President-elect Obama

I kept loose tabs on the election results, enough to know that John McCain was sunk right around the time Pennsylvania was called for Barack Obama.

The positives, as I see them:

• A black was elected president
• An intelligent person was elected president

With apologies, I don't see much more than that at the moment. I count the first as a positive in spite of the racist undertone of voting for a person on the basis of race. That drawback aside, it is possible that racial reconciliation will progress in some manner as a result of the election.

With the second one I'm reaching. Not that Obama is merely borderline smart, it's just that presidential candidates are generally pretty smart (admittedly I have reservations in that department about Democrat Dennis Kucinich and Republican/former Libertarian Party member Ron Paul).

On the downside, I have grave misgivings about Obama's policies. His proposed tax and energy policies will work together to harm the economy. Worse, I believe he is viewed as a weakling by everyone abroad except for fearful Pakistanis. His foreign policy mettle will be tested, as Joe Biden predicted, and I think it will be easy to get inside his OODA loop. In other words, carefully deliberated action can have much the same effect as paralysis.

I'll be expecting the worst and hoping for the best. I applaud Hugh Hewitt's reaction to the election results. Congratulations to Senator Obama. May he enjoy safety and good health, and may he make wise (and timely) decisions on behalf of the nation he serves.