What are they doing in Singapore?
Yesterday, I was at the Bugis Junction and took by surprise when I saw advertisements displaying Barack Obama and John McCain. Naturally, I got interested and got closer to take a look.

ThinkProgress.org has the lengthiest rundown. Spain’s president expects “a more fluid and positive relationship” under Obama, no doubt a reference to some feuding with Bush over Iraq. Germany’s chancellor has had fairly close relations with Bush, but even she envisioned “closer and more trusting cooperation between the United States and Europe.”

But as I said, a few world leaders have already communicated their expectations. Afghanistan’s president said: “The fight against terrorism cannot be fought in our country, rather, our country is a victim of terrorism and we demand for civilian casualties to be eliminated.” Obama’s remarks about the need to cut down on those casualties and do more than military intervention were of course a subject of some controversy after Republicans made a political issue out of it. Russia’s president didn’t congratulate Obama at all, and aside from a vague expression of hope that Obama could improve relations between the two countries, Russia’s primary response was to announce its intention to station missiles near Poland in response to U.S. missile defense plans for Europe – plans that Obama has been decidedly cool toward. Israeli and Palestinian leaders expressed a desire to see Obama bring peace in the Middle East.

Even the upbeat European Union was hinting at some potential conflict, as one of its officials said she would be in touch with Obama to “make sure we are working together on opening free trade,” arguably the area of Obama’s policies that makes Europe most nervous. A few countries were decidedly cool about the election of Obama. Other countries hinted more vaguely at hoping Obama would work with the world on the international financial crisis, energy, terrorism, food shortages, global warming and more than a few other subjects.

So then, my wish list.

1. All grandpas and grandmas that are still in office will go to their ranch or wherever else that can be called a retirement home, and take a good rest. Enjoy watching the beauty of the sun setting. If they must, they can also get up early and savour the rising of the sun. By all means keep off meddling into affairs of a country.

2. Issues. Anyone that aspires leadership should dwell on issues of the day. Like making the lives of ordinary people better. Building schools and hospitals and other good things.

3.Anyone that tells people to burn peoples property, maim and kill others so that he/she can become a ‘leader’, should lie still in their bed, never to rise again. Such a species does not deserve a single sniff of oxygen.

4. If you are not eloquent, or have tendencies to forget what you meant to say, or you tend to say the wrong thing, please go home and look after your goats. They need you more.

5. If you cannot sprint up the podium with your sleeves rolled up, please do as 4 above. Thank you.

6. If you are not good looking, that’s ok, for now anyway. But try to be well groomed. Brush your teeth and put on a clean shirt.

7. Once Obama has done his term or two, can he please come and do 2 terms for Kenya. I that heard he comes from Kenya, and he will only be 55 then. A lovely age to become a president especially in an African country!

That’s all for now.

BBC reported today that The US Labor Department’s monthly jobs report this morning showed that “the economy shed 240,000 jobs in October, bringing the year’s total job losses to 1.2 million. The unemployment rate climbed from 6.1 percent to 6.5 percent, the highest it has been since March 1994″.

Obama won’t make any more personnel announcements. Yesterday he announced the appointment of Rahm Emmanual as Chief of Staff. In his statement, Obama said “I announce this appointment first because the chief of staff is central to the ability of a president and administration to accomplish an agenda. And no one I know is better at getting things done than Rahm Emanuel.”

He is expected to appoint David Axelrod as senior White House Adviser, and Robert Gibbs as White press secretary. According to CNN, names circulating for the treasury secretary position include Timothy Geithner (president of the New York Federal Reserve), Summers and Paul Volcker (former Federal Reserve chairman). “This is one of the first times that I can remember that the secretary of the treasury is going to be almost as important as the secretary of state,” said CNN senior political analyst David Gergen.

On Monday, Obama and Bush will meet in the White House to discuss the economy.

“No declaration of support and no promising statements can diminish the fear many Israelis' have of U.S president-elect Barak Obama … . [Some Israelis] identify Obama, black and bearing Hussein as a middle name, as a supporter of the oppressed in Third World countries, and fear that he will automatically side with the Palestinians.” — Aluf Benn, columnist in Israel's Haaretz newspaper.

“Exit polls: 78 per cent of Jews voted for Obama” — headline in the Jerusalem Post.

“[President-elect Obama's] political charisma, eloquence, and sharp intuitive intelligence would not have been the sole factors that led to his victory, and to him becoming the leader of the world's strongest power — in fact, the leader of the entire world. In fact, his victory will have been the outcome of the crushing defeat the Arabs and Muslims have inflicted on the former U.S. administration, stirring hatred against it from its own citizens first, but from the entire world as well” — Abdelbari Atwan, writing in the pan-Arab al-Quds al-Arabi.

“Black Kennedy to White House” — headline in Lebanon's al-Akhbar newspaper, which is considered pro-Hezbollah

“Public opinion in Iran and the Middle East believes that Obama and McCain are two faces of the same coin. The victory of either won't have the least impact on the situation of these countries. In other words a yellow dog is a jackal's brother [Iranian proverb meaning cut from the same cloth].” — editorial in Iran's hardline Hezbollah newspaper

“Why did the Obama wave explode? Because he represents what is ‘new.' Because he captures the ‘spirit of the times.' Because he provides hope for ‘change.' Because he captures the imagination of ‘youth.' Because he can be trusted as a leader. We hope that Barack Obama will make history in the White House, and will not disappoint our hopes for change and ‘revolution.'” — Hasan Cemal, writing in Turkey's centrist Milliyet newspaper.

“No matter who wins US vote, hope remains for peace” — headline in the Jordan Times.

“Everyone knows that the period of U.S. foolishness is over” — headline in Syria's state-run Tishreen newspaper.

En Colombia, muchas personas han sido indiferentes con estas elecciones, recuerdo que hace poco les comenté a unos compañeros que Obama iba bastante bien y una compañera me preguntó ¿Qué es Obama? ¿Quién es Obama? Es la verdadera pregunta, y en la respuesta la palabra esperanza se repite en varias ocasiones: esperanza de mirar de frente el problema del racismo y superarlo, esperanza de que el “gigante” de la historia ahora mire de forma más humana a los otros países, esto implica, por ejemplo, un cambio en políticas armamentistas (incluyendo las nucleares), en ese frecuente intento de aplastar a los otros países de forma militar y económica, en reconsiderar las intenciones de acabar con los recursos de países como el nuestro y retirar las tropas que acaban con la vida de muchas personas en Irák y que de una u otra forma modifican esta cultura.

