Fanboy is a term used to describe any individual who is devoted to a single opinion in an emotional or fanatical manner, or to a single point of view often to the point where it is considered an obsession.
I dislike talking about politics because it is a topic that challenges people to look at things from an unbiased, unstacked perspective. Something few people can consciously acknowledge about themselves.
I dislike extremists, the O'Reilly's and Olbermann's alike. Their goal is to shape the mob mentality, fuel ignorance and bias. Fox news is not fair and balanced. No one news source should be used today, and I would recommend even adding a news source you almost never agree with. Journalistic integrity is something of the past, it can't compete with flashy graphics and fueled one sided debates.
Why Obama won;
Some very few people in the US still support G. Bush with no end. They claim the reason his popularity is so low that the lesser masses have just jumped on the bandwagon. The general worlds view is that George W. Bush is a one-man axis of evil. I believe Bush's case is beyond contest, and I was never a supporter. The general world view and the view of many disillusioned Americans is that Obama is the redeemer. A flawed illusion but no doubt helped lead to his success.
McCain lost because he offered no change in the way things would be run. That is not to say he wouldn't run them better than Bush. It is no surprise that politicians lie, slander and make your decisions based on their financial plans. In fact it's even accepted that this is how the world is run. People have become so broken over the last 8 years that Obama is their chance, the hope that this might change. It won't, but maybe we as a nation will begin to hold our politicians accountable for their actions.
The Good News...
America is adamant for a change, willing to take responsibility.
I hate to think of racism as a motivator but I believe Obama will be the hardest working president in almost 20 years. If he fails as president it will be unjustly marked as a step backwards for cultural equality. I don't believe he's willing to let that happen.
"I have an intense impression that a fresh wind will drift into the Washington air upon his arrival, that he will be a President of a new generation — a new type, with a great understanding of the multicultural nature of the contemporary world." — Vaclav Havel
I think that most of America - and most of the world for that matter - as you mentioned, were to desperate for change. The idea of someone who wasn't George W. Bush was so appealing, so exciting, so necessary to so many people domestically and worldwide. Unfortunately, (whether correct or not) McCain was invariably linked to the Republican party which was obviously linked to Bush. Therefore, many people saw McCain as someone who would only continue the policies that Bush put into effect. Bush essentially went down in flames and took the entire Republican party with him.
Also, I think that Sara Palin was a huge handicap for McCain. Of course, this is only true as time went on after her initial "unveiling" speech, which was very well done. She continued to spiral out of control and scare many voters away. It even turns out that Fox News itself just released information about how unqualified and ignorant she actually is about many elementary subjects that all politicians should know. Apparently she didn't know which countries are involved in NAFTA and she didn't realize that Africa is a continent! Wow! And this is coming from Fox News.
In the end, I'm happy that our international image will be improved for however long. It's incredibly foolish to think that it doesn't matter what other countries think about us. The world is getting to be a very small place and diplomacy should be paramount.
I'm also not any more afraid of the world exploding or the country getting invaded than I was before the election. Scare tactics are for the desperate.
I don't know if Obama is going to "fix" anything or not, but at least he can speak well and has the weight of being the first black president on his shoulders which will (hopefully) be motivation to step it up.
I plan on posting some new entries in the upcoming weeks that reflect on my own ideals, beliefs, and understandings. I have no doubt some of them may be sensitive subjects for some and provocative for others. I have thought deep and hard on each of these topics but feel free to calmly and collectively express your own perspectives.
