Barack Obama: An American President, a Global Hope

Image source: http://change.gov/newsroom/entry/new_official_portrait_released/

I am a Canadian.  As such, I had no vote on who would be the next President of the United States.  But I, like millions of others around the world, was ecstatic to see Barack Obama become the President Elect.  It truly is an historic event, one that will certainly top the list of events that define my lifetime.  And it gives me hope to see such a step in the right direction.  For the better man was chosen, a man who has brought that same hope to an entire country, and to the world beyond it’s borders.  I sense greatness in this man…a greatness that reaches beyond the colour of his skin, and his monumental achievements as an African American.  A young, dashing, charismatic man, having been compared to the likes of J.F.K, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., & Mahatma Gandhi, this is a man who will bring change, not only through his actions, but for who he is, what he stands for, and what he represents for people of all colours.  For what he has inspired in so many of us.

Over the last eight years, we have watched, often stunned, often amused, and usually with great frustration and despair, as George W. has bungled and bumbled his way through two terms in office.  With 9/11 marking the beginning of this “illustrious” stint as Commander In Chief, he has used those attacks as justification for a war that has cost trillions of dollars, with a far greater cost in human life.  Over 4,000 American soldiers dead in Iraq since 2003.  More American lives than the attacks on New York and Washington claimed.  I was so shocked by this number, that I had to check it again to be sure it was correct.  My own country has lost 144 soldiers, (many of whom I have paid a tearful tribute to as I bore witness to their caskets making the journey home down our Highway of Heroes), and NATO forces combined have lost close to 300.  And we mustn’t forget the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi’s who have also paid the price for this invasion.  As a matter of fact, it was Barack himself who said it best.  “I don’t oppose all wars.  What I am opposed to is a dumb war.”  With comparisons to the Vietnam War, this is quite a legacy of death and destruction left to the world by good ol’ George W.

Hurricane Katrina was another tragic event that marked the 43rd presidency.  An estimated 2,000 Americans perished as a result of this force of nature, and the city has yet to recover.  There was such criticism over the mishandling of the relief efforts, both during and after this crisis, that a new term was coined in reference to the failed government response…”Katrinagate”.  Can anyone claim the federal government did everything possible to help this city rebuild, when thousands are still devastated by this almost four years later?  Apparently George can, and did, in his final speech as President. 

But Bush’s legacy doesn’t end there.  No weapons of mass destruction, and an extremely premature victory speech under a “Mission Accomplished” banner in 2003, mere months after the war in Iraq began, with George W. stating, “My fellow Americans: Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed.”.  The list also includes allegations of illegal treatment of prisoners, under both the Geneva Conventions and the United States’ own Constitution, in the prison for suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, illegal wire tapping by the National Security Agency as part of what the Bush administration referred to as the “terrorist surveillance program”, huge backwards steps on environmental issues, including pulling out of the Kyoto Accord, and of course, ending his presidency on a high note, an economic crisis the likes of which hasn’t been seen in decades.

To his credit, George Jr. did manage to temper all of this with humour.  Though it was usually at his own expense, coining yet another new term, “Bushisms”.  My favourites all revolved around his educational statements, such as ”Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?” and this one, ”You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test.”.  But there have been many more over the years, including, “They misunderestimated me.”, and, “I’m the decider and I decide what is best.”.  Perhaps most shocking are those moments when his arrogance really shone through, like his parting words to other world leaders at his final G-8 Summit last summer in Japan, as he threw his fist in the air, grinned and said, “Goodbye from the world’s biggest polluter.”, or, ”This is an impressive crowd — the haves and the have mores. Some people call you the elite — I call you my base.”, at a dinner in 2000.

But thankfully, today, it is out with the old and in with the new.  As the world watched, Barack Obama was sworn in as the nation’s 44th President, and the first African American to hold that office.  Never has there been a more monumental Presidential Inauguration, attended by hundreds of thousands and watched by millions around the globe.  Obama begins his new job with quite a list of accomplishments already to his credit.  A graduate of Columbia and Harvard Law, he was also the first black president of the Harvard Law Review, a civil rights attorney, a professor of Constitutional Law, only the fifth black Senator in U.S. history, and he is one of the youngest men to hold the office of President of the United States.  He’s an extremely intelligent man, smart enough to keep his friends close and his enemies closer within his new administration, smart enough to endear himself to his public by admitting to the same human failings we all suffer from, and smart enough to run a Presidential campaign that was an unprecedented success for a virtually unknown African American senator from Illinois.  But let us remember, as the new President steps in, that he has been left with quite a mess to clean up from the previous administration.  He is only human, limited by politics and economics.  Change will take time.  Thankfully, he is just the man for the job, and the world will be a better place for having him to lead and inspire on that road to change. 

And as I witnessed the events of the day, I felt honored and privileged to be here, at this moment in history, after so many dark moments over the last decade.  I never thought I’d see the day when there would be an African American President, with the exotic name of Barack Hussein Obama to boot.  And I’m delighted.  And grateful that my children will grow up in a world where this is possible.  In the words of a great man, now the 44th President of The United States of America, “Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.”  I congratulate you, our neighbours to the south, as today is a proud day in U.S. history, a day that has inspired and given hope to the world around you.

Other works by this author:

My Stranger

Dr. Penis

Knowing It Might