Barack Hussein Obama
There are all sorts of reasons for hoping that Barack Hussein Obama will be the next president of the United States. He seems highly intelligent. He has an air of courtesy and sincerity. Unlike the current occupant of the White House, he has no difficulty in orally extemporising a series of grammatical English sentences, each containing a main verb.
Unlike his opponent, he visibly incarnates change and hope, at a time when America desperately needs both.
It is no disrespect to John McCain – a brave and principled man – to observe that he has chosen a difficult time to stand on the Republican ticket.
An Obama win could signify the end of race-based politics
The legacy of George Bush may take years, if not decades, to determine.
But at present he seems to have pulled off an astonishing double whammy.
However well-intentioned it was, the catastrophic and unpopular intervention in Iraq has served in some parts of the world to discredit the very idea of western democracy.
The recent collapse of the banking system, and the humiliating resort to semi-socialist solutions, has done a great deal to discredit – in some people’s eyes – the idea of free-market capitalism.
Democracy and capitalism are the two great pillars of the American idea.
To have rocked one of those pillars may be regarded as a misfortune.
To have damaged the reputation of both, at home and abroad, is a pretty stunning achievement for an American president.
It would be tough for any candidate to receive the Republican baton from Dubya, and McCain can be proud of doing as well as he is.
His chief problem is that he does not seem to offer any hope of repair to those American ideals.
Or, to put it another way, it is not clear how America under McCain would recover her standing in the eyes of the world.
His chief selling-point is his grasp of foreign affairs, and his staunch belligerence in the pursuit of American interests.
He is certainly owed the respect due to a man who fought for his country, was captured and tortured.
But is this bellicosity really what the world is crying out for today?
When asked what his policy was towards Iran, Mr McCain sang – to the tune of the Beach Boys – “Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran”.
No doubt he was joking, but if I were an Iranian politician, those words would make me want a nuclear deterrent all the more.
McCain seems to stand for perpetual sabre-rattling against the terrors of abroad, and Obama wins because he seems to stand for hope, not fear.
Not that the Democratic candidate is a pushover.
He has shown terrific steel, beating off the Clintons, and defeating McCain in all three televised debates.
If elections were decided on the ruthless efficiency of campaigns, then Obama would already have it in the bag.
The defining image of the battle so far is of the two candidates leaving the stage after the last TV debate – Obama moving confidently off, after another grave and measured performance, and McCain gagging like a gargoyle, tongue out, as he realised he was about to walk over the edge.
I am not suggesting that McCain is a buffoon, or that Obama is quite as Messianic as some of his supporters seem to believe.
He gave a speech of unrivalled torpor in Germany, for instance. He needs to stick up more vigorously for free trade, and we must hope that any ill-considered new taxes will be thwarted by Congress.
But then again, he is patently not the Marxist subversive loony Lefty that some of his detractors allege.
I revere Melanie Phillips, and I have carefully studied her blog entries about Obama and the vote-stealers, or Obama and his association with a quondam terrorist called Ayers.
In the end I gave up, goggle-eyed and exhausted, having trolled the wilds of the Neocon internet without finding anything remotely approaching a smoking gun.
Obama’s terrorist chum is now a professor, and his last act of terrorism took place when the candidate was eight, and it is not really clear that he and Obama are chums at all.
The entire set of allegations seem to be an attempt to smear him by association, and are about as damaging as pointing out that some of Tony Blair’s colleagues used to be Stalinists, or that Tory party conferences used to feature people who advocated the hanging of Nelson Mandela.
Obama deserves to win because he seems talented, compassionate, and because he offers the hope of rejuvenating the greatest country on earth in the eyes of the rest of us. All those are sufficient reasons for desiring his victory.
And then there is the final, additional reason, the glaring reason, and that is race. Huge numbers of voters, whether they admit it to themselves or not, will hesitate to choose Barack Obama for President because he is black. And then there are millions of white Americans who will undoubtedly vote Obama precisely because he is black, and because he stands for the change and the progress they want to see in their society.
