A week later, I'm still pinching myself of images of cries and smiles worldwide congratulating Obama and the United States for several deep reasons: The first and obvious of course is that he's making history as the first African American to live in the White House, the house that was built mostly by the hands of slaves. Second, it's generational. Obama is 46 years old, between the Baby Boomer and Gen X (like myself), he can relate to the My Space, Twitter, Facebook and Blackberry generation. Remember when he announced his VP, Joe Biden, running mate via text messages? That was cool! He even has an account on LinkedIn, a free professional and international online networking tool that connects people. He has 500+ contacts in his network. He's probably tilt the scale as his rolodex entries continue to multiply by the week.
In online interviews in China, 2 men of different backgrounds were asked why they were happy about Obama being president. They both said he looked like he would support and improve business relations with China. The entrepreneur felt Obama was more technically savvy and would therefore understand and support international business relations.
And the last reason why is that Obama has given the United States a renewed optimism and patriotic spirit that hasn't been seen since the Kennedy years. I heard on CNN that one of the Islamic Extremist leaders praised Obama’s time for change motto. Iran sent a congratulations email to Obama a day after he won. 1979 was the last time the Middle Eastern country praised a President Elect.
To put this in perspective, need to step back post 9-11, when the United States began to shed its military layers putting itself in the dog house as the Ugly American, Imperialist war monger. The U.S. has spent billions of dollars funding the Iraq war because President George Bush preached the Iraq was developing weapons of mass destruction lie. We still can’t find these so called democracy threatening weapons and Osama Bin Laden. Oh yeah, remember Bin Laden? During the ongoing military occupation and search, a couple of hundred Iraqi innocent lives were killed but that goes with territory of freedom I guess. The citizens were by-products of war or my favorite word, collateral damage, the U.S. Military’s sanitized and official definition.
But wait there’s more! Don’t forget those damaging public relations photos of smiling American soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison teasing barking dogs with naked Iraqi prisoners as bait. Not long after that embarrassment and fiasco, human right’s charges were held against Guantánamo Bay camp officials. And to top off 2008, the once mighty superpower is heading into a recession of corporate irresponsibility, lies, no accountability and bankruptcy while taxpayers are being forced to lose their retirement and bank accounts to save the greedy financial Goliaths.
After all that, it’s become embarrassing to be an American, an ugly American. But through Barack Obama, the world sees someone who can give the U.S. and overdue facelift. His win embodies true democracy. On televisions and online, people from around were overjoyed that the U.S is back to what it was supposed to be, a country representing freedom and choice by the people. People from Asia, Middle East and Africa said they see Obama as one of them: a man of color or a brother who has similar world views and sensibilities, not just a smiling politician going through the photo op motion.
For the first time, it's surreal to see a majority of the world sincerely happy for the U.S., not condemning Uncle Sam or burning American flags. Obama has set a positive tone as he prepares for the world stage and his spirit and optimism has engaged everyone. He brings a refreshing air of diplomacy, respect and conciliation not an Imperialist pig preaching intolerance and military might against the axis of evil.
In online interviews in China, 2 men of different backgrounds were asked why they were happy about Obama being president. They both said he looked like he would support and improve business relations with China. The entrepreneur felt Obama was more technically savvy and would therefore understand and support international business relations.
And the last reason why is that Obama has given the United States a renewed optimism and patriotic spirit that hasn't been seen since the Kennedy years. I heard on CNN that one of the Islamic Extremist leaders praised Obama’s time for change motto. Iran sent a congratulations email to Obama a day after he won. 1979 was the last time the Middle Eastern country praised a President Elect.
To put this in perspective, need to step back post 9-11, when the United States began to shed its military layers putting itself in the dog house as the Ugly American, Imperialist war monger. The U.S. has spent billions of dollars funding the Iraq war because President George Bush preached the Iraq was developing weapons of mass destruction lie. We still can’t find these so called democracy threatening weapons and Osama Bin Laden. Oh yeah, remember Bin Laden? During the ongoing military occupation and search, a couple of hundred Iraqi innocent lives were killed but that goes with territory of freedom I guess. The citizens were by-products of war or my favorite word, collateral damage, the U.S. Military’s sanitized and official definition.
But wait there’s more! Don’t forget those damaging public relations photos of smiling American soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison teasing barking dogs with naked Iraqi prisoners as bait. Not long after that embarrassment and fiasco, human right’s charges were held against Guantánamo Bay camp officials. And to top off 2008, the once mighty superpower is heading into a recession of corporate irresponsibility, lies, no accountability and bankruptcy while taxpayers are being forced to lose their retirement and bank accounts to save the greedy financial Goliaths.
After all that, it’s become embarrassing to be an American, an ugly American. But through Barack Obama, the world sees someone who can give the U.S. and overdue facelift. His win embodies true democracy. On televisions and online, people from around were overjoyed that the U.S is back to what it was supposed to be, a country representing freedom and choice by the people. People from Asia, Middle East and Africa said they see Obama as one of them: a man of color or a brother who has similar world views and sensibilities, not just a smiling politician going through the photo op motion.
For the first time, it's surreal to see a majority of the world sincerely happy for the U.S., not condemning Uncle Sam or burning American flags. Obama has set a positive tone as he prepares for the world stage and his spirit and optimism has engaged everyone. He brings a refreshing air of diplomacy, respect and conciliation not an Imperialist pig preaching intolerance and military might against the axis of evil.
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