All Change for the Better (Debate)

Tue 2 Dec 2008, 12:18

Let's just hope that thoughts don't kill.

Sun 23 Nov 2008, 14:11

as you know with me igor i am always consistent.but i dont think he is going to make it.

Sat 22 Nov 2008, 00:11

How surprising you would find the President-elect a bad moon rising.

I wouldn't know what to think if you thought Obama's election was a good thing.

It's important for reactionaries to keep consistent.

Fri 21 Nov 2008, 19:47

i see a bad moon rising creedence clear water revival.

Wed 19 Nov 2008, 16:15

Way to go Igor ,as you americans say.

Wed 19 Nov 2008, 07:36

See, sometimes we can agree, Roger.

Except I think Obama is going to be bigger and more effective than JFK.
Not because he's African American, but because he's the most progressive, liberal and socially responsible President we've had since LBJ.

I think by the times he's through we'll be going back to FDR and Lincoln for comparisons.

Tue 18 Nov 2008, 16:32

Call it what you like Igor but John .f.Kennedy seemed the same gentle caring kind of man that Barack Obama is today .This does not sit well with some americans and espially being african american as well.
It will be interesting to see and i look forward to seeing how he goes about changing things for the better because i am sure there is a lot riding on it ,but i see him up for the challenge.

Tue 18 Nov 2008, 09:05

We (Americans), just don't talk about it.

Call it superstitious.

Tue 18 Nov 2008, 06:20

It happens though JFK in 1963 seemed like a good man for change, for the people had his life tragically cut short .Why if it could happen then when the world seemed more stable could it not happen in this crazy world now.

Mon 17 Nov 2008, 12:41

We don't talk about that.

Sun 16 Nov 2008, 21:17

Perhaps Ken was hinting at assassination Igor. The far right redneck hords, trigger fingers itching as we speak!

Sun 16 Nov 2008, 12:57

Read my previous posting, Ken.

The point I make is that Obama was a Constitutional lawyer by profession before he became President elect. Therefore he knows and has been exercising his Constitutional powers before January, mainly by overturning Bush's Presidential directives cutting the funding for stem cell research, permitting oil drilling in wilderness areas and cutting US foreign Aid to countries that advise on abortions.

He's entitled to overturn these Presidential directives before January because none were passed through Congress.

He's hit the ground running and I expect more and more leading up to January and beyond. Finally some progressive sanity in the White House!

As Sam Cook once sang, 'it's been a long time coming'.

Fri 14 Nov 2008, 16:29

dont jump the gun igor it is along time until january.

Thu 13 Nov 2008, 10:31

Another way Barack Obama's Presidency is going to affect Charlbury is his current planning for a semi nationalisation of some US automotive industries. This gives a clear green light to national support for ailing manufacturing industries and another nail in the coffin of the clearly idelogically bankrupt Thatcher/Reaganism.

How does this affect us?

Well you do have to step outside the box to see how Oxford's auto factory might benefit from government support, reversing automotive job unemployment and leading to a more successful industry. What benefits Oxford will surely knock onto Charlbury even if it's just more weekend visitors.

Although I'd like to see the expansion of low cost housing for both local residents and people working in Oxford. Fortunately, the crashing property market should also contribute to a more prosperous community.

Wed 12 Nov 2008, 08:43

The first slogan was 'Yes We Can', then it was 'Yes We Did'; now the chant is 'Go Obama, Go'

I didn't fully register at first how his profession as a Constitutional lawyer was going to pay dividends. But clever use of executive directive has allowed him to take swift action: The reversal of the ban on federal funding for stem cell research, reversal of the ban on US foreign aid going to needful nations that advise on abortion then announcing the closure of the illegal prisons on Guantanomo Bay (and release of prisoners, some being British nationals) and the announcement of redeployment of US troops from Iraq to Afghanistan as well as the opening of negotiations to end the hostilities.

All this within a week of having won the election.

The latter will most certainly have an impact on British troop deployment and surely include serving soldiers from Oxfordshire.

Mon 10 Nov 2008, 17:20

Hey, let's make this the Obama fan thread.

I don't mind saying that tears welled up when he took Virginia and I knew that the rest would follow.

His election is going to have an impact everywhere, because of the people and values he empowers
It's like having Lincoln in the Whitehouse again.

Amazing.

Mon 10 Nov 2008, 15:03

Quite amusing to read in the Observer yesterday that Brown and Obama are expected to clash over one particular aspect of free-market fundamentalism: tax havens. Obama wants to blacklist them. Brown is a little anxious about this as three of them - Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man - are within his bailiwick. Go Obama!

Sun 9 Nov 2008, 21:13

Actually, yes.
I don't believe that Obama has any Mussolini or mystical like powers to affect FGW's timetable; however the fact that he was so enthusiastically elected in such record breaking numbers reflects a seismic shift in the political zeitgeist.

It is symptomatic of the popular rejection of free market fundamentalism, at the expense of everything else. His election reflects a popular desire for more, not less government that takes responsibility for governing and that provides for its citizenary not just its private enterprise.

When that wave washes up here, I think it will have an affect on our train schedules.

Sun 9 Nov 2008, 17:16

Moved to the GP because it's not directly Charlbury-related. But, that said, I agree entirely.

Sun 9 Nov 2008, 15:56

Igor: are you suggesting, like the chap on the Cotswold Line blog, that Obama is going to exert a Mussolini-like effect on the timekeeping of Charlbury's rail service? Not even his powers extend that far surely! Still, I for one will be rejoicing when the "shaved chimp" finally exits the White House!

Sun 9 Nov 2008, 12:57

Having stayed up all Tuesday night watching the US election results rolling in at the Oxford Union, it was an incomparable experience to watch such significant, far reaching and badly needed change unfold in real time.

And for anyone who has any doubt that what occurs in Washington DC has a real impact on Charlbury, you may have been keeping your curtains drawn a little two tightly over the past 8 years; not that I blame you.

But if anyone has any doubt that change is not to be feared or resisted but is a necessary and progressive instrument for survival, I can think of no better illustration of this principle in practice.

Congratulations to the new President elect, the most liberal progressive to hold office since LBJ, congratulations to my compatriots for finally waking up and voting in an articulate, intellectual and competent leader and congratulations to the world for embracing the change for the better.