Wes on Obama's Inauguration

In our post-inauguration excitement last month, we somehow managed to overlook every major piece of Wesleyan-related news about the inauguration in our inbox. Here's a brief recap of what would have been timely a month ago, various Wes people's perspectives on the inauguration in various media sources:

• Eleanor Celeste '10 (center) was featured in an NY Times article about how her family, which was politically divided during the campaign trail, came to embrace Barack Obama and traveled to Washington, D.C., for the inauguration.

• President Roth commented on Obama's inauguration speech in Politico, which is owned by Robert Allbritton '92:

  "My first reaction is to marvel at how this candidate of change, of ‘Yes, we can’ spent considerable rhetorical force on tying his work back to the core values of American history,” wrote historian Michael Roth, president of Wesleyan University in Connecticut.

• British style magazine Dazed and Confused ran a two-page spread in its February issue entitled "Two Young Creatives Remember the Campaign Trail," containing a long interview with Ben Rowland and Ray Tintori '06 about the youth perspective on the election, and featuring Rowland's photos taken on the campaign trail:
  

Congrats to President Barack Obama!

Congratulations to the new President of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama H'08*!
Read the full text of his Inaugural Address.

*Barack Obama was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree at last year's 176th Wesleyan University commencement ceremony. Our first Wesleyan alumnus President... kind of... ?

AerObama

Daft Punk vs. Adam Freeland, a stop-motion tribute to Obama:

An Open Letter to the Obama People

Abe Silk '07 calls the Obama team out for fundraising overkill in an open letter in the Huffington Post, which was picked up by the NY Times' politicis blog, "The Caucus".

Dear Obama People,

... it's now January, Obama People, and I'm way over this thing. Prior to this very minute, it had been damn near two months since I even once thought about Todd Palin. So why, why, why for the love of God are you still sending me emails asking me to give you money? Seriously, I got one on December 30th and January 6th. You guys really want me to donate 25 dollars "to make the inauguration a success?" What on earth does that even mean? 25 bucks will buy maybe three crab cakes at a reception that I'm not invited to and would assuredly be sent to federal prison if I tried to attend, provided I wasn't gunned down first. If you really want my money, Obama People, you're going to need to work a little harder for it...

Especially when considering the amount of cash these people are already throwing down for the event.

Huffington Post: An Open Letter to the Obama People
The Caucus: Bill Clinton Asks for Money for Obama Inauguration

Yes, you can... own a piece of history!

Order yours today—before the die is destroyed forever!

Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State

Big whoop! Looks like Hilldog's joining the Obama cabinet.

Huffington Post: Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State?

President-elect Barack Obama's First Weekly Address To The Nation

Watch President-elect Barack Obama's first weekly address to the nation. He discusses such issues as national unemployment, green energy, affordable health care and education. In this short but sweet address, Obama expressed his goals for the week, which revolve around his economic Rescue Plan. The President-elect will host weekly addresses on his website, change.gov, in an effort to remain connected to the American public much like President Franklin D. Roosevelt's "fireside chat" radio broadcasts. I just have one question, who signed that basketball to his left?

Obama's Election Night Photostream

In case you were wondering what the Obama family was up to on election night, Obama's campaign photographer, David Katz, was on hand to take some excellent behind-the-scenes shots of their reactions. And he posted them on Flickr! That's what young people like us do!

Click through for various shots of the Obama kids, Uncle Joe Biden stopping by along with Jill and various campaign advisers, extended family members anxiously awaiting the results, and general warm, fuzzy feelings:
Anyway, this really excited me as yet another example of the unprecedented freshness of our next president's campaign. Check out all the collections in his photostream if you feel like reliving it - photosets are organized by major events, states, and various interest groups.

[via gawker]

Roth on Obama Victory, Wes Reactions

President Michael Roth's latest Huffington Post column is up, about his observations of the post-election impromptu campus-wide party, and his musings on President-elect Obama:

In the euphoria the Election night victory, I watched our Wesleyan students celebrating the victory of a man whom they had embraced and in whom they had invested their hopes. Although all were aware of the polls predicting a victory, I don't think many of them quite believed it would happen. They waved an American flag, chanted "O-bam-a, O-bam-a," and felt a powerful sense of hope in our collective future. When somebody played "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" over the speakers, these young men and women danced with enthusiasm at a song they no longer associated with their parents but with our new president-elect.

