We need the contrasts in life. They give us a focus point. Without the ups and downs, the good and the bad, the hot and the cold, the black and the white, life would be bland and uninteresting. That is the difference between Presidents Bush and Obama. I never felt confident that Bush would be a successful leader. Not after the manner of his election and the downright fraud and corruption that took place with the votes in Florida which enabled Bush to squeak in. I felt so strongly about it that I wrote a letter to the American Consulate in Canberra. I never received a reply of course.
This time there was a palpable, collective, sigh of relief the moment Barack Obama took the Oath of Office and was sworn in as President of the USA. Good on him. No matter what he does he has to be better than bumbling Bush. My wife and I stayed up late to watch the inauguration on the ABC and could sense the emotion, the good will and the trust that the Americans, in fact the World, have placed on the shoulders of this extraordinary man Obama.
It is a fact of life that a country gets the leaders they deserve – the Americans voted Bush in – twice! They have obviously now seen the light and done the ‘right’ thing. They need it and we need it, the change I mean.
We can only hope and pray that the new President will live up to the expectations that his election has created, difficult though that will be.
PS. It will be a relief for all concerned when Gitmo is closed and the stain on the American character has been cleansed!
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