Collegiate Times

The same thing happened when Bush was elected/re-elected... I specifically remember many Hollywood big-heads, such as Alec Baldwin, ranting about moving out if Bush won. But I do agree, I've been to other countries as well, and was very happy when I returned to the good ol' USA. I supported McCain, but know it's foolish to live the next 4 years in regret that he lost, that won't fix our economy. It's important now to support our new president-elect to help get us out of this economic mess we're in.

Seriously!! The same thing happened when Bush was elected/re-elected. This is not new. People will say it, they will continue to say it, and guess what? They will never move! Who cares, it's a FREE country so let them say it and then ignore them or ask if they want you to book the flight for them.

There are a wide range of possible actions between moving to Canada and supporting Barack Obama. The entire point of elected officials is to serve the interests of the people. That requires the people to speak their minds. You are supporting democracy by speaking out when you disagree with an elected official.

The original American patriots were those individuals brave enough to resist with force the oppressive power of King George. I accept the definition of patriotism as that effort to resist oppressive state power. The true patriot is motivated by a sense of responsibility and out of self-interest for himself, his family, and the future of his country to resist government abuse of power. He rejects the notion that patriotism means obedience to the state. Resistance need not be violent, but the civil disobedience that might be required involves confrontation with the state and invites possible imprisonment.

"Obama won the election and it is my job as a patriotic, loyal American to support him and applaud him..." Why did you even vote then if you're just going to clap like a mindless seal for no matter which socialist wins? You wasted your time voting, then you wasted your time writing this article, now you're wasting my time having to correct you.

I don't care that he won the election; my issues with him are still the same: socialism, globalism, anti-Constitutional, terrorist ties, corporate greed..... these will all, and MUST be, under close scrutiny by EVERYONE, no matter who you voted for. Oh, and I call BS on this author being "disappointed" with the election.

Virginia is a democratic state

Nobama- Anti Constitutional??? Are you serious??? Have you been under a rock all the time that Bush and his aides have dodged subpoena after subpoena? How about the illegal wiretapping? This list could probably take up an entire page, but to even consider a man that wants to put the power back in the peoples hands as being unconstitutional is just plain dense.

How exactly is Obama putting the power back in the people's hands? Also, nobody here is saying that Bush is great. He hasn't been mentioned because this discussion isn't about Bush. He has faced much scrutiny, and rightly so, but that has nothing to do with Obama.

If Obama's America is too liberal for you, I don't think Canada would be the best escape route. Y'all do realize that we still live in the most conservative democracy in the western world, right? Maybe try emigrating to Saudi Arabia. Or persuade Texas to secede again!

Though I voted for the other guy, I will now support Obama and wish him well. I love my country too much to root for my President to fail. I have to say, however, that it is extremely disingenuous for the same people who tried to undermine Bush from the start ("President Select", "stole the election," "not my President," etc) now to tell me it is my duty to support Obama. With Obama in the White House, a Pelosi-run House and a Reid-run Senate, I am not too optimistic that there will be much reaching across the aisle. Just ask Joe Lieberman, who will probably lose his chairmanship in the Senate. Incidentally, folks, 52% is not an overwhelming mandate.

Jason T, on a politicking level he definitely did a lot to empower the voters, much more so than any other recent presidential contender. He also has plans to make the government more transparent as a Senator he helped author a bill to put information regarding the federal budget online and he has plans put non-classified bureaucratic meeting minutes online so people can follow the process and hopefully monitor it. We'll just have to wait and see what happens when he gets in office, but if he runs the government like he ran his campaign then it will be a tight ship with as much citizen participation as possible.

Patrick, by "empower voters" you mean getting people to believe in your message. What I mean is that his messages themselves largely empower the government, rather than the individual. I can do nothing about the fact that people seem to like that, but I will not support it. I have no qualms with the government transparency that you mention; I applaud him for that. Chip, I think we're getting into a discussion of semantics. Not wanting someone to fail is different from supporting his policies.

You could move to that country...ummm...Africa. You betcha...

By empowering voters I mean he made sure his campaign was funded from the bottom up, he also put in turn invested his money into a grassroots effort getting people involved in a campaign meas that they begin to feel that they are a part of the government that is created from that campaign and therefore take a more active role in pushing for changes (even against that campaign if the candidate doesn't deliver). You'd have to explain more what you mean by empower government before I can respond to that though.

There is something called free speech in this country and we all have the right to voice our opinion on the election outcome. If you do not like seeing it, facebook makes a lovely "remove from friends" button. Quit whining to the newspaper about it. Stop being a blind zombie and drinking the Obama Kool-Aid, which you obviously do. Do you really think we mean it when we say we will move to another country? If you do, you are naive. It just means you can look forward to more disapproving statuses about our new socialist government.

