How the World Rejoices to an Obama Administration?

As President-elect Barack Hussein Obama began speaking to a crowd of 125,000 people at Chicago's Grant Park, the clock struck 12:01 a.m. in the White House, soon to be his new home office.

And the world rejoiced for the 44th President of the United States of America.

We begin with Canada.

“Hell yeah!” exclaimed seven star, a University of Manitoba psychology student in western Canada, continuing about the Obama win:

In what amounts to an historic election, Obama seemingly blew the old fart McCain away. I almost feel sorry for John, tear…./tear. Only thing is, Obama is inheriting a nice deficit, and 2 long wars. Will he be able to give the people what he promised, I mean, the money has gotta come from somewhere, but where that is will be something we will find out soon.

Farther west, California resident Jennifer Ayala, blogging at College in Canada, eh, marking her status as a first-year student at the University of British Columbia, wrote the next four years will be interesting:

I was totally praying for a McCain-shaped victory, but I’m not one to dwell on disappointments. Okay so future-President-Obama supports things that I am 100% against, but that just means that in order to win those battles, I (and anyone else who feels the same way I do) need to be more creative.

…allow me to address any fellow Americans that may be reading: regardless of whether you supported Obama or McCain, there’s no better time than the present to be the change you wish to see in the world. The United States is OUR country, not one man’s country, and let’s never forget that. GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Several hundred miles east, Patti, a middle-aged woman from eastern Ontario, laments about traditionally not following American elections. In this case, she argues history was made:

The American people have elected a black person to their highest office. I never thought I’d live to see it. I just learned that for the first time in American history, 17 woman have been elected to their Senate. Here I thought 30 women in our House of Commons was just a good start. I guess progress has different measures.

Elsewhere in Canada, the folks behind leftcoast.ca praised Obama as:

…the most amazing and most statesman-like individual that has graced the world stage in a very long time. Congratulations to the USA for electing an amazing individual as their 44th President. Beautiful.

And the woman behind Canadian blog My Mental Milkcrate is happy for Lucky Number 44 and wants to know where you were when you heard the news:

Where were you? I was arriving home from my writing class to find my husband at the kitchen table, watching McCain’s concession speech on MSNBC Live. I was shocked that the results were declared so early. I interrupted a writing session to watch Obama’s first speech as president-elect. Because it will be history. Except I can’t help thinking that they’ve called it with too few votes actually counted. So tonight I will let out this breath I’ve been holding for months, and tomorrow I will breathe normally.

Also worth mentioning is Jason Kadlecik, a Canadian blogger from the province of Alberta, who is happy for his southern neighbors, though questions Obama's socialist leanings:

I predict that four years from now people will look back on the Obama presidency and say “Wow. We voted for change. Now…what exactly did he change?” The money for “spreading the wealth around” has to come from somewhere.

I wonder if Americans will realize that it’s THEM that the money is going to come from.

Regardless, he’s an educated, charismatic man and I wish him luck in the next four years. As any previous president can tell him, he’s going to need it!

Emotions are similar across the pond, albeit few are awake at this late hour.

With a blog title of “Byebye Bush,” a blogger behind Dutchfiction yelped:

YIHAAA!!

I’m happy I didn’t sleep and watched CNN live. Obama made it, and it feels so good. All alone in my livingroom (the rest of the house is still asleep) I witnessed the start of a new beginning.

Belgian blogger Marco Rossi offers simple words that change can happen:

Thank you Obama.

You did it. You showed the world that change can happen.

In Manchester, United Kingdom, blogger John McGough believes Obama can not only provide change but America proved it can overcome its differences and prejudices, signs that the world is ready to accept Obama with open arms:

What you should see happening in the coming hours, weeks and days is leaders the world over going out of their way to congratulate the President-Elect, most will try to network with him and develop and ongoing relationship which has often soured under the Bush administration.

As a result of Obama's election, overnight worldwide opinion of America will change. Suddenly countries which were frosty and cold towards America will soften their stance and offer an open hand toward the new president, leaders will view America as a changed country, a country that has finally began to embrace global ideals of the world, a country that has finally began to to shine as the true beacon of the land of the free, yeah one man can really make that much of a difference.

Finally, we turn to British blogger Nadeem Walayat and editor of The Market Oracle, who theorizes the first 100 days of an Obama Administration:

1. Clearly President Obama's focus will be on reinvigorating the U.S. Economy by a series of stimulus packages running to several hundreds of billions aimed at Main Street, that will aim to spread the wealth so as to bolster consumer spending, which will actually have an positive impact on the economy and this boost therefore stock markets, instead of the Bush administrations version of spreading of wealth to Wall street banks which have no intention of using these funds to provide loans to Main Street but rather utilising the billions in merger and acquisitions activities.

2. Withdrawal from Iraq, and bring to a close America's Afghanistan moment, the invasion of Iraq was built on blatant lies of a. Iraq being connected to Sept 11th, and b. that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. These lies were perpetuated by an incompetent Bush administration so as to grab Iraq's oil reserves. The quick 3 month war has turned into a 6 year quagmire costing more than 4,000 american lives and more than 100,000 iraqi lives, with the bill of $3 trillion strangling the U.S. economy, a significant amount of which has disappeared in Bush and Cheney cronie corporations.

