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.
January 19th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
A truly historic day and I can’t wait to watch. I just hope he can keep up to the promise.
January 19th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Liuzhou Laowai, thanks for dropping in.
I agree, history in the making. It’s going to be almost impossible for Obama to live up to all the expectations because of the mess he’s inheriting.
But there’s nobody else with a cat in hell’s chance of putting the house in order and it appears he’s got himself a good team.
Further, I don’t imagine his secretary will be invited into the Oval to give him a blowjob, or that he’ll be spending half his time in office playing golf at Camp David.
This time we’ve got a president whose in it for all the right reasons.
January 21st, 2009 at 11:04 pm
There is a reason nobody remembers the hand over from Jiang Zemin to Hu Jintao: because it changed nothing.
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So, you are still a tenderfoot in China. US is a great country, but whether Obama is a good president, let the time tell us. I think his election victory is more important than himself.
January 22nd, 2009 at 9:11 am
“So, you are still a tenderfoot in China.”
I’m not sure what that means exactly. There’s a misperception among Chinese that you have to call yourself one before you can understand China. Utter nonsense.
Indeed, many aspects of Chinese society/history/international relations/culture are viewed by a domestic audience through blinkers (hence China’s censorship of Obama’s inauguration speech). That kind of leadership lends itself to delusion, not understanding.
An open-minded ‘tenderfoot’ can see China for what it is; blinkered nationals see it predominantly as their leaders would like them to see it. Big difference.
“US is a great country, but whether Obama is a good president, let the time tell us.”
As I said, he’s got one hell of a job on his hands. But he’s no Bush and we can all be thankful for that.
China might like the idea of usurping American global power, but that would have a very bad end if it was achieved without moving towards a system of accountability to its own people.
Bush was very soft on China whereas Obama has the moral fortitude abide by his principles. That is a worry for China.
January 22nd, 2009 at 7:10 pm
You can use the word “might”, “would”, however, As I said, let the time tell us.