Barack Obama... And Why You Should Care


by Jan Novak Lewandowski - Date: 2007-01-19 - Word Count: 1658 Share This!

I'll come absolutely clean, before I logged on tonight and did my usual thing on checking the BBC BSS 'Latest Headlines' tab and scrolling down the daily news bulletins to see whats going on in the world today, I had absolutely who Barack Obama was. To be perfectly frank, I really still shouldn't care as much as I do. I'm English and God knows we have more than enough problems to deal with at Number 10, but for some reason, this story (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6268077.stm) really got me interested.

We all know (and if you don't, I don't blame you. Last United States Presidential Election was a flop) that Kerry was as good as a Straw Man for Bush, meaning that regardless of his principals, whatever he committed himself to or the promises he made, there was no way on Gods green earth that he was going to get elected. It as a nice hope that someone with Kerry's principals would get elected, but really, did you see it happening? Would that man have lead America back to it's redemption after the bodge-job of a war that Bush unleashed? The last election should have been ran solo by Bush to soften the blow to the world. It was like a shovel to the face the fact the world had to suffer four more years of a moron at the helm when Kerry lost. It was inevitable that Dubya would emerge victorious but alas, it shattered any hope of change.

Lets put aside for the moment that he may very well be the first black President. As far as I'm concerned thats got nothing to do with anything. Race shouldn't matter in this day and age whether it's positive or negative.

I want you to read his speech, stating that he's throwing his hat into the ring for the Presidential dogfight...

"As many of you know, over the last few months I have been thinking hard about my plans for 2008. Running for the presidency is a profound decision - a decision no one should make on the basis of media hype or personal ambition alone - and so before I committed myself and my family to this race, I wanted to be sure that this was right for us and, more importantly, right for the country.

I certainly didn't expect to find myself in this position a year ago. But as I've spoken to many of you in my travels across the states these past months; as I've read your emails and read your letters; I've been struck by how hungry we all are for a different kind of politics.

So I've spent some time thinking about how I could best advance the cause of change and progress that we so desperately need.

The decisions that have been made in Washington these past six years, and the problems that have been ignored, have put our country in a precarious place. Our economy is changing rapidly, and that means profound changes for working people. Many of you have shared with me your stories about skyrocketing health care bills, the pensions you've lost and your struggles to pay for college for your kids. Our continued dependence on oil has put our security and our very planet at risk. And we're still mired in a tragic and costly war that should have never been waged.

But challenging as they are, it's not the magnitude of our problems that concerns me the most. It's the smallness of our politics. America's faced big problems before. But today, our leaders in Washington seem incapable of working together in a practical, common sense way. Politics has become so bitter and partisan, so gummed up by money and influence, that we can't tackle the big problems that demand solutions.

And that's what we have to change first.

We have to change our politics, and come together around our common interests and concerns as Americans.

This won't happen by itself. A change in our politics can only come from you; from people across our country who believe there's a better way and are willing to work for it.

Years ago, as a community organizer in Chicago, I learned that meaningful change always begins at the grassroots, and that engaged citizens working together can accomplish extraordinary things.

So even in the midst of the enormous challenges we face today, I have great faith and hope about the future - because I believe in you.

And that's why I wanted to tell you first that I'll be filing papers today to create a presidential exploratory committee. For the next several weeks, I am going to talk with people from around the country, listening and learning more about the challenges we face as a nation, the opportunities that lie before us, and the role that a presidential campaign might play in bringing our country together. And on February 10th, at the end of these decisions and in my home state of Illinois, I'll share my plans with my friends, neighbors and fellow Americans.

In the meantime, I want to thank all of you for your time, your suggestions, your encouragement and your prayers. And I look forward to continuing our conversation in the weeks and months to come.

Sincerely,

U.S. Senator Barack Obama"

I want to wrap this up with "'nuff said" essentially, but I know for a fact with all the promises that have been made with politics in America it's hard to believe the man at the top, let alone a new face with nothing to show for his name other than being a Senator.

Whenever you read a speech such as that by any other Politician, it's absolutely full of fire and energy. As a world, we don't need more fuel to the flame. O.k, a speech is only words and become more and more soluble every time they are used by politicians in America, but given that anyone who has tried to tackle the party in office with all guns blazing as been smacked down like a bad puppy it's kind of hard not to admire an unrecognized character prepared to throw himself into a political office that's currently swamped in scandal with blood on it's hands with so many wounds to heal.

Obama said he'd be making his intentions known on the 10th of February, which really means he's going to announce that he's running for President in the 2008 Elections on the 10th of February, given that Hillary Clinton or John Edwards don't snatch the Democratic candidacy. John's a strong contender as it is as former vice-presidential candidate, but given that Hillary hasn't made it certain whether she's up for the gig or not, it could mean that it leaves John and Barack to battle it out amongst themselves.

Why I'm interested? Politics is a drug that has always kept me hooked. The controversy, the shit-stirring, the battle of old and evil against the forces of new and good and the drama, and no country is better at Political Drama as much as the United States. As fas as I'm concerned, the last U.S. election never happened. It was a two horse race between the prize winning stallion and the one legged horse hopping along behind doing it's best to keep up with all the commotion before being politely taken out back behind the stables and shot. I've spent the last 5 hours from as soon as I got in front of my computer to typing this up reading up on a man who actually seems to want change for the nation rather than a change in his bank account and profile and I'm intrigued. When he announces he's going to stand (and he will), be prepared to watch the rise of a political figure destined for huge things. I'd like to make absolutely clear that the time for war is over. Everyone is sick of reading and hearing about the "War on Terror", we know it's a lie, so the vote is definitely on the Democrats this year, but as to who's going to be sat in the Oval Office next year, only time will tell.

Why am I this interested in a man who isn't going to be directly involved in British politics? Well, if America can see clear as to doing whats right and getting someone in office who's against war, perhaps then it might not be too far away that we get our troops out of illegal wars and back home. Do you really see any of Labours boys having the bottle to leave British Troops in Iraq when the U.S. Military have been pulled out?

Another reason as to why I'm interested. Politics is a drug that has ever kept me hooked. The controversy, the shit-stirring, the battle of old and evil against the forces of new and good and the drama and no country is better at Political Drama as much as the United States. As fas as I'm concerned, the last U.S. election never happened. It was a two horse race between the prize winning stallion and the one legged horse hopping along behind doing it's best to keep up with all the commotion before being politely taken out back behind the stables and shot. I've spent the last 5 hours from as soon as I got in front of my computer to typing this up reading up on a man who actually seems to want change for the nation rather than a change in his bank account and profile and I'm intrigued. When he announces he's going to stand (and he will), be prepared to watch the rise of a political figure destined for huge things. I'd like to make absolutely clear that the time for war is over. Everyone is sick of reading and hearing about the "War on Terror", we know it's a lie, so the vote is definitely on the Democrats this year. But as to who's going to be sat in the Oval Office next year, it's up to the Americans to get involved in they're own politics this year.


Related Tags: politics, barack, obama, presidency

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