NOW I MUST ASK: is America in a state of euphoria? Or does it depend what polar extreme you're on (if either)?I didn't mean to be overly cynnical in my comments of 2 posts ago. I don't want to pee on Ammerican strawberries. A US President with African ancestry really is quiet a phenomenon. Such a shame he has to get in with a worldwide "downturn" sweeping international markets and financial waters perilously choppy. If only he could have got the job during happier times, e.g. instead of JFK (and not been a foetus) then the post-election celebratorium and political honeymoon might sustain just a little bit longer...
I'll never forget the day after Tony Blair's breath of fresh air (as it seemed at the time) "New" Labour got in after 18 years of Tory misrule. No 11-week transition period here. The outgoing PM has the humiliation of having to load removal vans on Downing Street in full view of the world's press! And the new administation is in office the next working day!
I switched on the television; it was a bright spring morning ~ May 1997 ~ we were treated to a helicopter's vew of he new PM's motorcade ~ chering throngs lined the streets from Buckingham Palace to Parliament Square. The Rolls Royce gleamed joyfully in the sun. Tony ("just call me Tony") had just requested permission (ceremonially: it's not as if she's ever going to squeak "oh no! I don't like YOU!!" to start a new government from her Majesty.
Euphoria was palpably shimmering in the air that cheery day. It felt like years of misery culminating in the increasingly miry shades of grey of John Major's reign had come to a thankful end. Former Tory voters in their droves had switched to the former "tax the rich out of existence" leftist party that now promised a "nation of millionaires"! A national unity unknown since World War II swept the land, peaking three months later at Princess Diana's tragic death.
The New Labour honeymoon period lasted a protracted period of time unprecedented in modern British politics. In fact with a Liberal Democrat party looking more useless than ever (for Labour had totally usurped their centre ground) and a Conservative party in utter disarray it felt like no significant public opposition welled up against them until years later when we went to war in Afghanistan and then Iraq. Then Blair seemed intent on turning into Bush's lapdog and his popularity plummeted through the floor.
The sole reason Gordon Brown's immediate future appears assured is that he's demonstrated a financial savvy no-one in the shadow cabinet can match. Granted some of our banks have gone to the wall and the credit crunch scatters increasingly itchy crumbs under the smelly quilt of his aegis... but I am sure, as most voters seem to be sure, that the competition, useless as they are, would only make a bigger hash of this nation's wellbeing and more quickly. Which is why Gordon Brown's ratings have soared as this country falls around us...
OK politics are over. I promise a hamster post next time ;->...
How very eloquently put Gleds. A Government is only as strong as it's opposition. No opposition to keep it on it's toes and everything really does go to mush. We had high hopes of our new labour Prime Monster but he's been disappointing so far and has managed to spend the huge budget surplus that had been amassed by the Howard government over the preceding 8 years. Although these current economic times are difficult so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt for another year or so! Nice post.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI do believe that President Obama will be touted as the JFK of our time, and his wife the new reining Jacky O (before the "O" of course).
Good luck him, he is inheriting a country full of problems during a difficult time too.
And your right I would rather have had Hillary. Maybe next time, and she'll run against Sarah Palin and mop the floor with her, lol.
Janice~
I was thrilled with the Obama victory. It's a turn for the better, not only in the United States, but the rest of the world too, since everyone seems to have business with America in some way or another.
ReplyDeleteI love your cooking posts the very bestest :)
maybe if Obama is doing well we could be annexed to the States instead of going through the farce of having to try and choose between the political parties here.
ReplyDeleteOr maybe the hamsters could start a party. Then you could carry on writing about both
Well, I never trusted Blair.
ReplyDeleteBut I DO trust Obama.
I think we're in a new world. I really do.
You can count on one thing Gledwood, Hillary will never be president. The far left which controls the Dems and the MSM threw her under the bus for a far left candidate. Surprised even me. I wanted neither, but McKane was not a strong choice either. Oh well. Life goes on. The thing is, Obamy's race won't matter 5 minutes after he is sworn in. The job is the same regardless of race or gender and it is not an easy one. I don't think he is at all ready. We will find out. Hopefully not the hard way. Oh and as far as inheriting a bunch of problems. I don't see it that way for anybody. He signed up. He said he was the man for the job. Now he has to man up. If wastes even a moment whining about problems he inherited, he will fail. Too much is at stake. The same would have applied to McKane as well had he won.
ReplyDeleteNice commentary though Gledwood and an interesting take you have on the whole affair. I don't know about you, but I have had enough of elections and politics for awhile.
Just read and enjoyed the last three posts. Not much to add to all that has already been said (I was a Hillary supporter as well) but I have high hopes for the new administration. The "ground up" strategy has motivated this country to an extent I have never seen before. Now he just has to find a way to harness it to the real work ahead. It will certainly be interesting to watch!
ReplyDeleteI was interested in the Tony Blair metaphor because it would seem to trump the theory (that I had) that the GOP would come back in two years (at least in Congress) because the Dems won't be able to live up to all the stuff they promised.
ReplyDeleteI mean, Saint Obama promised some crazy stuff: Universal health care, pre-K, expanding the Family Medical Leave Act, not hiring ANY lobbyists, etc.
If he can just end one of the two wars and resolve the banking crisis, that would seem like a full plate. But no--he promised all this stuff and along with it to not raise taxes (except on the TRULY "evil": Anyone making $225k or more a year.)
Back to Great Britain: After Blair it is my understanding that the Tories made no similar comeback (like the one I predict for the GOP) after 1997.
Just one more thought: After euphoria comes backlash. I think we should temper our euphoria somewhat.
If you ask an American, "So far, what has Obama actually accomplished that benefitted your situation?"
Sometimes you will get a blank stare. Sometimes they will say, "Showed that we could elect a black president."
The last one is tenuous: I mean, actually get some substantive legislation passed, and I might not drink the Kool Aid but I promise I will look at the Kool Aid yearningly.
My point ad nauseum is that Obama got nothing but feel-gooders passed in his less than three years in the Senate.
Herbert Hoover had a longer resume'.
Looking back historically, there seems to also be a "Pride goeth before the fall"-phenomenon: FDR and Supreme Court packing; Johnson and Vietnam; GOP "Contract with America" landslide and subsequent Abramoff et al. scandal, etc.
In other words, totally kicking the other party's ass is usually fatal in some aspect because you get too cocky.
Obama is facing a huge challenge I think. So many expectations and hopes are pinned on him that it must be a weighty burden.
ReplyDeletePoor President Obama...
ReplyDeleteI am talking to my hamsters right now about starting a party...(!)