Bookworm Room

The bloggers at Commentary Magazine’s blog, Contentions, have distinguished themselves with a series of short, gracious posts about both winners and losers. I borrow them wholesale here:

A Cause Greater than Himself

Linda Chavez – 11.04.2008 – 11:36 PM

To the end, John McCain was the patriot. I have never heard a concession speech as eloquent or gracious as the one he gave. He is clearly a man at peace with himself. There is almost nothing Barack Obama could say in victory that will match McCain’s selfless grace in the face of defeat.

John McCain Concedes

Jennifer Rubin – 11.04.2008 – 11:29 PM

He offers a heartfelt and generous concession and recognizes the historic nature of Barack Obama’s victory. By calling for support for the new President he once again puts country first. He looks tired and a bit glum as one might imagine after such an arduous journey. He had the great misfortune to be running at the moment in history that was simply not his.

The mention of Sarah Palin lifts the spirits of the crowd. She looks about ready to cry. He lets it be known that her career is far from over.

After all the criticism and venom of the campaign he leaves with a patriotic, high-minded and decent finish.

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28 Responses to “Living in historic times”

on 05 Nov 2008 at 12:11 am 1Ymarsakar

With enough pain you can get over things like Washington did. Or you may end up like the Palestinians under Arafat. It all depends.
on 05 Nov 2008 at 4:21 am 2rockdalian

I would point out that Obama won with roughly 52% of the vote. A majority to be sure, but barely. There is a silver lining in that, somewhere.
on 05 Nov 2008 at 4:50 am 3Al

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under Heaven.
on 05 Nov 2008 at 6:00 am 4Danny Lemieux

Say, I have a suggestion, friends. Instead of arguing with marginally knowledgeable European-minded people about the origins of the financial crisis (history) or whether or not people will love us now that Obama has been elected (only time will tell), let’s discuss more immediate and tangible issues for which we can make a difference. I would like to throw one such issue on the table:

Motion: To replace on the great seal of the United States, the words “E pluribus unum” with the Chicago City motto, “Ubi est mea”, or “where’s mine?” (as per the immortal words of former Chicago Tribune columnist Mike Royko).

Second?
on 05 Nov 2008 at 6:35 am 5Jewel

He’s our first Marxist president.
on 05 Nov 2008 at 7:37 am 6Deana

Guys –

Maybe we should think about it this way: close to half of America did NOT buy what Obama was selling, in spite of a press that completely forfeited their mission and duty and a difficult political and economic environment.

I’m not saying that we shouldn’t support Obama when he does things right – we should! I’m just pointing out that we have things we need to accomplish and even with all things (legitimate AND illegitimate) that worked in Obama’s favor, we have an ENORMOUS base that very much supports conservative principles.

Not only that but as I have stated before, I think a lot of the people who wound up voting for Obama are “fair-weather” supporters. They aren’t going to support him “come what may.”

All of this just means that even though we are right to have concerns for America, we need to get to work. As much as I want things to work for the good of America, most of us here KNOW that when Democrats are in control, particularly when they own everything, they mess things up.

People will be watching and we need to be ready.

Deana
on 05 Nov 2008 at 9:09 am 7Mike Devx

>> Not only that but as I have stated before, I think a lot of the people who wound up voting for Obama are “fair-weather” supporters. They aren’t going to support him “come what may.” >>

Deana,

I am fairly certain that the Obama Presidency will unfold in a manner eerily similar to that of Dhimmi Carter. Carter was an intellectual and an idealogue; Obama is an intellectual and an idealogue. Such people are not capable of learning from history nor from the mistakes of those who came before them. The Dhimmi Carter “misery index” will make its return.

I think Reagan slaughtered Carter because he pitched a very simple economic message to the “fair-weather supporters” that you rightly identify. And he hammered that message home. He kept it simple, and that will work again in 2012.

The winning message in 2012 for us will end up very similar to “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?”

This is not 1980 and our problems will not be precisely the same as those of 1980; nor will the solutions we offer be precisely the same. (Obama will not be as vulnerable to the simple “welfare” argument or the simple “overregulation” argument, because his pitiful attempts at managing the economy will not follow those lines.)

But the Obama solutions will be as highly Statist as the Carter solutions, because of ideology. While our arguments won’t be precisely about welfare and overregulation, they’ll definitely be in those same areas.

Don’t worry… we will be ready!
on 05 Nov 2008 at 9:38 am 8Helen Losse

The American people have spoken. And now, let the healing begin.
on 05 Nov 2008 at 10:03 am 9Deana

Oh, Helen. We can always count on you for a good laugh!