After centuries of friction, prejudice, tension, hatred – you name it, they’ve had it – America is teetering on the brink of a triumph. If Obama wins, then the United States will have at last come a huge and maybe decisive step closer to achieving the dream of Martin Luther King, of a land where people are judged not on the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.
If Obama wins, then black people the world over will be able to see how a gifted man has been able to smash through the ultimate glass ceiling.
If Obama wins, then it will be simply fatuous to claim that there are no black role models in politics or government, because there is no higher role model than the President of the United States.
If Barack Hussein Obama is successful next month, then we could even see the beginning of the end of race-based politics, with all the grievance-culture and special interest groups and political correctness that come with it.
If Obama wins, he will have established that being black is as relevant to your ability to do a hard job as being left-handed or ginger-haired, and he will have re-established America’s claim to be the last, best hope of Earth.
[This article was first published in the Daily Telegraph on 21 October 2008 under the heading, "Barack Obama: Why I believe he should be the next President"]
102 Comments
Tom, there is nothing wrong with being gay. I don’t like people using the word poofs, it is hurtful.
Jaq. but isn’t Obama a Christian? I know he attended the church of a pastor who was very extreme, but he has disassociated himself from that man now. Totally agree with you about Sarah Palin. She is out of her depth, and a potential disaster. All the more dangerous because she definitely has charisma and is very attractive, but I can’t get past her lack of brain, and her, to me, crackpot ideas.
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ps. Russell Brand said he would ike to fondle her and now he is getting death threats.
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Angela – Two Bachelors ( sounds similar to Batchelors instant powder soup . )
Ol’ Tom the gardener – Obviously.
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I think it’s admirable that Johnson uses Obama’s middle name in a context where it can be interpreted positively. It’s a gesture toward brushing away the deformed logic some people rely on to stir up inarticulate fear and prejudices–the very same illogic, I feel, that underlies McCain’s repeated invocation of “Who is Barack Obama?” So, way to go, Boris! I do hope American conservatives will take a page from the British. I am a liberal, but I’m not unsympathetic to reasoned conservative arguments. It could be very constructive to have Republicans around who even tried to make sense.
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NOT ONLY SEX SCANDALS BUT ALSO BIG MAFIA-LINKED BUSINESS
Pressure on Osborne is receding now as Rothschild called a true, who said ” he wanted to draw a line under this and to move on to other things as there was no interest in this ” (!). Really? Or is it because now attention has switched back to himself, Deripaska and Mandelson !!!
It now emerges that Corfu was not the first time Mandy has accepted Deripaska’s hospitalirty. Earlier this year, he stayed at Deripaska’s alpine chalet in Switzerland.
The Tories did not take any money from Deripaska, or even from his UK-trading firm LDV Ltd, which would have been within the law. Cameron was quite right in backing Osborne again last night.
However, there are serious questions hanging over Lord Mandelson, who oversaw trade issues that directly affected Deripaska’s business during his time as EU trade Commissioner. Tory MP Douglas Carswell yesterday wrote to Labour government’s newly appointed Business Secretary (!) demanding he sets out when he met Deripaska, where those meetings took place and what was broadly discussed.
Concerns over a potential conflict of interest have arisen after 2 companies asked for Lord Mandelson’s help following claims that they were victims of a share dilution scam allegedly orchestrated by one of Deripaska’s firms.
The firm in question is Ingosstrakh, Russia’s second biggest insurance company which is majority-owned by Deripaska’s company Basic Element.
The then EU trade Commissioner Mandelson himself took up the companies’ case – only for it to emerge that he had enjoyed hospitality aboard Deripaska’s 238 ft yacht Queen K !
Brussels sources said even Italian MEP Mario Mauro was preparing to write to Lord Mandelson (!) demanding a full account of his meetings with Derispaska.
Tory MEP Syed Kamall also said: There is a perception of a conflict of interest and I want Lord(!) Mandelson to come forward and publish all the details of his meetings with Derispaska.
Mandelson was challenged to to publish full details of all his meetings and conversations with Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska by MPs and MEPs !!!
