Barack Obama Elected President!

[Greg's GL]

I'm not relishing the thought of a filibuster free Senate either. Even my liberal bleeding heart would like to see some opposition or bipartisanship (as the case may be). Generally, I agree with most things that the Dems stand for but any party - any party - when it has too much power is destined for corruption. JMHO.

We're cool, my man. I was never mad at you, just concerned as to what was goin' on. You were on the warpath there for awhile, huh???

Looks like there's another govenor being considered for a cabinet position. I've never heard of Ray Mabus. Anyone have any insight? I'm wondering what happened with Hagel and Lugar; we heard a lot about them before the election possibly having a place in Obama's cabinet. That chatter seems to have cooled off a little, don'tcha think?

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/200...21/1684688.aspx

I'm happy that Bush extended unemployment benefits. There was something on the Noon News here in Central FL that 1 in 14 of us in this part of the state are unemployed. Over 140K people! They have started turning people away from job fairs - that's how bad it is! It's pretty scary stuff.

[Jess]

I think he was governor of Mississippi back in the 80s. I can see him getting something, but a Cabinet spot? I think that sounds more like Friends of Mabus than Friends of Obama spreading that one.

I think I read that Lugar did not want an Cabinet position. I do wonder what has happened with Hagel. I know Obama is talking about keeping Gates at Defense.

[Dr. Jay S.W.]

Could anyone imagine what this transition would be like had John Mccain been elected?

[MoTheGreat]

Don't know if ya'll put this up.

50 Things You Did Not Know About Barack Obama

>

> • He collects Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian comics

>

> • He was known as "O'Bomber" at high school for his skill at > basketball

>

> • His name means "one who is blessed" in Swahili

>

> • His favourite meal is wife Michelle's shrimp linguini

>

> • He won a Grammy in 2006 for the audio version of his memoir, Dreams > From My Father

>

> • He is left-handed – the sixth post-war president to be > left-handed

>

> • He has read every Harry Potter book

>

> • He owns a set of red boxing gloves autographed by Muhammad Ali

>

> • He worked in a Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop as a teenager and now > can't stand ice cream

>

> • His favourite snacks are chocolate-peanut protein bars

>

> • He ate dog meat, snake meat, and roasted grasshopper while living > in Indonesia

>

> • He can speak Spanish

>

> • While on the campaign trail he refused to watch CNN and had sports > channels on instead

>

> • His favourite drink is black forest berry iced tea

>

> • He promised Michelle he would quit smoking before running for > president – he didn't

>

> • He kept a pet ape called Tata while in Indonesia

>

> He can bench press an impressive 200lbs

>

> • He was known as Barry until university when he asked to be > addressed by his full name

>

> • His favourite book is Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

>

> • He visited Wokingham, Berks, in 1996 for the stag party of his > half-sister's fiancé, but left when a stripper arrived

>

> • His desk in his Senate office once belonged to Robert Kennedy

>

> • He and Michelle made $4.2 million (£2.7 million) last year, with > much coming from sales of his books

>

> • His favourite films are Casablanca and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's > Nest

>

> • He carries a tiny Madonna and child statue and a bracelet belonging > to a soldier in Iraq for good luck

>

> • He applied to appear in a black pin-up calendar while at Harvard > but was rejected by the all-female committee.

>

> • His favourite music includes Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Bach and The > Fugees

>

> • He took Michelle to see the Spike Lee film Do The Right Thing on > their first date

>

> • He enjoys playing Scrabble and poker

>

> • He doesn't drink coffee and rarely drinks alcohol

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> • He would have liked to have=2 0been an architect if he were not a > politician

>

> • As a teenager he took drugs including marijuana and cocaine

>

> • His daughters' ambitions are to go to Yale before becoming an > actress (Malia, 10) and to sing and dance (Sasha, 7)

>

> • He hates the youth trend for trousers which sag beneath the > backside

>

> • He repaid his student loan only four years ago after signing his > book deal

>

> • His house in Chicago has four fire places

>

> • Daughter Malia's godmother is Jesse Jackson's daughter Santita

>

> • He says his worst habit is constantly checking his BlackBerry

>

> • He uses an Apple Mac laptop

>

> • He drives a Ford Escape Hybrid, having ditched his gas-guzzling > Chrysler 300

>

> • He wears $1,500 (£952) Hart Schaffner Marx suits

>

> • He owns four identical pairs of black size 11 shoes

>

> • He has his hair cut once a week by his Chicago barber, Zariff, who > charges $21 (£13)

>

> • His favourite fictional television programmes are Mash and The Wire

>

> • He was given the code name "Renegade" by his Secret Service > handlers

>

> • He20was nicknamed "Bar" by his late grandmother

>

> • He plans to install a basketball court in the White House grounds

>

> • His favourite artist is Pablo Picasso

>

> • His speciality as a cook is chilli

>

> • He has said many of his friends in Indonesia were "street urchins"

>

> • He keeps on his desk a carving of a wooden hand holding an egg, a > Kenyan symbol of the fragility of life

>

> • His late father was a senior economist for the Kenyan government

>

> That's a BIG jump from the last US president.

[MoTheGreat]

Before Barack Obama officially becomes president, the Electoral College has to vote him in on December 15. The Electoral College is an appointed body created by the founding fathers, to be the last safeguard with the voting power to certify or reject the President-elect after the American public votes for him or her on Election Day. Now, a small group, mostly based in the South, has started an Internet campaign questioning Obama’s citizenship, claiming that he was born in Kenya. State officials in several states report receiving an increased number of letters from citizens requesting the name, identity and contact info for their states reps to the Electoral College. Traffic on one Web site supporting the campaign, Obamacrimes.com, has spiked to 105 million hits since Election Day, reports the Christian Science Monitor. Former presidential hopeful Alan Keyes is involved in the movement and lawsuits have been filed in two states in an effort to block Obama’s presidency. “People are going after electors now because they can only vote for a qualified candidate, and [Obama] hasn’t shown he’s qualified,” says Philip Berg of Lafayette Hill, Pa., a Democrat and lawyer who has filed two lawsuits calling Obama’s citizenship into question. Experts say the chances of Electoral College members voting against the will of the people are next to none. But the movement’s members are actively contacting Electoral College voters, with audacity and hope, in a last-ditch effort to switch the outcome of the historic ‘08 elections.