Catalina Restrepo, who represented HiperBarrio at this year's Global Voices Summit in Budapest, shows an overview of how the Colombian media reacted to Obama's victory with screenshots from the largest newspapers and YouTube videos of reactions by Latin American leaders.

Todos hablan de lo importante de que por primera vez en la historia Estados Unidos tenga un presidente “Negro”, de que ahora si abrá un cambio, que su oratoria es increíble; y un júbilo se percibe en sus seguidores cada que hablan de todas sus cualidades, mientras algunos de sus críticos afirman que “es un blanco con piel de negro”.

Ruben Hilari, a Voces Bolivianas blogger who was recently featured by Eduardo Ávila on the Voces Bolivianas project blog, is currently visiting the U.S. in New York, where he watched on television as McCain conceded defeat and Obama declared victory.

Ayer en la noche miraba un canal latino, donde estaba reportando, el conteo de votos. Todas las personas estan sorprendidas de que haya ganado un afroamericano como es Obama. Todos hablan de que las personas afroamericanas no podian votar ni entrar en los mejores restaurantes aqui en los EEUU hace mas de 50 anos. Habia una discriminacion muy dura de aceptar.

Ruben was also impressed with John McCain's concession speech, which congratulated Obama for his victory. He says he wishes the same level of respect was shown when conservative Bolivian ex-president, Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga lost to current president, Evo Morales in Bolivia's 2005 election.

Me hubiese gustado que Tuto Quiroga con la formacion americana que de felicitaciones a Evo cuando gano en Bolivia. Porque eso es lo que ha hecho McCain felicitar a Obama. Pero en Bolivia nunca quieren aceptar su derrota. Hace rato chateamos con mi hermano desde Bolivia y el me dice que en Bolivia esta alegre El Presidente Evo. Y hay que apoyar sigue para que continue haciendo por el pais. Creo que el mundo esta cambiando a una velocidad maxima.

Finally, in Kenya - where US President-Elect Barack Obama traces his recent ancestry - Collins Oduoduor of the REPACTED project lamented the burglary of the house of Barack Obama's step-grandmother Sarah Obama in Kogelo. Here is a brief video about Sarah Obama and her community:

Collins, recalling the attack on the US Embassy in Kenya in 1998, is worried that anti-American terrorists in East Africa will target Obama's grandmother because of her link to who is now the United States' most powerful person:

Terrorist attack is not a new thing to Kenya because of what happened to the US embassy in Kenya, but the bond between the two countries is renewed, the bond is even stronger because the grandma is in Kenya and the grandson in the US busy with is campaigns and innocently exposing the grandma to the enemy of America. 9/11 is still fresh to American people and the suspect is still at large. I hope that the enemy has not started getting ideas from the local attack. Alego ko Kogelo may be the next scene on the international and local news headlines. Ok the Kenyan government has set a police base in the home of grandma; my question is why after the local attack, what if the attack could have been from the American enemies?

As for Sarah Obama, it looks like the 84-year-old may soon be on her way to Washington D.C. to bring her grandson his favorite food as he is inaugurated president of the United States of America.

Yaman, who studies in the United States, shares a story of celebrating Obama's victory in Berkeley, California:

As soon as Obama finished giving his acceptance speech, crowds of students began to gather in the streets of Berkeley. By the time I melded myself into the march somewhere on Durant Avenue, hundreds of students had already amassed. We ran down Durant feeling that a huge weight was off our shoulders, that there were only better days ahead. As we rejoiced, preparing to say goodbye forever to those familiar faces of the Bush regime, it dawned on me that we had no idea where we were going. Where was this march headed?

No one really knew, but we kept going, cheering the whole way. Eventually someone yelled, “to the library,” so there we went, our high spirits annoying those who were trying to study for midterms. Whenever the banality of our pit stop struck us, we simply started marching again. Soon we headed down to Shattuck where we paused somewhere around the BART station. We stood there again roaring in ecstasy about the win. When we got bored again, we kept moving until we found another similarly neutral, meaningless location to rest at until we yet again became restless. There was no organization to the march, no one there to tell us what the win would mean for us, no stops at locations with any political significance. It was more of a happiness movement, than a political one. At least we’d been delivered from the Bush years.

Yaman concludes that, while he's aware that Obama's election stands for change, he is also wary of the vigilance we must keep:

I went through high school and most of college under the Bush administration. Every social issue I ever learned about, fixing it was always a matter for “the long haul.” In these times of never-ending wars, arrogant, disrespectful, and unresponsive government, we always had to fight for everything in “the long term.” Well, Obama now has a long term ahead of him in which he can try to deliver on all these demands for change. We can’t take it for granted, though, that a win for Obama is a win for progressive policies, even if–maybe–it will inaugurate a progressive mood. One hopes that the Democratic party and the Obama administration have a little more direction than our happy crowd did, or we will have to remind them that we did not support them for the sake of supporting Democrats, but because we wanted them to do what we want them to do. We can hope, now, that these won’t be four more years of the same violent Bush rhetoric and policies; but surely, they will be four years of holding Obama and the Democratic party accountable for what they’ve promised and what we’ve asked for, rather than letting the mesmerizing aura stilt our principles and expectations.

Born in Damas reminds us not to forget about the United States' recent transgressions in Syria:

Amidst the celebration of Obama's election as President of the United States the world seems to have forgotten the recent helicopter incursion by US forces into Syria to allegedly terminate some individual that apparently constituted a danger to US national security.

Last month a raid was carried out a few kilometres inside the Syrian border with Iraq.

I have not seen much reaction in the US media about it nor much outcry in international places maybe because the Americans are a bit embarrassed and do not know what to think about this ‘incident' and maybe because the Europeans are totally flabbergasted as it does not fit in with the direction the current Syrian -EU-US relations was going into?