3. Greater world wide co-operation following the failed Bush policy of “your either with us or against us,” both with regards the economy and military threats.

As the world rejoices, Voices without Votes react and are brought to Reuters’ web server from near and far.

What does the world think of its peers? Please add a comment below or link to us from your blogs and spread the love for a new American President, a welcoming world, and yourselves.

3 comments

  • Sanjiv Desai

    Barack Obama stands at a crossroad in history. He has won the mantle of arguably the toughest job in the world and he has the opportunity in before him to be remembered in perpetuity as the man who chose the right path and made a huge difference to not only the USA but also the world.

    Today, human confidence around the world seems to be plummeting to an all time low. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have become such humanitarian nightmares that no one seems to know how to resolve. Despite the spread of the much touted US style capitalism and democracy further and wider than at any other time in history, the number of people who do not have access to the bare minimum amount of food has risen glaringly to nearly 1 billion, or almost one sixth of the world population. Global warming is creating freak weather systems all over the place – we’ve all experienced it. The ice caps are melting faster, the frequency of hurricanes and typhoons has grown up to an unprecedented level, Delhi just had an amazing summer without the normal ‘loo’ winds that normally sear the flesh, sudden floods in some parts and droughts in others, fishermen returning home with smaller and smaller catches. The world also seems to have reached peak production on its fuel of choice with consumption outstripping new discoveries. Oil prices have fluctuated from highs of around $140 to $60 a barrel in the past few months. Food prices have gone berserk in the past couple of years. Grain, once so plentiful it was often left to rot in piles on the ground, is suddenly in short supply, driving feed and food prices through the roof. The fertilizers and chemicals needed to maintain high grain production are in short supply and prices are at record levels. In the US, foreclosing on people’s homes and anti depression medication have become the only remaining growth industries.

    The damage that mankind has done to the amazing gift that is our planet in the past 100 years or so is so completely criminal as to be almost mythical in its scope and scale of rape and pillage of the Earth’s resources. And I believe that it’s reaching an inflection point in history. Unless we can think of some very, very fast and furious global manner in which to sit down and talk to one another about what we are going to do about the future, we are going to leave behind such a terrible world for our future generations that they will rightfully have nothing but hate for us.

    However, I believe that there is a silver lining and, ironically I see it as a byproduct of the current global financial crisis. For the first time in recent history, something has happened to shake up the rich and the super rich of our world! All other crises that have occurred around the world in the past have mainly affected the poor and the disenfranchised – the rich were always insulated by what they could buy and their trappings of wealth. But this time they have been directly hit. The whole gigantic financial castle in the air that had been created over the past few deregulated years has suddenly dissipated into the stratosphere, leaving behind very little to show for it other than the amazingly creative brains of those same super rich people. And we all know that they are bright enough to realise that this time, when the doo-doo hits the fan, no one will be left untouched, not even them.

    So Barack, if you ever get a chance to read this, please understand that if there is one person who has the slightest chance to make a difference or bring about a true change on this planet of ours going forward, it is the future president of the United States. And that is now you. A lot now depends on your first term, who you pick as your advisors, how you placate your financiers and how you tackle not only your internal issues but those of the rest of the world as well. It is in your hands to be remembered in the same breath as Martin Luther Kind Jr and Mahatma Gandhi or to be forgotten within a few years of your presidency coming to a close.

    The world prays that you make the right choice.

  • People of the world aspire to be inspired by America – as a proponent of democracy, free speech, equality and opportunity, there is no other nation in the world that has quite the same appeal. In the months preceding this election, it was difficult to accept a country that is being led by a person as the one in the office currently, as a leader of the world. True leadership is not bullying but inspiring.

    It was heartening to see Americans reclaim their place as the leaders of the world, by electing a person from a minority community because of his qualifications and credentials and not giving in to the bias that infects so many nations. The American people have made their choice and their voice is being heard and perceived – inspirational.

    We pray that the president-elect finds in him the wisdom to steer his nation through the crises that surround it and the world.

    – A world citizen

  • Cha

    There are times when I wondered what had happened to America. Sure she still put on the same face of strength and hope, albeit fallacy, but something inside was not clicking. The beacon of hope that she was was fading. People were losing faith in this great social experiment set forth by America’s founding fathers. The wrong men were in charge for far too long. It’s not their fault. These leaders were programmed by an ever corrupting system that finally came to a festering head, and has now popped.
    I never thought I would get chills and tear up while listening to a politician speak, and i probably never will. But for Obama, I shook, I cried. America is back.

Cancel this reply

Join the conversation -> A man

Authors, please log in »

Guidelines

  • All comments are reviewed by a moderator. Do not submit your comment more than once or it may be identified as spam.
  • Please treat others with respect. Comments containing hate speech, obscenity, and personal attacks will not be approved.