Admittedly I am not the biggest Barak Obama fan in the pile although I wish him the best of luck. I don't want him to fail, seriously. If he fails, then my country fails...and who in their right mind would want that. Of course I couldn't help but notice the smiles on George W Bush and Laura Bush's faces. Some people thought they were hopped up on happy pills, my take was they were saying "OK Hot Shot, this mess is allllll yours now", but I digress.
Now here in England I had 4 choices of what channel to watch the inauguration on. I could go with the BBC, Sky News, CNN International, or FoxNews International. For the actual swearing in ceremony I went with FoxNews, then for the post game wrap up and parade I went with the BBC. Reason being CNN International is crap, half of the time they don't even have American news on and their commercials suck (yes, their commercials suck and that is a perfectly valid reason not to watch their coverage). FoxNews had the standard coverage that Americans are used to, nothing spectacular.
Now the Brits! I thought Americans were excited for change but wow...I think the anchors and reporters were more excited than the people they were interviewing. On the radio earlier in the day, about noon, the radio disc jockey on BBC Radio 1 was just excited. It seems that Obama mania has swept this country. The only thing that bothered me was the focus on President Obama's race. It seemed like they were calling out America for being a racist country, when in reality the UK has their own racial problems, just like America. Just take a look at the recent debacle that Prince Harry stirred up here. It was almost to say that President Obama got elected because of his race or dispite of his race and really I don't know which is more offensive. I know if I was President Obama, I would want to know that I got elected because of my merrits. On the other hand, excited Brits are fun to watch, considering it is hard to enough to get a British newscaster excited about anything. They are usually extremely pulled together and seem emotionless. Think, 1950's newscasters in America with their dry delivery of the news, and strictly the news. No commentary. The coverage of the inauguration was the antithesis of that. They were animated and describing a couple of blips that had happened in DC such as the people not knowing how to get off the mall once the swearing in was over due to roads being closed. They fawned over Sasha and Malia. They adored Mrs. Obama. It was an international love fest for the first family.
Though I was slightly offended at some points, I am glad however that the world is excited about my country's new leader. I hope it will bring a change in the way that international politics are played. I hope that more of the world will be more with us as opposed to the laxidasical semi-support that it receives now. I also hope that President Obama can live up to the high expectations that the world is placing on his shoulders. Sometimes, Mr. President, you get what you ask for. I just hope you can accomplish all you have promised. Oh and it is funny to hear Brits say Barak Obama. Oh and Oprah is crazy. Just sayin.
Oh this is also a very interesting clip from the BBC featuring predictions of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
27 comments:
kat...You make an excellent point; it is good that the entire world is excited about this new change in our nation. I too did not vote for Obama, however I respect the office he holds and he has my prayers that he will not fail!
Such an interesting viewpoint from across the pond, thanks for sharing!
~AirmanMom returning to her blog...
Kat, thanks for the perspective! I voted for Barack for a LOT of different reasons, but him being Superman wasn't one of them. I wish people would rein it in a little bit, he has some HUGE messes to deal with, and I am afraid people are going to hold him responsible for not meeting their own inflated hopes. Not that people shouldn't hope, but still, we need to be realistic.
One of the things he said kind of sums up why I voted for him: When asked why he would would want to be President in such unsettled times, his reply was "Now is a great time to be President." He knows the magnitude of the problems, and is eager to solve them.
THAT is an attitude we can all appreciate.
(And I thought your caption was hilarious, that's my kind of humor! Thanks!)
Very interesting perspective on the coverage, Kat. It must be so odd to live over there sometimes.
Wow. Thanks for sharing that. I wondered how parts of the rest of the world were reacting.
I'm with Irish Gumbo (plus, I love saying that). No one -- well, no one with any brains -- expects him to do the impossible. It's just so exciting and hopeful and different to have someone in there who has a brain, and is set to use it.
Ellie
I'm of like mind with you on this. I look at his as President Obama, not our 1st black president. I wish him nothing but the best and I hope his performance exceeds all expectations regardless of my political views.
Good post!
Oprah can suck it.;)
Thanks for this post and I'm SO glad it's over. I've been trying to come up with my own post about the inauguration but every time I sit down in front of the computer, I draw a blank. I agree with everything you said and I only hope that people tone down their expectations a little. He's walked into a big mess and it's not going to get fixed overnight.
My 4 year old point him out and says his name each time he see him saying "Mommy, that is O-Rock-A-Gaaa- Ma!!" All one word, well sort of.
hee hee
If you were wondering about and didn't click the link about how funny it is when Brits say Barak Obama...it kinda sounds like "Ba-rack Obam-er" sometimes
It isn't fair that people are up somewhere at 4:45 in the morning and I don't get to post FIRST.
