And the oceans are going to stop rising, and the planet is going to heal, and everything is going to be so much better because this is going to be a New America!

Aren't you EXCITED?! Can't you just feel your wallet expanding with delight and all the money just flying out of it, drawn by the sheer magnetism of The One?

I'll shut up now, and go play a computer game while I can still afford the electricity.

Do you think Sen. Lieberman will need a food taster when he returns to the senate?

Waking up here in Israel, and am feeling very nervous...

Hashem should save the Jews.

Now I'm off to get a passport for my three year old, and G-d willing I'll need another in a month and a half for a newborn.

McCain was gracious and classy in his concession speech.

Obama is now President-Elect.
I dont agree with many of his postitons...
And, I am very disappointed this evening.

However, He is now my President...
And I am a proud member of the LOYAL opposition.

I wish him and our wonderful country all of Hashems blessings.

I hope he continues one thing...he lies and lies smoothly and often, our new President. So maybe he will lie about all the truly idiotic programs, tax raises and his other frankly stupid ideas..and then will do the opposite.

Then he would make a good, nay, even a great President.

However, until proven otherwise, I will take him at his (lying) word and anticipate the absolute worst. So many are sanguine tonight in the "glow" from the One and his "historic candidacy". So now, if we CONTINUE to dissent or attack him for his plans, can at least that "racist" meme be left behind?

The ONLY thing to do is pray for Moshiach, pray that Hashem blesses us and watches out for us...because unlike others, I have no hope that this mysterious blank of a man, with his background of thuggish friends, will give a damn about us. I'll pray to be wrong in my pessimism, but so far, not one thing has happened that makes me think there is any reason for optimism.

The image of the Black Panther guards with Batons and Berets, barring white voters in Philly...THAT is the image I will remember of this election (as well as the disingenuous glow from the media that handed this man the Presidency and gilded the path to it.

Feh

Robert,

I'm an Irish Catholic; as is our wont, I'm going to hope for the best and expect the worst. America will survive Obama - my most devout and heartfelt prayers will be for the safety of Israel (and Taiwan, while we're at it.)

Anyway, I just wanted to thank you for Seraphic Secret. Something about the way you write always soothes my spirit - silly as it sounds, the tone of your writing always comforts me. Maybe it's your love for Karen, or your family, or just the way you respond to others here on your blog. Whatever the reason, I come here when my heart needs lifting and I am never disappointed. Tonight was no exception.

This evening I'm trying to remember the things I am thankful for. You are one of them.

Thank you.

Robert, I never forgave Margaret Thatcher for sending the British Army to defend the Falkland Islands and then, a few months later, condemning Israel for going into Lebanon. Obama's policies will not only be disastrous for the United States and Israel; they will be disastrous for Europe. Pro-Obama Europeans, the Dutch Socialists who went to the United States to work for Obama, the people who are celebrating the advent of a new, less arrogant America, will get no sympathy from me if Ahmadinajad tells them to go sharia or be nuked. They knew Obama wanted to sit down and have tea with Ahmadinajad when they supported Obama.

Has it begun?

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3617932,00.html

I feel as if there may be somewhat of a comparison to 1976, when a nation disgusted by Nixon voted in Democrat Jimmy Carter. Carter was then one of the worst presidents ever and presided over many a debacle in his 4 years. But then, America voted in Ronald Reagan for the next 8 years. Similarly, all the liberals are mad at Bush, so they all think things will change under Obama, when in reality they are likely only to get worse. At least we have hope for 2012, maybe.

Jewboy is correct

It all boils down to how good Obama will be as president and we just dont know. He could flop Jimmy Carter syle in which case the 2012 election will be a repeat of 1980 only this time Palin will be the darling of the right. Or he could be a very effective president. I will say this. Jimmy Carter could get nothing done because he was too independent minded. He never tried to build consensus or coalitions in the houses. He rarely reached across party lines. Obama's powers of communication and ability to persuade are significantly superior to Carters which indicate to me that he may be more successful at implementing his agenda in which case we could be looking at a two termer.

I'm making a new t-shirt:

"Bomb Iran, Save the World"*

(*offer expires, 1/20/09)

Israel should immediately launch the attack on Iran that would save a surely ungrateful world in the long run. U.S. carrier support is needed, so this must go down soon.

Now that he's won, I'm going to get my biggest worry off of my chest. Please forgive me for being so long-winded. I am now going to preach...

The day before election, the Ace of Spades website posted a picture of two Iraqi women, with purple-stained fingers showing they had voted in an election. It was a "Get Out The Vote" message, noting that whatever hardships or inconveniences YOU may experience by voting, "These women literally risked their lives to vote".

My first reaction to that was "And THE ONE can hardly wait to sell them out".

One of my biggest worries about Obama is that his rhetoric on Iraq, and rumored comments about Israel, show an almost casual willingness to sell out allies when convenient.

A commenter on another blog asked “Who appointed us to be their guardians? Why is it America’s job to make sure they are safe?”

I feel that the answer is that we'd rather not have the entire world as a nuclear-armed camp, based on the idea that the more countries that have these things, the greater the likelihood that some will eventually be used.

Our alliances with these countries, to protect them, are not out of the goodness of our heart, but for what we see as our own best interests. Sell one out, and you can bet the others will sure take notice.

It seemed that commenter was advocating, “To hell with them, let them take care of themselves!”

Well, the problem there is that they might do exactly that, and we may not be too thrilled with the results.

If countries under threat (Taiwan, maybe South Korea, even Japan) feel reason to believe that our word is no longer any good, they’ll almost certainly feel the need for self-sufficiency in nuclear arms as the only real deterrent to someone like China. And note, those countries mentioned ALL have the necessary economic, industrial and technical wherewithal to go nuclear. All they need do is make the decision.

Others, in the Middle East will want them to deter Iran. How about Saudi Arabia and Egypt? Maybe Libya decides that abandoning their efforts was a mistake. THOSE countries may lack the technology, but they can certainly afford to finance it.

It could just go on and on.

THAT, I feel, would be a very likely result of us deciding to just disengage ourselves with these countries.

We’ve tried successfully, and for a long time, to convince others that they did not need them, because WE would provide the protection of a nuclear umbrella.

When they decide that we cannot be relied on, the whole thing unravels.

If that commenter gets his wish, and they take care of themselves, it could get real interesting for us as well.
Seeing that we also reside on the same planet, I think it almost impossible that we would remain unaffected.

So, standing up for our allies is not merely a nice thing to do; it makes the hardest kind of common sense.

Simply put, we protect others in order to protect ourselves. Abandoning them, selling them out, would be an unbelievably short-sighted (as in STUPID) thing to do, and would hurt us more in the long run. No one would trust an agreement with us; and why should they, given such a record? Instead of being worth anything, our word would only be noise.

And that would be tragic, because WE set its' value, by our actions.

Dr. Carol:

I will give President-elect Obama a fair trial period.

I did not vote for him, but I will be respectful, in contrast to so many Democrats, especially here in Hollywood, who mocked President Bush and treated him with the utmost contempt.

Steven Den Beste

http://chizumatic.mee.nu/not_the_end_of_the_world

Lance:

I think the good Senator Lieberman will not only need a food taster but a Secret Service protection detail.

Baila:

We're nervous too. The Dems will do nothing to curb Persia's nuclear ambitions. They are a party who just love to chat and chat and chat and avoid conflict at all costs.

In short, Israel must take care of business. Now.

Jewboy:

Mazal Tov, b'sha' tova!

Maurice:

My main concern is a nuclear armed Iran. I do not believe that Obama appreciates the core evil of the Islamic Republic of Iran, not does he or the Dems have the inner resolve to confront these barbarians.

In short, Israel is alone, and must take care of Iran very soon.

BTW, I really hope I'm wrong.

JennyR:

Thanks so much for your kind and gracious words. It always lifts our spirits to hear such nice comments from a reader.

Glad you mentioned Taiwan, we too are concerned about the freedom of that island and hope that Obama does not throw it under the bus.

Miranda:

The Europeans are, of course, delighted with the Obama election. But what will happen when and if he enforces trade barriers? What will happen when he cuts defense spending by 25%, as promised and the Europeans, who count on the U.S. for defense find themselves at the mercy of a nuclear armed Iran and an imperialist Russia.

The Europeans claim that diplomacy is the answer, but I have a feeling that trope will vanish if America goes all soft and stupid.

Gregg:

Yes, it's begun. Israel is the canary in the coal mine of civilization.

Ted:

Not just Gov. Palin, but look for Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal to rise to the top of the Republican ticket. He's amazing.

Jake:

Send two T-shirts ASAP, one for Karen one for me. As I said, I don't believe Obama's golden tones will have the least effect on the murderous Mullahs. The opposite. They will probably eat him alive. That's why they are celebrating in Tehran and Gaza.

Paul Gordon:

Thanks so much for the superb and articulate analysis of the dangers and, dare I say it, evils of isolationism.

Canadians and Europeans are reluctant, if not ignorant of the fact that they do not have to spend huge sums of money on defense because they rely on American power for protection.

BTW, they also rely on Israel's strength and survival, but they would never, ever admit this.

I have a feeling that Canada and Europe, behind the scenes, tremble at the thought of American isolationism.

If they don't, then they are either stupid or suicidal.

trade barriers...probably likely to affect China, India, and parts of Latin America more than Europe, since the wage differential with American workers is higher for those countries.

All those sea containers flowing from China to the U.S., and all those bits flowing over the undersea cables between India and the U.S., have done more to reduce desperate poverty in those countries than all the foreign aid programs ever conducted. Why is it that the same people who call for "the elimination of world pverty" as a major priority are generally unwilling to consider this factor in trade policy?

Robert:

Thank you, for massaging my ego, Sir.
It needs it, once in a while. :-)

David:

Most Liberals don't really understand the virtues of capitalism; they're too fixated on their own images as do-gooders. Usually such do-gooders wreak havoc on the economic life of the peoples they claim to care so much about. That's the nature of narcissism.

Paul:

You're very welcome. Your comment could be an excellent stand-alone blog post on Seraphic Secret—if I were capable of being so articulate.

But I watch way too many movies and they make me a bit dopey.

Look forward to more of your comments.

I think earlier commenters got it right. Carter came in because a majority of the public (unfairly) viewed Ford as Nixon Lite, and figured nothing could be worse.

They were proven wrong.

A majority of voters chose President-elect Obama because they lacked the imagination to think anything could be worse than Bush. They, too, will be proven wrong, and I'm guessing there will be serious buyer's remorse by the next midterm election.

I may have already said it here, but I think every generation of voters has to elect a Carter, so that they can learn the hard lesson.

Bill Kristol has an article making a similar point, here:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/776vaeyh.asp