Headlines for November 6, 2008
Democracy Now - 6 Nov 2008
Days After Massive Toll, Another 7 Afghans Killed in Latest US Bombing, Obama Taps Rep. Emanuel as White House Chief of Staff, Geithner, Summers Rumored for Treasury Position, Dem. Appears Victorious in Oregon Senate Race, Recount Ordered in Minnesota Senate Race, NY Dems Gain First Control of State Legislature Since New Deal, New Hampshire Gets First Female Majority, 3 Lawsuits Filed Against California Gay Marriage Ban, Bush, Rice Praise Obama Election, Kenya Declares National Holiday to Mark Obama Win, Dems Mulling Doubling of Auto Maker Aid, Six Killed in Iraq Bombings, Thousands Flee Congo Fighting as Rebels Seize Restive Town, Russia Warns of Missile Deployment in Response to Bush Admin Weapons Program

A Palestinian refugee’s open letter to Obama
Electronic Intifada - 6 Nov 2008
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rDear President-elect Barack Obama: I don’t know if you will read these words or not, but I do hope that such words that come from my heart will reach yours, and you can find the hope and strength our people still have in them. I do hope that you will fulfill your promise of change, that your daughters will remain proud of their father and his achievements. Right is right, and justice is justice. All people are equal, and no race or color is superior above the others. EI contributor Abdelfattah Abusrour writes from occupied Ramallah.

Travesty of tolerance on display
Electronic Intifada - 6 Nov 2008
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rIsrael seems to have little time for the irony that a modern Jewish shrine to “coexistence and tolerance” is being built on the graves of the city’s Muslim forefathers. The Israeli Supreme Court’s approval last week of the building of a Jewish Museum of Tolerance over an ancient Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem is the latest in a series of legal and physical assaults on Islamic holy places since Israel’s founding in 1948. Jonathan Cook reports.

Unchaining History: Barack Obama Elected President of the United States
Democracy Now - 5 Nov 2008
In an historic election, Barack Obama has become the forty-fourth president of the United States. The first-term senator from Illinois easily defeated John McCain on Tuesday, winning a larger share of the popular vote than any Democrat since Lyndon Johnson in 1964. Record voter turnout was reported across the country. As election results began pouring in last night, thousands of Obama supporters gathered in the streets from Los Angeles to Kenya, the birthplace of Obama’s father. We play an excerpt of Obama’s victory speech in Chicago, where hundreds of thousands of people packed in Grant Park and the surrounding neighborhood to hear his address. [includes rush transcript]

America’s next president and a new approach to Iran
Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII) - 5 Nov 2008
Summary: Over the past three decades, five American presidents have struggled to figure out what to do about Iran. All five failed. As US President-elect Barack Obama and his advisers assess their foreign-policy priorities, they will encounter the immediate challenge of addressing Iran’s nuclear program and the country’s growing strategic importance in the Middle East and South Asia. source: Daily Starread more

Obama to Seek Global Re-engagement, But How Much?
Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII) - 5 Nov 2008
Summary: Afghan warWhile a President Barack Hussein Obama will present a strikingly different face of the United States to the rest of the world, how different his actual foreign policy will be remains unclear. source: Anti Warread more

Israel Braces for Obama’s Engagement in Iran, Gaza
Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII) - 5 Nov 2008
Summary: Obama's plan to engage Iran in direct negotiations over the Shiite Muslim state's drive to enrich uranium to produce nuclear weapons could limit Israel's option to use military force to block the program. And his pledge to be actively involved in peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians could lead him to exert pressure against settlement-building and travel restrictions on the Palestinians in the West Bank. source: Bloombergread more

Iran ‘waiting for that change’ after Obama win: top MP
Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII) - 5 Nov 2008
Summary: Prominent Iranian MP Hamid Reza Haji Babai on Wednesday welcomed the US presidential victory of Democrat Barack Obama as an “opportunity and test,” with Iran now “waiting for that change.” source: IC Publicationread more

Iran warns U.S. not to violate Iranian airspace
Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII) - 5 Nov 2008
Summary: USS John C StennisTEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran’s military has warned U.S. forces in Iraq that U.S. helicopters had been spotted flying close to the Iranian border and that Tehran would respond to any violation of its airspace, state radio reported on Wednesday. The statement from Iran’s army headquarters comes just hours after Americans elected their next president, Barack Obama, who has said he would toughen sanctions on Iran but has also held out the possibility of direct talks with Tehran. source: Reuters read more

Jerusalem worried about effect of Obama win on U.S. relations with Iran
Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII) - 5 Nov 2008
Summary: Israel is worried about what the outcome of America’s presidential election may portend for Washington’s policy on Iran. On most Israel-related issues, Jerusalem foresees no dramatic changes in U.S. policy, regardless of who is elected. On Iran, however, it is worried that Democratic candidate Barack Obama will take a significantly softer line than the outgoing administration has. During his campaign, Obama repeatedly said that if elected, he would begin a dialogue with the Iranian regime. source: Haaretzread more

Iran hails Obama victory
Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII) - 5 Nov 2008
Summary: Tehran, Nov 5 (IANS) Iran Wednesday hailed the election of Barack Obama as the president of the US, saying the victory of the first black American dismantled the last racial barrier in the country?s politics. It said Obama?s victory signified the rejection by the American people of the era of incumbent George W. Bush, official IRNA news agency reported. source: Sindh Todayread more

Military Families to Obama: End the War
AlterNet: War on Iraq - 5 Nov 2008
“It is time for all our troops to be brought home from Iraq and for their families to sleep easily once again.”