Maysaloon spells it out for those who might praise America:

America's mask is back on and Americanists the world over are breathing a sigh of relief. Those of them in the Arab world have had a particularly difficult time over the last eight years. Whilst they have had plenty of years experience becoming apologists for the murder of Palestinians (nobody cares about these anymore), the genocide in Iraq was a much harder pill to swallow and many felt compelled to publicly criticise the United States - an unthinkable act during the Clinton years. But what has changed in reality with the election of Obama? Nothing, and these Americanists will concede this. Article after article, many say how wonderful he will be and how historic his election is. They then proceed to add the caveat that, in reality, little will change concerning America's position with regards to Israel, the Arabs and Iraq. But that isn't the point. They then proceed to tell you that this is irrelevant, because his election means “change” has come, Americana is back and we can all feel good about it again. So all that has happened is that America has made people ‘feel good' again, so that they stop caring about what it really does, since nothing will change in the Middle East on their own admittance. After eight years of reality, responsibility, guilt and shame, the United States' apologists can now sit back and take a drag of premium Americana hashish. Relax, everything is going to be ok.

Kenyan Entrepreneur was ecstatic after the announcement:

I must say that I was in a state of euphoric shock last night as I was watching Barrack Obama’s elevation to becoming the most powerful man in the world. I told someone yesterday (as I was watching his acceptance speech) that I felt like I was going through both a physical and spiritual cleansing. It was almost like Obama was cleansing my body, mind and soul of the 8 years of toxic filth and grime that the Bush presidency had imparted on my person. It was very refreshing– like walking out of a shower full of antiseptic.

Kikuyumoja, who is Kenyan, gives his view from Germany:

Obama is much more than a candidate for the 44th presidency in the United States of America.

Wheremadnessresides ponders about Obama's acceptance speech and his roots:

I watch him sometimes, and it seems to me nigh impossible that this could be the same man who drove around Nairobi in Auma’s mechanically challenged baby-blue Volkswagen Beetle and visited his Aunt who lived in Kariokor. Because these are such typical Nairobi things to do. And he describes them so casually, so matter of factly. Then, the next thing you know, he’s President-elect of the United States of America. And it sort of takes your breathe away. As well it should.

It sends a very particular resounding message from the American people, reverberating not just through the United States of America, but right across the world: If you determine it, you can be whoever you want to be. At such a time as this, you’ve got to pay homage to the American Dream, because the American Dream is ultimately the winner of this election, perched squarely on the shoulders of an unlikely candidate with an unfamiliar name and an unusual story.

In a country drunk with political patronage, bloggers are questioning whether Kenya and or Africa should expect American policy towards the continent to change overnight.

Kenyan Pundit answers the critics:

And for those (Kenyans) who are being derisive about Kenyans trying to “own” Obama. Bah! Yes, it’s unrealistic to think that his election will change U.S. policy practically as far as Kenya goes, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with Kenyans going overboard with Obama-mania and what he represents for us.

Now if only we can translate our aspirations for him to our aspirations for Kenyan leaders! Would Barack Obama have made it as a Kenyan politican (or even African) - almost certainly not…we excel in trashing intellectual, ethical, different, individuals who want to participate in public service. In Obama’s own words, “…For as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on earth is my story even possible.” Lets work to change this people.

Peter Njenga urges people to tone down their expectations on Obama:

People should therefore tone down these expectations and realize that Barack Obama will work with a team that includes White House advisors and the United States Senate and Congressmen. In fact, Barack Obama himself said that there is a great challenge ahead, and some goals may not be realised even within a four year term.

ColdTusker thinks that Obama is more American than Kenyan:

So Barack was NEVER a “Kenyan” in any sense of the word. He was not born in Kenya, not raised in Kenya, not a Kenyan resident nor a Kenyan citizen.

Congrats to Obama for the victory BUT why has kibz declared a holiday to celebrate Obama's win?
What of the loss of productivity for the typical mwananchi without a cushy government job?
kibz & roocy get paid whether they work or not. Not most Kenyans.

Election day in the USA was a working day for most Americans. There are no official holidays for any of the post-election days. So if the USA marks the historic occasion with a ‘working day' why do Kenyans have a ‘holiday'?

Arefe notes that Ethiopia was not exactly ecstatic about Obama victory given that he might demand more accountability and transparency. The blogger writes:

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi offered his apparently not-so-warm congratulations to Obama saying that he is “confident that the long-standing and excellent relations that exist between the two countries and peoples will continue to be strengthened during his tenure in office.”
From this anticipated cliché apart, officials and the state media have kept quite about the possible impact of new presidency on the Ethiopian political landscape.
But well-placed sources say the government is anxious that the new Democratic administration that is taking office on January might put more pressure and demand accountability from the Ethiopian government, whose commitment to democracy is nothing more than lip service.

His service to the Israel Defense Forces and pro-Israel slant is a point of controversy for many. Some Middle Eastern and North African bloggers, perhaps already wary of Obama, expressed their views on Rahm Emanuel's appointment.

Palestinian Pundit sums up general sentiment with one brief headline:

For all those hoping that perhaps Obama was secretly pro-Palestinian, very bad news…

Democratic congressman Rahm Emanuel has reportedly been approached by US presidential hopeful Barack Obama to be his chief-of-staff.

Body on the Line, a blog written by an American citizen living in Palestine, details Emanuel's history and expresses her opposition to his appointment:

emanuel served under the clinton administration (does this sound like change?). but not only is emanuel a former white house adviser, and a terrorist who served in the itf. he also is the son of a terrorist–by british standards as he served in irgun with menachem begin (recall begin was wanted as a terrorist by the british for bombing the british headquarters of the king david hotel–wanted poster above). or just check out their own crest showing a map in the background that includes all of palestine and jordan.

Elijah Zarwan, also an American but based in Egypt, had this to say about Emanuel's new position:

I have no doubt Emanuel is an intelligent and competent man, however many passports he holds. I assume he has the respect of at least the Clinton people Obama will choose to staff the White House. And Emanuel’s father’s mistakes may not reflect his own beliefs.

Regardless, the appointment of the son of an Irgun militant to such an important office will confirm many Arabs’ worst suspicions about the United States before the ink has dried on the headlines announcing Obama’s historic victory.

