The Day After
Hello, everybody. Things have went back to neutral just 24 hours after the election was called for Barack Obama, making him the first African-American to be elected President of the United States.
The celebration over that news immediately spread all over the world, and not just in the United States. From looking at hundreds of videos continuing to filtrate YouTube, there were many in cities large and small; it was like New Year's Eve all over again. Even in England, when most of them were supposed to be asleep, they stayed up late in the wee hours to witness history in the making. Grant Park in Chicago may have been the place to be last night, but it was absolute bedlam outside the White House; many of them didn't want to wait till January 20 to evict President Bush out and put Obama in.
The newspapers of course wasted no time starting the presses. Here, the News-Miner had "History is made" with a full-page photo of Obama adorning the front page, while the Anchorage Daily News had "Obama makes history" on theirs.
But you've got to hand it to John McCain in what was the most hard-fought battle for the White House since Kennedy vs. Nixon. He pretty much knew there was no way to catch up to Obama later in the night (although he had the early lead when the first polls closed at 7:00 pm Eastern), and I thought he was very gracious and cordial in his concession speech outside the Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix. As for Governor Sarah Palin? It may have been deja vu for her, but she's now back home in Alaska leaving behind months of memories...and Tina Fey.
And today, Obama wasted no time starting the transitional process as he wanted Rahm Emanuel as his Chief of Staff with hundreds of other slots to fill (John Kerry -- who almost beat President Bush last election -- is rumored for a Secretary of State post). He only got about ten weeks, so he's choosing carefully.
Of course, we wore out our thumbs flipping across the dial last night in terms of television coverage. I thought NBC's overall presentation (including graphics) was the best among the broadcast networks; CBS was also good, but ABC? They bored me to tears!
On cable, my high marks went to CNN, especially their "hologram" interviews and John King's "magic wall". And it showed, as they beat everybody else in the ratings. And on the international side, there was the BBC and CBC in Canada (whose coverage was simulcast on C-SPAN2); I watched CBC's more. Oh yeah, in between all those, I checked out Univision, Comedy Central, and WGN in snippets.
But to sum it all up...in 1984, Jesse Jackson was the first African-American to run for President, but he hit a brick wall along the way. A few others tried including Alan Keyes in 2000, but in the end, Barack Obama decided to step up to the plate and take a stab at reforming America for the better. The road was rough with a few speed bumps along the way, and when he got the nomination, it started to pave with bits of John McCain as the potholes.
And last night, except for the first hour, it continued to pave all the way to quite an historic end. America went through the Civil Rights revolution of the '50s and '60s; soon, it'll be the Obama revolution and a 21st Century Camelot that John F. Kennedy would appreciate. It's too bad my grandmother Mildred didn't live long to witness what was truly another chapter written in the Black History books, but I know up above she was celebrating like the rest of the world.
Come January 20, 2009, the three most important words that'll be in our vocabulary won't be "Joe The Plumber", but "President Barack Obama." So long and stay strong.
Hello, everybody. Things have went back to neutral just 24 hours after the election was called for Barack Obama, making him the first African-American to be elected President of the United States.
The celebration over that news immediately spread all over the world, and not just in the United States. From looking at hundreds of videos continuing to filtrate YouTube, there were many in cities large and small; it was like New Year's Eve all over again. Even in England, when most of them were supposed to be asleep, they stayed up late in the wee hours to witness history in the making. Grant Park in Chicago may have been the place to be last night, but it was absolute bedlam outside the White House; many of them didn't want to wait till January 20 to evict President Bush out and put Obama in.
The newspapers of course wasted no time starting the presses. Here, the News-Miner had "History is made" with a full-page photo of Obama adorning the front page, while the Anchorage Daily News had "Obama makes history" on theirs.
But you've got to hand it to John McCain in what was the most hard-fought battle for the White House since Kennedy vs. Nixon. He pretty much knew there was no way to catch up to Obama later in the night (although he had the early lead when the first polls closed at 7:00 pm Eastern), and I thought he was very gracious and cordial in his concession speech outside the Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix. As for Governor Sarah Palin? It may have been deja vu for her, but she's now back home in Alaska leaving behind months of memories...and Tina Fey.
And today, Obama wasted no time starting the transitional process as he wanted Rahm Emanuel as his Chief of Staff with hundreds of other slots to fill (John Kerry -- who almost beat President Bush last election -- is rumored for a Secretary of State post). He only got about ten weeks, so he's choosing carefully.
Of course, we wore out our thumbs flipping across the dial last night in terms of television coverage. I thought NBC's overall presentation (including graphics) was the best among the broadcast networks; CBS was also good, but ABC? They bored me to tears!
On cable, my high marks went to CNN, especially their "hologram" interviews and John King's "magic wall". And it showed, as they beat everybody else in the ratings. And on the international side, there was the BBC and CBC in Canada (whose coverage was simulcast on C-SPAN2); I watched CBC's more. Oh yeah, in between all those, I checked out Univision, Comedy Central, and WGN in snippets.
But to sum it all up...in 1984, Jesse Jackson was the first African-American to run for President, but he hit a brick wall along the way. A few others tried including Alan Keyes in 2000, but in the end, Barack Obama decided to step up to the plate and take a stab at reforming America for the better. The road was rough with a few speed bumps along the way, and when he got the nomination, it started to pave with bits of John McCain as the potholes.
And last night, except for the first hour, it continued to pave all the way to quite an historic end. America went through the Civil Rights revolution of the '50s and '60s; soon, it'll be the Obama revolution and a 21st Century Camelot that John F. Kennedy would appreciate. It's too bad my grandmother Mildred didn't live long to witness what was truly another chapter written in the Black History books, but I know up above she was celebrating like the rest of the world.
Come January 20, 2009, the three most important words that'll be in our vocabulary won't be "Joe The Plumber", but "President Barack Obama." So long and stay strong.
