Obama

[mellowtigger]

A day or so before the election, I finally decided to vote for Obama. The influencing factor was my own pessimism about the economy. I still think that "the big crash" is coming, and I think Obama is such a gifted orator and statesman that he might have the stability, calm, and force of personality that it will take to hold this union together during the dark times ahead.

Beforehand, I was not moved by opinions outside of our own citizenry. Our election is an internal matter. Afterwards, though, I am beginning to see how involved the world is in our U.S. politics. I realized that we are actually still special here and that other people do look to us for inspiration sometimes. I realized that we do still have important things to do in this nation that will encourage the world to believe in happier outcomes for everyone. It was hard to remember these things during the Bush years.

It's been so many years, I had forgotten what it was like to have the world respect us and be genuinely happy for us.

I saw the video of the French man smiling and saying, "Only in America." I read the pro-Obama Chinese woman say, "China will never have a minority president.” I read the person in Thailand who said, "What an inspiration. He is the first truly global US president the world has ever had... He had an Asian childhood, African parentage and has a Middle Eastern name. He is a truly global president."

A distant (great, great?) grandfather of Obama came from Ireland. So prior to the election some of the locals enjoyed singing at a pub about their connection to this American. Now that he's won, I imagine this song to get used a lot more.

O'Leary, O'Reilly, O'Hare, and O'Hara / There's no one as Irish as Barack Obama.
From the old blarney stone to the green hills of Tara / There's no one as Irish as Barack Obama.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=EADUQWKoVek

A foreign nation declares a national holiday to celebrate our new president. People dance in villages in another part of the globe.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7710394.stm

This effect is altogether different than the divisive rancor that "a recent president" has accomplished in 8 years. I don't expect roses to bloom tomorrow and rainbows to appear in the sky, but I do feel confident that Obama can get this nation through the dark times ahead that we've been steering toward for too many years. I didn't vote for happy fun times. I voted for someone who can keep us in one piece through hard times still to come.
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/11/the_next_president_of_the_unit.html#photo11

And, finally, a reminder of his skill at speaking, and the creativity that he inspires in others. "Yes, we can."
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jjXyqcx-mYY

We really did accomplish something special, didn't we?
http://www.patrickmoberg.com/november-4-2008.jpg

Comments

[hilltop.livejournal.com]

Good post. At one point, I was imagining which guy I'd believe the most when they tried to reassure us it's going to be ok when the crash comes. Barack was the guy by a long shot. A lot of people are madly in love with the guy, almost obsessive about it, but I can see the attraction. He's intelligent, well spoken, which is going to be a nice change of pace after 8 years of Bush bumbling along. I trust his judgment to handle things with a cool head, unlike Bush or McCain, those two were hot headed and impulsive. Not what we need when things get heated.

[mellowtigger]

I remember a great uncle of mine talking about the importance to the world of our achievement in landing people on the moon. It's been that long, I think, since we last impressed the world on such a scale. Obama will have a lot of international goodwill in his early days. I'm confident that he won't squander it like W did after 9/11.

[hilltop.livejournal.com]

The moon trips.. that still amazes me to this day, it was more amazing that it took place so many years ago, when technology wasn't too slick.

And yeah, Bush pissed away the world. The world was stepping up to help in any way possible, but being Mavericky, he had to go it alone. Idiot.

A day or so before the election, I finally decided to vote for Obama.

[artfldarknbuzzd.livejournal.com]

er...what was your other choice?

Re: A day or so before the election, I finally decided to vote for Obama.

[mellowtigger]

On the issues, it was candidate Ralph Nader. (Though I have some trouble deciphering the actual party affiliation: Independence, Independent, American Independent, New Independent, etc.) Since the election, some divisive comments have come to light. Some of the "old school" kind of political thinking that I veto in my candidates. So I'm glad that I didn't vote for him after all.

[vocalista001.livejournal.com]

The Irish song made me smile when I saw it a while ago. I've wondered about his ancestry on the other side, just for interest's sake.

[nudewoody.livejournal.com]

Our election is an internal matter.
Everything we do affects the entire world. That is what being a global power means. Off course the rest of the world is concerned about who we elect and what we do. iIt might be our election, but it's their asses.

[cosmomn.livejournal.com]

I hope Obama can turn our international reputation around fast. I have traveled overseas during the Bush years and the reception of Americans in other countries is really scary.