[The
Telegraph, U.K.]
24 Heures, Switzerland
A Man, a Destiny,
a World: The Best of America
"The arrival today of the first man
of color to the apex of power in the only global superpower testifies to the
logic of his country and its evolution. Once again, America was ready."
EDITORIAL By Chief Editor Thierry Meyer
Translated By Kate Davis
November 5, 2008
Switzerland
-24 Heures - Original Article (French)
A man, a destiny,
a world. Rarely since the end of the Second World War has the democratic
election of a leader brought these three parameters together as much as on
November 4, 2008. The accession of Barack Obama to the White House is an
exceptional convergence of symbols, hope and renewal that has seldom been found
in history.
This election is
historic, it is extraordinary, but it isn’t surprising. America was ready: Everything
was in place for the barrier of race to be broken down, for the neoconservative
mirage to be destroyed, for a page to be turned and for a blank page to be
written upon.
Clearly over the
eight-year course of the Bush years, power has been divisively used and a
fatigue for fakers, lies and of gesticulations has set in. In the wake of the
financial maelstrom of recent months, rightly or wrongly, an economic,
political and strategic cycle has come to an end. There has been a vacuity of
isolation, of saber rattling and of crusades. The United States could no longer
stand being weakened by its own mediocrity. The Republicans paid heavily for
this lack of intelligence and can only thank their nominee and his remarkable
dignity in defeat for not having racked up even greater losses. Their political
fate is more arid than the sands of Iraq.
[The
Telegraph, U.K.]
At the same time,
there is also an almost immaterial desire for change, for a regeneration of
power, a power that can bring possibilities rather than impossibilities, of
reunification rather than division, of projects rather than dismantling. At the
root, the differences between the programs of McCain and Obama are undoubtedly
fewer than, to take an example we can understand, the differences that
separated [Socialist Party candidate] Ségolène Royal 
and [now-President] Nicolas Sarkozy. The contours
of Obama’s program, which seems more a product of autobiographies than law books,
remains blurry. At the risk of offending the purists, one must say loud and
clear that the essentials are missing. Barack Obama embodies the leadership
that America - and much of the world along with her - expects. Much more
pragmatism, some core values, but, above all, a style, a way of doing things
and being that is an invitation rather than a threat.
There is,
finally, above all, there is an America that has recognized in this gangly
forty-something with Black and White roots the best of itself. He is the embodiment
of its lasting dream, its primordial founding virtue: optimism and confidence
in its destiny. The arrival today of the first man of color to the apex of
power in the only global superpower testifies to the logic of his country and
its evolution. Once again, America was ready. The presence of ethnic minorities
involved with the intricacies of political power, the economic environment,
media, sports and leisure is greater and more definitive than in European
countries. But the race riots and expressions of racism have undoubtedly been
more violent and more grotesque, as well. Is this a Contradiction? No, because
this reality perfectly reflects two basic American tenets that differ from the
European sense of freedom and identity.
Freedom is that
which has allowed both slavery and its eradication; the assertion of civil
rights and the existence of the Ku Klux Klan; the many "success
stories" of "self-made men," and the absence of the social state.
Whoever is in power in America, this will remain at the heart of the country's
psyche. The American identity is declamatory. It is an affirmation of self, a
personal definition; it isn't the product of history, of clans or of
generations. Anyone can be American.
Posted by
WORLDMEETS.US
[Courier International, France.]
It is thus, with
the convergence of all of these elements, that the racial issue has finally
begun to fade. A CNN exit poll clearly indicated that the skin color of the two
candidates played only a marginal role in the vote. America has chosen its best
representative - the one it identified with.
After the waiting
come the expectations. They are often overblown in the United States, as they
are everywhere else in the world. Is Barack Obama destined to disappoint? For
those who believe in pipe dreams, of course.
For the others, maybe not. Not yet. In two years of campaigning, Obama has done
almost everything right. He is immensely adept. He knew how to foil every trap
and negotiate every step with astonishing mastery. On the day after his
election, he definitely gets the benefit of the doubt: a capital of sympathy
and confidence commensurate with the extent of his victory. And a world that he
has revived for the world: progress.
CLICK HERE FOR FRENCH
VERSION
[Posted by
WORLDMEETS.US November 7, 12:25pm]
