Reply #1: From across the water, it looks the same to me.

[Oregone]

Yes, people got their carthetic illusion of democracy and the masses are pacified, but in the long run, I continue to wonder at what cost. This may be just another bust cycle in the great unfettered capitalistic experiment that is the US, or perhaps we may see something new if Obama can seize the opportunity. For those waiting for Universal Health Care since Truman, it may seem no closer today than yesterday. For those waiting for a reformed militaristic foreign policy since Eisenhower, will it actually come at this moment and last? Or is now simply a time to throw some scraps to the populance, to the masses, pat them on the head, make them feel proud and empowered, without dramatically shifting the social paradigm? Is now simply a time for the fascist and the corporatists to hide in the shadows, rebuilding, and plotting a long term return that may be more damaging than if they were to allowed to continue to hang themselves? As far as I can tell, it is still the same United States that voted for Bush, twice, and walked pacified while their rights were being stripped away. Its the same America that has for decades, stood idly by, silent, while their tax contributions paid for scouring and exploiting the third world. As long as they were left alone, they played along.

But this time they were not left alone. The consequences hit hard, and the results were drastic. But are we waking up to a new America, or the same United States, but just filled with people who are responding as children who have had their chocolate cake stolen from them at a birthday party? Yes, they (barely over half) made a correct choice, with their backs against the wall. How much more would it have meant if they had an alternative choice, and chose correctly? Because the reality is, they didn't. Obama was the only answer for a halfway sane person in the ballot booth this time around.

Im not meaning to be negative, but realistic. I am hoping Obama can succeed in making some ground. But when I am 90, and I look back at all the presidents since, and look at the two new jackasses battling for the crown, am I going to think, I am sure glad I am now in a New United States? Or will it, over such a time, by average, look relatively the same with a divided people who are so busy waging warfare against each other over gay marriage that they are losing the class warfare being waged against them?