Sunday Issues - Post-Election Edition: 9 November 2008

This is a special Post-Election Edition of the Sunday Election Issues series that has run weekly here at TGB for several months. There is lot today; I got a bit over-exuberant. Near the bottom of the list is a Message and a Request.

If you’re having trouble decompressing from months of obsessive campaign tracking, not to worry. You won’t have to go cold turkey. There is already an official website from President-Elect Barack Obama where you can follow each and every step of the transition to the new administration.

On the other hand, The Onion has a warning about obsessive Obama supporters [2:39 minutes]:

Now, here are some post-election thoughts from elderbloggers and a couple of others. There is a lot of good reading in this list:

From Mort Reichek at Octogenarian:
Welcome President Obama

From Jan Adams of Happening Here:
Whatever Happened to Prop. 8?

From Gullible at Gullible’s Travels:
Thoughts on the Day After…

From Lois Cochran at Guitar Grandma:
What Just Happened

From Virginia DeBolt at First 50 Words:
I Slept

From Sharry Teague at Embodied Aging:
Yes! Yes! Yes We Can!

From Citizen K:
Yes We Did!

From Sylvia from Over the Hill:
And Now the Hard Work Begins

From Leon Cohen of The Ancient One, Blessed Be He:
It Felt Good...

From Old Woman of 20th Century Woman:
After the Party

Ready to Re-Join the World?

From Lynette Sheppard of Menopause Goddess Blog:
Hope for Menopausal Goddesses and Everyone Else

From Cynthia Samuels of Don’t Gel Too Soon:
Obama’s Victory Garden – Exorcising Days of Rage

From Naomi Dagen Bloom at A Little Red Hen:
Harlem, on THE Night

From joared of Along the Way:
U.S.A. 2008 Historic Election

From James Whaley of Aging and Disability in America:
Change of the Season #1

From Claudia Snowden of Fried Okra Productions:
Recovering from PTSD

From Katie Sherrod of Desert's Child:
Living into the Promise
(Hat tip to Jan Adams of Happening Here)

From "John Brown" of Deer Hunting with Jesus:
Sarah Palin is the Future of Conservatism

From Saul Friedman of Newsday:
It's Time For a New New Deal

From Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post:
Morning in America
(I dare you to read this and not get weepy again.)

A Message and a Request
If the number of comments and email are an indication, many TGB readers have enjoyed and found value in this Sunday compendium of campaign issues and commentary from the media and especially from other elderbloggers.

Now that we have a new president and Congress and if would-be, future presidents will give us a break from their over-eager, overweening ambition, there won’t be a need for it for a couple of years.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of issues to discuss and a government to keep our eyes on, and I am wondering if this feature should continue and if so, in what form or on what topic. It doesn’t necessarily need to be about politics and policy.

It’s not a lot of work for me. During the week, I mark media stories I want to include and collect the elderblogger stories that readers email. Then all I need to do is write some headlines and create the links. In addition to good information and thought, I like encouraging readers to discover other elderblogs they might not otherwise have noticed.

So I’m going to leave it up to you. Do you want this Sunday links post to continue? If so, what should it be about? In what manner should it function? Leave your notes below in the comments and perhaps we’ll arrive at a consensus. Remember that Elder News is reserved for Saturdays.

Global Obama
The U.S. presidential campaign was followed closely throughout the world, election day even more so. The blog Change Your World has collected several dozen photos of celebrations at Senator Obama's election from just about everywhere. Here's one from Paris, France. (Hat tip to Citizen K)

Comments

[Marian Van Eyk McCain]

Yes, I really appreciate this Sunday links post, Ronni. There are more and more great blogs to read and only so much time in a day. Having you pre-select some and present them in this way is a wonderful luxury and I'd like to see it continue, if you've a mind to do it. As you said, it's a great way for your readers to discover new writers we may never otherwise have found.
Exactly how you would organize it around topics, I'm not sure, since it's only really huge events like the recent election that get everyone posting on the same theme at the same time.
I guess the Sundays with political topics would focus on the slow work of the new Administration as it grapples with the tasks ahead. Those would have the same 'commentary on today's news' sort of feel to them as the election ones had. Then there may be be other Sundays where you feature more timeless, universal themes. In the latter, the posts you link to might be weeks or months old, as you'd have been collecting them till you had enough for a 'themed issue'.

