I didn't vote.  That is, I "threw away" my vote on a third-party;  Because our vote has to count.  I used my vote to argue that there is a thirst for (and must be) another argument in our "freedom of choice".  I never intend to vote for the "lesser of two evils" again.  That's not choice, that's closer to blackmail.

Look, Obama is a policy nightmare for conservative mentality, but McCain ran a truly crappy campaign.  In the war for branded buzzwords, McCain began to finish every single speech with aggressive pronouncements of "fight, fight, fight".  Fight is a word of struggle;  Compare this to Obama's mantra of "hope and change".  These are words of comfort. So at that level of emotional reverberance, it is "struggle" versus "comfort".  That's a done deal for emotional voters.

But that's just the tip of the crappy iceberg of McCain's campaign.  Personally I rejected his failure to care about illegal immigration, his sorry and pathetic "leadership" with the bailout madness, his rejection of handling issues surrounding the black theology nonsense, and especially his apparent unwillingness to clearly delineate why he makes sense and Obama doesn't; these sorts of issues very much soured my capacity for celebrating his campaign.  I still rooted for the guy, but I didn't feel like voting for him.

On the other hand, the unimpressive senatorial resume of Mr. Obama can easily take a back seat to the significant racial healing of his campaign's success.  I don't feel like voting for this aspect, because it's not really an issue of policy; but I can accept it, and even gladly welcome it.  So, I didn't vote.  And I'm sorry McCain lost, but I'm glad Obama won...

I am currently moving around in Asia.  (I didn't want to be in the US when those promised "McCain wins riots"  broke out, you know). Let me tell you, it's nuts how the world is reacting.  It's nuts.

Of course there is plenty of fantasy, prayer, wishful thinking, hope, and blind trust at work in United States.  In some sense, there has to be.  Furthermore, it is mostly intentional, as a device of campaigning and propaganda.  Additionally, there is desperation, fear, anger; and restitution from a lengthy legacy of inequality for the races.  So on that level alone, Obama had a significant appeal to so many.  So why not, on top of that, add hope or blind trust? Not so bad.

But here in Asia, the ethnic healing is not a real issue.  He's not Asian.  And it isn't even arguably relevant to economics, or foreign-policy, or trade relations, or even US domestic prosperity.  It's simply a domestic racial transition.   

But  I am reading fluffy, mushy love pieces here in Asia that declare the familiar descriptions of fantasy and delusion.  Where does this come from?  Do citizens of other nations really think if they pray for the United States president to be a messiah, that their world will improve?  Will this event move their own government toward domestic flourishing and improve internal human rights policies?  Based on what?  If anything, a prosperous US seems to ultimately generate "appendage"-envy from foreign governments, and radical fanaticism of anti-Western zealots and hard-line sociopaths.

"The new president will create much more space for international cooperation";  Just one of the sentences of many in this vein.  Not "might", but "will".  What is this declaration of fact based on? Obama's Illinois resume? In all likelyhood, the US will no longer participate for some time to come, in the madness that will inevitably flare up in the Middle East, and that is somehow going to play out as a good thing?  That will secure global energy concerns, and consequently market stability?  We'll see, folks.  No one knows, that's for certain!

"Mr. Obama will put more emphasis on Asian policy" another actual declaration of fact about the future; not about possibility, but fact.  Again, based on what?  And furthermore, if there is such emphasis, is it for better or for worse in Asia?  How can Asians possibly know.  Maybe North Korea goes mad, senile and nuclear.  For all  the existing pattern we can analyze, Obama might very well be selling them the weapons.  There is NO precedent at all - who can possibly predict?

My personal prediction; Obama has purchased a disaster.  

First off, there is no longer any room at all for Tim Robbins, Nancy Sheehan, Nancy Pelosi, Moveon.org or any of those types to accuse the right for the evils which plague us.  Everything that isn't fantastic will lie solidly at the feet of the Democrats now.  So the point becomes, are we in store for good times?

Unfortunately, there is still significant global unrest.  There is a great deal of religious conflict, territorial envy, and significant energy struggles with potential future struggles for fundamentals like food and water.  There is global demand and indeed escalating dependency on oil, sourcing from volatile regions.  European and Russian tensions will undoubtedly escalate, with potential to flare up dramatically.  Iran and Israel are still like nitroglycerin.

