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A new US president

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

I wasn't going to write on the subject of Barack Obama's election in this journal, but it occurred to me that my offspring might someday want to know where I was and what I felt.

I found the results of the US election to be downright moving. Never would have expected that I'd care about such a thing, but in discussing Obama's victory with fellow Canadians as well as American and Japanese friends and everyone agrees that this election represents some genuine hope. That Obama signifies that things will be different.

I have to say that I'm proud of the American voters. They showed something new this time around, I think. A maturity that frankly I wasn't expecting. Again, I'm only a foreigner, and I live half a world away. But I know Americans who've been saying that they're so disgusted with the recent situation in the US that they're considering seeking Japanese citizenship. This would mean they'd have to trade in their US citizenship!

So I hope it's for real, that this isn't merely a brief uptick in a longer downward cycle for the US that drags on. When the leading light of the world loses its way, it's a terrible thing.

Also, I hope that the populace (and the world) doesn't put too much expectation on their President-elect. He's just one man and he's inherited a situation so bad it's like the previous crew were trying to screw up. In fact, you could see the viewpoint of this tongue-and-cheek article from The Onion that Heidi sent me. In it, the author points out that times would have to desperate indeed for the American voter to elect a black man.