President-elect Obama's First Saturday Radio/YouTube Address

I'm not sure if it's me getting older and recognizing these things now or if this is just how information is spread in this internet era, but I didn't know there was an opposition radio response. I knew every Saturday, there was a presidential radio address. I didn't know the other side had one. I figure as many people heed it as those who listen to the opposition State of the Union address. Actually, less than that. Who listens to the radio?

That's why this is sort of important. There are many who have said that President-elect Obama must work the same way President Franklin D. Roosevelt did during the Great Depression in the face of our economic crisis. Obama lacks the experience FDR did before reaching office. Obama got into the Senate and immediately started running for president. FDR was at least governor of New York.

Still, both of these men know how to reach the people. FDR started his fireside chats over the radio as governor and continued them through his presidency. FDR was the president who garnered the radio age. In the same vein, I remember subscribing to then Sen. Obama's podcasts early on. Now the presidential radio addresses will be over YouTube.

For once, I'm actually going to be looking out for the president's radio addresses because they aren't radio addresses. Radio has been a dying form for some time. Even it's successor is seeing a rather rocky life. Television has certainly thrived but the 24-hour news cycle has fed and, in a way, killed American politics. It will be interesting to see how the internet will continue to change this nation and how the Obama administration will progressively harness it to inform and involve the American public.

"Let the new night bring you peace And the promise of tomorrow, Where we can wake to a new beginning"

Those lyrics are from Against Me's 8 Full Hours of Sleep.

Truer words never spoken.

But I have to wonder...

What happens tomorrow?

How easy will this transition be? What happens in the months left that we still have a Bush Administration? Will the nation be more divided now that a black man is president? Is Sarah Palin going to start running for 2012? Is the G.I. Joe movie going to suck? Where did Waldo go after that latest book?

I'm going to sleep after all these celebratory shots. My voice in hoarse after shouting for a couple of hours and my body weary from all the hugs I've given.

i hope this isn't a dream

I hope this isn't a dream.

"... don't mean a thing to me!"

This is the quickest that an election has ever been called during the time I've been of age to vote.

This election was more than electing the first non-white to the highest office in the land. This election was also about whether or not my entire generation would believe in the political system of the US. Had Obama lost I don't think anyone my age, especially black people, would have voted at all in another election in our lifetime.

Maybe, just maybe, my generation will take over and contribute finally.

It's not all good news

Something has to be said that this is a bittersweet moment for the presumptive President-elect. The woman who basically raised him from age ten died yesterday.

Moment of silence.








Homosexual people across the nation are weeping as their rights have been discarded wholeheartedly in all states with marriage rights amendments.

I really had hope that California's Proposition 8 would not pass. As the night goes on it doesn't look like that will not happen. I kept my registration in California for a reason, and an NO on Prop 8 was that reason. It is a sad day for civil rights.

The congressional races aren't where they should be either. Obama is going to have to live up to his bipartisan talk from his campaign, because Republicans still have filibuster power and looks like they will keep enough votes in both houses to challenge and stop the Democratic majority as far as legislation is concerned.

We can celebrate tonight, but come tomorrow we will all have to face the reality of how much of the same is ingrained into our country.

We may have elected a new leader, but have far from decided on a new path.

"This is something different"

Atlanta is really the place to be right now. Even with all the gunshots. I am glad i;m still here for once.

Yes there are a lot of gunshots. It's the South, almost everyone has a gun.

I'm getting calls and texts about the rest of the city. Atlantic Station is very live right now. Downtown is going craaazzy.

It seems the world is celebrating.

And my ride has collapsed on his couch, snoring hard. He celebrated hard and fast. His happiness tired him out.

YEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

Of all the Rappers in all the world...

Young Jeezy is the soundtrack of the night. All Night. Guess what his new single is gonna be?

Text Messages and other things

Whats going around the text messages world:

"They have a sign up sheet for volunteers to help Bush pack his shit and get the fuck out, Nov 5th. I put us down for the 3-8 shift! Keep this going!"

Thank You George Bush

OBAMA YA'LL!!!!!


Anyone who has ever read the Maroon Tiger opinions column knows that the bulk of our writers are cynics. We keep on the negative cause that's the underlying feeling that everyone in the AUC is feeling.

That's not the case tonight.

When Obama won Virginia the bar erupted. Keep in mind it is mainly a G-tech bar, but the room jumped up, the waiters took shots in the kitchen and the dozen of us that were from the AUC went crazy.

I haven't felt this good in a long long time.

I still cannot believe it. I never thought that this early in my lifetime that a black man would be elected President of the United States.

So after we celebrated with an extra pitcher at the college bar we headed down to Morehouse's campus to celebrate with the rest of the paper staff and the school. It turned out that everyone had woken up and was celebrating hard.

I saw some of our more distinguished members with celebratory cigars outside. Inside Fredrick Douglass Hall we circled up and sang our college hymn. It was possibly the most beautiful moment I have ever been apart of.

From there a bunch of us went to the Strip on Clark Atlanta's campus. If anyone awake is reading this now i urge you to go there now. You will never see any more of a positive atmosphere anywhere (except maybe Chicago) in the world.

I can't believe this is happening in my lifetime.

I can't believe this is happening at all.

A Hologram? Seriously?

I don't have a lot of time considering this dying battery but I have to say this. Earlier I asked the question of why Tavis Smiley was on NBC. That moment has been trumped in spades. Why on God's green earth is will.i.am on CNN in the form of a hologram. Is this Star Trek? Is Data about to embark on a hip-hop adventure? Is this Star Wars? Is R2D2 depicting the moments of this concert? This has reached a whole new level of ridiculous. I don't understand how exactly a 3D hologram is captivating television on a 2D screen. CNN is doing some serious pandering and if it wasn't so trustworthy (despite them calling states much later than all other networks) I'd almost be willing not to watch at the circus this network is.

Also, what's up with no one calling Florida yet?

Fat Commentators in a Little Table

I seriously hate CNN's coverage. I know this is forbidden territory for me to say this in Atlanta, but there's just something that irks me about having cramming that many commentators on a tiny table. If you need to speak to Roland Martin, just talk to Roland Martin. Don't have him elbow to elbow with Paul Begala as though his merely being there is some boon to the integrity of "the most trusted name in news."

In the fight between the news networks, it's clear to see what each channel is doing to attract voters. Some are calling the states earlier than others. ABC had George Stephenopolis give Charlie Gibson a whirl on the interactive map. NBC had Tavis Smiley on (I guess that was supposed to do some good). But CNN has since they put all this together crammed all these commentators into a tiny table with their matching laptops, praying for newsworthy content to fill all the time.

It has to make due for all the bickering they do.

Too much head on my drink (NSFA)

I poured quickly and terribly in my happiness to watch them call New Mexico for Obama. Not quite a party foul but close.

Now there calling Iowa for him. Looks like this'll be am early night cause the West is def going blue.

And now I just correctly answered a trivia question involving porn star history. I believe in a well rounded education, it's why i go to a Liberal Arts school.

They were showing a live feed on CNN of the school election party I am supposed to be at. I'm thinking that maybe my editors are happy I'm not there being my usual surly belligerent self.

Some of the names of the trivia groups participating are as follows:

Nailn' Palin Till She's Walin'
Team Meat
7-11 was an Inside Job
I've Been Wrist Deep In Half the Girls in this Bar
and Deez Nuts (who seem to be a staple at this trivia night)

Obama is ahead 207-83 according to CNN, but the teevee screen is fuzzy.

Tavis? Seriously?

I don't really have much to say at this point but this:

Why the hell is Tavis Smiley on NBC?

Obama Wins Ohio; Likely Elected President of the United States

Nearly all major networks have called the state of Ohio for Barack Obama, meaning that the Illinois senator has now likely been elected the 44th President of the United States. No Republican has ever won the presidency without also winning Ohio, and McCain now faces extremely limited pathways to victory. Networks will not call the election for Obama until he crosses the 270 electoral vote threshhold, which will likely occur when the polls in California close.

