November 5, 2008
I am incredibly happy, relieved and warmed by a sense of optimism that our country has been saved, saved from itself and given a new chance to rebuild and reform what we've become over these past years. Though, not everyone is sharing this celebratory spirit. I don't aim to be a hypocrite. I know I was certainly distraught following the reelection of George W. Bush in 2004, so it is understandable for some to be upset by Obama's victory. It is to be expected. However, some of the reactions I've seen are surprisingly bitter and pessimistic. Because GOBAMA! posts are a dime-a-dozen today and will remain so for days to come, here I present just a sampling of what my right-wing, Christianist and/or McCain-supporting friends had to say last night and this morning. While they were certainly not hiding these opinions, as they were posted publicly on their Facebook status section, out of respect for them, I've removed their names. For demographics: All of these people are white, young (between 20 and 35-years-old) and live in Arkansas or Missouri.>>>NAME REDACTED Obama supports infanticide!!NAME REDACTED is Well...the sun came up today even though he got elected... I guess I'll go bury my guns and start lying on my w2 now... BOOOOO Obama."NAME REDACTED wonders how you can consider yourself Catholic if you are glad the most anti-life man in our country's history is going to lead us. Don't even bother.NAME REDACTED has succumb to the fact that he is going to pay more taxes. GET A JOB PEOPLE!!!!NAME REDACTED ...... Obama sucks my nuts.NAME REDACTED is moving to Europe.NAME REDACTED this country is so fuc*ed. Just wait.NAME REDACTEDWell, it's over... bye bye disposable income... BOOOO OBAMA!! This is a bad day for America. Call me is 6 months and tell me who you WISH you'd voted for.NAME REDACTED is moving to Europe.NAME REDACTED is scared...NAME REDACTED is welcome communism.NAME REDACTED is moving to another country with Sally for 4 years!! HAHA.NAME REDACTED is America you'll be sorry...You've chosen arrogance over integrity!<<<Add others in the comments if you have any to share.(UPDATE: I explain more [why i'm intrigued here][1].) [1]: http://www.lawrence.com/blogs/makes_sense_me/2008/nov/05/thoughts_on_election/
Comments
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Shelby (anonymous) says...
I dunno man, this should be a positive moment for you and your ILK!Seriously, it's a positive moment for the country, embrace it as such. I can't believe *your* first statements are of negativity.I guess I understand where you're coming from with regard to EIGHT YEARS OF BUSH-CHENEY-ROVE, but c'mon...It's time to forget about them!
November 5, 2008 at 11:21 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
OnShakedown (Chris Tackett) says...
i'm incredibly happy. :)i'm just offering a place for people to loiter with bewilderment that not everyone is. btw, isn't it funny that some say they want to move to Europe? i think they are missing the irony.
November 5, 2008 at 11:29 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MyName (anonymous) says...
Maybe they're talking about Eastern Europe (think Moscow)...
November 5, 2008 at 11:32 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
OnShakedown (Chris Tackett) says...
myname, you might be on to something. though, since i know these people, i'm pretty confident they just aren't thinking. it's a shoot-from-the-hip/this-is-what-you-say-when-you-lose-an-election kindof comment.
November 5, 2008 at 11:35 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Shelby (anonymous) says...
Moscow is more European than we are (11/05/2008 11:46pm CST)I think Chris is talking about Bill.In a schadenfreude sort of way........which is DEPLORABLE
November 5, 2008 at 11:46 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
smerdyakov (anonymous) says...
Thanks Chris-this is good stuff. Had Obama somehow lost, these are the kinds of thoughts I would have had, no doubt. So I can relate, sorta... I can even kind of relate to being apprehensive about the next 4 years. But it's hard to believe anyone in their 20s would be so pro-GOP. They had to be paying more attention to politics via Fox, Rush, etc. than to the reality of the last 8 years. Some of these comments sound like regurgitated dittohead-speak anyway.
November 5, 2008 at 1:03 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
emilyhadley (Emily Hadley) says...
NAME REDACTED "is welcome communism"?Why do they all have the "is" included? These make little sense read aloud... Maybe evidence that their knees were jerking too hard to read anyone's policies before voting.
November 5, 2008 at 1:12 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
chewyfally (Falestine Afani Ruzik) says...
I got caught up in the moment last night, and my excitement was pretty high. Someone called me "stupid" (in front of many people) for saying that Lawrencians would storm downtown Lawrence in celebration (which they DID, btw!!). It was the meanest thing that person's ever said to me. I kept to myself the rest of the night, and learned my lesson to not talk politics anywhere I want and assume everyone's on my side.
