Yes we can.

If Americans can throw out conventional thinking and a complete paradigm shift of seismic proportions and elect a black Man with a foreign sounding name, Ignore years of racial acrimony differences, stereotypes, Then we Africans have a lot to learn in regard to democracy, tolerance and peaceful co-existence.

l have just come to learn that true leaders are not made, but are indeed Born. You can have all the experience and the political pedigree, But at the end you cannot deliver no matter what. Certain men exude a certain confidence, integrity and the ability to lead and inspire “Hope” among there respective constituency’s, a good example are a well known cast of characters….

Winston Churchill, the WW2, British prime Minister who inspired hope, among Britons amid hopelessness and potential defeat by the Nazis, Ronald Reagan who won the cold war without firing a single missile, Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King jnr who fought for civil rights and inspired American Blacks with his leadership…. Nelson Mandela who emerged from jail and united a racially divided south Africa after years of apartheid, our own Tom Mboya who inspired countless African trade unionists, and young politicians to fight the yoke of colonialism and exploitation only to fall to an assassins bullet…and now Obama.

Obama now has that rare chance to prove he can lead and inspire a whole generation of young people for a better and brighter future.

For us in Africa, it’s time to focus on the fight against well known suspects..Poverty ignorance and disease, tribalism, racism and corruption not necessarily in that order.

We need to invite and initiate open discussion and debate about the road ahead — invite the well known unwanted guest called DEMOCRACY and give him a chance, to prevail/build enviable institutions, and governments elected by the ballot not the bullet.

It’s about time to change the status quo and give our children and people hope for the future.

Phil Ole Sompisha
Mad_Moran

Popularity: 4% [?]

Keith Olbermann Called The Race Tuesday Night

The World Reacted

Mathews Reacted To Obama Victory

In Kenya, Answered Prayers Became All Night Parties

Obama’s Incredible Journey In Pictures

A Civil Rights Movement, Still In Motion

MLK’s Sister Reflects

Chuck Todd — What Happened

Olbermann’s Final Campaign Comment

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The Obama Dunk | More Pictures — The Barack Obama Album

Popularity: 3% [?]

By BARACK OBAMA

This is a defining moment in our history. We face the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression — 760,000 workers have lost their jobs this year. Businesses and families can’t get credit. Home values are falling, and pensions are disappearing. Wages are lower than they’ve been in a decade, at a time when the costs of health care and college have never been higher.

At a moment like this, we can’t afford four more years of spending increases, poorly designed tax cuts, or the complete lack of regulatory oversight that even former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan now believes was a mistake. America needs a new direction. That’s why I’m running for president of the United States.

Tomorrow, you can give this country the change we need.

My opponent, Senator McCain, has served his country honorably. He can even point to a few moments in the past where he has broken from his party. But over the past eight years, he’s voted with President Bush 90% of the time. And when it comes to the economy, he still can’t tell the American people one major thing he’d do differently from George Bush.

It’s not change to come up with a tax plan that doesn’t give a penny of relief to more than 100 million middle-class Americans — a plan that even the National Review and other conservative organizations complain does far too little to benefit the middle class. It’s not change to add more than $5 trillion to the deficits we’ve run up in recent years. It’s not change to come up with a plan to address our housing crisis that puts another $300 billion of taxpayer money at risk — a plan that the editorial board of this newspaper said “raises more questions than it answers.”

If there’s one thing we’ve learned from this economic crisis, it’s that we are all in this together. From CEOs to shareholders, from financiers to factory workers, we all have a stake in each other’s success because the more Americans prosper, the more America prospers.

That’s why we’ve had titans of industry who’ve made it their mission to pay well enough that their employees could afford the products they made — businessmen like Warren Buffett, whose support I’m proud to have. That’s why our economy hasn’t just been the world’s greatest wealth creator — it’s been the world’s greatest job generator. It’s been the tide that has lifted the boats of the largest middle class in history.

To rebuild that middle class, I’ll give a tax break to 95% of workers and their families. If you work, pay taxes, and make less than $200,000, you’ll get a tax cut. If you make more than $250,000, you’ll still pay taxes at a lower rate than in the 1990s — and capital gains and dividend taxes one-third lower than they were under President Reagan.

We’ll create two million new jobs by rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure and laying broadband lines that reach every corner of the country. I’ll invest $15 billion a year over the next decade in renewable energy, creating five million new, green jobs that pay well, can’t be outsourced, and can help end our dependence on Middle East oil.

When it comes to health care, we don’t have to choose between a government-run system and the unaffordable one we have now. My opponent’s plan would make you pay taxes on your health-care benefits for the first time in history. My plan will make health care affordable and accessible for every American. If you already have health insurance, the only change you’ll see under my plan is lower premiums. If you don’t, you’ll be able to get the same kind of plan that members of Congress get for themselves.

