The Unlikeliest President

"...in no other country on earth is my story even possible..." 

and so we have, ladies and gentlemen, the 44th President of the United States of America - President Barack Hussein Obama.

call me unpatriotic, but the 2008 elections for the President of the USA has struck a chord with me, and perhaps millions of people all around the world. it's basically this: a country of white Christians, tens of millions of them, have voted for a man to be their leader - a man who has a white Christian mother and a Muslim black father, raised in Indonesia, studied in Harvard, listens to Jay-Z, quotes Abraham Lincoln, and has an Arabic middle name.

150 years ago, he would be a legal slave. 27 years ago, in 1981 when i was born, the last black man was lynched. and now, an African-American President. how far they have come.

for a long time, the world has lost faith with the US (and George congratulations-and-go-enjoy-yourself Bush). we've seen the arrogance, the waywardness and the foolishness with which they have misplaced all the world's affection to the American way of life. all the moral authority gained from WWII and the Marshall plan, and the sympathy from 9/11 disappeared in a smoke of broken English by the rancher from Texas.

the post of POTUS is, for all intents and purposes, the leader of the free world. he makes decisions that have a huge impact on people from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. the difference is, this time, we feel like we've elected him, instead of having the choice forced upon us.

and now... a leader we meet perhaps only once in a lifetime - someone who inspires and bridges divides and appeals to E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E has become more than the President of the USA, he's become the President of the World.

is my President too. his story gives me hope that all nations in the world, and not just America, may one day see beyond the colour of my skin. that's not hard to imagine - America has always been the driving force for change, from miniskirts and Coca-Cola to democracy and free trade. why should this be any different?

is my President too. his story renews my faith and love in the American Way, where anything you want is possible, if you work that little bit harder. for a long time, many of us were disillusioned with America. we hated it, but yet cannot help but be drawn to them, for travel or education or ideas. but now, no longer.

is our President. leaders of men should be that little bit more than who we are, not some guy-i'd-love-to-have-a-beer-with. he needs to make decisions, he needs to inspire us into becoming a little better than yesterday, he needs to fulfill Voltaire's idea of a philosopher-king. and he does, doesn't he does.

imagine again, if you will, what just happened. the scars of racism is most alive in America, where the distinction between black-as-pitch and white-as-milk sometimes linger, sometimes fester. but yet, tens of millions of white men and women voted freely for a black man with a Muslim name.

Barack Hussein Obama is now President of the United States of America. now who dares tell me, that Hope and Change are false anymore? 

**

"That's how this thing started," he said, "It shows you what one voice can do. One voice can change a room, and if a voice can change a room it can change a city, and if it can change a city, it can change a state, and if it can change a state it can change a nation, and if it can change a nation, it can change the world."

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