[lilalia]

I appreciated reading the political posts in the last months. It is through this focus on a specific topic that I came upon a few like-minded bloggers, who are now on my subscription list. This is not to say I only read like-minded posts, just stuck around at the blogs after reading. It was this finding new bloggers that proved the best aspect of these Sunday postings.

The second good benefit of your Sunday posts, was that it enabled me to read various people's view points one specific topic. That is always fun to do.

[Cop Car]

Thanks for asking, Ronni.

As a diffident follower of your Sunday feature, I can (and have) as easily follow the link from a thought-provoking comment left to one of your regular postings. I've found many "new-to-me" bloggers in this manner.

[janinsanfran]

Dear Ronni -- I just clicked over to every post and article you listed -- it was kind of a bloggy New York Times for elders through a TGB lens. So yes, I like this format.

I'll always have some political posts, so I like the fact that you give mine so much exposure. In the coming days, mine in that vein (thank goodness there are other veins!) will probably focus on LGBT outrage in the aftermath of Prop. 8 and on what we can do to get the Obama administration to stop the mindless recourse to war as a response to all threats.

Meanwhile, here is one more insightful commentary on Obama's election from Derrick Z Jackson, the always insightful columnist at the Boston Globe.

[Laura]

Ronni,

I'd love to see it continue; I've been following the news (at least, election news) and ideas related to it more easily since this began. Perhaps something where you pick what seem to be interesting or important topics of the week, especially if mainstream media has missed or downplayed them (but also if it hasn't in some cases!), would be valuable.

Some weeks that might be politics. Others, it might be broader news of the world, or health news...whatever seems like it would be of interest to your readers. I trust your judgement on that, having seen the results week after week in both Elder News and now the political Sundays.

In weeks when the news is sparse, I agree with Marian, a themed "issue" would also be wonderful.

[mary jamison]

I, too, like this collection of links - it's a quick round-up that exposes me to things I'd miss otherwise.

FWIW, I'd be interested in reading more about "What Does "America's Best Interests" Mean?"

After reading the comments in response to Saul Friedman on Friday, I was taken by those who drew a distinction between their own self-interests and America's best interests.

I wonder if there's a way to use the Sunday feature to explore "America's Best Interests."

[Joy D]

I look forward to the Sunday posts on political issues. Thank you for doing this, and I hope they continue.

The state where I live (TN) is so Republican now that they barely take time to get in any results before we're colored red on those maps. I have blue state envy. To emphasize how it is here, our local twice-weekly newspaper had this headline Friday:

Dickson County sees red,
nation goes Obama blue

It made me see red! What a crappy way to report this historic election!

[Jane O.]

Ronni, your blog is my main source of links to topics for aging. I would love to see you continue Sundays links and see more about the economy as pertains to retired and not yet retired older Americans....housing, transportation, health care, financial assistance to name a few. These issues inevitably will bring us back to politics of course, but personal stories and reports are always interesting and inspiring, too. And since I live in Minnesota I would especially enjoy links to sites that might be of interest and value to Minnesota and the Midwest. Thanks!

[joared]

I really like this weekly collection of links, especially new ones of interest. Thanks to you for putting it together.

I'm particularly interested in reliable links about legislative bills, administrative actions, any news pertaining to our government's activities going forward. Presently that would include what Bush and congress do until inauguration day. After that would be following the new Pres., legislators and judicial actions.

I like the ideas of noting important news given short shrift by the media. Also, consider varying from week to week what the focus actually is. Certainly periodic attention to health matters is of interest to me whether it's new findings, or refuting old ones.

You're quite creative in selecting topics that interest you and that often are of similar interest to me so I trust your judgment.

Don't forget some light-hearted fun type links on occasion as I always like finding the humor in daily living.

[Cowtown Pattie]

Hmm, let me give it some thought and I'll email you my meanderings...

Like Marian, I enjoy having a smorgasbord of links that have been culled for me!

[Cynthia Samuels]

I"m all for keeping it going! You're right about finding new bloggers - that's great. So is seeing just how others of our generation(s) perceive what's going on. So I vote yes!

[Claudia]

Ronni, most everything you do is valuable! Thank you so very much for not only creating a compendium of thoughtful posts, but lending a helping hand to those bloggers you reference. You are a treasure!