He is facing scrutiny of his championing of the tiny Adriatic nation of Montenegro ( which broke from a federal union with Serbia. It is the one country in the region that isn’t just bedevilled by corruption, it’s a kleptocracy- said one Balkan business anlyst.) as a world trading partner. Aluminium billionaire Deripaska has invested heavily in the country. And Rothschild also has interest there !!!
Rothschild, Deripaska and other investors want to turn a run-down bay in Montenegro into a 5 billion haven for the super-rich. Lord Mandelson, as EU trade Commissioner, played a significant role in promoting Montenegro’s entry into the World Trade Organisation, supporting its application for membership which will help pave the way to EU membership and further investment !!!
But why has a tiny state like Montenegro assumed such importance to Deripaska and his business partners? It is no secret that the country has a significant and well-established black economy. It has been governed by prime minister Milo Djukanovic since 1991. He is an interesting character. Allegations of links to hugely profitable, mafia-run tobaco smuggling between his country and the EU have seen him repeatedly investigated by Italian prosecutors !
All this hard work and Lord Mandelson, Labour Government’s Business Secretary ( !!! ), is saying he has never received any things ( cash for himself, party donations for his Labour party or free luxury holidays ) from Deripaska ?!!!
It’s looks like it’s SPRINGTIME FOR MANDY !!!
( have any of you watched that DVD film ” Springtime For Hitler ” – hilarious ! both the new version and ( the old version with Mel Brook in it. ))
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I feel relieved to have escaped the sinister cloning process .These comments are worthy of the Stepford Wives.MERLIN
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“Tom, there is nothing wrong with being gay. I don’t like people using the word poofs, it is hurtful.”
I’m so sorry Angela to hurt your Guardian reading sensibilities,but please forgive me for being white,working class and male.
Angela, did you know that Boris’s election success was due to the traditional Labour vote switching to the Tories.If you like,I’ll start being polite to gays,by calling them ‘sausage jockies’.Angela,we have a culture too – forget us at your own peril!
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Tom dear, I never go near the Guardian, ghastly paper. I read the Times, the Telegraph and sometimes the Independent, also the Mail, the Express and the Sun, because i like to keep up with the fashin and trends.
I am solidly Tory, have never voted anything else and never could, because I just loathe the jealousy, envy, and resentment and small mindesness of the Labour Party. Tom, you are not confusing me with my bete noir, Harriet Harman, are you? Can’t stand the woman, nor can I bear Hazel Blears and their patronising PC nonsense,
My defence of gay men is partly because I have two very dear male friends who are gay. They are terrific company, and the kindest, most understanding people you could ever meet. Because of them, I do not like gay people being called names.
But my strongest reason is that I very much believe in personal freedom and nobody has any right to poke their noses into peoples’ sexuality or judge them. If anyone slagged you off Tom, and when you put your arm round your wife, they mocked your straightie life style, I would fly to your defence too.
PEACE AND LOVE. Didn’t mean to lecture you.
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To behonest, George Osborne has always struck me as a little bit innocent, which is quite endearing. When he was young, he probably thought oral sex was talking while you are doing it.
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Oh goodie,! Alastair Campbell is back! I wondered how long it would be, once Mandelson had lurched back like Nosferatu, before Alastair showed his face.
On the Andrew Marr show, he was talking about his nervous breakdown, and much as I totally sympathise and agree that mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of, it did cast a bit of a blight on my Sunday breakfast.
Alastair Campbell has always reminded me of a cracked vase, teetering on the edge of a shelf, just about to fall off, hardly a rock of strength in times of trouble. He declares Gordon isn’t damaged, but he himself is, thanks for that, we know how much weight to give your advice then. No wonder there is so much security around Number 10 when they are all there for a meeting. It’s not so much what might get stolen as how many staff are trying to escape.
Gordon must be seriously worried by the Cameron/Osborne/ Johnson/Hague threat. Instead of imps of Satan, he is now conjuring up his demons.
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Can anyone share a good recipe for forcemeat stuffing to accompany goose? I know we don’t like to give all our secrets away but, Ladies and Gentlemen, I’d be very glad of one and will of course mention you when complimented
Pardon me, I have only moments before running off to catch up on my favourite prog at the mo: MERLIN. Oh if only I had a good man to share my life with. When I iron shirts I positively ache to feel the broad expanse of cotton that would caress broad shoulders *sigh*
Anyway, Angela – hiya *waves* things have been said about Obama being just a little too public with his sudden and dramatic embrace of religion. But I cannot remember details – as merely a woman I think it would explode if I tried to stuff it with politics
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Jaq re the love life, I am a firm believer in Fate. Have you ever seen the cartoon HERCULES? that might seem like a crazy question, but the Disney cartoon illustrates so clearly… the witches say to someone, can’t remember who…. “In twenty years precisely. The planets will align every so nicely…..” and you see the planets slowly moving, moving, until suddenly they are aligned and then PING.
You will have your moment and that is why I always tell people, you can quit worrying, because it is fated and will be!
ps. but you mustn’t hide away, you must go out and meet your fate, but that is all you have to do! it is a very comforting philosophy!
pps. it is really worth buying the cartoon if you have kids, because the drawing of the characters was done by Gerald Scarfe. It is a total artistic achievement and miles ahead of any other cartoon.
pps. so in a few months, or weeks, whenever, but precisely.. the planets will align ever so nicely and PING!!! THERE HE WILL BE.
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PS. If you buy the Hercules cartoon also, you can teach your kids a lot about Roman history.
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Or is it Greek mythology, or did they both have the same Gods but with slightly different names? Anyway, the way Scarfe has drawn the Titans is just brilliant and you see Narcissus and Zeus, and when Hercules dives into the river of Death to save his true love I always have a lump in my throat because it is so beautiful and I don’t care if people laugh at me getting emotional over a cartoon.
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Another closet case.
Rothschild is-used-to-having-glamorous-women-on-his-arm ( like womaniser-David Walliams ), but the controversial picture of Nathaniel Rothschild and Guinara Karinova, billionaire (!!) daughter of one the worls’s most brutal and bloodthirsty dictators, President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan.
Like Deripaska, Guinara has had problems with the American authorities. Deripaska is refused a US visa for reasons the FBI has not fully explained. Guinara, 36, Havard graduate, was made the subject of an arrest warrant after she defined a court and took her 2 children by US man of Uzbek origin back to her homeland.
The picture was taken in March 2007, at an Uzbek fashion show in Paris, intended to improve the country’s image and reputation after a massacre 2 years earlier ordered by her brutal, bloodthirsty dictator father Karimov, in which hundreds of thousands perished- murdered !!!
Guinara is a martial-arts black belt, fashion designer, poet and pop singer with a number 1 hit single in her homeland Uzbekistan !
Mr. Craig Murray, former British Ambassador to Uzbekistan, said: ” This woman, Guinara Karimov is NOT ONLY just the daughter of one of the most violent tyrants on Earth BUT is ALSO directly implicated in atrocities and the major beneficiary of the LOOTING of the Uzbek state. I am stunned that Nataniel Rothschild would want to pose with her !!! ”
Shame.
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25 days ago, when Mandelson was brought back into the Cabinet, it was hailed as a tactical masterstroke by his old FOE – the PM Gordon Brown. Barely a month into his new job and already Mandy is mired in allegations of sleaze, gay sex scandals that have raised serious questions about his suitability for high office and the PM’s judgment.
If Brown is not already regretting his decision , then he should be. Other Labour MPs must be now cursing Brown for his bringing Mandelson back from the political grave.
You win some, and then you lose some.
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The whole thing has just totally backfired.
What is that John Lennon song… “Instant Karma is going to get you…Knock you right off your feet…..”
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It is good that George Osborne has been honest enough to admit that he made a mistake and it didn’t look good. I now how much it matters to David Cameron and George to earn the trust of the electorate and not let us down in that way. People do make mistakes and it is best to say that, not slither out, with a load of excuses.