Obama: Drop Gates
AlterNet: War on Iraq - 5 Nov 2008
There is wide speculation that Robert Gates will stay on as Secretary of Defense under Obama. This would be a huge mistake.

Iraq Vet Calls on Antiwar Movement to Press President-Elect Obama for Immediate Withdrawal from Iraq
Democracy Now - 5 Nov 2008
In the wake of Barack Obama becoming the forty-fourth president of the United States, we speak with Sgt. Matthis Chiroux, a member of Iraq Veteran Against the War. Sgt. Chiroux served in the Army until being honorably discharged last year after over four years of service, including in Afghanistan, where Obama has pledged to escalate the war. [includes rush transcript]

Independent Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader Discusses Future Obama Presidency and Two-Party Politics
Democracy Now - 5 Nov 2008
We speak with independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader. The longtime consumer advocate appeared on the ballot in forty-five states. He received about one percent of the vote, the highest of any third-party candidate. [includes rush transcript]

California’s Prop 8 Approval Likely
Democracy Now - 5 Nov 2008
One of the most closely watched ballot initiative votes dealt with gay marriage. In California, Proposition 8 appears headed for approval. The Proposition would amend the California constitution to specify that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California. Voters also passed gay marriage bans in Arizona and Florida. [includes rush transcript]

Obama Should Never Forget “The White House Was Built by Black Slaves” – Uruguayan Writer Eduardo Galeano
Democracy Now - 5 Nov 2008
We go to Montevideo to speak with Eduardo Galeano, one of the most celebrated writers from Latin America. Galeano discusses the significance of an African American being elected president of the United States. [includes rush transcript]

Melissa Harris-Lacewell on President-Elect Obama
Democracy Now - 5 Nov 2008
We speak with Melissa Harris-Lacewell about the election of Barack Obama as forty-fourth president of the United States. Lacewell is an associate professor of politics and African American atudies at Princeton University and a contributing writer at TheRoot.com. She is finishing her new book Sister Citizen: A Text for Colored Girls Who?ve Considered Politics When Being Strong Isn?t Enough. [includes rush transcript]

Obama Wins Larger Share of Popular Vote Than Any Democrat Since Johnson
Democracy Now - 5 Nov 2008
Barack Obama was elected the forty-fourth president of the United States on Tuesday. The first-term senator from Illinois easily defeated John McCain on Tuesday, winning a larger share of the popular vote than any Democrat since Lyndon Johnson in 1964. We play an excerpt of his victory speech. [includes rush transcript]

Green Party Presidential Candidate Cynthia McKinney Responds to Obama Win
Democracy Now - 5 Nov 2008
We speak with Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney. National results indicate McKinney placed sixth in overall voting behind Barack Obama, John McCain, independent candidate Ralph Nader, Libertarian Bob Barr and Chuck Baldwin of the Constitution Party. [includes rush transcript]

Where Do Republicans Go from Here? Michael Tomasky on the Future of the GOP
Democracy Now - 5 Nov 2008
Many political observers agree the 2008 election has highlighted growing divisions within the Republican Party. John McCain’s selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential running mate was widely seen as reaching out to the right-wing evangelicals that initially opposed his nomination. Last week, reports emerged that leading conservatives were planning to meet in Virginia in the days after the election. Attendees will discuss the future of the Republican Party and the conservative movement. We speak with Michael Tomasy, editor of Guardian America. [includes rush transcript]

Voices of Harlem: Voters in Historic Black Neighborhood Discuss Their Votes
Democracy Now - 5 Nov 2008
We speak with voters coming out of a polling site on 144th St. and Malcolm X Blvd. in Harlem, New York. [includes rush transcript]

Manning Marable on the Significance of the Nation’s First Elected African American President
Democracy Now - 5 Nov 2008
We get response on Barack Obama’s election from Manning Marable, a professor of public affairs, political science, history and African American studies at Columbia University in New York City. He is the author of many books, including Living Black History: How Reimagining the African-American Past Can Remake America’s Racial Future. [includes rush transcript]

John McCain Concedes Defeat in Phoenix
Democracy Now - 5 Nov 2008
Democrat Barack Obama swept Republican rival Senator John McCain in several key battlegrounds, scoring a landslide victory. Obama beat McCain in at least eight states that went Republican in 2004: Indiana, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio and Virginia. Obama also beat McCain in the swing states of Pennsylvania and New Hampshire, giving him an Electoral College lead of 349 to McCain’s 162. McCain was quick to offer a concession speech, addressing supporters in his home state of Arizona. He urged Americans to unite behind an Obama White House. We play an excerpt. [includes rush transcript]

Obama picks pro-Israel hardliner for top post
Electronic Intifada - 5 Nov 2008
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rDuring the United States election campaign, racists and pro-Israel hardliners tried to make an issue out of President-elect Barack Obama’s middle name, Hussein. Such people might take comfort in another middle name, that of Obama’s pick for White House Chief of Staff: Rahm Israel Emanuel. Emanuel is Obama’s first high-level appointment and it’s one likely to disappointment those who hoped the president-elect would break with the George W. Bush Administration’s pro-Israel policies. EI co-founder Ali Abunimah looks at Emanuel’s record.