November 5, 2008 at 1:26 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
OnShakedown (Chris Tackett) says...
Emily, they were posted on Facebook as status updates which has as the default "is" following a persons name. So facebook prompts you with "Chris is..." and you fill in the gap. Sometimes people take out the is so they can have their comment phrasing sound right, othertimes not. I just left them as they were.
November 5, 2008 at 2:13 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Shelby (anonymous) says...
"it's hard to believe anyone in their 20s would be so pro-GOP. They had to be paying more attention to politics via Fox, Rush, etc. than to the reality of the last 8 years."So someone who is republican and in their 20s is oblivious to reality?
November 5, 2008 at 2:27 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
smerdyakov (anonymous) says...
Yeah, that's overstatement for sure, Shelby. But statements like theseNAME REDACTEDWell, it's over... bye bye disposable income... BOOOO OBAMA!! This is a bad day for America. Call me is 6 months and tell me who you WISH you'd voted for.NAME REDACTED has succumb to the fact that he is going to pay more taxes. GET A JOB PEOPLE!!!!read more like koolaid that reality, esp coming from a 20-something who presumably isn't clearing $250+Gs a year. (And even if they were, would they really call it "disposable income"?)But really that's all beside the point: http://theonion.com/content/video/end...
November 5, 2008 at 2:41 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
OnShakedown (Chris Tackett) says...
fwiw, none of those people make anywhere close to $250k. you are right about them sounding like talking points.
November 5, 2008 at 2:53 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Shelby (anonymous) says...
It stands to reason that statements like these are hyperbol-ish blatherings akin to those like the Obama-disciple chick who was excited that she wouldn't have to worry about paying for gasoline or her mortgage anymore (from youtube.com......don't have the url)
November 5, 2008 at 3:40 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
OnShakedown (Chris Tackett) says...
oh give me a break, shelby. do you honestly think she meant she'd never have to pay for those things again? or could it possibly be that she meant the economy might get better so these things become easier to pay for? i don't think any honest person can see that clip and not think she was intending to say the latter. but that's just me.
November 5, 2008 at 5:02 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
alm77 (anonymous) says...
I agree with Chris. I think the key word in her statement was "worry". We won't have to *worry* about paying for gas or making the house payment. Most Americans have done a lot of worrying about both for a long time now. I know I have.
November 6, 2008 at 7:48 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Zaff (anonymous) says...
Years of b*itching and complaining about Bush and Republicans and this is Tackett's first blog entry after the historical victory? I am glad some things won't CHANGE.I have never been more dissapointed in my "friend" Chris Tackett. While I certainly disagree with the majority of these comments, I also disagree with Chris thinking it is ok to posts peoples names, without their knowledge and then to mock them. I understand he has since taken the names off, but only because people complained. There are a great deal of people who are worried about the outcome of this election, just as their were a bunch of people who were worried about the previous one, like Mr. Tackett. I have read overreactions from both sides in each instance. It is my contention that these overreactions are natural. I wish I was savvy enough to post all the crazy, off the wall stuff Tackett has claimed over the last few years. Sure, he may have been right on some. The beauty of the internet is that one can make the craziest predictions and if they are wrong, they simply evaporate into the great abyss called the internet.I am sorry about this rant, but the constant talking down to Tackett's "friends" in Arkansas is disturbing. I don't agree with a lot of what goes on in this state and region, but I do my best to respect their views. Without that respect no one will ever be able to successfully change these views. This is something Mr. Tackett has never understood. I usually do not read this blog, someone told me about this disgrace last night and I had to see it myself. I am sad that these cheap shots are taken by our "friend" Tackett not just here but in various places on the Net. The constant "talking down", arrogance, and smugness that our "friend" Tacektt displayed over his stay in ignorant Arkansas turned numerous of our friends off of politics. So I ask, is all this knowledge and passion for politics a good thing, if the majority he encounters in this "backwards" state are turned off BECAUSE of him? The good news is that San Francisco is a perfect place for arrogance and smugness, so I am hoping he will be much happier there.PS- I voted for Obama
November 7, 2008 at 9:14 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
editer (Phil Cauthon) says...
>I understand he has since taken the names off, but only because people complained.<For the record, no names were ever posted in this blog. And we have received no complaints.
November 7, 2008 at 9:26 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Zaff (anonymous) says...
My apologies. The real names were posted on his Googlereader and not on this site. Sorry for the mistake.