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Boris wrote: “He seems highly intelligent. He has an air of courtesy and sincerity.” And: “Obama deserves to win because he seems talented, compassionate, and because he offers the hope of rejuvenating the greatest country on earth in the eyes of the rest of us. All those are sufficient reasons for desiring his victory.”
Seems. Has an air. Offers the hope.
I know the feeling. You’re staring through a showroom window at that slim, slick digital TV set up at back. It seems to be good value for money. It has an air of sophistication with its faux-walnut livery and its Ezi-touch handset. Its hi-res clour screen offers the hope of countless hours of pleasure watching movies and sport. You can already see it in the living room. Not like the old black-and-white 50s model next to it, showing hockey mums and lipsticked pit bulls. That’s what you bought last time around. It’s just that, well, you can’t see a manufacturer’s logo anywhere on it, or read the warranty terms at this distance. If you buy it, you’re buying it on faith.
And that’s what the American people seem to be about to do. They’re trading in their tired old analogue TV for a slick new digital colour model. It certainly looks good, I’ll give them that. Obama is a triumph of marketing.
Anyone remember when George W Bush was elected? He was Governor of Texas, scion of the illustrious Bush family, with one one US President in the family, his father no less. He was going to bring back some of his father’s gravitas, and apple-pie American decency in place of the soiled Clinton. Could anyone have guessed back then that this man would burden America with two disastrous wars, and drag its good name through Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib, and become the most unpopular and most reviled president in living memory?
I hope the gamble with Obama comes off. Just like I hope that the I’ll win at 50 to 1 odds at Newmarket tomorrow, as Dancing Girl storms through to win.
But I won’t be a bit surprised if neither gamble pays off. In fact, I’ll be utterly astonished if either do.
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Rothschild called a truce with Osborne because Rothschild wants > to draw a line under this and wants to move onto other things < ?
Does he think we all are stupid and not clever like him? I hear that British Intelligence, MI5… have files on him, Mandelson, Paripaska…
What are other things he wants to move onto? Murky mafia-linked business; selling his soul dodgy Russian billionaires and sucking up to violent, brutal, bloodthirsty dictators? All for money and he and his family are already filthy rich. Will this money hungry baby faced man ever stop?
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Danny, I know. Well, the spotlight is on them all now. If they had all let it go that George repeated Mandelson’s nasty remarks, this would never have happened. What about Mandelson’s judgment, doing that? Now they are in the soup right up to their necks.
Nathan Rothschild’s father, Jacob, was against him writing the letter to the Times apparently. Geez, I’m glad I’m an ordinary person.
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“I hope the gamble with Obama comes off. Just like I hope that the I’ll win at 50 to 1 odds at Newmarket tomorrow, as Dancing Girl storms through to win.” (idlex)
I’ll stick to shorting sterling (until they get in a hissyfit like they did with the banks and ban us form doing it).
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Many Americans are so fond of referring to their land as the greatest country on earth, that it has almost become a secondary name. This notwithstanding the lack of decent universal healthcare, high rate of infant mortality, appalling public education, foreign policy abominations and general paranoia and cultural vacuousness. As a Canadian happy to have fled the influence of our Northern neighbour, I find it very odd to hear you repeat this assessment. The US may be greater in mass and GDP, but will struggle to justify the the claim to greatness by meaningful measures.
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Steven, if things aren’t illegal, people are going to do them, aren’t they? It seems sensible to short sterling, because it is bound to go up.
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(Coming back late to the personal attacks; that’s fine).
I love the knee-jerk reactions. I love how I’m now a ruthless commie. Fantastic.
But seriously: I love America. I love Americans. I am from a military family, and I *know* how much we (the British) and the Americans are alike, how we fight on the same side, and how necessary that is.
The fact remains that in the Second World War, after the RAF stopped the Luftwaffe, Hitler turned East and spent his might on tackling the Russian Bear. By the time the Americans joined in, fought a massive and courageous campaign in the Pacific, and were finally able to land with us (and the Canadians and the New Zealanders and the Australians and the rest of our Allies) on the shores of Normandy, Hitler had effectively been defeated in the East.