We’ve had an election and Obama won. As I and others have said, we really hope and pray that things go well in America. Obama and the Democrats failing will translate into ALL of America failing. I don’t want that to happen and I’m sure you do not, either.

But as I said on another thread, Obama and the Democrats’ success must be measured on RESULTS, not soaring speeches and good intentions. Please sit and ponder that for a moment. History shows that people are never fooled for long.

If you want Obama to remain in the White House for 8 years, you had better hope that he and his colleagues are able to produce success. That is going to be very, very difficult because the policies they advocate have been shown over and over again to fail.

I DO think, though, that Obama’s election will result in some healing in one sense and one sense only: NO one will EVER be able to say that America is an irredeemably racist and unfair nation. Those days are over.

Helen, did you see the video of Jesse Jackson at the Obama victory party last night? You know, the same man who just recently expressed a desire to CASTRATE Sen. Obama?

I believe that a tiny portion of him was truly crying out of joy of seeing a black man gain the White House. But there is no doubt that he and all other race peddlers out there were crying because they know their time is up. They and the hatred they spew and now, suddenly, irrelevant.

And that’s a good thing.

Deana
on 05 Nov 2008 at 11:05 am 10Huan

1. McCain is a class act.

2. the Dems did not get a supramajority

3. Palin, should she choose to, can still run against DC insiders in 2012
on 05 Nov 2008 at 11:43 am 11Tiresias

Good point, Deana: it is important to keep in mind that 57 million people did NOT vote for this BS.

McCain showed, in his gracious, wonderful, blah-blah-blah concession speech (his entire campaign was a concession speech) why we don’t need him, either. (Palin doesn’t need him either – did you see how quick she got off that stage last night? Shot from a gun: adios you g****m loser… I don’t think Sarah likes losing.)

John thinks we should “join with” Obama…

Join with him in doing what, John? Refusing to drill for oil? Raising the capital gains tax? Not securing the borders? Losing the war against terrorism? Allowing union thugs to intimidate people who might not vote to join a union? Bankrupting the coal industry?

It’s a pretty long list of stuff that I am not at all interested in joining him in doing – and neither are 57 million other Americans. That’s a pretty good base, which damn well ought not be thrown away, John. (However, any time YOU’D like to leave… bye!)

The biggest problem with the McCain campaign was always McCain. Not once, not once in all the debates, not once in any speeches, not one time did he ever mention who the democrat candidate really was. (And is. You want a hint? Obama’s first act today was to name Rahm Emanuel as chief of staff. Rahm Emanuel, a man who never walked or reached across an aisle in his life, who is a committed rabid left-winger, who is a genuine hater who once pantomimed for a roomful of fairly shocked people sticking his steak knife into his and Clinton’s “enemies.” [He stuck it into the table-top.] This is the “new” change?)

And we conservatives – once again – didn’t find ourselves on the ballot. The republicans lost, the conservatives, as usual, weren’t running.
on 05 Nov 2008 at 11:59 am 12George Bruce

I must take issue with this statement by Linda Chavez:

“Obama’s success at expanding the electorate has tipped the ideological balance. As Colorado went tonight, so goes the nation. We are no longer a center-right country.”

The final numbers are not yet in, but it appears that the total number of voters in this election was less than in 2004. I have no doubt that Obama did attract million of voters who, for whatever reason, did not vote in 2004. Unless I am wrong about the new voters for Obama, the numbers must necessarily mean that millions of Bush voters from 2004 stayed home in 2008.

It is not correct to say that we are no longer a center-right country. It is more correct to say that millions of the voters on the right didn’t feel they had anyone to vote for in this election.

A 1980’s Ronald Reagan would have mopped the floor with this kid from Chicago.
on 05 Nov 2008 at 12:13 pm 13Earl

Well, I resonate with what Tiresias is saying…..a LOT.

And Bookworm, you are charmingly naive if you think that those who have won so much by stoking the fires of racial entitlement are going to give up the best gig they EVER have had.

There is NO WAY that the race-hustlers are going home, now that a (half) black man is in the White House. And, given what we’ve seen in the campaign, so long as his ends are served, the man in the White House is not going to call them to heel……..

It’s going to be an interesting two years, after which, if the Republicans have what it takes to actually LEAD, we might see a repudiation of a lot of leftist claptrap. I’m suspicious, however, that there’s no one in the D.C. branch of the GOP who can pull it off. I think there are too many like McCain, and most of the rest are willing to go along in order to get the goodies……

Jindal, Palin, and the rest of the “newbies” need to stay home and establish a solid record of accomplishment, while finding the right mentors and advisers and getting up to speed on foreign affairs. Their time will come…..but we’re in for significant misery, first.

