It’s for real now: President-Elect Barack Obama.
NY Times’ Thomas Friedman on the moment of history that we’re in, dating back to the Civil War era.
NY Times’ Bob Herbert on how it’s nice that there’s history, but there’s a boat load of work to do to engage with this “fierce urgency of now.”
Obama’s speech – it was awe-inspiring; realistic; humble; and optimistic. It reminded me why I ended up being a supporter since the primaries. This is what I voted for. But, yeah – let’s be realistic – the hard part of governing’s coming.
But, it was a moment of living in history, as Newsweek’s Anna Quindlen notes. Cherishing and honoring the legacy of the work of those before us and acknowledging the collective strength of organization – community organizing does work. The first Black President. The beginning of something, no matter what may happen.
On an amusing note: soon to be in the White House, someone from Alma Mater (which hasn’t had a US President – FDR and Teddy Roosevelt were Columbia Law dropouts and Eisenhower was a University President, never a graduate). US Presidents can’t all be Harvard and Yale people (okay, yes, Obama’s a Harvard Law alumnus, but still this is cool. Heck, Occidental College can take a claim here too!).
Slate’s John Dickerson on the fascinating lines of the Obama speech.
The hilarious Time.com live blog of the Election night results.
John McCain’s concession speech was gracious. We have to be united, even if we disagree with each other.
What will we do without the endless campaign? Well… maybe some of us ought to spit and polish our resumes…!
I changed the channel several times once I got with the election coverage at 9pm last night. Stuck with the network stuff, since I wasn’t going to touch FOX News. I miss Tim Russert. I miss Peter Jennings. Election Night wasn’t the same without Tim Russert’s good spirits and Peter Jennings’ authoritative facilitation.
But, we move on, as best we can. We can hope for the best, work for the best and see what’s next.