November 7, 2008 at 9:35 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
LSaint (anonymous) says...
I'm going to have to second Zaff on this one. I'm the mastermind behind the first status update on this list, only it was a gmail status, not on facebook for the world to see. The truth is, I went to antiobama.com and posted the first thing I found. Why? Because I knew Tackett would say something. How did I know that? Because I posted something funny my 6-year-old cousin said on facebook, as a joke, because it was hysterical, and thats something NORMAL people do. Share funny things with their friends. Only Tackett decided to comment, obviously, because laughing it off would be impossible. Oh, and since he's in the business of putting his "friends" on front street, I'll take a page out of his playbook and post our conversation here: "Lauren is laughing because my 6 year old cousin said she "is NOT voting for Barama Oback because he kills babies".Chris Tackett at 2:54pm October 22your aunt and uncle should be embarrassed, right? seems like a eff'd up thing to teach the kid. Lauren Saint at 3:40pm October 22they should, if they had been the ones that told her that. her teacher is actually the one responsible. so if you're offended, take it up with the texarkana board of education. although i'm not sure they're going to see your point.... Chris Tackett at 3:42pm October 22i'm not that offended. have seen/heard worse. just sad that kids are such idiots...wait, i mean, just sad that adults tell kids stupid stuff.Tackett, do everyone a favor and get a life. Get a hobby. Get Xanax. Get something that will prevent you from being so ridiculous to people that care(d) about you. For someone so concerned with focusing on the positive, you spent a hell of a lot of time highlighting the negative. And although you "don't aim to be a hypocrite", thats EXACTLY what you are.
November 7, 2008 at 9:49 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
OnShakedown (Chris Tackett) says...
yikes. guys, as phil (the editor) said, names were never posted here. i wouldn't do that nor would he have ever let me. he asked me to pull together some examples of people not thinking the obama win was a great thing as a way to counter all the pro-obama stuff that was going up, so that's what i did. it's important for us to remember that while many are thrilled obama won, it's not something everyone is happy about. that perspective is important. lsaint, the comment about a 6 year old being an idiot was meant to come across as a joke. like this: http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.n... i suck and it didn't. we're all going to talk offline about this, as we already are, but for the record, i'm immensely sorry. the internet is an interesting place. there are countless times where i've written something i totally believed in and then the next morning covered my eyes with embarrassment as my perspective and thoughts changed. i know the same can happen when we broadcast thoughts in facebook statuses or twitter messages too. this is one of those moments. i'm beside myself with regret that i posted anything at all.
November 7, 2008 at 10:32 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
md_pinks (anonymous) says...
Chris,I got into a similar situation with a girl in my high school because I sent out an e-mail after 9/11 that went something like:"Our arming of Israel and other Arab nations is what got us attacked on this day. The use of our money, our arms, and our tactics to kill Muslims on a daily basis....it's no surprise to me that someone did something this horrible to our nation."My wording was WAY different from this, but this is what I meant.Anyway I look back on it now and realize I should have kept it to myself, some key friends (ie, the ones with open minds),and off the web.However, at the same time a few of the people I sent it to who were angry then now understand what I was saying. They let me know how mad they were at themselves when they realized they were wrong in hating me for that short period.Point is, Zaff apparently is not one of those open minded people. So this should let you know how to go about venting your opinion to others, or at least to be ready to defend your actions and stand by them.
November 7, 2008 at 11:54 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
OnShakedown (Chris Tackett) says...
md_pinks, thanks for your reassurance, though i have to say for the record that Zaff is very open-minded. and none of the things i cited were things he said. this is a spill-over of some years-long arguments/discussions we've had which came to a boil due to this post and a twitter message and an email i sent to a small group of friends regarding this link: http://www.atlargely.com/2008/11/the-... we're all good now though. i just needed the wrist slapping to remember to think these thoughts through and try to see how they would be received from all angles. something i didn't do in the rush to get this post up. but ya, don't get it twisted, zaff is dabomb.org.
November 7, 2008 at 12:17 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
OnShakedown (Chris Tackett) says...
interesting... dabomb.org is a real site. to clarify, zaff is not a girls softball team. he is cool though.
November 7, 2008 at 12:20 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
greenman (anonymous) says...
You guys are silly. Thanks for the much needed entertainment to get me to the weekend. I just ran out of popcorn so if this continues much more I will need to run to the store.
November 7, 2008 at 12:55 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
md_pinks (anonymous) says...
Well, that's good for the both of you then.
November 7, 2008 at 3:17 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )