Barack Obama

I wonder what Barack’s doing now…choosing a puppy for his daughters, writing inspirational speeches, maybe having a beer with Bruce Springsteen. The mind boggles. The man has become one of the most iconic faces of the past 40 years, if not the iconic face of the past 40 years. But what exactly do we all know about his politics? What policies does he wish to put into place? And more pertinently, does it really matter? An ignorant question to ask in relation to the 44th president of one of the most formidable countries in the world, you may think. BUT, what we have here is the greatest orator of our times, a man whose grandmother still lives in a Kenyan village and does not speak English, the man who a few weeks ago almost realised Martin Luther King’s 1964 prophecy that there would be an African-American president “in less than 40 years.” Barack missed this deadline by 5 years, but these time specifics are irrelevant. What we saw today, during one of the masterful speeches we have become used to from the new leader of the free world, was a man who, it has been said many times before, embodies the American Dream in the purest essence of this ideal. Who cares if his foreign policy experience isn’t up to scratch? Who cares if, as Mrs Clinton said: ‘You campaign in poetry, you govern in prose’? (NB this is actually a compliment, Hil…you’re calling the man a master of language, since when has this been a bad thing? Language is freedom!) The idea of the American Dream, although difficult to define, goes a little something like this: a place where regardless of social standing, every inhabitant of America is able to fulfil their potential, regardless of social position or origin. What is so great is that a country of which the world has grown tiresome, and a land that through George W’s leadership became a farce, has a rejuvenated sense of what their forefathers expected and dreamt of once again. What Barack stands for is confidence and a reinvigorated belief in not only what it means to be American (an existence I cannot empathise with as a Brit…) but what it means to be human in the 21st century. Here is a man who partied with revolutionaries in the 70s, who worked in down and out communities in the 80s, and has overcome all the stupid and nonsensical barriers mankind has unforgivably put in his way throughout history, and become a powerful man with almost unequivocal admiration, love and respect throughout the world. I personally don’t give a damn about his lack of experience blah blah blah – look where George Bush’s more traditional ‘experience’ and dynastic connections has got the world. And now Barack has the unenviable job of mopping up after him. He seems to have made the right start –every policy Barack is gradually putting into place is a two-finger salute in the right direction of Bush’s arrogant and terrifying mistakes.



LAURA ALICE