...I thought of our President-elect's Commencement Address... as I watched our students celebrating this stage in their political education and in the complex narrative of Barack Obama. It was a raucous party, and the celebrations took place in a context of political and social stability unburdened by fear. This is nothing to take for granted... We could express our joy and excitement while also inviting those who supported the Republican ticket to join in what was turning into a party for our political process. One of our students approached me to say that patriotism isn't a sentiment you feel only when your candidate wins. He is right, and I trust that in the months and years ahead we will remember our strong feelings of solidarity on Election night even as we disagree about policies and governmental tactics.

Is he talking about Mytheos?

Also, check out his RothBlog about it:
Roth on Huffington Post: Bringing the Stories Together

Last Night's Euphoria

Post-election madness outside Usdan last night, it was clearly a great time for the student body to pour itself into a gigantic celebratory mob. And nobody got tased!

Props to whoever brought the fireworks and compiled the Obama victory playlist, and to P-Safe for joining in the festivities. And to President Roth, for showing up (and tactfully declining the multiple drinks offered him by reveling students).

Photos courtesy of Hannah Berkman '12:

There were fireworks!
Mike Levin '09 got fireworks shots:

President-elect Barack Obama, Honorary Wesleyan Alumnus

President-elect Barack Obama received a Doctor of Laws degree from the University during the 176th Commencement. Watch Obama's commencement speech here.

ALSO!

Everybody get the fuck on Foss Hill right now, especially if you are still somehow using a computer and checking this blog!!!

[EDIT, early the next morning]
That was one of the most incredible nights I've ever experienced at Wesleyan, feel free to send in photos if you took any.

OBAMA WINS ELECTION!!!!!

This is all I can coherently type right now AHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[edit 20 minutes later]
This graphic can do no justice to this great historic moment, etc. etc., but with all this excitement on a Tuesday night, functioning effectively for the rest of this week will be way more of a challenge than most us can consider facing right now, unlike the delightfully simple wave of change Barack Obama will likely sweep this nation with in the next 100 days AAAHHHH!!!!!



Also, John McCain is basically a good guy despite a series of bad decisions these past few months:

In case you're worried McCain might take Pennsylvania...

At least it's not likely to be this bad.

The results are from an actual poll taken in October 2006, before anyone outside of Hawaii, Illinois, or DC had even heard of Barack Obama.

Last Chance to Phone Bank For Obama

Wesleyan Students for Barack Obama is hosting their last phone banking event for Obama today.
Date: TODAY Time: 4-7 Place: Nic lounge

Bring your laptop and/or phone and head over.

Barack, I choose you!

Because ytmnd is funny sometimes:

The most important endorsements of all

Sure, much has been made of Barack Obama's impressive list of major newspaper endorsements, including the Anchorage Daily News, Denver Post, Chicago Tribune, and Providence Journal, all of which endorsed George Bush back in '04. But the Big O also leads McCain 63-1 in an even more important category: college newspaper endorsements.

In addition to a sweep of the five NESCAC papers that have endorsed a candidate--Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Middlebury, and Tufts--and the obvious ones such as U. of Illinois and Penn, Obama has racked up endorsements from some unlikely sources, including Davidson, Duke, Northwestern, Indiana U., West Virginia U., and the Universities of Kansas, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and even Arizona. Ole Miss's (U. of Mississippi) Daily Mississippian is the lone holdout in the wave.

Forget about being up just one point in your own home state. Failing to win the endorsement of its flagship university is truly a crusher. Maybe instead of blabbering about how no one will delay the World Series when he's president, Johnny Mac should've promised voters no one would screw over 'Cats basketball if he's in charge.

Editor & Publisher: BMOC: College Papers Back Obama, 63 to 1

The First Infomerical without an 800 Number

In case you missed it, here's Obama's infomercial about what he will do for the country if elected. It'll make you laugh, it'll make you cry, it'll make you want to vote.

Obama/McCain Dance-Off

Have a good fall break everybody:


Unbelievable McCain Vs. Obama Dance-Off

Powell endorses Obama, addresses Islamophobia

Colin Powell gave a pretty sweet endorsement today of Barack Obama on Meet the Press. A high-profile Republican who was Secretary of State during W's first term, he has disagreed with the neoconservative wing of the Republican party and for various reasons (well-articulated in the video), he has now chosen to endorse the Democrat.

Since Islamophobia is something being talked about on campus lately (see here), it also seems relevant to point out his discussion of "Barack Obama's not a Muslim. But so what if he were?" (finally). I found it pretty inspiring to finally see a high-profile political leader talking about the blatant Islamophobia implicit in this election cycle.

Check it out: