His story: Barack Obama and ‘the moment’
Posted on January 23, 2009
They came, they watched, they cheered — and cried. For millions of Bush-weary Americans, Jan. 20, 2009 was the moment: Barack Obama, 47, was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States and the first African-American president.
It was on this wintry day when teary-eyed Obama supporters felt a renewed sense of hope amid tough times. Obama himself was hope personified — probably regarded by many as the ‘human Messiah,’ who can save the US and the world in four years.
As expected, Obama quickly rose to the occasion and, in his 18-minute inaugural speech, he reassured the American people with words of hope…unity…and change. The project in hand: Remaking America.
This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.
The inauguration of Obama as US President was clearly a historical one — and the whole world knew it. Millions of people around the globe took some time off to watch last Tuesday’s inaugural ceremonies, glued to their television sets or computer screens for hours.
CNN.com cites a report made by Akamai Technologies, Inc., the company that handles the Internet traffic for more than 150 news sites worldwide, that around 7.7 million people logged on and watched the inauguration on the Net all at the same time last Tuesday. And according to a CNN spokesperson, nearly 27 million people watched the streaming video on the CNN.com Live website throughout the day.
The leading news network also partnered with Facebook, a top social networking site, to give curious news consumers an online platform to post their commentaries while the inauguration was taking place. Facebook would later reveal that there was an unprecedented traffic during the event — as expected — with the site averaging 4,000 status updates per hour Tuesday morning. The updates per minute reportedly reached 8,500 during Obama’s inaugural speech.
Indeed, the collective feeling now is, it’s cool to be an American — and yes, black — in this Obama era. National pride, it seems, has been restored almost instantly.
“I’m so proud to be an American today!” has become the ubiquitous statement of countless Americans backing Obama. Such remarks would have been hard to say during the George W. Bush days, when anti-American sentiments in other nations multiplied by the day in the aftermath of the former administration’s aggressive “war against terror.” (Note: Bush supporters had stressed out that it was extra challenging to be the US President when you have unexpected incidents like the 9/11 terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina on your clock.)
It appears that the US (well, at least the majority of the population) and the rest of the world love Obama, charismatic as he is, as much as they hate Bush. (Incidentally, Bush got his share of heckling from the spectators, who packed the National Mall during the presidential inauguration. A veteran political commentator later remarked that the booing was “really in bad taste in such an event.”)
Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell said in last Tuesday’s CNN interview that Obama, whom he earlier described as a “transformational figure,” got elected not because he is black, but “because he can do it.” Meanwhile, multi-awarded film director Steven Spielberg told CNN’s White House correspondent Ed Henry that Obama was an “amazing force.”
Clearly, Obama’s avid supporters see him as the right man to lead the most powerful nation on earth in this time of socio-economic troubles. But critics and political analysts alike say that this remains to be seen, citing his obvioius lack of political experience and the country’s unprecedented financial crisis, respectively. And they do have a point.
However, amid all these endless media discussions deconstructing the new US president, whose historic election has inspired millions, the Obama mania goes on. ‘Obama love’ is everywhere — in newspapers, TV programs, and, yes, even in the fishing village of Obama, Japan.
But, as they say, the honeymoon is not yet over. Just like in marital affairs, we just have to wait and see how things will pan out.
One thing is sure, though: Obama’s presidency has proven once again that anything is possible in America, where democracy still reigns supreme. (Photo taken from CNN.com)
TIDBITS: If you have a Facebook account and would like to post your Obama-related comments, click here.
» Filed Under Current Affairs, Entertainment, Politics, Technology & The Net
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5 Responses to “His story: Barack Obama and ‘the moment’”
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Yep, I was one of those who watched it on the internet. I watched it on their White House’s official Blog for the Inauguration Event. I also posted about it a day prior:
http://amauiblog.wordpress.com/2009/01/20/president-barack-obama/
I didn’t know about the “booing” until I read it here. Yes, that was a “pretty bad” act of those who were there – “bad taste” for the occasion.
Everyone is Hawaii was happy when President Obama did the SHAKA. We thought that was pretty cool.
I pray for President Obama daily. I have a lot of concerns about him but like what I said on my previous post, choosing between him and Mr. McCain, I chose him. Oh God help us. He has already signed some stuff on abortion that I I wish he wouldn’t have signed. America needs a lot of prayers, that’s for sure!
people just need to remember that it takes a nation to change and not rely everything on President Obama.
I can already predict how the election campaign in the Philippines will be like. Everybody will ride the Obama bandwagon and claim they are for change.
In all of the grand spectacle, my wife’s best moment in this was the fact that Disney sent two racks of clothes for the Obama girls to choose for the inauguration hehe
Barack Obama is not only a charismatic president but he is a very intelligent and smart person too. I congratulate him for winning a Nobel Peace Prize . . `
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Barack Obama may be a charismatic leader but somehow his economic policies are not that great in my own opinion. But still i am thankful that a Obama is the current president of the unitied states.