Barack Obama Elected President Of USA

[jdinasia]

Pandora's Box has been opened. After almost two years of this American Idol candidate, whose previous experience of being a state senator and 140 days in the U.S. Senate leaves him woefully short, I am yet to hear what he is going to do. Tourism to Thailand is going to drop. The Dow Jones is already down 177 points as I write this, having gained yesterday on hopes of a McCain victory.

But here is what we can look forward to in America:

Obama is on record as saying "if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can; it's just that it will bankrupt them because they're going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that's being emitted." Man made Global Warming is a HOAX. The majority of electricity generated in the United States comes from burning coal. Guess what will happen to everyone's electric bill.

The Bush tax cuts expire in 2010. Obama has pledged over ONE TRILLION DOLLARS in new Federal spending. Obama is on record as saying that he wants to "spread the wealth around". This means that in 2010, our federal income taxes will INCREASE 20-87%. Here's a comparison:

Taxes under Clinton 1999 Taxes under Bush 2008

Single making 30K - tax $8,400 Single making 30K - tax $4,500

Single making 50K - tax $14,000 Single making 50K - tax $12,500

Single making 75K - tax $23,250 Single making 75K - tax $18,750

Married making 60K - tax $16,800 Married making 60K- tax $9,000

Married making 75K - tax $21,000 Married making 75K - tax $18,750

Married making 125K - tax $38,750 Married making 125K - tax $31,250

Who gets hurt the most? The single taxpayer under $30,000/married under $60,000 will see an 87% INCREASE. Bill Clinton ran on the lie of a middle class tax cut, and then enacted the largest tax INCREASE in U.S. history. Obama and the liberals are not going to keep the current tax plan in place. Too bad, because EVERY time taxes have been cut, the actual dollar amount to the U.S. Treasury has gone up. In some states, federal income, social security, medicare, and state taxes are going to consume over 60% of every dollar made. That is before any state sales tax kicks in on purchases, along with gasoline tax, energy tax increases, etc.

Corporate taxes in America are the second highest in the world, and Obama wants to increase them as if they don't pay enough. Exxon Mobil pays more in income taxes ($27.9 billion) annually as the entire bottom 50% of individual taxpayers ($27.4 billion), which is 65,000,000 people. People characterize Exxon's profits in terms of nearly $1,500 in profit per second. Exxon also paid $4,100 a second in taxes. In 1Q 2008, Exxon paid $29.3 BILLION in all taxes combined with a net profit of $10.9 BILLION. Almost 75% of every dollar of revenue goes to taxes, but it's too low.

Business needs to make a profit to stay in business and any increase will only result in higher prices for the consumer, and more companies relocating off shore. Jimmy Carter tried this idiotic crap with his "windfall profits tax" on the oil companies and only succeeded in increased prices and gas rationing/gas lines that stretched for blocks.

These are not opinions, these are hard economic FACTS. The harder we get hit here in America with Obama's Marxist plans, the fewer travelers are going to "spread the wealth around" in LOS.

Well said, however, Obama will be hamstrung with the current economic situation for at least 2 years by some estimates. Thank God the socialists will be unable to tax us into oblivion as planned - "spreading the wealth", at least not for a while.

You kids have been watching Fox way too often ...... do you realize he said saxes up 87%? LOL

[gonzobrains]

Well, if Churchill had not screwed up Iraq originally America and George Bush would not be in this situation in the first place!

So VERY VERY pleased about this. I too am a Brit. For the past 8 years the world has suffered a moron. I can't wait to watch Presidential press conferences without hiding behind my chair out of embarrassment and concern (a mixed emotion set that was the only thing that George W Bush EVER gave me). I really can't wait.

I am Jingoistic, so it hurts me to say that I can't wait for America to be GREAT again. Good luck Obama, but we all know that you can do it.

Edited November 6, 2008 by gonzobrains

[grandpops]

Also fallen foul of the ACLU and the gay rights activists. None of whome want to accept the majority vote passed in the ban on gay marriage across a number of States. Think the Mc'Cain camp will be storming the whitehouse anytime soon alleging stupidity on the part of the American voter?

TO give this a Thailand theme, we have seen something like this here. It's where minority groups think everyone else too stupid to vote on issues like this and therefore don't accept the results. Lot more to come on this as every looney left group in the US is going to be pushing for their day in the sun.

Is this the shortest honeymoon period on record?

[koheesti]

Alrighty then America spoke & obviously the majority as well as the electoral college proved that it was time to give the old clan the heave ho. Not only that but the congress is now Hopefully a little more unified so they can get on with the chore of picking up the pieces of the last administration. I never heard such sore losers.

<deleted>? Are you serious? So where are the calls from the losing side about Obama "stealing the election" like the losers (Dems) in both 2000 & 2004 were whining about? The Gore/Lieberman ticket was renamed after the election to Sore/Loserman, remember that one?

The past is the past. The Chads are gone but the memory lives on. Are you a racist or just a little deranged?

As I posted before I have been a registered Republican since 1976 when I first was able to vote.

Bush was a loser & never voted for him or his dad. At least pops had some actual intelligence.

I doubt if Donald Trump even voted for George Mclone & failing Palin. America spoke up & you are in a minority.As the Trumpster puts it Your fired (the Repubs) & this was the sediment of America. For the first time in history the young people got out & voted. They had to. The good old boys took em to the cleaners. Not only did our generation get stuffed- but the youngins get to pay for the mess for the next century.

They had there chance for 8 years -fought every issue tooth & nail. Cost America dearly not only by putting us so deep in the hole, but America got to lose face enduring the worst president in history. Bush makes Carter look like a saint.

The last admin could have changed anywhere along the way- but they chose to play gunslinger with Americans integrity.

No wonder they repubs not only got routed & it was a rout- but they lost a significant amount of seats in the congress as well.

So enough with sour grapes. Looks like it is time to buck up & get a life. I am not a Democrat or a republican-just an American that wants to see the country get back on track. Obviously America made the choice- more than 2-1 not a small margin but a huge defeat for your side. Wah Wah Get over it. Honestly you are sounding like the bully that got the <deleted> kicked out of him in school. Your welcome to your opinion & anyway you want to vote- but please spare the American expat community the world done me wrong song. we moved to LOS to get away from this.

I hope that this has a positive affect in LOS. The Thai networks were more engulfed in this election than their own it seems.

The whole world has favored the change of tide in America & I for one relish not being looked at as a fool cause of poor decisions in politics.

blah, blah, blah

Nothing personal, but go take a walk & look at the countryside here & contemplate how nice Thailand is & Quit complaining.

At least give the new pres. elect a chance.

Peace out. I am no longer going to feed the TROLLS.

Congrads to America's decision in making the right choice. Go Obama!!!!!!!!!

Koheesti as my signature says. When life gives you a lemon go make lemonade.

Better than sour grapes!

Beardog, I haven't complained about a thing here. I have nothing to "get over". I'm OK with Obama as President. YOU are the one who made the comment, "I never heard such sore losers". I just pointed out that the past two US elections the losing side was much more vocal than what we are hearing now.

[jdinasia]

The problem I had during this election was white people being accused of racism because they voted for McCain. But is a black person voting for Obama any less racist?

Jeff

How about anyone from an Asian background?

It is normal to be excited about "one of your own" coming into power. I think you do black Americans an insult to imply that they may have voted against their self interest, and voted on race alone. They most certainly do not in general vote on race alone. Rather as a block like all blocks, voting is largely determined by party, political ideology, and economic self interest. Normally, 90 percent of black Americans vote for the presidential candidate from the democratic party. This time it was 95 percent. Black Americans are the most loyal and reliable base for the democratic party (second only to gays and Jews) and it is about time they had one of theirs at the top of the ticket.

With some exceptional people .. both eloquent, educated AND in the past staunch Republicans crossing the aisle to vote Obama!

(Like Colin Powell)

[Swanky]

Moonbats and wingnuts.

[maccaroni man]

This will be the biggest "We told you so" in the history of the earth. All the idiotic sheeple believe whatever the media tells you...

LOL

HOPE Ohhhhhh ahhhhhh HOPE oooohhhhhh ahhhhh

Hope is a pacifier for reality.

For which you will get a nice dose of when you see just how much of an empty suit your "messiah" is.

Baaaaaaaaaa Baaaaaaaa went the sheeple...

Ron Paul would have made real change for the better, but hey who needs it when we have the messiah... go Hollywood go!!!

Many have already said that he will be another Carter one term of desaster but what gets me is that he like carter will be paid for life because of 4 short years of work and can you imagine a Carter Obama world tour? God help us

[Swanky]

God help us

Is there a god? How can one contact him or her?

Edited November 6, 2008 by Swanky

[koheesti]

I wonder if we get a full black president one day if he will lay claim to being the first "true" African American president?

I'm not sure anyone here remembers but Bill Clinton was called the "first black president" by Nobel Prize winning American author Toni Morrison in 1998. "Morrison wrote that, since Whitewater, Bill Clinton had been mistreated because he "displays almost every trope of blackness: single-parent household, born poor, working-class, saxophone-playing, McDonald's-and-junk-food-loving boy from Arkansas.""

[venturalaw]

I have observed for many months now, the bashing that my country, the United States of America, has taken on this forum. I have chosen not to reply because although I am angered by the hate filled rhetoric, I also know that is a right of everyone to have and express their opinion. That being said, I have to join in this thread stating my own views on this discussion.

Obama ran a great campaign and is a charismatic personality, so he is to be commended for that, but that’s as far as I’m going with the praise for him. How an American majority (and a majority of the rest of the world) can be fooled by the lies and false promises is beyond me. So many facts about him have been overlooked and excused (past associations, radical views and voting record, when he did vote) by the American mainstream media that the advantage just couldn’t be overcome by the McCain campaign. He and the democratic party are no doubt moving this country into socialism, admitted by Obama himself, when he said he intended to take from those earning more to those not earning at all, by spreading the wealth. I do not relish the thought of giving those who are capable of earning their own living some of my hard earned money so they don‘t have to be bothered with working, but if you do, by all means go right ahead and give up yours. Also, this idea of universal health care, who do you think will pay for that? The working class of America, of course. The truth is that even now, no one in America is turned away from hospital care when it is needed, whether they can pay or not. It wasn’t that long ago that the Democratic leaders of Congress were testifying that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were doing well and certainly didn’t need any more regulatory oversight, just go back and look at the congressional records if you don’t believe me.

For all the Bush haters and Anti-Americans, I say to you , <deleted> off, especially you anti-American Americans! I hope all of you are in Thailand now and stay there for the rest of your lives and better yet give up your citizenship, particularly the ones whom have stated that you are for the first time proud of your country (but I feel for Thailand because you are probably the Thai bashers too, you know who you are, the self-righteous, self-professed intellectuals). It seems most of the world loves to blame the USA for all the problems of the world, but I guess that’s easier than seeing the truth and accepting responsibility for your own actions.

We in America are not “war mongers” as some of you portray us, Bush is not a “war monger” as so many like to call him, but if you believe that protecting your citizens is the wrong thing to do, then that is probably why most of your countries are no longer able to defend yourselves. I know some will say that going into Iraq was wrong and goes beyond protecting your borders and citizens at home, to you I say, you have no idea of National Security and what it takes in today’s world to insure such. Those who claim that it was an oil issue all along, maybe that was a part of it, but if you think that the oil and energy of a country is not a national security issue, then you are ill informed as well as naive. It doesn’t take an intellectual to realize how the recent increases in oil prices has negatively affected the entire world.

I was in Iraq and I know how the majority of the people reacted to our being there, it was with open arms and gratitude. What you see on the news cast of protest where instigated by radicals and insurgents, and don’t bother arguing with me unless you were there and have your own experience to claim different. What you don’t see on the mainstream newscast is all of the positive work that we and the other members of the coalition forces have done in Iraq. I fought alongside British and Polish forces and I didn’t hear any of them b**ching and crying about why we were there. Most of them are great guys and gals and I was proud to be associated with them.

It is my sincere hope that the United States of America will continue to be the greatest country on earth and the Leader of the Free World in spite of how this election turned out.

I agree with you and thank you for your service.

[koheesti]

God help us

Is there a god? How can one contact him or her?

There's one sure way to find out. I'm not sure you'd be up for it though.

[Swanky]

God help us

Is there a god? How can one contact him or her?

There's one sure way to find out. I'm not sure you'd be up for it though.

Had one in my bed this morning, does that count?

[bonobo]

Many have already said that he will be another Carter one term of desaster but what gets me is that he like carter will be paid for life because of 4 short years of work and can you imagine a Carter Obama world tour? God help us

 

There has been some Carter-bashing in this thread. I am really not sure why. I didn't vote for Carter, but he was one of the most honorable men to occupy the White House. Yes, he was not a very effective president, but he was not in anyone's pocket and tried to what was right, not what was politically expedient, and since leaving office, he has not tried to use his presidency for his own personal gain but rather to right many wrongs at home and abroad in areas ranging from housing in the US to elections in Latin America to fighting juvenile blindness in Africa. Like his policies or not, like his performance as president or not, he is none-the-less a good man who deserves our respect.

[Jingthing]

I wonder if we get a full black president one day if he will lay claim to being the first "true" African American president?

I'm not sure anyone here remembers but Bill Clinton was called the "first black president" by Nobel Prize winning American author Toni Morrison in 1998. "Morrison wrote that, since Whitewater, Bill Clinton had been mistreated because he "displays almost every trope of blackness: single-parent household, born poor, working-class, saxophone-playing, McDonald's-and-junk-food-loving boy from Arkansas.""

Of course Bill Clinton has soul but that was only poetic license. Nobody took that SERIOUSLY!

Obama has built a totally new electoral base. His victory was wide and broad and nationwide. If he can manage to succeed, this may be the beginning of the end of the kind of failed right wing war mongering old style Bush doctrinaire politics expressed by the good soldier above. Thats an awful lot of pressure on one man. We shall see.

Edited November 6, 2008 by Jingthing

[jdinasia]

Also fallen foul of the ACLU and the gay rights activists. None of whome want to accept the majority vote passed in the ban on gay marriage across a number of States. Think the Mc'Cain camp will be storming the whitehouse anytime soon alleging stupidity on the part of the American voter?

TO give this a Thailand theme, we have seen something like this here. It's where minority groups think everyone else too stupid to vote on issues like this and therefore don't accept the results. Lot more to come on this as every looney left group in the US is going to be pushing for their day in the sun.

Is this the shortest honeymoon period on record?

LOL

though I fail to follow "also fallen foul"

It took ages for blacks and women to get equality .... it will take time for other groups too! The tyranny of the majority always takes time to change. Basic rights (in the US) like inheritance , adoption, legal next of kin status etc are di riguer in many developed nations and becoming more common every year. It just takes time to deal with the "We are Holier than Thou and our God doesn't approve of you" crowd

The good news is, and I don't see any of you mentioning this yet .... bringing your wife/fiance' home to the US should get easier! I don't expect Obama to tackle US Immigration as a high priority but I do expect him to do something positive in that area! Fortunately it isn't an issue for us ... but so many of my straight friends have difficulties in this area that I for one want to see it changed!

[koheesti]

The good news is, and I don't see any of you mentioning this yet .... bringing your wife/fiance' home to the US should get easier! I don't expect Obama to tackle US Immigration as a high priority but I do expect him to do something positive in that area!

Let him first use his new position to see to it that his long lost Aunt doesn't get kicked out of the country. Then he can start on wives.

[TAWP]

I do understand the sentiment of Americans who now claim to be proud of America again. I congratulate them. I belong to the `rest of the world` where the election and the outcome are seen as a breath of fresh air, and maybe of a chance to do things a bit different now.

I don't understand that " skin" is an issue. Now he is not really black, or is black depending, on what side of the fence you are...

It is ridiculous for any country that would liked to be looked upon as free and tolerant, that this is even an issue.

Not many traditionally 'white' countries have had a black Head of State. (are there ANY other than South Africa, and can we count them?)

Granted, the UK and their puppies can't have one ... but have they had a black PM? Has France? has any country in Europe? (I honestly don't know but I don't think so!) What about the USA's liberal neighbors to the North? ....

What country is your rest of the world Carib?

Many countries in Europe are Kingdoms and therefor cannot have an head of state of different complexity than the normal...in the foreseeable future.

[Jingthing]

The good news is, and I don't see any of you mentioning this yet .... bringing your wife/fiance' home to the US should get easier! I don't expect Obama to tackle US Immigration as a high priority but I do expect him to do something positive in that area! Fortunately it isn't an issue for us ... but so many of my straight friends have difficulties in this area that I for one want to see it changed!

Hmmm. Let me have a look at the list of Obama's priorities.

Oh, there it is, make it easier for American punters to bring back their Thai honeys ...

I do expect there to be some kind of immigration reform, most importantly how to deal with the millions of law abiding Lations who have lived in the US for many years. Obama can get McCain's help with that one.

Edited November 6, 2008 by Jingthing

[koheesti]

There has been some Carter-bashing in this thread. I am really not sure why. I didn't vote for Carter, but he was one of the most honorable men to occupy the White House. Yes, he was not a very effective president, but he was not in anyone's pocket and tried to what was right, not what was politically expedient, and since leaving office, he has not tried to use his presidency for his own personal gain but rather to right many wrongs at home and abroad in areas ranging from housing in the US to elections in Latin America to fighting juvenile blindness in Africa. Like his policies or not, like his performance as president or not, he is none-the-less a good man who deserves our respect.

Yeah, kissing up to the Nobel Peace Prize commission was for the good of the world. The past 8 years he has done his best to undermine the US any way he could. Fortunately, most clear thinking people back home know he's nuts.

[Jingthing]

Many countries in Europe are Kingdoms and therefor cannot have an head of state of different complexity than the normal...in the foreseeable future.

Probably true. But one thing that I find a little too USA-centric is the boasting that an Obama kind of election of a minority can only happen in the USA. That just isn't true. Look at Alberto Fujimori, a Japanese-Peruvian, who was president of Peru for 10 years. I am not suggesting that Fujimori was a good man for Peru, just that he was from a small ethnic minority.

What I would like to see is a Chancellor from Germany named ... GOLDBERG.

Edited November 6, 2008 by Jingthing

[koheesti]

I do understand the sentiment of Americans who now claim to be proud of America again. I congratulate them. I belong to the `rest of the world` where the election and the outcome are seen as a breath of fresh air, and maybe of a chance to do things a bit different now.

I don't understand that " skin" is an issue. Now he is not really black, or is black depending, on what side of the fence you are...

It is ridiculous for any country that would liked to be looked upon as free and tolerant, that this is even an issue.

Not many traditionally 'white' countries have had a black Head of State. (are there ANY other than South Africa, and can we count them?)

Granted, the UK and their puppies can't have one ... but have they had a black PM? Has France? has any country in Europe? (I honestly don't know but I don't think so!) What about the USA's liberal neighbors to the North? ....

What country is your rest of the world Carib?

Many countries in Europe are Kingdoms and therefor cannot have an head of state of different complexity than the normal...in the foreseeable future.

Aren't they allowed to marry "outside their own"?

[jdinasia]

Many have already said that he will be another Carter one term of desaster but what gets me is that he like carter will be paid for life because of 4 short years of work and can you imagine a Carter Obama world tour? God help us

There has been some Carter-bashing in this thread. I am really not sure why. I didn't vote for Carter, but he was one of the most honorable men to occupy the White House. Yes, he was not a very effective president, but he was not in anyone's pocket and tried to what was right, not what was politically expedient, and since leaving office, he has not tried to use his presidency for his own personal gain but rather to right many wrongs at home and abroad in areas ranging from housing in the US to elections in Latin America to fighting juvenile blindness in Africa. Like his policies or not, like his performance as president or not, he is none-the-less a good man who deserves our respect.

1999

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/mo...62278/index.htm

Jimmy Carter More than just peanuts

Jimmy Carter's finances were a mess when he left the White House in 1981. His press secretary, Carrie Harmon, says the former President found himself more than $1 million in debt. The culprit was his family's peanut business, which lost money during his four-year absence. Carter decided to sell the firm for $640,000, then dug himself out of his financial hole with characteristic diligence. Over the next 18 years he pumped out 14 books, repeatedly hitting the bestseller lists. His biographer, Douglas Brinkley, says Carter has snagged advances of up to $400,000. Carter tells MONEY, however, "Most of my advances have been much lower."

Carter refuses to sit on corporate boards. And when he accepts speaking fees, he typically donates the money to the nonprofit Carter Center, which focuses on issues like human rights and children's health. Still, Carter hasn't exactly taken a vow of poverty. At 74, he pulls down a government pension of $151,800 and serves as a distinguished professor at Emory University, which he says pays him in excess of $100,000.

Carter owned a few shares of Coca-Cola before he became President but was no expert on investing. After leaving office, he turned to William Astrop, an investment adviser in Atlanta, who recalls, "He's one of the quickest studies I've ever encountered." Astrop built a portfolio of about 15 blue-chip stocks. "My marching orders were to buy quality growth stocks," he says. "He was not interested in my swinging for the bleachers.... He exhibited all the signs of a long-term investor and was not to be rattled by a correction."

Nowadays, Carter says, "our portfolio is with Merrill Lynch, and it's done quite well." He has also kept a slice of his assets in real estate. A family partnership owns about 2,500 acres of timber and farmland in Georgia.

Even now, Carter lives in a modest house in Plains, Ga. that he's owned for decades. Brinkley says the former President is "very economical" and makes his own wine and furniture. Carter's friends note that he's happy to sleep in a Murphy bed in a small apartment at the Carter Center in Atlanta. "He's tight with his own money, and in government he was tight with the people's money," says Hamilton Jordan, Carter's White House Chief of Staff. John Moores, who owns the San Diego Padres and sits on the board of the Carter Center, says, "I couldn't possibly live the way he does.... He is as insensitive to material goods as anyone I've ever met."

Yeah ....

kinda hard to hate a guy that gives his speaking fees to charity and donates soooo much to the needy of the USA

i also believe that he doesn't accept the bodyguards (in the US) and daily CIA briefings that are his right as a living president (former)

Bush's dad has his secret service with him everywhere (costing far more than his pension) and gets the daily briefings and updates constantly

[jdinasia]

I do understand the sentiment of Americans who now claim to be proud of America again. I congratulate them. I belong to the `rest of the world` where the election and the outcome are seen as a breath of fresh air, and maybe of a chance to do things a bit different now.

I don't understand that " skin" is an issue. Now he is not really black, or is black depending, on what side of the fence you are...

It is ridiculous for any country that would liked to be looked upon as free and tolerant, that this is even an issue.

Not many traditionally 'white' countries have had a black Head of State. (are there ANY other than South Africa, and can we count them?)

Granted, the UK and their puppies can't have one ... but have they had a black PM? Has France? has any country in Europe? (I honestly don't know but I don't think so!) What about the USA's liberal neighbors to the North? ....

What country is your rest of the world Carib?

Many countries in Europe are Kingdoms and therefor cannot have an head of state of different complexity than the normal...in the foreseeable future.

duh ..... hence the question regarding PM's

[TAWP]

Actually, I take an obsessive interest in facts, especially when people go to extraordinary means to avoid them.

- Fact: Hussein is Obama's middle name.

- Fact: The origin of the name Hussein is Arabic.

- Fact: Obama's father was a Muslim.

- Fact: In Arab-Muslim culture, the passing of the father's name to the son is also the passing of religious denomination.

- Fact: Barack Hussein Obama was born a Muslim. His mother was a known atheist and his father a known Muslim.

While one is considered a jew by birth if a mom is, you are correct iirc that one is considered muslim if ones father is.

Which gave me a troublesome thought. I would have hoped that the election of Obama would lead, might still, to better relationship with some middle-eastern nations. Perhaps they would be happy, as many of us are, that Bus would be gone and more open to constructive talks.

However, there is one very strong point that is crucial in regards to for example Iran. Altering religion from Muslim, in Obamas case he is a newly born Christian (since 1987 iirc), carries the penalty of death according to the Koran.

So if 'they' find out, he won't be seen with nice eyes anyway.

[brahmburgers]

The U.S. has a history of having some its most innovative leaders shot - at the height of their prowess.

I truly hope Obama stays alive - though it's somewhat comforting to know a good man like Biden will get put in the drivers seat if such a tragedy were to happen.

Mrs. Obama will be like the fairy tale queen, and their two lovely daughters will be as close as the U.S. gets to princesses - and that should fun to watch also.

CONGRATS TO THE OBAMAS!!!!

[jdinasia]

Actually, I take an obsessive interest in facts, especially when people go to extraordinary means to avoid them.

- Fact: Hussein is Obama's middle name.

- Fact: The origin of the name Hussein is Arabic.

- Fact: Obama's father was a Muslim.

- Fact: In Arab-Muslim culture, the passing of the father's name to the son is also the passing of religious denomination.

- Fact: Barack Hussein Obama was born a Muslim. His mother was a known atheist and his father a known Muslim.

While one is considered a jew by birth if a mom is, you are correct iirc that one is considered muslim if ones father is.

Which gave me a troublesome thought. I would have hoped that the election of Obama would lead, might still, to better relationship with some middle-eastern nations. Perhaps they would be happy, as many of us are, that Bus would be gone and more open to constructive talks.

