Enjoy the moment, yes, but let’s not get all black-and-white…he’s too good for that–and the situation’s too serious.
What a week–and the excitement is for good reason. At last, in Barack Obama, we have a leader who promises to be worthy of the name, who has authentic insight into hardship and struggle together with the nuanced grasp of complex issues and of history so absent in the Bush White House.
Worldwide, and throughout the United States, Red or Blue, there has been euphoria, even among those who voted against him, as the achievements of Civil Rights pioneers find some fruition in the 44th Presidency, a symbolic transformation hailed by conservatives, moderates, and liberals alike.
American flags sprouted worldwide as a suppressed love dared to speak its name for the first time since 2001.
Even Jon Stewart had to remind overseas viewers that Obama “belongs to the US” and that other countries “can’t have him”.
The United States, it is said, went from “zero to hero” in the space of a single Tuesday in November.
Zero to Hero? Woah. Hold up there, pardners.
We have to be careful here, all of us, stateside and outside, not to take the simplistic view of America and its position in the world that we were so quick to accuse President Bush of.
Under Bush or Obama there remain several undeniable facts and positions that wishful thinking will not change.
First, Obama’s America will remain the world’s only superpower.
The country carries, as an accident of history brought on by centuries of European/Asian militarism and overreach, a burden of global security on which all of us in the First World and many elsewhere daily depend.
The fuel that gets you to work or allows you to tour charming Alpine villages on vacation would be priced out of your reach if it wasn’t for American military forces guarding the shipping lanes along which supertankers faithfully carry your crude oil from the Middle East day-in, day-out.
In fact that Alpine Village might have been razed to the ground if the US had not guaranteed, by threat of arms, peace between France and Germany after 1945, a security shield which made the EU possible and for which all Europeans owe Americans a debt that should not be forgotten.
Second, America is never going to give up on Israel. Let’s hope that Obama exerts moral pressure on them to the degree that their political class allows itself to empathize with their victims in Palestine and then acts accordingly: it is a blot, a pathological blot, on Israel that a state founded by and for the victims of brutality should repress those in its own care so heartlessly.
Third, Americans are Americans. They boast citizens speaking every language known to man, but they are, by and large, not Spanish or Irish or Bolivian. There is no monarch on their coin. Their interest rates are set by their own central bankers. And, just like Spanish or Irish or Bolivians, they act, and understandably have to act, in their own self-interest: Obama has to worry about American citizens first: the plight of the Spanish, Irish or Bolivian bourgeoisie and their dependants is not his first concern.
Fourth, and lucky for us, the US is a mature nation with a clear understanding of its responsibilities. This sense of leadership was even found, albeit in clouded form, during the Bush administration: it is acknowledged for instance that Bush did more to fight AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa than any predecessor. And America’s attitude towards the UN has been patient when you consider the lamentable state of that institution (as the unlucky people of DR Congo are the latest to be discovering). I trust Obama, a true man of the world, will maintain a firm scepticism towards that body.
Iraq was a mistake and he called it early–but Obama is desined to be Commander-in-Chief of US occupying forces in the Middle East for some time to come.
Depend on Russia, an increasingly irresponsible state, to test Obama in his first term. And Obama will put Medvedev and Putin firmly in ther place when that time comes.
America, in short, is not going to turn into the world’s poodle come Inauguration Day in January. It is and will always remain an exceptional country with exceptional powers and resonsibilities. Obama, I believe, understands that. You don’t get black-and-white thinking, in any sense, from this man.
He gets it.
The question is: do we?
Image by January20th2009 on Flickr
I have a fair few friends–both Republican and Democrat–not speaking to me over saying similar things. (Aside: this election has been the final straw for me in terms of being reasonable about the two-party system. I officially HATE it.)
I have found that perhaps it is not yet the time to ‘question’ Obama with troubling statements about “Americans being Americans” and having to look after their own first or having to remain in Iraq or Israel til the job is finished.
As a Republican friend of mine keeps kindly reminding me, the markedly angry reaction I’m getting to what I believe is a reasonable stance, “shows how much people are hurting”.
Are they growing pains or not? Will they result in a more mature, socially responsible, activist, grass roots world? I’m waiting to see.
This is where it gets truly exciting though, because Obama really seems to have the potential to lead us out of this blind partisanship Bush has left us with.
Case in point: Joe Lieberman. Many Dems are calling for his head but Obama isn’t, I notice.
I am preparing myself for the inevitable discovery that Obama is only human and cannot change everthing in DC…but there do seem to be signs that he is going to lead us away from the divisive ‘Punch and Judy’ politocs of this decade to date.
Isn’t it interesting too what an inspiration he is for people overseas? Good to see the US reclaiming some of that role at least.
I’m glad you think things will be exciting.
Personally, I’ve found that the response to me has been so vehement that I’ve started considering whether or not to keep silent. I’ve NEVER felt this way before when discussing American politics. Even when I’m speaking from a Philippine nationalist perspective.
But I’m finding that question Obama = question hope. When did that happen? Is my Republican friend right? Is everybody hurting that much?
I had a Philippine relative come up to me Dublin the other day and shake my hand
“Congratulations.” she said.
“For what?” I said.
“Obama is your president now. Everything will be all right.”
When did this happen Fin?
I first became nevous when I said something along the lines of “Sarah Palin reminds me of many or most of the American women of my acquaintance of her age, in particular the way she blithely and easily balances career and family. I don’t think she’s stupid. Not equipped to be Vice-President. But there is lots in what she has done that is admirable.”
I got shouted down at the dinner party.
When will it be okay for me to say, as a typically Democrat voter, as a deeply committed activist and as a woman that I think there was lots to commend in Palin’s example (though perhaps not her campaign). In her own community, she has perhaps done as much reform as Obama has in his. And the media did more to set back feminism than Palin’s example ever did. Why is it not only acceptable, but de rigeur to talk about Palin’s stupidity and nothing else she has done?
May we live in interesting times, huh?
Sorry, I’ve actually just been ranting to my Republican friend about all this and he got an earful. He’s told me I need to be more careful. Oh dear. I’m awful old for that.
Sounds like a stressful dinner party!
This is the terrible legacy of the Bush v Reid era of American politics…it’s all about party gain and we aren’t ‘allowed’ to note anything encouraging about the other side. I would say a lot of even diehard conservatives are impressed with Obama but get shouted down (or shot at!) at their caribou hunting parties.
Sarah Palin, especially outside the Western US, seems unreal to urban dwellers who couldn’t even gut a fish let alone survive in the wild.
And anyone who gets onto a national election ticket is by definition smart: I agree with you there.
Your friend is probably right…the damage to morale was so great people are afraid to think of Obama as anythng less than Messianic.