To give every child a world-class education so they can compete in this global economy for the jobs of the 21st century, I’ll invest in early childhood education and recruit an army of new teachers. But I’ll also demand higher standards and more accountability. And we’ll make a deal with every young American: If you commit to serving your community or your country, we will make sure you can afford your tuition.

And when it comes to keeping this country safe, I’ll end the Iraq war responsibly so we stop spending $10 billion a month in Iraq while it sits on a huge surplus. For the sake of our economy, our military and the long-term stability of Iraq, it’s time for the Iraqis to step up. I’ll finally finish the fight against bin Laden and the al Qaeda terrorists who attacked us on 9/11, build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century, and restore our moral standing so that America remains the last, best hope of Earth.

None of this will be easy. It won’t happen overnight. But I believe we can do this because I believe in America. This is the country that allowed our parents and grandparents to believe that even if they couldn’t go to college, they could save a little bit each week so their child could; that even if they couldn’t have their own business, they could work hard enough so their child could open one of their own. And at every moment in our history, we’ve risen to meet our challenges because we’ve never forgotten the fundamental truth that in America, our destiny is not written for us, but by us.

So tomorrow, I ask you to write our nation’s next great chapter. I ask you to believe — not just in my ability to bring about change, but in yours. Tomorrow, you can choose policies that invest in our middle class, create new jobs, and grow this economy so that everyone has a chance to succeed. You can choose hope over fear, unity over division, the promise of change over the power of the status quo. If you give me your vote, we won’t just win this election — together, we will change this country and change the world.

Popularity: 4% [?]

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Popularity: 6% [?]

Hillary’s loss is mot Women’s Failure. The claim that some ‘Angry White Women‘ either will vote for John McCain or stay home on Election Day, sounds like disappointment devolving into hypocrisy.

Writes: Connie Schultz

Last week, I gave my daughter a small plaque painted with the words of a Japanese proverb.

It was a mother’s gift to celebrate her new apartment and to remind her that she is ready for whatever life throws at her. I couldn’t help but think, though, that the six little words at its center were a potent reminder for me, too, in these days following the primary election defeat of Hillary Clinton:

“Fall seven times, stand up eight.”

There are plenty of Clinton supporters who don’t want to hear this, I know, but it’s time to brush the dirt off and pull ourselves up. Hillary Clinton’s loss is not a failure for women unless we will it to be so.

A woman will not be elected president in 2008. This reality has knocked the wind out of millions of Americans, especially a lot of women, including me.

Like many women about my age, I grew up believing that a woman could run our country but thought I never would get to see her do it in my lifetime.

Then along came Hillary.

I was never so happy to be wrong than when she proved, one primary after another, that plenty of fellow Americans believed she had the mettle to be commander in chief.

   Click PIC For Larger Image

And the chutzpah. Lord. Time and again, pundits and politicians predicted her demise. Time and again, there she was, giving another victory speech. It was enough to make a grown girl giggle.

I didn’t always agree with Clinton, but so what? I’d voted for a lot of bozos over the years, and even the best of candidates have flaws. I didn’t need Hillary Clinton to be perfect. I needed her to win.

Oh, to come so close.

There is a funereal quality to the coverage of campaigns once they’re over, and Clinton’s is no exception. Lots of “post-mortem” this and “life after” that; dreams “die,” careers may or may not be “resurrected.”

There are lots of references to mourning, too, especially in discussions about the letdown after a long and hard-fought battle. Grief has many faces, many moods, and it must be said that some Clinton supporters aren’t at their best just yet.

Let a little time pass so that this disappointment can run its course.

I’m not talking months or even weeks. I’m just asking for a little space for those who poured a lot of hope and energy into what they thought was going to be the culmination of a lifetime’s worth of dreams.

Surely, nobody understands better that rush of adrenaline than those who dared to believe in Barack Obama. That’s just one of the many things they have in common with the Clinton crowd.

Which brings me to those Clinton supporters who now insist they cannot and will not support Obama. They claim they either will vote for John McCain or stay home on Election Day. That sounds like disappointment devolving into hypocrisy.

We either stand for change or we don’t. We believe in participating in democracy, or we don’t. It’s one thing to vote for McCain because you trust his road map for the future. It’s quite another to do it out of some warped notion of revenge. A bitter retreat is no way to honor the first woman to come this close to being the presidential nominee.

McCain Lies and Flip-Flops

Hillary Clinton lost, but she lost on her terms. She was no quitter, and that is a legacy that will only burnish with time. I am reminded of a recent dinner with several other female columnists from around the country.

At first, we talked about the usual things: family and jobs and keeping watchful eyes on the balance. But after a round of drinks — OK, maybe it was two rounds — we started whining about ugly reader responses, particularly from men who focus on our gender instead of our opinions.

Then one of the women mentioned Clinton and brought all of us to a hush.

“I don’t know,” she said, poking at the ice in her glass. “Some days I think this job isn’t worth it, but then I think of Hillary and how she never stops no matter how hard they hit her. If she can take all that and still come out smiling, we can keep on, too.”

Yes, we can.

Popularity: 14% [?]