Raed Jarrar, writing for In the Middle, hopes that those who support Obama will take time to ask the tough questions:

I know that the confetti has not settled down yet, but I think it's time already to ask the Obama-Biden campaign some questions about their foreign policy plans, especially regarding the U.S. role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and regarding ending the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

Egyptian Zeinobia shares her predictions for the rest of Obama's cabinet, and says this about Emanuel:

Rahm Emanuel, the Israeli origin and the son of a Zionist Israeli terrorist group is widely going to be the chief of Staff at the White House, a blow to all those who put hopes on Obama but that man was always since the rally It is not the first time for Emanuel to work in the White House because he used to be there in the Clinton's cabinet.
Strangely no one brought his father connection with the Irgun ,the infamous group that did the terrible Massacre of Deir Yassin Negatively in the rally!!

Finally, Lebanese Chess takes a deeper look at other issues going on between the U.S. and Israel, in particular Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's recent warning to Obama regarding dialogue with Iran. Of Livni's comments, the blogger said:

With still over two months until Obama is sworn in, Israel has moved quick to influence Obama's policy vis-a-vis Israel's interests in the region. It marks the beginning of the Israeli-AIPAC battle to ensure Obama toes their line.

The Israelis have set the stage for a key struggle between AIPAC and an Obama administration over Iran. If Obama continues to surround himself by staunch pro-Israelis in his administration, AIPAC and Israel won't have much difficulty twisting the president-elect to conform to Israel's goal of regional domination.

Certainly, some post-election grousing against the media is opportunistic. By painting the media as pro-Obama, could it be that John McCain's loyalists are looking to place the blame somewhere? Yet this year even so-called “independent” viewers have brought up the problems facing U.S. media: treating the election like a horse race; focusing on candidate personalities rather than policy; foolishly devoting important resources to follow the scandal du jour while missing the larger picture: what voters want from their leaders.

The list goes on. Here is what a few international bloggers are talking about:

In a post before Election Day regarding the difficulty predicting this election because of polling irregularities, Sam Westrop, writing in the the Nouse blog from York University, UK, bemoaned the loss of objectivity in U.S. reporting.

The true villain is actually the media - their shameless selective reporting, their composition of supercilious ideals and their lack of objectivity have irrevocably destroyed the continuation of a nonpartisan candid and free press. Although keen to malign other Democrats and the Republicans, the media has been hesitant to report news and rumours about Obama: from the incongruous gap between the discovery and the media report of the villainy of Reverend Wright’s speeches, to the bizarre association with Bill Ayers, and now the LA Times is overrun with requests that they persistently ignore, to release videotape they possess of Obama with a suspected PLO terrorist named Rashid Khalidi. Why would a very large newspaper not release a sensational news story so pivotal as this?

Are the associations with Obama uncovered by the right as serious as some would paint them? Not at all. However, the burnt soul of the unscrupulously bias media is poisoning the democracy of the Western countries. This same media is to blame for the misinformation and intolerance in politics that breeds bountifully during times of wanton ideals. Furthermore, there is always independent thought, which leaves the opinionated editors and columnists shouting at deaf ears. And certainly the hurly burly media world can no longer explain a truth or encourage an honest purpose; it is an impotent force, multiplying in presence but with a fading influence; useless in a world of disobedient readers.

Over at New Zealand's Kiwi Blog, in a post mortem on the McCain campaign, a commenter named Redbaiter laid the Arizona Senator’s loss in the polls on the mainstream media:

If Obama does win, the lying communist inspired mainstream media will forever be remembered for their dereliction of duty in failing to subject this Marxist thug and his shady US and international backers to the scrutiny they should have. A massive failure of responsibility and one that in my mind will forever make them worthy only of contempt and disdain. Liars, propagandists and fakes who have betrayed the craft of journalism to the craft of Joseph Goebbells.

In a different comment, Redbaiter had this to say of people who found Sarah Palin to “be a shallow, mis-informed person who has probably risen further than she should have.”

..and you find that because you have brought lock stock and barrel into the lies of the propagandists at TV One, TV 3, the Herald and every other lying left wing pro-Obama outlet out there. (and a few embittered Conservatives with political axes to grind) You should have more f**ken sense. Surely by now you can see past the lies of these manipulators of public opinion? The cowards and smearers who daily sacrifice individual liberty to their great god of universal socialism.

Double Blind in Canada points out before Election Day that if Obama wins, negative voting stories won’t surface.

Because of an expected wide (wider than this prediction) margin of victory, you don’t see the pro-Obama media talk about voter fraud or anything of that ilk, unlike 2004. I’d almost be curious to see the reaction (voter fraud accusations) if McCain actually managed to win the election, but this won’t happen.

According to Blog Bot writing in the UK-based Democracy Forum, the problem with the mainstream media isn’t new. In fact, it helped hobble the Bush administration. Here’s how Blog Bot described that coverage:

Nasty, vicious and distasteful or, as the Americans put it, classless. You don't have to agree with the man or his politics but the sort of hate campaign we have watched in the last eight years (and, let's face it, with our own media participating in it) is a disgrace to politics. Mind you, the sort of hate campaign that was produced against anyone who challenged The One, President-Elect Obama, was also a disgrace and bodes no good for the next four years….

Why is it important to us apart from the fact that who is elected to the American presidency matters and if this happened after a dubious campaign it is of great importance? Just think of the way our own media reports matters unchallenged and you will see the connection.

Unfortunately they won in America in 2008 not least because the Republican presidential candidate was not exactly top notch. But I predict that this will be their last hurrah. Even people who decided to vote for Obama could see the manoeuvrings and the MSM will pay for their behaviour. Can we say the same in Britain? And if not, why not?

Representing the defense, Megan Case, who is now in Falun, Sweden, dispels a few theories on “the nonexistant liberal bias” in the U.S. media. Here are a few out takes:

“Balanced” news coverage does not mean taking the sum total of every crazy thing that everybody believes and finding the center point. The non-opinion pages of the news are supposed to report facts. Do they always? No. But if the facts tend to fall to the left of your nutjob opinions, what does that tell you? This reminds me of the argument that we have to teach creationism in school to give kids a “balanced” perspective. Come on.

