When it comes to seeing the world change and history made one of the best seats from which to watch is the anchor chair... and this week what a view!
Wednesday night, in particular, on our program we were able to report on the election as the rest of the world sees it. Not just the headlines of international papers or a couple of MOS's (man on the street) but serious insight and discussion about what has happened and what it means for America and the world going forward. We began by talking with former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Richard Holbrooke whose name is among those being circulated for Secretary of State in the new administration. His insights were so good we doubled the time for his interview and spread it over 2 nights. We followed that with views on the election from Iraq, Pakistan, Israel, the West Bank, China, France, Russia, Africa and Latin America.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown summed up Barack Obama's election this way: "This is a moment that will live in history as long as history books are written."
The president-elect was aware the world had followed his campaign and was watching as he stood in Grant Park in the early hours of November 5th, Obama addressed part of his speech directly to those overseas. He said, "Our stories are singular, but our destinies are shared. To those who would tear the world down: we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: we support you."
In many parts of the world Obama's victory went a long way to redeeming America's image and ideals, almost overnight.
Ahmad Kamal, Pakistan's former Ambassador to the United Nations, told me that there was dancing in the streets in his country (He might be excused for being a little over the top with his description). He also described how the pressure that Pakistan's government has been feeling from the U.S. for the past several years may soon ease. He shared the information that the beginning of an effective dialogue - one which could bolster the security of the United States - had already begun, even before the election results were in.
In Israel, there was optimism but also concern over whether President-elect Obama has the strength required to be tough in the Middle East. Iraqis were hopeful that President Obama's administration would result in less of a U.S. presence going forward. Russian leaders hope for normalization of relations between their country and ours. Perhaps the extent of how far his election reached was best seen in the jubilant faces of the residents of Obama, Japan, where they proudly emblazoned their rice cakes with the image of the president-elect.
Not every nation was happy with the outcome of the election. And it would be wrong to think that those who cheered his victory in other countries understand or even know the where Obama stands on the issues. Many in other lands were happy Obama won not because of who he is... but because of what he hopefully will bring to American foreign policy.... the same thing that summarized his campaign...change.
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Henry Blodget: Obama's Weird Double Standard
Why do taxpayers have to pay the costs of our banking catastrophe, while we're spared most of the pain in Detroit? Since the administration won't tell us what they are thinking, let's speculate.
Tom Engelhardt: Why Military Dreams Fail -- and Why It Doesn't Matter
Robot war. It just couldn't be cooler, could it? Especially if the only blood you spill is the other guy's, since our "pilots" are flying those planes from thousands of miles away. So why am I not excited?
Greg Mitchell: The Great Atomic Film Cover-Up
This country rushed into the nuclear age with its citizens having neither a true understanding of the effects of the bomb on human beings, nor why the atomic attacks drew condemnation around the world.
Leo W. Gerard: Hell No! We Won't Send Our Tax Dollars to China
China doesn't consider America first or the remainder of the world first. And that's what the USA must do. We need an industrial policy that makes no apologies for putting America and American workers first.
Obama doesn't have to waver, because he can always call upon this army.
If anything, I think his election should serve as a reminder to us that, though our governments many not always get along, when it comes to the PEOPLE of countries all over the world, we actually have more in common with them than we sometimes realize...they quite often want the same things that we do in life!
"Some athletes were humiliated, he said. Others were smeared with feces and jailed. Some were placed in a sarcophagus with nails pointed inward so that they would be punctured and suffocated, he said. At least a few were set in front of wild dogs to be torn to pieces. How many were executed is still not clear.
"'Nobody knew what was in his mind,' Mr. Dano said. 'But there was no pity.'"
-- The New York Times, August 17, 2003
now think pearl harbour.it didnt inspire good feelings towards the emperor did it?
1. He is not Bush. Don't kid yourself there, Bush bought into the PNAC concept that America is the singular superpower that gets to dictate its own terms. And no one but Bush could have thrown away the wordwide sympathy and good will the US got after 9/11/01 as quickly as Bush did. How the heck he managed to make us best to worst so quickly is manifest destiny in reverse.
2. Obama believes in Diplomacy. Remember that lost art? Hey, even Bush belatedly got the message. Rice visited Libya and the state department got some inroads via Turkey to Iran. Obama actually means to make inroads policy.
7 years after 9/11 and Bush finally got the hint? This man was our president? No wonder my sisters congratulated me for Obama. They, like the rest of the world, were waiting for Bush to go away.
Did the vision I put so much hope into really manifest 2 nights ago in that livingroom full of tentatively enthusiastic supporters?
In only a few tense moments of time, the trepidation I felt over the growing corruption and complete lack of ethics and morals within our government, was suddenly replaced with the Iightness and hope of a new future.
The vision and hope that Obama brings to our entire world, inspires me to reach further -to stretch beyond what I ever thought was possible before.
And from this inspiration, I wrote this song/video in supoort of our children -our future generations! It is my gift of love to the planet. I hope it inspires all who see it -as Barack Obama has inspired me!
-Lynn Zanetta http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gi3VNLhHq4