The world watched the inauguration of President Barack Obama with a combination of awe, admiration and anticipation. The first African American and 44th US President swore the oath on the Lincoln bible and history was made. We wish him well. God Bless America and God Bless Barack Obama. For a brief shining moment we celebrate with America but we all know that the celebrations will be short lived.
As ever Barack Obama rose to the occasion and many of his adoring supporters standing in the freezing cold of the capital’s mall could be forgiven for thinking that they were standing in the presence of greatness. Obama is said to represent the changing face of America. This was called the USA’s Mandela moment. Obama was inspirational and eloquent. His tone was filled with resolve and determination. His love for words and his great skill as an orator were clearly evident. The bigger question is whether he will be allowed to be a “doer” and a “risk-taker”, words he used in his speech. Obama’s message was one of hope and optimism. Hope that things will get better. That despite all the difficulties and challenges America faces, it will prevail. Americans will have to make continued sacrifices and work hard but in the end America will succeed. America’s can-do attitude, spirit of enterprise and optimism will see it through.
Great expectations have been created that America will become a greater nation and a greater society under Obama’s leadership. That remains to be seen. Obama said that America was “ready to lead once more.” A pointed dig at the lack of leadership under George Bush. Nonetheless Obama deserves every chance to prove his detractors wrong. His agenda is well known. His work cut out for him. On the domestic front Obama will have to focus on resuscitating the devastated US economy, rebuilding America’s ageing infrastructure and reforming the healthcare and social security systems. To achieve this he will have to negotiate the tricky minefield of Washington politics, with its gridlock, its compromises, many rival interest groups and where a massive bureaucratic marshmallow can stifle the life out of any initiative.
In his speech he asked for the remaking or reinvention of America and a new way forward. On the international front he will be expected to provide a new direction on the Middle East, more specifically to solve the quagmire in Iraq, Gaza, Iran and Afghanistan.
Obama has been welcomed by some as “the messiah” to save America. Wishful thinking my friends. He will preside over what many astute financial analysts have called the biggest “Ponzi” scheme in the world. I fear the emperor has no clothes. In theory there is no limit to how much money the US can print but ordinary US taxpayers will be expected to pay the brunt for all his ambitious programmes as the federal deficit balloons to $2trillion. He should remember that the business of America is business and nationalisation of banks and industries can only have short term benefits primarily for Washington bureaucrats. In the long term this policy will stifle business initiative, cause massive inertia and will ultimately fail and have to be reversed at great cost.
Watching CNN however brought out the professional curmudgeon in me. Reluctantly I was forced to look beyond the Obama euphoria and adulation and direct my ire principally at the various CNN anchors and reporters. They repeatedly reminded us that this was a peaceful transition to power. This is annoying to say the least. We are not morons. Without being ungracious or detracting from this momentous occasion we know that it is a peaceful transition to power. We also know that it is a historic occasion. Somebody should point out to them that the USA is not the only country in the world where peaceful handovers of power take place. No doubt the USA with its complex system of checks and balances is one of the world’s greatest and most successful democracies. One CNN political commentator, Paul Begala even went so far as to say “no other country has this.” Well Mr. Begala, peaceful transitions to power happen all over the world, even in Africa. It is increasingly becoming the norm rather than the exception. Who will forget the miracle of South Africa’s peaceful transition to democracy in 1994 and the inauguration of President Nelson Mandela as South Africa’s first black president.
Transitions to power may be peaceful. More important is what takes place after the transition to power.
Here the record in the USA and the rest of the world is not so great. Once in power the process of governing has not always been peaceful, especially in times of civil or economic strife. A brief tour of US history reveals a disturbingly high level of violence, political assassinations or attempted assassinations. Four US Presidents have been killed in office. Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, William McKinley and John F Kennedy were all assassinated in office. And if Wikipedia is correct, there have been 90 attempts to kill sitting and former US Presidents. There is also a strong possibility that two others, Presidents Zachary Taylor and Warren G. Harding were poisoned while in office. Other prominent Americans assassinated include Senator Robert Kennedy, shot in 1968 while on the campaign trail and Reverend Martin Luther King, the civil rights activist, also shot in 1968.
However we should not single out the USA here for reproach. Every country in the world has had its share of political assassinations and violence. Japan has lost 5 Prime Ministers to assassination, Spain and Romania 4 each. Just about every Latin American country has had presidents assassinated. So too have India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. If the record of some individual African states is low in this regard, it’s a dubious distinction. It’s only because of the lack of democracy and free and fair elections. There haven’t been frequent elections or regular changes of the guard. Long term totalitarian regimes like Zimbabwe have good stats in this regard only because tyrants get ousted or killed once every 20 years or so. I sincerely hope that Barack Obama serves two terms in office, succeeds in his quest to change America for the better and is spared the fate of Abraham Lincoln, who like Obama hailed from Illinois. But as Charles Manson acolyte Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme said, “anybody can kill anybody.” Somebody please tell this to the Zimbabweans.
No-one can beat the Romans of course when it comes to political assassinations. Their emperors had the shortest life expectancy in the world, a tradition continued in less deadly form in modern Italian politics. If anecdotal evidence is anything to go by, it is alarming to note that a high percentage of people all over the world expect an assassination attempt on Barack Obama, be it by Al Qaeda or by white supremacists. Unfortunately America has many enemies and Obama will have a lot of work to do to restore America’s image abroad, patch up diplomatic relationships and undo the harm caused to America’s reputation by his predecessor. Indeed as he said in his speech, America seeks peace, dignity, mutual friendship and respect. “America is a friend of each nation.” Even as he says this Obama faces the difficult and unenviable task of reaching out to the Muslim world while at the same time trying to defeat Muslim sponsored extremism and terror.
To everyone’s relief a wistful George Bush departs the scene to sulk on his Texas ranch. It was a great sight watching the giant olive green US Marine Corp One helicopter lift off and take Bush to Andrews Air Force Base and retirement. The moment was filled with symbolism and a sense of inevitability as the crowds on the national mall waved him goodbye. Like Thabo Mbeki he will ruminate on the many lost opportunities and his shattered legacy. As is the custom with departing Presidents, Bush addressed a private farewell letter to Obama. The world would give anything to know its contents. Did Bush offer Obama advice? Unlikely. Did he fill it with pleasant homilies? We’ll never know for sure. I suspect it said something along these lines:
“Dear Barack,
Welcome to the White House.
The popcorn machine in the cinema room on the second floor is broken. It needs a new butter-melter. It hasn’t been serviced since Bill left in 2000 because Dick Cheney knows how to fix it. Dick can fix anything. One time he even fixed my waffle maker.
You’re welcome to keep the jar of jelly beans that I left behind for you in the bottom draw of Lincoln’s desk in the Oval Office. It’s the only sweet part of the job.
Have a nice day, goodbye and good luck.
Kind regards
George”
Costas Ayiotis
Pavement Philosopher
20 January 2009, Pretoria
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