Wednesday 21 January 2009

I wanted to be an American...

I watched Obama make his speech in a well-known hostelry in Dublin city yesterday with Scottish rebel Allan Mackintosh. The silence while he spoke was palpable. They hung on his every motivating word. A voice of hope (we hope).

Just for a while I wanted to be an American- to share at their level the hope and excitement being stimulated by this man. I wanted to be a part of the future that they will have now - with all their resources, their re-building of friends and alliances around the world again, the emergence from a time of fear and ignorance, the reclaiming of what America once stood for - E pluribus Unum - From the Many, One. It's like a bright sun ray on a dark day that catches you in the eye.

Obama uses the language of a r'evolutionary. Inclusive, engaging, connecting and pluralist. Let us hope that he will be radical enough and charismatic enough to carry us on his shoulders into a better world for us all. Let us hope that the enemies of personal freedom do not take it all away.

No comments:

Post a Comment