Bailouts of Wall Street banks, Fannie Mae, GM, etc. George W. Bush...the founding father of our new socialist government

Anonymous, no one is questioning your right to post on facebook how much you want to move to Australia. The author is simply questioning your patriotism for expressing such an opinion. I don't question your patriotism, just your judgment if you have this sort of status. Obama and McCain are so similar on most of the issues. It is irrational and childish to have such sour grapes just because your team lost. Get over it and don't make the job any harder than it needs to be for the new President. Just in case you accuse me of being a 'drinker of the Obama kool-Aid,' I'm a Libertarian. Both of these candidates disgusted me enough times to go around.

I agree. I wanted to see Huckabee win, but the Republicans figured their best chance was with McCain. I am as patriotic as they come but it is disgusting to see others praising Obama when they have't the slightest clue what his policies are. They just mindlessly follow him because everyone else is doing it. I have looked at the issues and Obama is not what this country needs.

I agree with Chip. In another note, I will support Obama even though I voted otherwise. I'm not going to allow myself to stoop to the level of the democrats and bash and blame every little thing that happens in the next 4 years on Obama. Now that the tables are turned those who were patriotic and supportive of Bush and America are supposed to put all the bashing that was constant for 8 years to rest and support Obama. When Bush took office in 2000, we were supposed to never say Clinton again. It's would all be on his shoulders now. Now Democrats, PLEASE realize that Obama new what he was getting into. When sht hits the fan, please don't blame it all on Bush. He knew what he was inheriting so thats that. On the other hand, what the he&&, let's just give an example of what we could say about Obama, his family, where he's from etc...Cokehead, basta#d child, Carlton, ghetto trash, daughters will be nocked up before they're 15, retard, and on and on and on and on.

Patrick, the conundrum I'm referring to has to do with the fact that Obama, and most other politicians on both sides of the aisle, have latched on to the prevailing sentiment in our society that the government should be doing more for us. In my mind, "empowering the people" would be accomplished by a candidate who refuses to accept the transition of the American society to one of increasing governmental control. Neither major candidate fits this mold.

People can say what they want Barak Obama is President. For all those people that said they want to move to another country, please be my guest. Your moving will definitely create more jobs in America and therefore help to grow our economy. Say what you want, you can't change the fact that the electoral college worked in his favor. How ya like them apples!

@G. cue: You realize that if for example, I moved out of the country then there is not magically a new job that appears. My job would simply be given to someone else, they would get the same money (or likely less) I was making and all of my money would go to wherever I moved to, effectively shrinking the economy. Furthermore, the electoral college has no part in increasing or decreasing the fact that Obama won. There's a binary outcome and if there was no archaic electoral college system, then Obama would have won assuming we give the presidency to whoever wins the popular vote. This country will be fine and I will hope Obama does alright even if I don't agree with his views. It's people that flaunt Obama's win as if it proves that his supporters are intellectually superior (but immediately disprove it through their actions). The President of the United States isn't a prize to be won, it's a test and we elect who we think is best to take it. I voted McCain because I thought he'd be better at it, but that doesn't mean I want Obama to fail it.

Obama will never be my president. Black racism, white guilt, and childish stupidity won him the elction - not qualifications. I will never bow down to the mocha mephisto like so many of my fellow college students did. You really think 97% of blacks voted for him because of his policies? What a joke.

I could not have said it better myself, Nathan.

You don't love the US enough to support its President? Then move the hell out! You may not accept his policies, but that doesn't mean you should kill him, or even hope he gets killed. The Virginia Tech community should now better.

It really tickles me to think about how different each of these comments would be if the election had gone the other way. That is all.

Nathan, how do you figure that it's a joke that black people can't be educated enough to vote for Obama because of his policies? Do you honestly think 97% black people are too ignorant to vote on something other than skin color? And you talk about black racism...the comments you made are racist assuming that black people are too stupid to make an educated vote. We could say the same thing about white people voting for McCain. We could say that it was white racism that made them vote for him. Do you really think white people only voted for him because they feel guilty? Are trying to say that white people are too ignorant to make informed decisions too? The MAJORITY of the country voted for him. So are you saying the majority of your fellow citizens are too dumb to make informed decisions? Come on. Why do you have so much dislike for someone who is only trying to better our country? It's just sad. Whether you agreed with his policies or not doesn't mean that he's not the right fit to run our country. Do you not support our country and want it to prosper?

Support him. Supporting our country is the only way to get it back on its feet. He needs all of our support. Whether I voted for him or not, I'm still going to support him because that's the only way to get our country back on track. Tearing him down isn't. We all want our country to start doing better than it's doing now. Support the people running our government, whether you agree with them or not. Stop name calling, complaining, being upset that the candidate you supported didn’t win. It’s not getting anyone anywhere. Even if you didn’t support Obama’s beliefs, support the country. That's the only way to make things better.

black people can't be educated enough to vote for Obama because of his policies? Yes, that's exactly what we're saying. All they heard from him was wealth re-distribution, and they headed to the polls then the welfare office.

Finally, Truth.