There's also the problem of putting stories in context:

Maybe the problem lies in the fact that the media doesn’t really foreground the issues anymore. Instead of saying, “here’s Obama’s tax plan, here’s McCain’s tax plan, you decide”, the media reports on what the candidates were wearing and how many people were at the last rally and which commentator on the competing network said something mean about one of the candidates and don’t even get me started on Joe the Freaking Plumber. It’s not news, it’s meta-news, and it is a huge waste of time and resources.

Lest we forget about the right-wing dominated media, Jennifer Fallon's Blog (from Australia) published a post after keeping an eye of Fox News in the US.

I have watched this election in utter fascination, particularly the language of the spin doctors. My favourite network, the… ahem… news channel, Fox, is so adept at this that once I have my Masters, I'm tempted to go ahead and do my PhD on the Language of Spin.

The spin doctors are quite something to behold, but Fox takes it to a whole new level. Under the banner of “fair and balanced” they have headlines like:

“Does an old friend from Obama's scout troop when he was 10 have proof that he may be a communist!”

“Is Sarah Palin really being put forward to the Pope as a possible saint?”

“Is is true that Joe Biden was found drunk in a strip club at Halloween dressed as a transvestite?”

“Was Joe the Plumber kidnapped by aliens?”

You see, that's the brilliance of their rhetoric. They suggest the most outrageous things in the form of questions (over which they cannot be sued), and even if the answer is “of course not, don't be ridiculous!” it doesn't matter, because they repeat the headline a score of times in the hour, before getting to the 30 second sound bite where they announce, “well, actually, no, but an anonymous blogger suggested it on Twitter so we thought we'd run with it for a while.”

By then, of course, through the power of repetition (remember how you learned your multiplication tables) you're quite convinced Joe Biden is a transvestite, or poor Joe the Plumber is being anally probed (which might account for a few things..hehehe) because you never get to hear the clarification.

It is utterly masterful and I can tell you now, if I ever decide to take over the world, I'm gonna make sure Fox is on my side, first.

After that, mere world domination ought to be easy….

Muwahahahaha…

Andy Worhtington, a UK-based writer writing in Information Clearing House, brought up journalists' refusal to quiz either candidate on the Bush administration’s “unprecedented adherence to the controversial ‘unitary executive theory’ of government.”

Writing in the Netizenblog in Germany, Rhonda Hauben first explains that European (mostly German) media coverage of the race to the White House followed the too simple formula of only talking to convicted Republicans or Democrats, while most of Americans are middle-of-the-road independents. However, she reserved her most potent criticism for U.S. media, which is neglecting it’s Constitutionally mandated role:

The conversations I have had while in Europe have helped to clarify that the press is an important component of a functional political system. There is a need for a press that accurately presents the problems of the society and provides the basis for a broad ranging debate on these problems. The failure of the American media to fulfill this function not only contributes in a significant way to the serious political and economic problems facing American society, but similarly leads others around the world to develop a false view of America and of the American people. Instead of U.S. institutions providing an inspiration or a helpful model, they are an example of the abuse that unchecked power can lead to. The lesson from the many conversations with Europeans about the U.S. presidential campaign I had these past two weeks is that there is a serious need for an alternative to the U.S. mainstream media if there is to be any significant change in U.S. government policy toward the rest of the world and for there to be elections in the U.S. that have any chance of expressing the needs and choices of the American people. Relying on any of the candidates to bring the needed policy changes is not adequate.

Let’s take the open press argument one step further. If one role of media is to expand political dialogue, why is it only covering America’s two major political parties? From Gottfried Stutz who blogs from Syria:

Why do CNN, Fox, the BBC, TF1, ZDF, Al-Jazeera, you-name-it call this particular vote “historic”? The vote is not. The result… perhaps.

Imagine a 2% vote or more for all third parties lumped together despite having been kept out of any debate and having benefited from very little media time. Now that would be historic.

Is part of the problem that journalists think readers are too shallow (or busy) to bother with complicated political debates? We have a rare glimpse into the minds of working journalists, from the blog at Maclean’s — Canada’s only national weekly current affairs magazine:

There is a constant debate in newsrooms about whether readers have any patience for long discussions of politics. And of course, a hell of a lot of readers don’t. What we’ve found at Maclean’s since we started giving it a try, however, is that there are always enough readers who will follow us as far as we want to go in such discussions.

ARUBA & GUYANA
Arubagirl dubbed the occasion a “happy day”, the significance of which was not lost on diaspora blogger Signifying Guyana:

Now it's real. America has elected its first Black president. And I hope many more like John Lewis, who were resilient in the face of a brutality that sought to deny them their basic human rights, are still around to cry and bear witness to this moment that is so full of America's cruel past, and its potentially healing present.

Her compatriots back home, however, were not as prepared to accept America's presidential choice as a positive step. Guyana 911 said:

I'm starting to get a little bad feeling about Obama. I am pretty confident that if McCain had a competent running mate it would of been a different tune tonight…to each his own I guess. What I'm trying to say is if Obama was a white man…people wouldn't have voted as shallowly in some cases. A fault with a democracy I suppose. It's a step in some sort of direction, however. Maybe the next time a black and a white man come up head to head it's just going to be on the issues.

Living Guyana didn't see what the big deal was and focused his attention on whether Obama, “as a sitting US president, will visit Guyana”:

He will have four years to do it. Will he? Or will he just ignore us as all other US presidents (save for Jimmy Carter) have?

JAMAICA
Jamaican diaspora blogger Geoffrey Philp, however, was of the firm opinion that “the election of Barack Hussein Obama to the highest office in the country has…changed the course of history”:

On many levels, Mr. Obama's election has meant a change in the way we think about each other. Many white Americans have had to put aside their fears of race retribution and their doubts that an African American had the intellectual acumen for the presidency. Within the African American community, there is a sense of triumph and euphoria–one of their own has risen from the nightmare of slavery, racism, and segregation to realize the theme encoded in the so-called “Negro Spirituals”—the dream of freedom.

And yet as revolutionary as Mr. Obama's election appears, there is also something profoundly traditional in the choice that is steeped in American values…Mr. Obama's presidency is symbolic of the change we desire. But as my Sunday school teacher used to say, ‘Faith without works is dead.' And as Mr. Obama early in the campaign reminded us, ‘This election is not about me, it's about you.' How much were we willing to give up, sacrifice, to become better versions of ourselves?

