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Stars and Stripes reporters overseas will be collecting reaction from troops (including those in Iraq) on the election and putting them up ASAP on their site.
U.S. Troops Cautious About Obama Victory
Iraq Troops React To Election
UPDATE: Here are some MilBlog reactions:
[Bounammer - Scott Kesterson: - in Afghansitan ]: “The guys have their opinions. It’s definitely interesting.” He smiled and then chuckled.
“And what about you? How are you feeling about the election?”
“The media seems to be focusing on the fact that he is a black President. It has never been about race for me.”
He continued, “I looked at each candidate for what I thought would be best for the country. I felt Obama had a better approach for the country and what we are facing. Black candidates of the past have had black agendas. I felt Obama was speaking to all of America.”
The Staff Sergeant’s focus then shifted, “People get wrapped around the person who is President. But he can only do so much. We need to be focusing on the legislation that comes from the Democrats and Republicans we elect to Congress. They affect America more. Obama can come in and push an agenda, but if the Congress doesn’t buy off on it, nothing will happen.”
As we talked I asked the Staff Sergeant about some of the discussions that had been happening throughout the day.
[Fobbits need ice cream too - in Iraq]: Welp, new president-elect. First African-American president and all that shit, I suppose. I don't buy into that whatever-American shit though. You're an American or you're not. My grandparents immigrated from Norway after WW I, but I don't call myself a Norwegian-American. Black people over here have to wear body armor and get shot at just as much as us white guys; ethnicity really means nothing in the Army.
[S4 at War - in Iraq ]: Things have picked up here a bit so I haven’t had much time to create my typical brilliance. But I have been asked quite a bit what the military’s reaction to the election is. Now, I wouldn’t presume to ask any of my non-military friends what the civilian world’s reaction to the election is but I’ll do my part nonetheless. Here are a few overheards from today:
“He’ll close Guantanamo. That will be his big military move. For the rest of us motherfuckers up in here it’ll be the same old shit.”
“People are captivated when he talks.” “They cry and shit like he’s Michael Jackson.”
“He’s got Oprah, you don’t need shit else.”
“I’ll tell you this, if he gets me out of here I’ll vote for him again.”
I was watching the news with some of the civilians who work here and was surprised at how much more intense they were on their views.
[Bad Dogs and Such - in Iraq]: So...about that election - Well. That was a little more...definite than I had thought it would be.
I spent most of the morning in a room full of Sons of Iraq leadership, watching Al Arabia's coverage of said election. Explaining the electoral college through an interpreter is, in case you've never done it, kind of an adventure.
[CDR Salamander]: We are us and they are them. Also, we should all bask in the glory that to much of the Muslim world that knows their Sharia - we just elected and apostate to Islam as our President. That should twist the knickers of a few folks out there. In summary; the Republic will survive, do not despair - for the wheel will turn.
...Now, clear the cheese cloth from our eyes and lets take a sober look at what decision the American voters have made. We now have waiting for us in the new year the most Leftist government this nation has seen arguably in 70 years or 40 years depending on what formula you want to use. You can also argue that the potential exists for this to be the most Left - only time will tell
[Maj Z ]: I realized something today, as I watched our next batch of leaders take a PT test:
We're going to be okay. More than that, we are going to be a stronger nation.
We are a resilient country.
...Barack Obama is the new President. Support him until 2012. He is OUR President. He deserves OUR respect to do otherwise makes US the moonbats. Now is the time for us to show the world that we are not a nation divided. Our strength is in our unity.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you have to love or even like Barack Obama, but respect the office. I've had several bosses in the Army that I hated, both personally and professionally. They were still the boss, and they still got my respect, because they were in charge.
[This Ain't Hell]: I dispute this whole “historical” thing - I have these thoughts zooming around in my head and find it hard to work without writing them down.
I think it’s absolutely unAmerican to think of this as an historical moment in our nation’s long journey. It’s unConservative - and that’s been our whole problem with minorities, but it comes with the ideological territory.
In our Declaration of Independence, it’s written that “…all Men are created equal….” It doesn’t make a racial distinction.
[No Angst zone]: I must respectfully disagree. President-elect Obama shares absolutely none of the heritage of racial repression that has darkened this country's history. A man who has formative ties to Kansas, Hawaii, Kenya, and Indonesia does not know what it is like to have a father who can remember being fire-hosed and attacked with dogs while marching for civil rights. A man who attended Harvard does not know what it is like to work a job while attending night classes to become the first college graduate in his family.
The day we elect a person who grew up in a small town in Mississippi (or Alabama, or Louisiana, or Georgia), who attended a small state college, and who can trace their lineage back to a sharecropper and, before that, a slave, THAT will be a historic day for America.
[The War on Big Tobacco - in Iraq ]: There Were No Tanks in the Street - Mainly because all the tanks are over here in Iraq. But seriously, folks…
I’m smoking a Hecho a Mano Primo in celebration because when you think about it, it’s a victory no matter who won.
To 44 peaceful transfers of power...
G-d bless America.
[A Soldier's Perspective]: The fact of the matter is that whether we like it or not, Barack Hussein Obama will be this nation's 44th President of the United States. Like Bush before him, he deserves the respect that the office commands. The fact that Obama has won an office that only 43 people before him have ever held is an achievement that we must recognize.
[The Armorer]: But, now that there's going to be a Democrat in the White House, patriotism will be in again - so maybe the movies will be a little less dreadful, though they'll be no less preachy.
Does the election of a black man to the Presidency of the United States mean we can finally give Europe the finger? Seeing as how those hosers have never elected anything but a pasty-white European to high elective office?
[Illini6. - formerly known as Miserable Donuts ]: ...I'm afraid that this president is an unknown factor as far as defense and he will be pushed, just to see what he will do. I think this is similar to Kennedy and Khrushchev with the Cuban Missile Crisis. This is why I say, "Calm down." Let's see what the man does when his back is against it.
This election may have made some of our friends friendlier, but remember, regardless of the outcome of this election, America still has people who hate us and I think the world has just gotten a little less safe.
[Neptunus Lex]: There’s always change. ...We can also say farewell to the legions of homeless, at least for a while. That’s been solved. And all of those loons on stilt puppets. Farewell to all that.
Sometimes you’ve got to find the pony in the pile of shit.
Which is not to say that we give our new political class a pass. We should watch them like hawks, compare their policies to our preferences, hold them accountable, safeguard the Constitution.
[The Sniper]: I don’t like you because I don’t trust you. I think you’re a socialist, I think you’re a media whore, I think you’re a flash in the pan… but you won. So congratulations… you now own the most powerful office in the world. Everyone in the world is looking at you as an example of America and more importantly, an example of an African-American. Little black kids across America are lloking up to you. Try not to eff it up.
[Matt - BlackFive]: I do worry about nationalized healthcare from the standpoint of innovation, quality and access. First, what large system has the federal government ever taken over and made better? Second, if the government could get military healthcare to work well, maybe, just maybe, I'd buy into the idea.
I am concerned about defense spending - military innovations and technology, pay, equipment, etc.
[Deebow - BlackFive]: Now is not the time to shirk our duties as men and women who are used to fighting. Now is the time to gird our loins, sharpen our axes, gather our allies and make our stand based upon our beliefs and fight tooth and nail for all that we have; never yielding or giving an inch on our beliefs.
We will DEMAND that President Obama not cut and run from Iraq or Afghanistan.
We will DEMAND ...
[Grim - BlackFive]: I see that John McCain has called Senator Obama -- now President-elect Obama -- to concede defeat. Our country has made a horrible mistake; that much is clear. We will raise taxes in a recession, and cut military spending during a war.
[Bouhammer]: Audio Blog: Post Election comments - This Audio blog is my personal opinion and political rant of this Presidential Election and what it means to this country….in my humble opinion.
[CounterColumn]: Ok, now, as a uniformed service member (part time), I need to start to figure out how to run a blog when I am not likely to be very supportive of the liberal-in-chief's policies - if not outright contemptuous. Now, I hope I am pleasantly surprised by the future Obama administration, but it seems pretty clear to me that the man is part and parcel of the worst that Chicago machine politics has to offer.
Think about that for a second. Of all the machines Obama could have come from, he had to come from the single most corrupt machine in the country (with the possible exception of Hawaii's Democratic machine). And then ...
UPDATE: LT Nixon has more
