International Hope Day

Obama won big, in spite of everything the Republicans could throw at him, and right now the world is partying like it's 1999. It felt good to hear a president(-elect) who shows some humanity, who can form complete sentences, who offers unity not distrust. Today is a day for hope, even for a skeptic like me. I hope that I'm wrong about Obama, that he really will lead the world into a new era of peace and equality. His ambiguous public statements and Senate record don't matter any more: his legacy starts now.

Ballots or Bullets?

After almost two years of glitz and theatrics, voters can finally choose between Obama and McCain. As I said before, I'm lukewarm about Obama, but McCain and his crew are so ignorant, callous, and irrational they make Obama look like Martin Luther King. I don't care how much vote-tampering there is--if Americans accept McCain as their president, it would symbolize the final triumph of American xenophobia and imperialism. The White House would lose any pretense of global or even national leadership, reduced to a Commander-in-Chief presidency.

Watch your step, America.