Worldwide Euphoria
As a beam of light fell on my face, I woke up this morning to a deep elation that Obama had won the elections, and feel back to sleep, content.
After getting out of bed, I can't describe how wonderful it was to look at the map of the US that I'd coloured in as results came in til 6 in the morning, to see the expanse of blue around the great lakes and spreading down the East coast, and to see the Republicans relegated to the Deep South and empty Western states where they belong.
Reading the papers, I can honestly say that I was almost moved to tears by the sense of euphoria and hope that has swept the entire world, political leaders and everyday people. Europeans, of course, have nothing but unbridled enthusiasm for Obama, but so too, it seems, do Africans, Arabs, Latin Americans, Japanese, Indonesians... Finally, the world will be able to respect America again after 8 catastrophic years of Bush.
Personally, I'm just glad that we'll be getting rid of Bush. I would dearly, dearly love to see the man tried for war crimes for his planned, unnecessary and arguably illegal war on Iraq, and it saddens me deeply that the structure of world politics prevents this from happening. Obama represents an end to US warmongering.
As for Obama, I am glad he will be President, and whatever he does, I think we must remember that the alternative was McCain, who would be infinitely worse. There are so many expectations of Obama that he can't possibly fulfil them all. And, of course, we Europeans must remember that Obama is, by our standards, a right-wing politician; that like any other President of the US, he will be inextricably linked to lobbyists and big business. The word "socialist" has been bandied around by McCain; I am an actual socialist, and I know that Obama will not create anything even approaching my dream society.
That said, I look forward to some things of him. Domestically, his tax cuts will benefit millions - ironically, they'll help the poor states that voted McCain most of all. I don't really understand the American healthcare system (if it can be called a system), but I understand Obama will kind of introduce universal healthcare for children, which is a step in the right direction.
Internationally, I look forward to the closure of Guantanamo Bay. Bush has destroyed an entire nation, Iraq, for a generation, and nothing Obama does could possibly fix that. Faced with the options, I support his pullout although it will probably have disastrous short term ramifications.
I differ with Obama on Afghanistan. I'm not certain the war is at all winnable - it is a war against an ideology with no real opposition capable of defending itself. But if the war is to carry on, I hope that as Commander-in-chief, Obama makes some changes to how it is conducted. This morning, the President of Afghanistan asked Obama to bring to an end the airborne strikes targeting Afghan villages and killing civilians. Like him, I think the war cannot be won when airstrikes murdering civilians are constantly recruiting for the Taliban.
Overall, I am incredibly optimistic. I am ready to be let down by Obama, I know it is inevitable. I will complain about him. But I will always bear in mind that the only viable alternative was McCain, and then I will be thankful.
After getting out of bed, I can't describe how wonderful it was to look at the map of the US that I'd coloured in as results came in til 6 in the morning, to see the expanse of blue around the great lakes and spreading down the East coast, and to see the Republicans relegated to the Deep South and empty Western states where they belong.
Reading the papers, I can honestly say that I was almost moved to tears by the sense of euphoria and hope that has swept the entire world, political leaders and everyday people. Europeans, of course, have nothing but unbridled enthusiasm for Obama, but so too, it seems, do Africans, Arabs, Latin Americans, Japanese, Indonesians... Finally, the world will be able to respect America again after 8 catastrophic years of Bush.
Personally, I'm just glad that we'll be getting rid of Bush. I would dearly, dearly love to see the man tried for war crimes for his planned, unnecessary and arguably illegal war on Iraq, and it saddens me deeply that the structure of world politics prevents this from happening. Obama represents an end to US warmongering.
As for Obama, I am glad he will be President, and whatever he does, I think we must remember that the alternative was McCain, who would be infinitely worse. There are so many expectations of Obama that he can't possibly fulfil them all. And, of course, we Europeans must remember that Obama is, by our standards, a right-wing politician; that like any other President of the US, he will be inextricably linked to lobbyists and big business. The word "socialist" has been bandied around by McCain; I am an actual socialist, and I know that Obama will not create anything even approaching my dream society.
That said, I look forward to some things of him. Domestically, his tax cuts will benefit millions - ironically, they'll help the poor states that voted McCain most of all. I don't really understand the American healthcare system (if it can be called a system), but I understand Obama will kind of introduce universal healthcare for children, which is a step in the right direction.
Internationally, I look forward to the closure of Guantanamo Bay. Bush has destroyed an entire nation, Iraq, for a generation, and nothing Obama does could possibly fix that. Faced with the options, I support his pullout although it will probably have disastrous short term ramifications.
I differ with Obama on Afghanistan. I'm not certain the war is at all winnable - it is a war against an ideology with no real opposition capable of defending itself. But if the war is to carry on, I hope that as Commander-in-chief, Obama makes some changes to how it is conducted. This morning, the President of Afghanistan asked Obama to bring to an end the airborne strikes targeting Afghan villages and killing civilians. Like him, I think the war cannot be won when airstrikes murdering civilians are constantly recruiting for the Taliban.
Overall, I am incredibly optimistic. I am ready to be let down by Obama, I know it is inevitable. I will complain about him. But I will always bear in mind that the only viable alternative was McCain, and then I will be thankful.