History in the making

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Well, this week made for some interesting historical moments (ironic, since usually the week before Labor Day is completely dead in the news world) and the next few months will undoubtedly will be fodder for future Jeopardy questions for eternity.

Barak Obama was officially nominated as the Democtratic nominee for Prez (don't know why it takes a week-long, billions-of-dollars in tax moneys spent to announce the obvious at a convention, but whatever), and John McCain this morning announced his VP running mate.

So, in the oval office in 2009 will either be a black man as Prez, or a woman as Vice Prez, which - in either case - is a first for the USA.

But in the grand scheme of the world, it's kind of sad that it's taken this long for a "minority" to be elected into a public office. (I am putting "minority" in quotations because technically 51% of the population of the US is female, making it what, boys and girls? Yes, a majority. But I digress.) Let's look at other examples of those who are, thus far, "ahead" of us:

Chile: President is Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria, elected in 2006.
Liberia: Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was elected president of Liberia in 2005, becoming the first female president on the African continent.
Germany: Angela Merkel became the country's first female chancellor in history in 2005.
Ireland: Mary McAleese has been president since 1997 (yes, that's 11 years ago.)
Latvia: Vaira Vike-Freiberga is the first female president of Latvia, elected in 1999.
Israel: Dalia Itzik was selected speaker of the Knesset in 2006 and as of January 2007, is serving as acting president of the state of Israel, the first woman to hold this position.
Switzerland: Micheline Calmy-Rey was selected president of Switzerland in January 2007 and is the second woman to achieve this position in the Confederation.

Yes, *Latvia* and *Liberia* elected women as their leaders before the US did. But beyond that... let's look at the important stuff... what the Cube Boys are saying. So far, they have decided that the "red states" aren't going to be happy with a minority in either Prez or VP position, so they've concluded that the red states are going to "succeed" (i assume they mean "secede"?) from the US.

And I am, to be perfectly honest with you, horrified at the other aspects of the conversation that I've overheard (and I'm learning how even young, "liberal" males in New York City can be incredible assholes) so I won't add the other commentary that I've overheard into my blog...

So welcome to the moment of the US making history... and the moment of reaction to it. Study hard... one day you may be on Jeopardy.

Okay, back to work, people! We've got a holiday weekend to get to, pronto!
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