As an Australian, I was on the one hand brought up on a staple diet of American television, but on the other hand, we all disliked the ‘yanks’ as we called them, because they were loud, showy and obnoxious. And over the last eight years, we have seen the American community become even more isolated because some of them were stupid enough to vote in an idiot to the Presidency not once, but twice. That is why it is now so refreshing to see the ‘rebirth’ of America and most of all, America’s standing in the world community.
President Barack Obama has been called a celebrity by his critics because he seems to be idolised by the press and everyone he meets. He is a good looking, charismatic man. People do tend to be a little overawed when they meet someone like that. But he is also a man of substance who they can see is hard at work trying to deliver what he said he would deliver. He is also articulate and educated when he talks, something that has been sorely lacking these last eight years. And we can’t get by the fact that when people meet him, they are meeting the first African American President of the United States. That is a thrill in itself. However, if he was an idiot, like his predecessor and had absolutely no charm, he wouldn’t be getting the time of day.
President Obama is using his first international trip to mend bridges and to reassure the world, and especially Europe, that America is on the path to normalising relations with all those it has offended. He has impressed President Sarkozy of France, Chancellor Merkel of Germany, and has today been warmly welcomed by President Gull of Turkey.
When President Obama was running for the Presidency, he famously said “..we are not the red states, we are not the blue states, we are the United States of America.” Today, in Turkey, he spoke similar words:
“…one of the great strengths of the United States is that it does not consider itself a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values. I think modern Turkey was founded with a similar set of principles.”
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/06/obama.turkey/index.html?iref=hpmostpop
Don’t tell the mad right wing evangelical Christians that America is not a Christian country, they’ll hit the roof! Of course, they are probably still clinging to that roof since November, when they realised that a black man was President.
Karl Rove, former advisor to George W Bush, has been quoted recently as saying that Obama needs to “get off the campaign trail and start being President.” I don’t think Karl is watching because that is exactly what he has been doing. You see, Karl isn’t too keen on seeing a President talk too much, and talk eloquently. He made sure Bush said only the minimum and confused everybody. President Obama sounds like he knows what he is talking about, and that’s not what Karl wants to see. The more Obama gains acceptance from all parts of the world, the more his boy George looks like the waste of space he was.
Even the reception Barack and Michelle Obama got from the Queen was extraordinary. Very few sitting US Presidents have had a private audience with the Queen outside of a State visit, and very few First Ladies, or any lady for that matter, could get away with not curtseying to the Queen. Then we see footage of the Queen putting her arm around Michelle Obama, ignoring protocol and getting uncharacteristically ‘touchy feely’. Scenes like these that we are unlikely to see again.
Karl Rove also alerted to President Obama claiming that America was arrogant, and that he needs to mend the damage that has been caused by that arrogance. Rove was insulted and saw it as Obama ‘putting America down.’ The plain fact is George W Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Karl Rove spent the last eight years putting every other country down and making them yield to the power of the United States. They showed no respect for any nation that did not do what they were told. Bush even stated “…you are either with us or against us.” This is the arrogance that President Obama is talking about. This is the wound we need to heal. I feel sorry for the right wing. The party is over, everyone’s gone to the other guy’s house, and they are having a better time there than they had at the other party. But it’s ok, the Republican train wreck may be able to regroup by 2016, if they’re lucky.
Obama’s attempts to reach out will work. But when something has been frozen for eight years, it takes a little longer to thaw.
Enjoy your day
April 7, 2009 at 7:35 am
If America is not a Christian country, why are Christmas and Easter public holidays?
April 8, 2009 at 12:30 am
The problem is that Muslim countries are not becoming melting pots; the opposite is probably true as religious minorities are persecuted in many of them.
While one may not want to specifically be a Christian country, it seems that if we do not maintain that status we (western countries) will all become Muslim countries. This will occur by a combination of immigration, birth-rate and the constant pushing for Muslim special consideration occurring at the UN and elsewhere.
Looking at the current state of Muslim countries in general, I don’t want to live in one.
April 8, 2009 at 6:20 am
This, of course, is the constant criticism, that western countries bend and accommodate all, whilst other countries do not. The ’special consideration of Muslims by the UN’ I would like some evidence on, if you’re going to make a comment like that. I do, however, sense in your comments a fear of becoming a specifically ‘Muslim’ country. This fear of Islam needs to stop, but you also need to look closer at what President Obama said and truly understand what he means. You have hooked in on specifically Islamic issues. What the President was saying was that if we look at a country that is divided and split on cultural and religious grounds, that country will always find it hard to move ahead in a peaceful way. Just look at Israel and Gaza. If you see President Obama’s comments only as an advertisement for turning the US into an Islamic republic, then you have misread his comments, which is exactly how George W Bush achieved an unimaginable second term. The politics of fear hopefully has gone.
April 10, 2009 at 3:18 pm
Absolutely right! Isn’t it about time that folks let go of this ridiculous myth that Obama is some sort of covert 007 Islamic agent with a secret agenda to spread and promote Islam. It was annoying during the campaign and now many months later to hear the same pathetic song being played over and over is like one of those bad 80’s one hit wonder songs that gets stuck in your head for days. i.e. the Macarana…
America is NOT a Christian country, nor a Islamic country, nor a Buddhist country, or any other religion people blindly follow without question or reason. We are NOT a Theocracy no matter how much the right wing salivates at the thought of imposing their rigid way of life on everyone else regardless of religion, sex, or color.
Holidays like Easter and Christmas have evolved beyond being religious celebrations to become special times of the year when families, friends and loved ones can come together to celebrate our humanity in a festive spirit. Religion does or does not have to be added to the equation depending on the family in question. Just as we don’t dance around bonfires to scare away evil spirits anymore to celebrate Halloween in the U.S. either.
Religion is and always will be an important part of human life and it should be a deeply personal and meaningful part of our existence. However, when we make that step towards forcefully “sharing” our beliefs with our fellow man we do each other a grievous error as our neighbor may already have his/her own set of deeply meaningful and personal beliefs of their own already.
Unfortunately, for government we always have to remind the right wingers (be they christian or Islamic) that separation of church and state works both ways. It protects their right to practice their religion in whatever way they see fit, but it ALSO stands to protect western government from being forced to impose religious ideology on everyone else.
April 10, 2009 at 8:52 pm
Could not have said it better myself!