However, there is one very strong point that is crucial in regards to for example Iran. Altering religion from Muslim, in Obamas case he is a newly born Christian (since 1987 iirc), carries the penalty of death according to the Koran.

So if 'they' find out, he won't be seen with nice eyes anyway.

ummmm can you please cite a credible source for him being a 'newly born Christian'? I'll do the research on the Q'uran when I have the time

[Smithson]

- Fact: Obama's father was a Muslim.

- Fact: In Arab-Muslim culture, the passing of the father's name to the son is also the passing of religious denomination.

- Fact: Barack Hussein Obama was born a Muslim. His mother was a known atheist and his father a known Muslim.

Religion is a belief, not something you're born. It's not inherited.

[TAWP]

I do understand the sentiment of Americans who now claim to be proud of America again. I congratulate them. I belong to the `rest of the world` where the election and the outcome are seen as a breath of fresh air, and maybe of a chance to do things a bit different now.

I don't understand that " skin" is an issue. Now he is not really black, or is black depending, on what side of the fence you are...

It is ridiculous for any country that would liked to be looked upon as free and tolerant, that this is even an issue.

Not many traditionally 'white' countries have had a black Head of State. (are there ANY other than South Africa, and can we count them?)

Granted, the UK and their puppies can't have one ... but have they had a black PM? Has France? has any country in Europe? (I honestly don't know but I don't think so!) What about the USA's liberal neighbors to the North? ....

What country is your rest of the world Carib?

Many countries in Europe are Kingdoms and therefor cannot have an head of state of different complexity than the normal...in the foreseeable future.

Aren't they allowed to marry "outside their own"?

Marrying a common person in the old days wasn't allowed, had to be a noble. (One of our older princess that just recently passed away married an upper class lady some 50 years ago and lost his title as prince because of it.) While I think most states have made the rules more liberal it would still take many generations to reduce the ratio of bloodlines so one could talk about 'minority head of state'.

But in the end is was just a jest that point out that in Kingdoms, as in my home country, the head of state is the King (or Queen, see Great Britain).

[TAWP]

- Fact: Obama's father was a Muslim.

- Fact: In Arab-Muslim culture, the passing of the father's name to the son is also the passing of religious denomination.

- Fact: Barack Hussein Obama was born a Muslim. His mother was a known atheist and his father a known Muslim.

Religion is a belief, not something you're born. It's not inherited.

Tell that to the jews and muslim then...

[TAWP]

Actually, I take an obsessive interest in facts, especially when people go to extraordinary means to avoid them.

- Fact: Hussein is Obama's middle name.

- Fact: The origin of the name Hussein is Arabic.

- Fact: Obama's father was a Muslim.

- Fact: In Arab-Muslim culture, the passing of the father's name to the son is also the passing of religious denomination.

- Fact: Barack Hussein Obama was born a Muslim. His mother was a known atheist and his father a known Muslim.

While one is considered a jew by birth if a mom is, you are correct iirc that one is considered muslim if ones father is.

Which gave me a troublesome thought. I would have hoped that the election of Obama would lead, might still, to better relationship with some middle-eastern nations. Perhaps they would be happy, as many of us are, that Bus would be gone and more open to constructive talks.

However, there is one very strong point that is crucial in regards to for example Iran. Altering religion from Muslim, in Obamas case he is a newly born Christian (since 1987 iirc), carries the penalty of death according to the Koran.

So if 'they' find out, he won't be seen with nice eyes anyway.

ummmm can you please cite a credible source for him being a 'newly born Christian'? I'll do the research on the Q'uran when I have the time

I'm at work, so I'll go sloppy and give you the wiki and you can read from the page itself as the sources are linked there.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama#...d_personal_life

Obama is a Christian whose religious views have evolved in his adult life. In The Audacity of Hope, Obama writes that he "was not raised in a religious household." He describes his mother, raised by non-religious parents (whom Obama has specified elsewhere as "non-practicing Methodists and Baptists") to be detached from religion, yet "in many ways the most spiritually awakened person that I have ever known." He describes his father as "raised a Muslim", but a "confirmed atheist" by the time his parents met, and his stepfather as "a man who saw religion as not particularly useful." In the book, Obama explains how, through working with black churches as a community organizer while in his twenties, he came to understand "the power of the African-American religious tradition to spur social change."[188][189] He was baptized at Trinity United Church of Christ in 1988.[190][191]

1988, so I was one year off.