Pyat actually sort of likes America, you know?

[pyat]

President-Elect Obama’s acceptance speech is terribly good, particularly once he gets past the business of thanking various people. It has been a long time since I felt a contemporary politician had any kind of charisma, or any power to move me through mere eloquence.

I admit that the last time was actually Bush’s State of the Union address following 9/11. He is a terrible extempore speaker, but earnest enough to be eloquent.

Obama is both evidently earnest and casually eloquent, and his message is not one you can disagree with. Just… excellent, really. His policies are more conservative than mine, and from some perspectives, to me, there would have been little difference between him and McCain. McCain is neither evil nor incompetent, and certainly a better man than George W. Bush in almost every way.

But that Obama will make a better leader, a better diplomat, a better person to inspire the citizens of his nation, and navigate the United States through the international stage, is undeniable. Or, at the very least, it is plain to me.

"Obama displayed a steadiness. Showed intellectual vigor. He has a definitive way of doing business that will do us well.” Colin Powell said that after the election. And that’s really what it comes down to.

Following on my post yesterday, I want to talk a bit about the other side of the coin when it comes to Canadian perceptions of the United States. While we, taken as an aggregate, tend to be cynical about America, we also recognize it as a world leader in a number of areas, not least of which being your support and leadership in defense of ideals that we hold dear.

The grudge is shallow. The admiration is the product of reflection.

Comments

[zorinlynx.livejournal.com]

Damn, you have no idea how good it feels to hear folks from the rest of the world actually saying GOOD things about our leaders (to be) for a change.

This is truly a great moment.

*hug*

[paka.livejournal.com]

McCain is neither evil nor incompetent

I'd actually disagree - but that's not what I wanted to talk about. A president is much more than himself and if your party relies so heavily on a few demographics - this is the strength the Republicans have relied upon for so long - even a saint will have to act within the parameters set by heartless, discompassionate, ethically bankrupt bigots and profiteers.

One also doesn't need to be evil or incompetent to support and further an evil and incompetent system, just need to be deeply sunk within that paradigm. That, right there, is what keeps Obama on the far left of American politicians while he'd be conservative among Canadians (or Finns, or Swedes, or Dutch, perhaps even Germans, and so on); there's only so much he can push it. Change isn't always fast, and I'm definitely in favor of interrim steps. Someone who'd be right-leaning for a Canadian is a real breath of fresh air in a United States where the "middle ground" of compromise has been dragged and pushed further and further to the right over years - over perhaps decades.

The man's eloquence is one of the things that appeals to me. Above all else I see our President as our diplomat-in-chief, the guy we send abroad to talk to other leaders and the guy other people around the world see as representing us. For years, not just Bush's policies, but Bush himself, have indicated to ally and enemy alike that we are an incoherent and selfish nation of me-first, religious fanatic quasi-illiterates. It's the allies part that really hurts, incidentally. After all this time, my country truly needs a "face man" who's erudite, charming, charismatic, and endowed with a measure of impulse control.

I'm very relieved.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

even a saint will have to act within the parameters set by heartless, discompassionate, ethically bankrupt bigots and profiteers.

Yes... in 2004 I went so far as to say that it was impossible for a moral person to go so far as to be even considered for the president, because to get that far they'd have had to backstab and lie and compromise their way to the front. I think the Democrats got so desperate, that Obama was actually free of that. I'd like to think so, anyway. ;)

[dagoski.livejournal.com]

I dunno, I think that McCain would've been quite incompetent. I listened with interest to his interpretation of the events in Georgia. Had this happened in 1990, McCain's analysis would've been pretty relevant. In other words, he knew the Soviet Union in depth. He did not, however, seem to understand Russia, nor Ossetia, nor Georgia. These are ethnically distinct regions which have a history of antipathy going back long before the Soviet Union was around. For a president not to grasp this would have been dangerous. Likewise, pegging Putin as a Soviet leader misses the fact that Putin is a Russian nationalist. Some of the behaviors might be the same, but the motivations and objectives are quite different.

[the-vulture.livejournal.com]

I was watching Obama's speech last night and thought to myself, "Why can't I get this fired up about Canadian politicians?"

I feel happy for the Americans; I think they have chosen the best leader for them (although I still admire many qualities about McCain (though I'm really, really glad Palin isn't ANYWHERE near the presidency)). Granted, from the Canadian perspective, we might've been better off with McCain in terms of trade negotiation, but I digress...

[neosis.livejournal.com]

I eventually came to conclusion that John McCain would have been bad for the U.S. not because he's particularly evil or particularly incompetent, but that he did not show the necessary interest in dropping Bush's evil and incompetent hanger-ons.

His campaign was being run by Bush people, he was taking advice from Carl Rove, and his idea of Change seemed to be changing Bush terminology into McCain terminology without too much change in policy. As they say on the Daily Show he was a Maveric who only voted with Bush 90% of the time.

Having said that I remain skeptical that Obama can deliver on his promises, but I'd rather seem someone I think will try to make things better, elected. And frankly, I think Obama's already off to a good start. I think things are going to change in Washington, perhaps in ways no one expects right now.