What happened after that… well, it was our own fault, really. I believe it was the US President who said we should stop before Berlin—Patton and Churchill at least wanted to go all the way. We screwed up, and having lived in a divided Germany I’ve seen the results of that.
This does not alter the fact that the European theatre was turned around in the Russian winter, whatever the politics of the subsequent years.
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November 6th is such a significant, world changing day astrologically (the US election, the Glenrothes by-election) that even the Spectator did an article on it.
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The worst thing John McCain did when campaigning was to pick Sarah Palin as his running mate. She is loony tunes, and what does that say about his judgment?
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Speaking of elections in general, at the moment, on US t.v. there is a very good ad. whereby stars are asking the nation to vote. Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts, Will Smith, Leonardo di Caprio, and many more, one by one come on and say VOTE!
SO MANY PEOPLE ARE INDIFFERENT TO POLITICS, THIS IS AN IDEA FOR ALL PARTIES IN THIS COUNTRY TO PURSUE!
If people never read a paper, or think about the issues, why not continually run ads. to heighten awareness? Not just in election times, but if the public’s most popular stars came on t.v. and said THINK ABOUT THE WORLD TODAY. MAKE SURE YOU ARE CLUED UP ON THE ISSUES. READ A PAPER OR WATCH THE NEWS. DO YOU KNOW THE NAME OF OUR PM AND THE LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION? (some people think Gordon Ramsey is PM of this country, oh well at least he is Scottish), over and over again, it would make people think.
And in an election time, DON’T GIVE YOUR RIGHTS AWAY!VOTE. PLEASE VOTE. GET OUT THERE AND VOTE!
Stars like Leona Lewis, Simon Cowell, Terry Wogan, Judy Dench, Helen Mirren, Daniel Craig, Cherie Lunghi, or even sports stars like Martin Johnson, David Beckham, or Lewis Hamilton, would probably help out to raise political awareness in this country.
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with a victory for Barack Obama looking increasingly likely, already the doubters are sowing gloom and doom, prophesying the likely failure of his presidency.
There are so few true brief shining golden moments of hope in life. Will those doubters be kind and just hold back for a few weeks to let us enjoy the moment if Obama does win? It would be so good to imagine a more peaceful world, with everyone uniting to solve its problems together. It would be so great to believe the world had taken a step forward.
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what do you mean by Barack Hussein Obama ‘seems intelligent’? If you do not think he is genuinely intelligent, I dread to think your opinion on the loser in the race, John McCain.
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Lord have Mercy!!
All these from a maverick?
Am impressed.
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http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/justice/article1884062.ece
Excellent article by Boris in today’s Sun, setting out his plans to help the youth of today. Boris talks about the importance of hope and that is why so many people are longing for Obama to win. If he does, he wil bring hope to so many people who had no hope before.
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If a presidential candidate has a poor grasp of English, how can he hope to effectively communicate with those in his immediate vicinity? How can he hope to effectively communicate with those who have learnt proper English in order to communicate with him?
Skin colour aside, look at the candidates faces. One is smiling and inviting. The other is angry and possibly a little confused. Obama has the look of someone who knows what he’s doing. McCain, in all honesty, looks dangerous. Think to yourself: “Would I like to sit down for coffee with this man?” Obama looks capable of doing so, and having a pleasant polite conversation. McCain looks like he’d sit there muttering obscenities about “goddamn freakin’ sand-niggers” under his breath.
Obama looks like he has a fairly decent idea of decent society. McCain looks like a guy who thinks after-school gun clubs would help us eliminiminize the terrorist threat.
I generally judge people by their eyes & expressions (bodily & facially). I’m rarely wrong. Just trust me on this.
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oh dear, Hugh: ever heard of Little Red Riding Hood?
That’s not a comment on either candidate although it is great to have US-resident friends feeling there is ‘hope’ and understandable that others do not wish to be sold out. The UK just has to live with the results.
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Of course, and that’s a valid point. All the same I think I’d rather back a wolf in sheep’s clothing than a sheepish wolf.
