A boring week in Chicago, and more exciting stuff. . .

Anonymous

"Rosa Parks sat, so Martin could walk. Martin walked so Obama could run. Obama is running so our children can FLY."

Since I didn’t take my cameras and didn’t visit any touristy places during my week in Chicago--it was all business, and both the cameras and my trigger finger, as well as my eye, needed a break--I will tell you a story about a previous trip, where I visited a friend who was too busy to hang out, so he volunteered his sister as tour guide, and we had dinner first.

Things were going great and I thought I was making a good impression. During the conversation she told me her favorite football player was Troy Aikman and her favorite actor was Mark Harmon.

That gave me an in--so I thought at the time, anyway. As I reach into my wallet to pull out my UCLA alumni card, I very debonairly coo, “So, you like Bruins. . .”

And she says, “Only the quarterbacks.”

I let her pay for dinner after that one. The only good thing about that story is I got to tell it to Mark Harmon; his wife Pam--Mindy from “Mork and Mindy”--laughed even harder than he did. Now I gotta tell it to Aikman. . .

It snowed! On me! That’s not supposed to happen!

An old friend tried to get me to go along with her to see the “unveiling of the Macy store’s window.” And a Christmas tree. Ugh, I can’t even work up enough disdain to make a sarcastic comment.

I did find out that this windy city was named by Native Americans for a smelly wild onion--sheecahgoo. Makes perfect sense.

Okay, since I don’t have anything of interest to report on this trip, I will instead fill you in on some of my favorite quotes of the last week, from newspapers and such around the world, starting with the description of the scene I witnessed the first night--read previous blog if you don’t get that:

The city's skyscrapers have stayed lit for the occasion. On one, some windows were left darkened to form a pattern reading U.S.A. on the glass. Lights atop a nearby South Michigan Avenue hotel were red, white and blue, a celebration taking place on a rooftop terrace overlooking the mass of humanity.

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The 125,000 crowd in the Windy City had known it was coming. Only two minutes before, at 9:58pm Chicago time, Virginia had been called for Barack Obama, giving him 220 electoral college votes. They knew California and its 55 votes were in the bag. A crowd that had voted in hope, and gone to the party in expectation, were at last able to realize their dream.

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The huge crowd, which had been dancing and singing, suddenly hushed in anticipation, only to explode again as the man who will be the next president of the United States walked on to the stage with his wife, Michelle, and their two daughters.

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From my favorite newspaper, the Scotsman
Overnight, the United States had changed. It had become a different country, a place where, once again, anything was possible. Less than 45 years after Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act banning racial discrimination, an African-American had swept his way to the White House.

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For eight years, we’ve been told by those in power that we are small, bigoted and stupid — easily divided and easily frightened. This was the toxic catechism of Bush-Rove politics. It was the soiled banner picked up by the sad McCain campaign, and it was often abetted by an amen corner in the dominant news media. We heard this slander of America so often that we all started to believe it

The actual real America is everywhere. It is the America that has been in shell shock since the aftermath of 9/11, when our government wielded a brutal attack by terrorists as a club to ratchet up our fears, betray our deepest constitutional values and turn Americans against one another in the name of “patriotism.”

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foreign reporter in Grant Park

"We're hated out there because of what Bush has done, his arrogance and his lack of respect for democracy," the anonymous man said. "Obama will bring back a respect for our freedoms and our values."
The world has its expectations, too. Much of the globe was represented in Grant Park. I met people from Japan, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Britain, Canada and Australia.

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North Carolina

"In difficult economic times, people find the price of prejudice is just a little bit too high," said Governor Michael Easley of North Carolina, a white Democrat. "They're saying, 'We don't care what your race is. If you can make things better, we're for you."'

Easley said he knew big changes were coming when he passed a pickup on the road a few weeks ago. The white driver, who looked as though he had been hunting, was wearing camouflage apparel and had a gun rack in his truck. Easley said he was sure he was looking at a McCain supporter - until he saw the Obama stickers plastered on the door.

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From far away, this is how it looks: There is a country out there where tens of millions of white Christians, voting freely, select as their leader a black man of modest origin, the son of a Muslim. There is a place on Earth — call it America — where such a thing happens.

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Venezuela

"It allows us all to dream a little," said Oswaldo Calvo, 58, a Venezuelan political activist in Caracas,

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Germany

a country that, they complain, preached justice but tortured its captives, launched a disastrous war in Iraq, turned its back on the environment, and greedily dragged the world into economic chaos — saw the errors of its ways over the past eight years and shifted course.

They say the country that weakened democratic forces abroad through a tireless but often ineffective campaign for democracy — dismissing results it found unsavory, cutting deals with dictators it needed as allies in its other battles — was now shining a transformative beacon with its own democratic exercise.

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Sweden

Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt calls it a ´historical decision´ by the American people. He says to the Swedish television that he looks forward to talk about the climate with Barack Obama. Reinfeldt will be the president of the European union in the fall of 2009 when the world is to sign a new treaty on the climate. He also mention the problems with the budget deficit that Obama has to deal with.

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Bermuda!

Premier Dr. Ewart Brown: "For Bermudians, for people all over the world, Obama's victory stretches the possibilities. This is the kind of history that changes lives of people, unseen. Some young man that thought yesterday he had all kinds of limitations placed upon him may think today that the sky is the limit.

Radio personality and PLP senator Thaao Dill: "Obama talks a lot about the audacity of hope, but this victory, for me, validates that hope. It shows us that hope can be a useful tool for change and for a better future. Since September 11, America has become increasingly isolationist, increasingly xenophobic; pulling the shutters down and staring grimly out, wondering who that guy with the beard is. It's extremely refreshing to see that the American people are tired of being afraid, tired of being angry and scared. That's what this presidency means. Maybe I'm hopelessly idealist, but I can feel that message reverberate in my chest, and I'm sure the rest of the world feels it too."
Who knew those Bermudians were so eloquent?

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North Carolina again

Meanwhile, Hagan blanketed the state with campaign stops. She was helped by ads from the national Democrats, most notably its "Rocking Chairs" ad with two elderly men arguing whether Dole was "92 or 93." They were talking about her effectiveness ranking and her voting percentage with Bush. But the swipe at Dole's age -- she is 72 -- was hardly veiled.

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Funniest quote: No word yet on whether the Secret Service will defend Obama using a man-to-man or zone defense.

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And let’s not forget the Onion:

Nation Finally Shitty Enough To Make Social Progress