Well, we've taken the first step. But this change won't be easy.

Idle Yout Speeks agreed that Obama was “the best man for the job”, while Moppet waxed poetic about the fact that she could witness this day “in (her) sons' lifetime”:

Nobody's stereotype; America's ambition.

Obama is calmer than calm itself.

Realization of MLK's impossible dream.

Obama is vital, absolutely alive.
God bless him. God guide him. God grant him an' Biden wisdom.
God love him. It's impossible not to love him.

Abeng News Magazine's Kwame McPherson also thought Obama was poetry in motion, while YardFlex.com was quick to congratulate Obama and Biden on their win:

President Obama is definitely fresh, with a global background and global view that will serve to bolster his commitment to bring about change in Washington.

Jamaicans in the US have primarily backed the Obama / Joe Biden campaign and have been quite organized and outspoken, making sure to spread the word and positively impact the outcome.

Jamaicans are extremely proud of President Barack Obama and are thrilled by the success of their efforts in supporting what is the most exiting phenomenon that has appeared on the political scene in decades.

The magnitude of the moment was not lost on Long Bench, who was actually at Chicago's Grant Park:

What a moment. What a speech. What a speech. What depth of character. What a quality person. What a long time for the 106 year old woman from Atlanta to wait for someone of this caliber to step into the role of leader of this United States of America. How could anyone not want this man to be the person who represents them and acts on their behalf on the world stage? He even recognized his non-supporters and did not demonize them - what a display of grace and humility!

I was so moved by the whole thing, I could seriously even imagine myself living here in this city. America seems almost tolerable again. And you know what else? As I listened to him speak, I knew that he would never see it as politically expedient to declare that I, and persons who share my sexual orientation, could not have a place in his Cabinet. That would simply be unthinkable. He is a model of leadership that we could all learn something from.

You really had to be here. It was worth every last minute and cent to have witnessed and participated in this moment

Life, Unscripted, on the Rock wished “Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcom X could be alive to witness this historic day” and Jamaican-born author Pamela Mordecai “wanted to share some things (she) found in (her) little campaign to help Catholics and Evangelicals…see that it's perfectly alright to vote for Obama”:

Here's a quote from a Catholic man planning to vote for Barack Obama: ‘Before abortion was an issue for people, the plight of the african-american was an issue. That issue has never totally been resolved, largely because radical reconstruction in the post civil war era was highjacked by scared white people who didn't like the fact that African-americans were threatening to take the majority away from the whites in southern states… The civil right's movement brought us a little bit closer to equal rights, but not quite all the way. As this issue has been one for longer than the woe v. wade issue has been in existence, I'm voting to settle the problem which has been in longer need of correction.' (I've quoted him verbatim…)

Meanwhile, Francis Wade, a Jamaican who lived in the U.S. for many years before recently deciding to return to Kingston, admitted that he suddenly had “a strong feeling of missing being in America”:

As the results came in for Obama's victory — a landslide in electoral terms — the hope that I can dimly remember associating with the world's foremost democracy started to seep back in, after what seems like an eternity of dark gloom.

The Bush years made me glad to be living back home in Jamaica, away from the ugliness, wars and fear that started for me in 2000 with the Bush election “victory.”

Now, it seems, America is back… simply by demonstrating that so much is possible for a Black man, and by extension, for every person in the world who has ever been told that that “they can't.”

Whether or not Obama turns out to be a great president or not, at this point in time humanity has won an important victory of possibility over cynicism, resignation and despair.

BERMUDA
Further north, Bermudian bloggers were also weighing in. Breezeblog said he has “never been more optimistic about an American presidency” in his lifetime:

President-Elect Barack Obama … it still sounds scarcely believable. It was a privilege to watch this historic moment for America, minorities, and the world when an African-American who was unknown four years ago has achieved a truly astonishing political feat. The audacity of hope indeed.

Vexed Bermoothes thought that Obama “won the US election with a thundering mandate” and called November 4, 2008 “a remarkable day”:

Like Bermuda, America wants new faces and a determination to face the issues rather than wallow in past battles and fears. Put simply, the electorate is tired of the same old shit…the reasonable expectation that the victory is not a mandate for payback but a license to govern with transparency, accountability, and equity.

FreshieBlog declared that he “would be proud to be an American”, but Catch a fire lost his bet that McCain would win:

That's okay. As I’ve said before, I regard Mr. Obama as a lesser evil than Mr. McCain. Watching Mr. McCain’s concession speech though, one did have to wonder why he didn’t speak like that more during the campaign. With the close margin of victory by popular vote, more of that ‘real’ McCain may well have been enough to trump the negative Palin factor and win the election for him.

BARBADOS
Barbadian bloggers, some of the most politically outspoken in the region, were also celebrating the victory. Barbados Free Press was reveling in the accuracy of its election predictions:

In the middle of the Obama - Hillary runoff for the Democratic nomination, we declared that Obama would be the next President of the United States. We felt that victory months ago, but we also said that all this excitement over a black President would soon give way to the fact that Barack Obama’s policies with offshore banking and taxation are distinctly hostile to the interests of Barbados. Black majority nations are going to be very surprised if they think that President Obama will place their interests over the interests of his country.

Still, the image of the United States has been changed overnight and that change may help on many worldwide fronts where the USA has assumed responsibilities or powers in situations it has no right sticking its nose into.

Young diaspora blogger Jdid understood that he was witnessing a piece of history:

Stop for a minute. Just stop. Consider where you are right now in your life and where you were when you heard the news that Barack Obama had won the US presidential election. Bask in the elation and the euphoria, take in the sights and the sounds. Remember them!

Without overly indulging in hyperbole this is truly a momentous occasion. In my lifetime so far I've seen such events as the end of apartheid and the end of the cold war. Those were moments back then that I hoped might come but still never really dreamed would occur. Similarly but oh so much more of a dream, pipe dream even, was the concept of a black president in the US.

We have a new hero. Especially for us who are here in North America as minorities. We no longer only need look to foreign leaders or dead African kings and Pharaohs or Marcus, Martin and Malcolm to point out to our children what black people have and can achieved. We have a real live person closer to home who isn't a rapper, who isn't an athlete, who isn't an entertainer who we can say has achieved the impossible, defied the odds, made it to the very top and looks like you and I.

