While I am happy...





By now I believe everyone in the world has heard the news, the junior Senator from Illinois Barack Obama has become the President-elect of the United States of America. To say that this is an historic event is a bit of an understatement, if not already a cliche. As I see the amount of joy and excitement created around the world by Obama coming to power... I can't seem to shake a few doubts that seem to surface whenever I want to join in on the festivity.

Don't misunderstand, I'm still happy that Obama won... it just seems that people may be placing a bit of an unrealistic expectation on this man to change a system that is ingrained in policy and economics. One also has to question how he gained the funds for his campaign, to have an impressive record breaking bankroll is quite a feat, yet I can't help but wonder who he would be indebted to. The more I ponder the subject in general the more I realize that aside from the color of his skin, Obama really is like most other politicians.

There is a message of hope and change that was used to bolster his campaign, but in all honesty if you take a look at the policies and stances on issues there really isn't anything different that what another candidate might bring. So I have to go further and ask myself, if Obama ran the same platform with the same message of change and hope but was white... would he win? Actually in all probability I think so, at least to me Obama doesn't represent the first black candidate but just a more intelligent and savvy leader especially in comparison to the previous one, the message he brought was what people needed. In a way Bush paved the way for Obama's election to the Presidency, would an America in an economic boom happy with the status quo also elect Obama... a point to ponder.

Still I can't shake this feeling that something isn't quite right, perhaps it's the blind devotion that his supporters seem to have. I've always had issues with people giving support for superficial reasons without looking into the root causes of problems or even trying to learn different aspects of an issue. As well seriously, as much as the American people might complain about how they suffered under the reign of Bush for 8 years... they were the ones that voted the guy in.

Perhaps I also have this fear that one day we'll all wake up to find that Obama was actually some 'Manchurian' candidate that was groomed by corporations to mesmerize people into blindly step in line and repeat more of the same policies keeping the rich richer and the middle class in debt.

Meh, what do I know anyway, so congratulations to Obama and the United States of America, I truly wish the best for the newest President. How much change he can bring is something only time will tell, and even for all my cynicism - I am hopeful.