Choose Change
I just want to say how happy I am about Barack Obama's landslide victory last night. I had the television glued to CNN, BBC and Newsworld yesterday from the time I got up to the time I finally went to bed around 1:30 in the morning. There should never have been any doubt of Obama's success and I could have gone to bed secure with that knowledge but I wouldn't dare choose to miss this historical event; this is something that will now define our generation in history. How could anyone sleep through that?
Up until last night I've often felt a dismal sense of the world we live in. After being repeatedly beaten about the brow by the blatant hypocrisy of the Bush administration I believed that this generation had grown apathetic through their powerlessness. No matter how much America and the world protested against the ill-conceived choices made by the government, the government always got it's way and the world seemed powerless to stop it. When America had it's chance to finally remove George W. Bush from the seat of power in 2004, everyone thought it was inevitable that the Bush administration would end. His popularity at that time was meandering around 60% and rapidly declining...and yet, he won.
I couldn't make any sense of it and from that point on I felt a dullness come over me. We watched the world decline with Bush's popularity and even though the world staged simultaneous protests against the war in Iraq, our voices were still not heard. This was not an administration that was interested in listening to the people and that, after awhile, gets very demoralizing.
With the Bush administration quickly coming to an end I feel as though the world is collectively waking up from a long nightmarish dream. Was it all real? Did all those terrible things happen? Are the World Trade Centre Towers still standing? Sadly, they are not. It will take a lot of time for America to heal from the inconceivable traumas they have endured. Bush may have to return to drinking as I don't know how anyone could live with the guilt of knowing they were pivotal in all this chaos.
What can I say about Obama that hasn't been said a million times since last night? I can remember watching him give the keynote address at the Democratic convention in 2004 and I remember thinking to myself, "Wouldn't it be great if he were to run for president?" Of course there were rumours and murmurings but no one thought he would run so soon given his age and inexperience. So when he did decide to run there was a feeling of hope but also concern that Obama was risking his chances by trying to run so early in his career. Obama was someone I wanted and I didn't want to see him miss his chance.
But he went on to prove us all wrong last night. We have for too long lived in fear and the election of Barack Obama last night beckons us to learn how to trust again.
The U.S. has often been criticized for being too grandiose about itself, making themselves appear obnoxious and self-involved on the world stage. Last night was no different (especially when you compare this election to our own recent election in Canada which could never have pulled off the fanfare achieved in America). But last night I believe the whole world shared a collective moment of silence for 15 minutes while Obama gave his victory speech. It was magical.
There will be a period when we come off the honeymoon period as the U.S. returns to face the massive mess left over from the Republican party, but for now last night serves as a gift to the world. In Obama we feel a sense of inspiration and a sense of hope that we have long been bereft of. Anything can happen and we have the power of choice once again, not only by virtue of a government that will actually listen to the people, but in our own daily lives. We can choose to help each other out, we can choose to pay attention to what our leaders are doing and be active participants, we can choose to shoot for the stars. We may fail but we must continue to try and to hope and to have faith. I never thought we could escape the hazards of the world Bush has created and even though it will take us a little longer still, I have faith that we now have someone who will guide us through it and if everyone can share in that feeling of hope we may get there sooner yet.
Up until last night I've often felt a dismal sense of the world we live in. After being repeatedly beaten about the brow by the blatant hypocrisy of the Bush administration I believed that this generation had grown apathetic through their powerlessness. No matter how much America and the world protested against the ill-conceived choices made by the government, the government always got it's way and the world seemed powerless to stop it. When America had it's chance to finally remove George W. Bush from the seat of power in 2004, everyone thought it was inevitable that the Bush administration would end. His popularity at that time was meandering around 60% and rapidly declining...and yet, he won.
I couldn't make any sense of it and from that point on I felt a dullness come over me. We watched the world decline with Bush's popularity and even though the world staged simultaneous protests against the war in Iraq, our voices were still not heard. This was not an administration that was interested in listening to the people and that, after awhile, gets very demoralizing.
With the Bush administration quickly coming to an end I feel as though the world is collectively waking up from a long nightmarish dream. Was it all real? Did all those terrible things happen? Are the World Trade Centre Towers still standing? Sadly, they are not. It will take a lot of time for America to heal from the inconceivable traumas they have endured. Bush may have to return to drinking as I don't know how anyone could live with the guilt of knowing they were pivotal in all this chaos.
What can I say about Obama that hasn't been said a million times since last night? I can remember watching him give the keynote address at the Democratic convention in 2004 and I remember thinking to myself, "Wouldn't it be great if he were to run for president?" Of course there were rumours and murmurings but no one thought he would run so soon given his age and inexperience. So when he did decide to run there was a feeling of hope but also concern that Obama was risking his chances by trying to run so early in his career. Obama was someone I wanted and I didn't want to see him miss his chance.
But he went on to prove us all wrong last night. We have for too long lived in fear and the election of Barack Obama last night beckons us to learn how to trust again.
The U.S. has often been criticized for being too grandiose about itself, making themselves appear obnoxious and self-involved on the world stage. Last night was no different (especially when you compare this election to our own recent election in Canada which could never have pulled off the fanfare achieved in America). But last night I believe the whole world shared a collective moment of silence for 15 minutes while Obama gave his victory speech. It was magical.
There will be a period when we come off the honeymoon period as the U.S. returns to face the massive mess left over from the Republican party, but for now last night serves as a gift to the world. In Obama we feel a sense of inspiration and a sense of hope that we have long been bereft of. Anything can happen and we have the power of choice once again, not only by virtue of a government that will actually listen to the people, but in our own daily lives. We can choose to help each other out, we can choose to pay attention to what our leaders are doing and be active participants, we can choose to shoot for the stars. We may fail but we must continue to try and to hope and to have faith. I never thought we could escape the hazards of the world Bush has created and even though it will take us a little longer still, I have faith that we now have someone who will guide us through it and if everyone can share in that feeling of hope we may get there sooner yet.