Immediately, it is a full-blown domestic nightmare.  Band-Aids are being put on terrible behavior and culture, without addressing at all, the infections beneath them.  Personal debt, state-level debt and national debt are soaring beyond ALREADY obscene levels.  Banks are functioning like unstable wolf packs, rather than as civil and long-term business interests.  Failing states and industries are lining up at the Capitol for free money.  Indeed, Washington has just established a surreal pattern of writing reckless checks with more zeros than there were UN resolutions against Sadam Hussein. These checks blindly intend to make the problems and beggars go away (as if they won't be back!)  The illegal immigration is still changing the ethnicity, work environment, relative wage, and predictability and functionality of public budgets.  ("Si Se Puede" actually migrated from its history as the motto of  illegal alien marches to become Obama's "yes we can" victory rally!  This is not a good sign regarding this particular issue.)  And most frighteningly, there is a startling fantasy level of disconnect between what vast social programs cost, how they can be funded, and how necessary they are.  And the American public generally is willing to pretend it isn't so.

Now, I believe many are looking back to the Clinton era and forecasting that a Democrat in the White House is just inherently prone to manifesting a soaring and rosy economy, and likewise general good times.  What absolute nonsense.  Please remember Jimmy Carter.  As for Clinton, he wasn't a brilliant economist; rather, he just happened to be in office when an absolutely enormous, almost limitless and completely brand-new form of super efficient commerce and consumerism appeared. The tools and the technology were themselves a phenomenal industry, even while these same tools created the potential for national and global participation in the biggest known marketplace the world has ever seen.  This technology and Internet boom was the magic carpet which Bill Clinton enjoyed.  What does Obama have?  Is there a brand-new global super marketplace awaiting which we don't foresee?  Perhaps some scientists will invent free energy...(??)...but perhaps such an occurrence would actually destabilize the world to the point where the future is wildly unpredictable.  It might not manifest as a calming thing.

Obama is a healthy transition for America's ethnic journey.  We can all hope he enjoys wisdom, courage and a peaceful run; bringing United States prosperity and calm. But it certainly isn't a given, and perhaps even far-fetched.

Meanwhile, we are all going to be awaiting our health-care; it has been promised.  But this is an absolutely insanely complex entitlement to move quickly on.  Any large-scale changes to this realm will have both positive AND negative impacts, and potential disasters.  Never mind that the money simply hasn't and doesn't exist to pay for it.  Shall we just dump the Social Security program (now in peril) to "secure" our healthcare entitlement promise? 

Will there be a malaise when an enormous disconnect between soaring expectations (as in the well publicized Obama supporter who no longer is going to worry about her mortgage, job or energy bill) and the reality that will become apparent when the glow wears off.

Indeed, the level of global expectation for Obama is our newest bubble.  We have survived the tech, IPO, Stock, housing, and other such bubbles, and now must prepare for the Obama bubble.  Don't get me wrong, I wish him well;  I just don't see where the level of irrational expectation has any chance of fulfillment and consequently is going pay off.

I'm afraid our inability to stop relying on the next BUBBLE is at the heart of our unrelenting instability.

...And God knows why the Asians think it's so great.

This bailout is a distasteful process for all.  It feels rather like giving a life-long murderer a home and car in a nice neighborhood, under the witness protection program.  Maybe there's no other way, but something about it sits in the stomach very poorly.  I find myself quite biased against the idea; not as a matter of partisanship, but because those pushing it do reek of the sales tactics we ordinarily associate with shady used-car salesman.  It just gets my guard up.  I am inclined to favor those arguing for some degree of caution, or an incremental approach.  Anything else strikes me as some sort of opportunist jumping at the smell of a great moment for exploitation.  But let us explore the ramifications farther than is comfortable, and try to imagine things probably beyond anybody's prophetic ability to forecast.  My views are insufficient to define this mess, even for my own mind.  Please share the fears you harbor;  We all could use as much perspective as we can get in this matter.

This is about "CORRECTIONS". Here is a detailing of some corrections that are possible with the two strategies: