So I sit here, and I try to think back to when a President last spoke like that. I've never lived through one, and you would probably have to look at either Reagan's "Tear down this wall" speech, or possibly even back to the Kennedy era. I feel like I've just watched one of the biggest moments, if not the biggest moment in history.
Let me explain here. It's not simply because an African American has been elected. While that is clearly important, what is even bigger is the fact that this African American is such a well-spoken and all around incredible person. For 250 years, oppression has been rife throughout the United States. It has taken an amazing person to fully break those chains. Never before has an African American even managed to get through the primaries, and here this man has taken it all the way. He is something special, and not just because of his skin colour.
This speech had echoes of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. While watching it, all I could hear was "I have been to the mountain top". Obama sounded like he too was a Reverend or a Priest, preaching to the masses, and them responding in turn. Obama seems to be the MLK of this generation. This is what scares me the most. MLK was assassinated the day after he gave what I consider to be his best speech. Given the fact that Obama gave his speech with bulletproof shields in front of him it's safe to say that many others are worried too. I don't want to tempt fate, but it fucking scares me. There are some insane people out there.
The irony in all this is the fact that I now couldn't give a shit about the New Zealand election on Saturday. All of that is wiped from my brain, and I can't bring myself to watch the leader's debate that is happening right now, because I know it will be such an anti-climax.
I don't care what you say, but I know that nearly everyone wishes they were American right now. I certainly do.
And now to sign off, echoing the sentiment that everyone should be feeling right now.
Peace.
Edit: WTF?! Sure, elect Obama, but then you go and vote yes on Proposition 8, effectively reversing gay marriage rights only just granted to California citizens. Shame on you Californians who voted yes. I'm still really happy that the US is now headed in the right direction, but this really grinds my gears. I'm fucking upset at this.
Then again, I guess I have more material for my American Politics exam tomorrow :D
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I am fascinated by a foreigner's view of the USA election. No disrespect intended, but why do you care? You could offer me a billion dollars to name the leader of NZ and I couldn't. As for Obama, he ran a slick advertising campaign that told the voters nothing about what he wanted to do except raise taxes on the rich (the definition of which started at yearly incomes >250K and shrank to >96K) and spend a trillion more dollars on those making less. He duped African Americans into thinking he was one, when in reality the only "African" ancestry he has is a great grandmother. He was the first one in his "African" side to live America and that didn't even start until he was about 10 years old. Most people assume African-American to mean descendants from slaves. He isn't even legally considered black in the US (you have to be at least 12.5% black and he is only 6.25% black). Every other relative on his father's side were of Arabic decent who immigrated to Kenya. His mother was white. But since everyone assumes he is black, he just goes along with it. Now I don't care about his color, I worry about his politics. If you think the economy of the world is hurting now because of the USA, wait and see what happens if Obama gets what he wants.
As for Proposition 8, California has a law called Domestic Partners which would be similar to your Civil Unions. Domestic Partners have all the rights of "married" couples and even more, such as discrimination clauses and others that clarify the relationship for matters of property rights etc. Prop 8 didn't take anything away, except the ability to use the term "married" to describe their relationship. I hope this doesn't sound like a lecture, as my intention was only to clarify what Prop 8 was about. The part about Obama was to just give you a different perspective on him. He can read a speech really well, but if you listen to the words, there is no substance, just symbolic rhetoric ("we need change", "the time is now"). Reagan had substance behind his words. Obama is a mystery. He has had all his record sealed, so no one can learn anything about him. His birth records (his grandmother and step brother say they were present for his birth in Kenya (making him ineligible to be president)), his school records, college records, employment records, and even most of his State of Illinois legislative records are sealed. He rarely voted as a Senator and on most controversial issues, he merely voted "present", indicating he wasn't committing either yea or nay. So maybe Obama has the ability to be the Reagan or Kennedy of this era, but he has to do more than read speeches. He has to manage a government (and he has never had any executive experience in his life), deal with the world (and he has had absolutely zero experience in foreign matters), get the economy back on track (which he blamed on Bush, who really just continued the Clinton policy which Obama praised), and "change" the country. If he can't so all of that, then he will be a one-term president. If he even runs for reelection, he won't be able to fool the world a second time. He will have a record to defend. Even right now he is trying to get Bush to do some dirty work for him that he doesn't really want tagged onto his administration. So much for American politics. I still find it fascinating that someone from another country even cares. John for California, USA.
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