Celebration at a Different Venue

It's fascinating following this at Rocky Mountain. Being near Tech's campus shows how essentially unimportant all this is to those who aren't devoted to the cause that is Obama. At least until Ohio was declared in the Obama column and the bar filled with uproarious cheers. But it's still worthy of note that unlike the AUC, Tech goes on. As Alex noted earlier, trivia night is still going. There are still quite a few televisions set on ESPN. Everything is on mute except the various conversations.

The phone calls come in as the night wears on and this night is over. It would be nice to see the cheers of the AUC on this historic night but the AUC doesn't have beer.

Still, it's going to be a short but celebratory night. I've done all I could through all this not to drink the Obama Kool-Aid but I just can't escape the hype. This is going to happen. This is going to happen soon. And I'm fairly certain I couldn't be happier.

We'll I couldn't be happier after another beer or two and some whiskey. This is soon to be rectified.

"My Vote Didn't Mean S#!t"

The above quote was from my boy "Gerald" after we saw the 60% polling for McCain. He's a Georgia voter.

My group of six finally found a bar to watch this election in. So now i am content with a cup of low grade alcohol in front of me and several teevees none of which i can hear over the bar's trivia night session.

We just toasted drugs and the cultivator of marijuana, Jorge Cervantes (it was a trivia answer). All is right in the world for the time being.

Election is polling at 174 -64 in favor of Obama.

Seriously this is silly

I am Maroon Tiger Opinion editor Alexander P. Brown, aka the Ghost Editor, aka "Why weren't you at this meeting?"

It is way too early to be blogging this election dammit.

Nothing is really going to plan tonight for me. I should be in various states of intoxication as I watch the election news so i can either cry into my liquor or accept celebratory shots. None of that is happening right now.

I am sober. Angrily sober.

Wolf Blitzer's annoying blaring is starting to sound like a siren as he launches into a read off of the Senate and House seats. Obama is polling pretty good at 81 to 34 according to CNN. And I am surrounded by people who decided to get wasted before i could find and access my laptop.

There is no justice.

And right now I'm getting an IM from my homies in Cali asking whether or not my state will get it's act together, referencing the fact I live in GA right now. I don't vote in this state, I don't even like this state seventy percent of the time. And while it would be pretty awesome if Georgia went blue this year it doesn't mean my tuition will go down because of it. Maybe I'll get lucky and my professors will be too wasted from the celebrating to actually teach the rest of the week.

Where is my whiskey?

Longtime GOP Staple Lizzy Dole Defeated in NC

In a shocking development few people foresaw just a month ago, Fox News has called the hotly contested North Carolina Senate race for Democrat Kay Hagan over long-time Republican Party staple Elizabeth Dole. Dole, the wife of former Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole, has served in the U.S. Senate since 2002 and considered running for president in 2000, but bowed out of the race in the face of Texas Governor George W. Bush's powerful campaign.

OBAMA WINS PENNSYLVANIA

Polls have closed in Pennsylvania. ABC News, Fox News, and others have called the state for Obama, while CNN and others have not. Both candidates' paths to victory depend largely on the Keystone state. For McCain to offset Obama's incursions into red states like Colorado and Virginia, the Republican senator fought hard to peel away Pennsylvania's 21 electoral votes. A Pennsylvania victory would be a huge upset for McCain and allow him some breathing room if Obama does indeed win a formerly GOP state. Meanwhile, an Obama victory in Pennsylvania would be pad his electoral college votes and put him just one or two red states away from victory.

A string of traditionally Democratic New England states have been called for Obama, including Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Maryland, among others.

Georgia Too Close to Call

Polls have now closed in the state of Georgia and network news stations are reporting that the results are too close to call. Analysts will wait for more actual results to pour in before calling the state for either Barack Obama or John McCain. Republicans and Democrats did not initially expect Georgia, a solid red state, to be so close. Although McCain may still very well win the Peach State, the fact that the results are this close must be disconcerting for the GOP camp. Networks also have yet to call the heated contests in Virginia or Indiana.