Cheese-on-bread! added:

Barack Obama's 349 electoral votes to John McCain's 162 signal more than a Democratic win over the Republicans; they symbolise a chance for the world to experience a paradigm shift, to look beyond race and the colour of a man's skin to value his mettle and soul. All I can say is that I feel proud that my son can grow up in a world where he can look at Obama's example and dare to dream.

…while Caribbean Lionesse apologized to America:

America… my bad. We were wrong about you. We completely underestimated you.
And this morning, I am happy to admit I was wrong.

I did not think that Americans were ready to elect a black president. I was convinced, as we all were, that you could not overcome your ‘original sin' of slavery that has tainted racial relations for all of your existence.

Clearly, President-elect Barack Obama saw something that the rest of us did not see. Clearly, you knew within yourself that the world was wrong. That you were bigger and you had come far enough and you were ready.

I am in awe.

CUBA
Cuban bloggers - particularly those in the diaspora - may also have been in awe, but for different reasons. Babalu Blog was gracious about the loss:

Despite my guy having lost and whatever negative feelings that brought upon me, I couldnt help but smile as I watched and listened to fellow Americans rejoicing for being Americans. Believe it or not, it made me feel good. This is, indeed, the greatest country on Earth.

So, despite some trepidation over President elect Obama's possible future policies, and despite a few folks stating overtly that anyone that voted for McCain had to be 'stupid', I'd like to congratulate the President elect and his supporters.

The Cuban Triangle also acknowledged the historical significance of the victory, as he told of an encounter he had at one of Obama's rallies:

Long before the program began, I turned to a black man standing next to me and made an attempt at light humor, telling him that in about three and a half hours, the program would be starting right up.

“I’ve been waiting my whole life,” he responded.

I got the point.

Blog for Cuba thought that Obama's win validates “what we conservatives have always understood, that the USA is the greatest country on earth, a beacon of freedom, where by the pursuit of happiness and the virtue of hard work anyone, no matter how humble their birth, can attain their dreams”. But he also made sure to turn the spotlight right back to Cuba:

Meanwhile, back in the gulag, Cuba's political prisoners are still not free, and 12 million Cubans still lack Human Rights, and are still Castro's slaves. This morning, just like yesterday Cubans still must resolver to put food in their stomachs, and to survive the repression and hardships the Castro dictatorship imposes upon them.

Obama said he will change the world. We shall see.

ST. VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES & DOMINICA
Bloggers from the Windward Islands also had their say. Abeni was proud to announce that…

After centuries of subjugation and segregation I am unashamedly celebrating the fact that a black man is now the Commander in Chief of the United States of the America.

…while Dominica Weekly simply said:

Change has come to America and the world.

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
Down at the southern end of the Caribbean archipelago, bloggers were also celebrating. Coffeewallah had just two words - Barack Obama:

The world changed last night, an infinitesimal shift, those tiny ripples are going to get bigger as the weeks go by, because despite the political game, there is now someone whose office holds so much world significance, whose thinking seems to be radically different from business as usual.

Good luck to you Mr. President.

Media Watch thought that McCain's concession speech contained “lessons for local politicians on how to concede defeat without dividing a nation”, while KnowProSE.com wondered about the role of the Internet in Barack Obama's success - “not in the media blitzes that were focused on the American people, but through discussion using the Internet.”

Notes from Port of Spain urged people to savour the moment:

It's enough to see the end of cowboy politics, at least for now. To see the back of Dubya and Dick and Rumsfeld and Rove, and the shame and disgrace they have brought upon America. To see the end of a man who spent eight presidential years working through private traumas concerning his father. To have avoided the possibility of a President Palin. To move away from the politics of aggression, belligerence, arrogance and pugnacity.

That's more than enough for one sun-soaked morning.

Enjoying the moment was just what Trinidadian diaspora bloggers were doing, with photo-blogger Chookooloonks saying:

I admit it: I burst into tears.

Finally, Guanaguanare said that he looked forward to the U.S. being rewarded for their courage:

Many Americans understood that it could not be business as usual and they voted for change. Only time will tell what will be accomplished in the future but I want to acknowledge what went into the momentous victory that was accomplished tonight. I dream of a better day for all people all over the world. I dare to believe that this might be a beginning.

-It is the end of a dark circle
- It won't be easy to forget
-What will happen to Bush?
- What Bush?

Republishing the cartoon above from a local Portuguese newspaper, Diário de Notícias, Frosado is hopeful that Obama will indeed bring changes:

Como se diz aqui, Bush já não “existe”. Quanto ao futuro, só podemos esperar. Oxalá Obama consiga capitalizar o entusiasmo que conseguiu agregar à sua volta, entre os jovens e pelo mundo inteiro, para a paz e a prosperidade, tão necessárias ao mundo actual. Pessoalmente eu tenho esperança, sem grandes triunfalismos, claro.

As they have said here, Bush no longer “exists.” As for the future, we can only hope. If only Obama manages to capitalize the enthusiasm he kept around him, among young people, around the world, for peace and prosperity, so necessary in the current world. I hope so personally, with no great triumphalism though.

On the other hand, tunku from Malaysia is not very hopeful:

there is so much hope on obama that he will bring changes but knowing the zionist behind the white house administration, it won't happen.the changes will be just good for them not for the rest of the world.now we will see the real obama.

Marcos Tchôla says Obama will represent the interests of any imperialist president, regardless of whether the color of his skin is “white, brown, pink or orange.”

When it comes to Brazil, the blogger is actually worried:

Em meio a campanha e a todas as besteiras que os candidatos prometem e inventam li uma opinião do novo presidente que me deixou preocupado. Ele acredita que a Amazônia - o pulmão do mundo- é área internacional e que o Brasil não tem condições de cuidar de seus interesses sozinho. Com isso ele já antecipa de forma sutil, mas real, o desejo de fincar pé - através de uma base militar na região- para proteger que acha ser dele também. Há algum tempo atrás cicurlava na internet um e-mail que mostrava que nos livros americanos a área da floresta não aparecia pertecente ao Brasil. Esse fato foi no governo Bush!

