (especially as black Americans suffer disproportionately) but not sure if he will go for this due to its popularity.

The other thing I like about him is his clear stance that there needs to be much more regulation of the financial sector, whereas David Cameron has been far too quiet about this imo.

I'm optimistic about him, but would have been in a state of rapture if Michelle had been elected.

I'm also concerned about the fate of Afghan women and the Taleban in the event of a troop withdrawal.

Well...he now has the first lady under him. That's a big change

Totally agree with comments regarding picking the best of 2 evils. As an American the idea of Palin anywhere near a decision making roll made me shudder! But for all the uppla that she had no experience, Obama has little as well. Yes, lesser of 2 nitwits and God help us.