Obama’s Inauguration: recommended viewing
http://www.mccullagh.org/
Forget the Spring Festival – we tried that last year, and the year before that. Dismiss, I urge you, the overrated end-of-month Superbowl, which is bearing down on us like a hungry pack on steroids. And file last year’s Olympics under ‘M’ for meaningless. The greatest show on Earth, and the most challenging job description in living memory, begins tomorrow. Get ready.
Anyone whose parents sat them on their knee for Armstrong’s Giant Leap should gather their own offspring, or even their offspring’s offspring, and sit together with their loved ones and neighbours to watch – with popcorn if you really must – the most positive sign of human progress since July ’69.
There is a reason nobody remembers the hand over from Jiang Zemin to Hu Jintao: because it changed nothing. In 24 hours time, as Obama officially accepts the keys to the Oval Office, we will witness a moment that changes everything.
The inauguration of Barack Obama is going to be an awe-inspiring occasion, not so much for the spectacle itself, but for what it promises to begin and what it hopes to achieve. In Obama the world has a leader capable of greatness. His speech tomorrow will confirm that.
Fulfilling that potential is the tricky bit, and he’s going to need all the help he can get given the appalling legacy of the previous two administrations. I believe the world needs a strong, fair, and respected America in the coming decades. Obama has a chance – just a chance, mind you – to restore the planet’s faith in the USA.
Democrat or Republican, American or not, Obama deserves our support in his endeavours. So tune in tomorrow (5pm GMT) or watch online. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.
Update
Seems that China’s loopy leaders took less than a day of the new incumbency to decide that the Obama administration is not for them. I just don’t see the reason for launching such a scathing attack so early. I guess it can only be fear.