During the campaign and among all the nonsense that candidates promise and come up with, I read a viewpoint of the new president that got me worried. He believes that the Amazon - the lungs of the world - is an international area and that Brazil is unable to care for it on its own. With this, he anticipates a subtle but real desire to set his foot in, through a military base in the region, to protect the area he believes belongs to him too. Some time ago there was an email making the rounds on the Internet showing that in American books, the forest did not belong to Brazil. This was during the Bush administration!

Green activist and writer and economist from the UK, Derek Wall asks whether things will get better under an Obama presidency.

Well now he has won my fear is that he will disappoint ‘hope', I remember an inspiring young politician who over turned right wing rule and promised that ‘things can only get better', he never convinced me but if there had been a blog o sphere the bloggers would have worshipped him. Obama is no Tony Blair, however my fear is that he will have neither the intention nor the power to break with neo-liberalism, sadly the American dream which is pretty much every one else nightmare will continue…I hope I am wrong!

From Thailand, Jing Reed says that the U.S. and the entire world have at least one reason to celebrate this victory - it is the end of the Bush Era:

Tonight's victory proclaims the end of the dark years of the Bush regression. Obama's victory speech was inspiring and eloquent, as befitting a President of the U.S.

Carlos Serra, from Mozambique, had predicted Obama's victory and now predicts changes:

os fatalistas estruturais dirão que nada irá mudar na história americana, que Obama será, apenas, mais um presidente ao serviço do Capital e do predadorismo militar. Os optimistas estruturais dirão que muita coisa irá mudar, que Obama irá introduzir uma página substancial de Estado social no livro do neo-liberalismo e reduzir o predadorismo. Mas escutem: nunca a história avança com as grandes coisas, mas com as pequenas. A história muda quando, no sovaco da vida, germinou uma diferença, pequena que seja. E Obama é essa diferença, a sua eleição foi e é essa diferença. Ele vai ser uma diagonal entre as duas teses. Pouco a pouco, contra racistas e racializantes. Com África inteira dentro dele, cumprindo seu destino queniano. N'Kosi sikeleli Africa!

The structural fatalistic people will say that nothing will change in American history, that Obama is, simply, another chairman to serve the capital and military predators. The structural optimists will say that many things will change, that Obama will introduce a substantial page of the welfare state in the book of neo-liberalism and reduce predators. But listen: history never moves with the big things but with the small ones. History changes when, in the armpit of life, a seed of difference germinates, even if a small one. And Obama is this difference, his election was and is that difference. He will be a diagonal between the two theses. Little by little, against racists and racialists. With the whole Africa inside of him, fulfilling his Kenyan destiny. N'Kosi sikeleli Africa!

Jentilisa writes in depth about the fascination with the American Dream. As a case in point, he points towards a popular TV show opening with the spangled banner and a cartoon where a farmer goes to the voting booth asking if he can vote for Obama. He asks where is the drive to show that much interest in our own flag and our nation(mg):

eharehan'ny Amerikana ery ny sainany fa ny sainam-pirenenao mpamaky io moa mba ankafizinao va? Sa tahaka ny ahoana no atao mba hitiavanao azy?

Everywhere in the USA, you will see people displaying their flags with pride but how about your flag dear reader ? What would it take for you to cherish it as much ?

He adds:

Ny Amerikana Amerikana foana na iza mitondra eo na iza! Mirehareha amin'ny mahaizy azy izy. Manandratra ny kolontsainy izy, miaro ny tombotsoany amin'ny fomba rehetra izy fa ny anao kosa manao ahoana? Toa manao fitan-droa… sadasada ihany fa sady te-ho mpitarika na olona mpitantana ambony eto Madagasikara no mizaka ny zom-pirenena heverina fa miaro ny tombotsoany manokana.

The USA will always be the USA, whoever wins this thing ! They will carry their identity with pride. They will hurt the environment* they promote their culture and protect their interest but how about your own interest? It seems that it’s a bit fishy…they want to be the leader of the world and at the time support the development of Madagascar, yet also look out for their particular interest in the region.

 As the results of the election became official, many Facebook users reacted. Alain Rasendra offers his take (fr):

Grant Park m'a mis la larme à l'oeil. C'est l'Amérique que nous aimons tous, avec son leadership rassembleur et mobilisateur. Bravo à tous les Américains d'offrir au monde ce wind of change.

Grant Park got me all teared up. This is the America that we all like, a mobilizing and uniting force. Congratulations to all americans for offering this wind of change.

Sandy Rarivoson observes (fr):

voici venu l'ère des métis

The era of racial mixes is here

Thierry Andriamirado says not the case in Madagascar though (fr):

Si je ne me trompe les métis n'ont clairement pas le droit de se présenter aux élections présidentieles à Madagascar, d'après la Constitution en vigueur.. bah au moins je suis tranquile, mes enfants ne se lanceront donc pas dedans.

If I am not mistaken, according to Madagascar, biracials are not allowed to run in the presidential election in Madagascar. At least, I am at peace, my kids will not get into all that.

Other Malagasy netizens explained why they have followed the election so closely and what an Obama administration would mean to them:
Hasina Noel posts on his Facebook profile:

This proves to the world that the U.S is still one of the greatest country in the world. Something like this will be almost impossible in any other countries.

Lalaina Ramarivelo adds:

I would say that I hope that the whole world would have a new vision of our race, black people.

(*correction: translation corrected by reader Rado)

My thoughts, in concise form, are these:

1. America may be entering not only a new period of “mass democracy” but might very well, from an internal sense, move into areas of “disruptive democracy” as formerly not fully integrated ‘outsiders', who feel politically disenfranchised, move into elements of power on all levels. A political establishment depends on the functioning of elites and a balance of cooptation and cooperation are necessary. Can Americans do that?

2. Obama wishes to change not only America but the world. He was not being flighty but expressing the typical progressive and radical messianic political vision. Can he do it and can he do it properly?

3. Israel has much to be anxious about: Obama, his advisors, his agenda, his preferences, his ideological allegiances. And make no mistake, damaging Israel's interests, its security, its existence, will also work on America. When Obama refers to justice, he does not mean Jewish/Israeli justice. He may be a politician of faith but does he truly believe? And what does he believe?