But besides that, when I saw Bush (hehe, I said bush) I felt like he was saying, "Ahhh HAAA! SUCKERRRR!!!"
LMAO, not really. I think he is no doubt relieved and excited and probably enjoying sleeping in a little at his ranch right now!
Well, I did vote for Barack as I truly believe he's the best individual for the job. I agree with the other comments that he's cerebral and the man wants to steer our country into the 21st century. I think most Americans see a little Obama in themselves...whether they are biracial, from the Midwest, from a foreign country or went from poor to rich....I'm actually tired of Baby Boomers in office and am refreshed he's closer to my generation....great post from across the pond Kat.
Interesting. I'd love to know how they covered Justice Roberts flubbing the oath. Did you know Obama took the oath again? I guess you can't be too careful.
Lawyer Mom- I was wondering about that, since the oath is laid out in the Constitution and all. Kinda set in stone..not something you can just ad lib.
Nicely put, Kat. I saw some of the CNN Inter cov, you're right, they are crap.
Oprah is pure crap. She totally annoys me!
Its really interesting to read a different persepective of the coverage.
I think I'm going to have to go with Paladin on this one. There's a lot of hopes being pinned on one man, and I doubt any single person can be the "saviour" everyone is hoping for.
I didn't think the Bushes looked hopped up or drunk or anything like that, I don't know why people are saying that. If anything, I think they looked melancholy.
As for the oath, I'm sure you all know by now, he retook it.
I am not a big Bush fan, really, and yeah, I am guilty of feeling like the man just isn't that smart, (although I disagree with the sentiment that he had to have big cajones to do the job.) But, I do feel a little sympathy for the guy. I wouldn't have wanted to be the one in office on September 11th, and I truly feel he did what he thought the American people wanted him to do. And I wouldn't want the job now as Obama has to face it either. People are going to be holding him to some damn high expectations.
Kat...Now, I think Barack Obama has CRAZY high expectations to deal with, he has been pres for 1 day, and already people just expect things to be fixed, its OBVIOUSLY not a possibility, I hope he does well, I think he is already facing REALLY tough odds...
'oh and oprah is crazy' you are too funny!
Yeah, my hubby was talking about how this looks to other countries and sort of makes the USA look like we are changing and all. Idk. Good to hear it from your perspective!
Interesting perspective. Thanks :)
Well, speaking on behalf of Canada, we were very excited about this election.
BBC reporters? HAWT!
"I hope that more of the world will be more with us as opposed to the laxidasical semi-support that it receives now." I think you'll find yourself with a lot more support now that the "with us or against us" attitude is gone from the White House.
If people are expecting miracles out of our new president, then they are as ignorant as George Bush. The giant mess that has been created over many, many years cannot be fixed by one person in four years, so forget about a couple of months from now.
That's really the whole point. He has rallied the world around him, so it's time for all of us to stand up and say we won't take any more shit from Congress with their infighting. If everyone stays committed to changing the ridiculous way our government is bought and sold, then things will change.
It's up to all of us to hold the self-serving, sell my vote to the highest bidder lifers in Congress accountable. Only then will things change, and that's exactly what the new president is asking us to do.
Lola- interesting how an 'ignorant' man got elected twice. I think the biggest problem with constant media coverage is as outlined by Kat right here.
The normally stoic British media was gushing with adoration. To many, including the media, Bush 'stole' the election in 2000. From that moment on, there was a target on him. It never let up, though there was a brief time post-911.
People say he only won because the of the SCOTUS. Yet no one bats an eye that Obama sued every single opponent during his Illinois senate run and got them off the ballot.
And the one guy who really opposed him (and was winning) for the congressional Senate seat had the courts order the opening of sealed 'privately adjudicated' divorce papers; the result was a scandal that forced the man to drop from the race.
Where was the media deluge against him over that? There wasn't any. I was very disappointed in Bush's anti-conservative decisions. But one thing that I loved about him was that when he said something, he meant it.
Unlike the current administration who just three days in has already backed off a policy it set on day one.
All that said, I don't want our country to fail. But it won't be Obama's fault (for the most part)- I will put the fault squarely on congress where it belongs.
It's true the world is excited. I woudln't want that kind of job pressure...geez!
Hey Kat,
Stopping in to say hello and to let you know I like the blog.
I'm American, but also English (born outside Cambridge) so I see the perspectives from both sides of the pond so I can relate to a lot of what you say.
IB
BO has a lot of pressure to follow through on what he's promised. I just hope he can do what he says he will do.
Although the media were a bit over excited at times I don't think most Brits were that bothered really. Of course we watched it on TV - we didn't have much option.
We would like any US president to be sucessful, just as we would like our own Government to sort out our problems but the world turns and usually we get swings and roundabouts.
How do you measure a sucessful politician these days?
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