Today, Barack Obama became the 44th President of the United States.

I must admit, I wasn’t convinced he had the experience or charisma to win that election. I was rooting for Hilary, mostly because it would bring Bill back into that inner circle of power. Say what you must about Bill’s personal shortcomings, he is a brilliant man and a political giant. As it happens, Bill liked to have actual power and did not appear keen on simply being power-adjacent. The former affable, smoothee also went slightly off his cake during the campaign, calling his stability into question.  They may have dodged a bullet. (Sorry Bill)

But, since his win on November 4th, Obama has impressed me.

And it’s not exactly how I had imagined it…

I thought an Obama win would be akin to a case of the stomach flu….I spent the entire campaign groaning in my bed, sipping ginger ale from a bendy straw….trying not to puke…..finally staggering to the bathroom to kneel and make my humble offering to the porcelain god….I may feel 100 times better, but I resisted right up to the bitter end.

But, my eyes have been opened.

The pure joy and enthusiasm of our American friends moved me deeply. Watching, of all people, Jesse Jackson sobbing brought tears to my eyes.

I don’t even like Jesse Jackson.

I am without doubt that Obama was NOT elected because he is a black man. He is an accomplished statesman and he deserves the White House. Barack Obama will be an excellent President.

The significance of Obama’s race had been almost lost on me during the campaign, as it should have been.

I was chatting casually with a young black woman a few days before the election and she asked me for my thoughts on Obama….I didn’t share my flu analogy, but I expressed my uncertainty. Her sheer emotion and pride floored me. This Canadian, apolitical, usually disinterested girl had pinned her hopes and her entire view of the world as she knows it, to Obama’s star. Her voice wavered, and tears welled up in her eyes, as she told me exactly what his win would mean to her….

He did win and it forever changed how she views the world and her place in it.  She sees a future full of new possibilities. These possibilities existed yesterday, exactly as they do today. But she sees them differently. And as I always say….perception, not possession is 9/10s of the law.

I think often about people throughout history who have risen to challenge and taken bold, heroic  actions, literally risking life and limb to change the world. People brave enough to do what’s right because it’s right and not because it’s easy, socially acceptable or necessarily legal.  Schindler, Tubman and Rosa Parks inspire awe in me.

What kind of gumption did it take for the Dodgers to send Jackie Robinson out onto the field that first day – To ignore all of society’s generally accepted rules and practices and flout the system? We all celebrate Robinson, but he couldn’t have done it without the fearless resolve of a couple of white guys whose names I may never know.

I know I’m not that brave. I’m afraid to open my email most days.

I hope they know, wherever they are, what they started.

Obama’s win caused a global seismic shift.

I expect some fall out…The stirring of certain ugly monsters from the dark underbelly of an archaic and ignorant society.  But, as much as Obama’s victory stirs their collective, ugly pot…It shines new light on these dark places in our world…..and that’s precisely the cure for darkness.

Hope is not just a buzzword anymore. It’s literal and tangible. You can see it on the faces of ordinary people….hear it…feel it. For Godsakes it’s even got a name.

I have said these words only once before…..on September 11, 2001:

The world just changed.

Thank you America.

You did good.

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Tags: barack obama, bill clinton, inauguration, president, white house

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 20th, 2009 at 6:40 pm and is filed under Foreign Affairs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.