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As you well know (and I know because 70 years ago I was taught Latin by a retired Indian Civil servant who founded a prep school in Ireland just to indulge this passion) Obama spelt backwards is ‘amabo’. Why has there been so little comment on this in the media (plural, not singular!!)
Peter
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If Obama wins, surely this is going to play to David Cameron’s advantage? Obama has presented himself as the candidate of change, and that is what David Cameron is doing.
Also, if Obama wins, it a bit knocks on the head the idea that a “novice” is what people don’t want, so much for Gordon’s argument better stick with experience.
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Hugh I agree with you, I don’t like the sound of McCain’s famed temper, although his war record is amazing and his book was inspiring.
I know a lot of people sneer at this idea, but whatever sort of a fist Obama makes of being President, the very fact that he became President will give hope to black people and people of mixed race who over the centuries have not had a fair deal. That fact in itself will change the world for the better by going some way to levelling out the pain of the past, and that is why I for one will be absolutely delirious if Obama wins.
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So dreadfully sad that Obama’s beloved grandmother died just before she could see him win the election…. if he does win!
My paternal grandmother, (whom I totally resemble) was an absolute angel, adored by all, a saint who brightened the lives of everyone who knew her with an angelic temper. My maternal grandmother was such a fiend that her family gave her away to live with another family. TRUE STORY.
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ps. When my dad would nauseatingly rhapsodise about the merits of his mother, all I had to do to reduce my sister to helpless laughter was smirk and whisper “Remind you of anyone?”
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This is a big step forward to making the world a fairer place. So many people are imbued with happiness and hope today. It is not true that when people vote all they care about is money. Everyone knows that Obama will not have the money to do many of the things he would wish to do, everyone knows how hard the road will be.
But the mere fact that he got there has illuminated politics in a hopeful way. As Boris johnson has said in his Standard article, if there is one thing people need now it is hope.
Great speech by John McCain, he was such a worthy opponent, dignified, brave, he never stopped fighting until the last second and he also is an inspirational speaker. He has urged America to unite and praised the campaign run by Obama.
So many people who never voted before were urged to vote in the US this time. That is such an encouraging thought.
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Barack Obama is such a unique individual and it is totally down to him that so many people turned out to vote. He has galvanised the political scene. Landslide win.
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There is normally huge cynicism about politics and politicians. It is a massive achievement for Barack Obama to have ignited the enthusiasm of the normally apathetic young in the US and to have organised such an effective campaign resulting in a huge turnout.
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Sympathy locally for John McCain from a concerned 9 year old. “Never mind, he has the money from his oven chips to fall back on!”
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Obama has got such a dreadfully hard task ahead of him. Anyone who takes that on and sincerely wants to do good must be an absolute hero.
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[...] British politics is Boris Johnson, he’s someone I’d love to see talking shop with the new US President elect, but as much as I like what I have seen of Boris, the person, there’s a time serious [...]
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Carla Bruni is supposed to be stamping her tiny feet because Michelle Obama is moving into the White House. Apparently Carla felt confident of easily beating Cindy McCain in the style wars, and also felt she could teach Sarah Palin a sartorial lesson or two – if not, there was always the Caribou Barbie card to be played. But Michelle Obama – beautiful, extremely intelligent, wears her clothes with laid back elegance, and worst of all she will tower over M. Le President. For the pictures, not so good.
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Boris, you must know as well as I do that there are Powerfull Subversive forces at work, Obama did not win the Election, it was won by Ron Paul.
Western Democracy is a sham, our Govt are simply front men for the Global elites.
How the enemy used Censorship to Win the US elections.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iW5kOB1pmg
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Is there another Barack Obama, who is also the president elect of the USA, that B Obama needs his middle name too in order to be correctly identified?
I could see the need to stipulate which particular president Bush one was referring to, but I don’t think there is any such danger of confusion with Obama.
Unless, of course, the writer was making some point, which, I’m glad tosay, has escaped me.
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[...] in this country, and also a very early adopter of blogging – come out in support of Obama. On his blog Boris writes: “There are all sorts of reasons for hoping that Barack Hussein Obama will be the [...]
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