The Ephemeric

For too long we have lived in an ever darkening world. A world where we live in fear constantly. Meanwhile the most powerful nation on Earth, the only ones we can look to to sort this out, are laughed and and derided. Failed international initiatives, failed invasions, and a figure head who embodies everything that is wrong with the country (incoherent, spoiled 'daddies boys' with too much money and no common sense who can simply walk into a position of power), the country's image is at an all time low, and 8 years of corrupt, deceitful and downright comical mismanagement has only made things worse. America has no credibility on the world stage, Bush never has been and never will be respected as a world leader like Clinton or even Bush snr, and the last 8 years have seemed at times like a bad sitcom. Something needs to change.

The good news is that America has finally wizened up to this fact. The first sign of this turnaround was at the midterm elections where the Democrats swept the Republicans aside in both the house and the senate. The next big step was taken this past month, when Barack Obama, was named the Democratic nominee for the 2008 election for the presidency of the United States of America. This is a man who has never been fancied as a main contender, with no connections, no big name to buy his way through life, and yet has built up a large grass roots following with one of the most meticulous and innovative campaigns in recent history, which has propelled him to frontrunner status and shattered records and racial barriers. Not since Kennedy (both J and R) has a nominee excited the general public to such an extent. And never in history have so many people who have never voted before been moved to mark a ballot for the first time in their lives. This is both a sign of the desperate nature of current times and of the spirit and excitement that is inspired by Obama.

A year ago no one would ever have thought it could happen, but millions tuned in to see Obama's long awaited victory speech and no one, not even his biggest critics can deny it was a moving thing to see. After 8 years of malaise, to see so many people in one place so full of spirit and optimism is indeed a remarkable thing, and now one can only wait and see how this will extend to the November election. One thing is certain, the momentum is currently with Obama and McCain has got some catching up to do. At the end of the day all one really has to ask is, 'are you happy with how things have been run these past 8 years?' anyone who says yes is either a filthy rich, spoilt (likely overweight) american whos concept of 'the world at large' is the upper east side of new york or someone in complete denial who has sat through the past 2 terms without turning the news on, with their fingers planted firmly in their ears saying 'lalalala' over and over to themselves. America needs a change of image, the world needs this to happen. Mccain is not an image change, its more of the same except with a slightly friendlier face.

I, along with the majority of people with an IQ over 120, can only sit and hope that the rest of the country makes the right decision. So far so good.