The Obama Win.

The Obama win last night was impressive. The speech was moving. The reaction was...well, scary. There's something about throngs of people wildly chanting and yelling that frightens me. I was scared at the Republican Convention for the same reason. The "U.S.A.!" chants to suppress protesters and the church-like "Yes, we can!" responses to Obama have a strange parallel.

I understand the historical importance of an Obama win. A black man, a single-parent home, a self-made man. All of those things are important. Let's not, though, forget that he is green, a product of a corrupt Chicago Democratic regime which has had a stranglehold on local politics for decades, and has no foreign policy experience while entering into an economic mess and geopolitical frightfest. There's an interesting article from Newsweek about taxing the rich, many of whom are losing their jobs and investments along with the rest of us.

The truth is, Obama will be a mixed bag. What he offers in hope for the lower class, tax breaks for the poor and some redeemed esteem of America in the eyes of Europe will be hindered by a tax plan which is exactly what the country doesn't need in a tough time. We need a spending slash. An immense one. Ending the Iraq War will not be enough, especially if many of those funds are simply transferred into Afghanistan.

The Daily Kosaccurately pointed out that the "liberal agenda" is winning some social battles, but losing others. Race and abortion are fast becoming old news. We can elect leaders of any race: white, black, Indian-American, Asian, you-name-it. Unfortunately, gay rights and immigration are becoming the new battlegrounds for social change. I still think if gay people would just start a "United Gay Church of Christ" all of their legal problems would evaporate.