Barack Messiah
Another presidential election has come and gone. Having talked with a number of people here in the States, I think the most common feeling about it is that we are glad it’s over. The whole political process here began almost two years ago, and by this time last year I was very confident Obama would win. Whether we voted for Obama or not, most people here have already accepted our soon-to-be president, and are ready to move forward.
What surprises me most, though, hasn’t been how Americans have reacted, but how the rest of the world is reacting. I have read the words of many people from around the world, and it seems like the whole world wanted Obama to be the president. Desperately. My friend Eric, an American living in Holland, wrote here in his blog about how popular Obama is there. My friend Sander, a Dutchman who feels the whole world should be able to vote for the American president, was ecstatic in his response here. And as this Australian points out, everyone he knows felt that Obama was the only real choice for a leader. While I know the rest of the world tends to favor American Democrats, I am still amazed by the incredible excitement that surrounds Obama.
On one hand, I’m glad to have a President that is well received by those in other countries. In fact, I’m thrilled! I sincerely hope this president will have a stronger international mindset and who will make decisions not just based on what he feels is good for America, but for the whole world.
But I am concerned that this world may be putting more hopes into Obama than he will live up to, or perhaps even can live up to. Think I’m exaggerating? My friend in Dubai told us that people were dancing in the streets on the day Obama was elected. “Finally,” they said, “America has elected a Muslim president. Finally we have someone who will get rid of Israel for us!” I don’t even know what Obama’s stance on Israel is, but I can promise you those people in Dubai are going to be strongly disappointed. Wolfgang Ischinger, a former German ambassador to the US, even said, “A new face offers Europe a new chance to remarry America. That's the good news. The bad news is that this outburst of Obama-mania does create expectations which no president can possibly fulfill. Sooner or later there will be some disappointment on the way.” I hope he is wrong, but I suspect he is right, and I wonder what that will mean for the US and the rest of the world.
I am greatly blessed to have a number of international friends who read my blog. Can you explain this “Obama-mania” to me, and to the rest of America? I confess, I do not fully understand it. Why do you have such a powerful admiration for him? What is it that you expect him to do that another person would not? Why are the world’s hopes so firmly set on a man in a foreign country, whose future actions no one really knows?
Perzik
What surprises me most, though, hasn’t been how Americans have reacted, but how the rest of the world is reacting. I have read the words of many people from around the world, and it seems like the whole world wanted Obama to be the president. Desperately. My friend Eric, an American living in Holland, wrote here in his blog about how popular Obama is there. My friend Sander, a Dutchman who feels the whole world should be able to vote for the American president, was ecstatic in his response here. And as this Australian points out, everyone he knows felt that Obama was the only real choice for a leader. While I know the rest of the world tends to favor American Democrats, I am still amazed by the incredible excitement that surrounds Obama.
On one hand, I’m glad to have a President that is well received by those in other countries. In fact, I’m thrilled! I sincerely hope this president will have a stronger international mindset and who will make decisions not just based on what he feels is good for America, but for the whole world.
But I am concerned that this world may be putting more hopes into Obama than he will live up to, or perhaps even can live up to. Think I’m exaggerating? My friend in Dubai told us that people were dancing in the streets on the day Obama was elected. “Finally,” they said, “America has elected a Muslim president. Finally we have someone who will get rid of Israel for us!” I don’t even know what Obama’s stance on Israel is, but I can promise you those people in Dubai are going to be strongly disappointed. Wolfgang Ischinger, a former German ambassador to the US, even said, “A new face offers Europe a new chance to remarry America. That's the good news. The bad news is that this outburst of Obama-mania does create expectations which no president can possibly fulfill. Sooner or later there will be some disappointment on the way.” I hope he is wrong, but I suspect he is right, and I wonder what that will mean for the US and the rest of the world.
I am greatly blessed to have a number of international friends who read my blog. Can you explain this “Obama-mania” to me, and to the rest of America? I confess, I do not fully understand it. Why do you have such a powerful admiration for him? What is it that you expect him to do that another person would not? Why are the world’s hopes so firmly set on a man in a foreign country, whose future actions no one really knows?
Perzik