At least, that’s how it looks from here.
on 05 Nov 2008 at 1:14 pm 14Danny Lemieux

I wonder how long it will be before “reparations” is back on the agenda? All in the name of healing, of course.

And, I am sure that the vast majority of people who lost in this election will have not inclinations whatsoever to extend to Obama the very same courtesies that were extended to George Bush when he assumed office in 2000 and again in 2004.
on 05 Nov 2008 at 1:14 pm 15BrianE

I read that 77% of the Jewish vote went to Obama, 3% greater than voted for Kerry in 2004.
There is obviously a disconnect between Jews in America and Jews in Israel, unless they buy the notion that it is Christian Zionists that are preventing the Israelis from reaching a peace deal with Hamas.
on 05 Nov 2008 at 1:31 pm 16suek

>>The American people have spoken. And now, let the healing begin.>>

Oh right. Like it did after the 2000 and 2004 elections?

Does the healing start by the Dems reaching out to compromise with Republicans? or is your idea of healing that Republicans should lay back and enjoy it?

Just exactly is your idea of healing? and how do we go about it?
on 05 Nov 2008 at 1:44 pm 17George Bruce

“Just exactly is your idea of healing? and how do we go about it?”

That was a spelling error. Losse meant “heeling”
on 05 Nov 2008 at 1:56 pm 18Charles Martel

I will begin healing just as soon as I get my government healthcare card.
on 05 Nov 2008 at 2:44 pm 19Danny Lemieux

I’ve got news for you, BrianE. A lot of American Jews think Israel is “bad” and support the Palestinian /Arab position. Sad but true.
on 05 Nov 2008 at 3:52 pm 20Al

We’re all angry as Hell, guys. And worried as Hell too. Let’s not let our fear/anger blind us from what is happening and what we must do. It is not simplistic to say,
“Fear is the mind killer.” We’re in for a rough ride. Let’s see it all the way home.
Al
on 05 Nov 2008 at 5:46 pm 21Earl

Al is right……adrenalin is the enemy of clear thinking – it’s really good for “flight or fight”, but that’s not what’s needed right now.

Analysis, counter-measures, and planning for the future are the keys.

And conservatives had better be keeping an eye on McCain and others like him, as much as on the leftists….join them in efforts where they’re on the side of the angels, but NEVER trust them enough to turn your back.
on 05 Nov 2008 at 6:08 pm 22Ymarsakar

And Bookworm, you are charmingly naive if you think that those who have won so much by stoking the fires of racial entitlement are going to give up the best gig they EVER have had.

They don’t need to give up the gig. Did AQ give up killing wome nand children in Iraq? Did the Sunni Tribesman give up their notions of culture, sharia, or tribal leadership? No. We made them dead or our allies nonetheless.
on 05 Nov 2008 at 6:11 pm 23Ymarsakar

The American people have spoken. And now, let the healing begin.

They have spoken and now they will hear the world speak. Let the killing begin.

And for me, it’s time to go back to the classroom. I have learned many things from terrorism and wars since 9/11. I am sure I will learn much from Obama’s tries in the Great Game as well.
on 05 Nov 2008 at 6:13 pm 24Ymarsakar

Take a look at real clear politics’ site for a breakdown of what states went where.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/

2 % doesn’t mean much until you see it broken down.
on 05 Nov 2008 at 6:16 pm 25Zhombre

Heal, hell. Politics isn’t about healing.
on 06 Nov 2008 at 12:09 am 26Mike Devx

Helen (#8)
>> The American people have spoken. And now, let the healing begin. >>

I would agree, had the healing also occurred when the Republicans won in 2000 and 2004.

What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. I’m not buying into the usual double standard: where in this case liberals are allowed to become even more wildly angry, but conservatives are supposed to seek compromise and peace.
on 06 Nov 2008 at 12:16 am 27Mike Devx

Earl (#13)
>> And Bookworm, you are charmingly naive if you think that those who have won so much by stoking the fires of racial entitlement are going to give up the best gig they EVER have had. There is NO WAY that the race-hustlers are going home, now that a (half) black man is in the White House. >>

One of the things I’ve thought about in the past is that the liberal activists that we are all used to have become professional grievance agitators. The key word there is professional.

They will not be going away. Why not? They have nowhere to go to! Agitating is what they do for their lives’ work. They know nothing else. There is no way they can give that up. And therefore the professional agitation by the grievance monkeys (and that’s not racist, for I’m including all long-term feminist and gay activists and all others in this bucket), this professional agitation will always surround us.

They need a population lost in a victimization mentality to succeed, and they will never stop fostering it.
on 06 Nov 2008 at 11:19 am 28Tiresias

Like most things out of the democrat ranks, “healing” is a one-way street.

Like most things out of the democrat ranks, so is Helen.