An historic night, an historic week, it truly is a brilliant time for liberalists, black people, and pretty much most of the world. But I think it would be wrong to call it a victory. The reaction of the world was not an ecstatic leap for joy, but a determined subtle fist shake of relief. However, Obama has connected with people in way that has certainly surprised me. I of course empathise with his ambition and his intelligence but it seems that all it takes for some people is that he’s black. Which of course he’s not, but don’t go saying that to black people. A friend of mine got very angry when someone suggested that the new president was actually whiter than the vast majority of voters. But whatever Obama’s skin and personality colour, what this ridiculous debate does is truly lift the lid on racism. How absurd is it to decide upon someone’s “blackness” before deciding whether you like them or not. They say prejudice is based on ignorance, and here I think that any debate about race is a little ignorant. So of course in four years time it will still be in the headlines.
As Barack Obama was celebrating his iconic victory, back in the Republican camp, many were doing more than throwing their cowboy hats to the ground and stamping on them. Many are fixing their blame upon Sarah Palin but to me there is something incredibly wrong with this. Why would they want to blame anyone? They haven’t lost a sports match. Despite the red and blue, the challenger and incumbent, even to an extent the black and white being the same, this was not a boxing match. The country has decided that Barack Obama will be better to lead their nation at this time. A politician’s job and his duty is to serve his country, and if his country doesn’t think that he should be put in charge then he must accept that someone else is better. I know this is an incredibly idealistic view of politics and of democracy, and the Republican’s believe that their way of doing things will serve the country better, but a representative democracy is a government put in charge, by the people.
One thing that seems to unite the world, however, is the eagerness to wave goodbye to the man so famous (or infamous) that a single letter suffices for his name. One would certainly struggle to find a reasonable person who would like another 4 years of W. But does he really deserve all the hate? I can hear the affirmative shouts from all around the globe, angry, blaming fingers pointing at Iraq, Afghanistan, Wall Street, Israel, global warming, even poverty in Africa, in the USA, the fact that my car door won’t work properly. Bush is apparently to blame for absolutely everything, but again is our blame founded? And is it necessary at all? I would argue that certainly the answer is no to the former. Who can actually explain why George Bush himself caused the financial crisis. I don’t believe anybody, because he didn’t. Of course I must concede that what he represents, the ruling Republican government could partly be to blame for many of the above problems, but W himself, I think is like Boris Johnson. A bit silly, a bit prone to gaffes, doesn’t really know what he’s doing but his heart is in the wrong place. Bush is not an intellectual; you could go as far to say that he is stupid. But that is not a crime. When he became president I am sure that his felt true pride in his heart that he could do his best for the country that he loved. Sadly, of course, it didn’t go according to plan, but I would affix blame more upon the president’s men that the man himself. The likes of Cheney, Rumsfeld, the true doers of the last 8 years, whom Bush trusted and by extension whom the people trusted. So lay off Bush. But perhaps what America needs is some changes in election, perhaps have a government elected rather than a man. For a president does not run the country, his people do. If Obama’s senior ministers consisted of shadowy egotists, there would have to be some major questions asked. We are trusting him to select a good team, and I have every faith in him, but so did many in Bush. Hindsight is a wonderful thing to have, as is lack of responsibility, so some blaming fingers should perhaps think a little before pointing.
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