Maybe the honeymoon has to end but today was marvellous

I switched on the CNN channel this afternoon because, for obvious reasons, it had a much longer coverage of Barack Obama's inauguration than did the British TV channels and I wanted to soak up the kind of atmosphere that seemed to heighten as the day progressed. There were interviews with Americans from different walks of life and the mood was unmistakeably one of excited anticipation - not just of the day but of a sea change in American politics. Only time will tell, of course, if they are right.




I have watched American Presidential inaugurations before mainly because 'they were on' and just kind of watched the goings on while vacuuming or making phone calls. Never before have I sat down and watched the thing non-stop for four solid hours. I even made a salutary ritual of it by pouring myself a glass of single malt and raising it to my lips as the clock struck noon in Washington and Obama was now President ....and Bush and his hideous administration were a memory.

And that is a part of it for me and, I suspect, many other Europeans. Not only is it a historic inauguration because Obama is an African American - which makes it an election of historic significance - but also because rarely can an outgoing administration have been so detested throughout the rest of the non American world.
Gone are the architects of Iraq, the Neros who fiddled while Katrina wreaked its havoc on New Orleans, the shysters who ignored Eisenhower's warning about the dangers of the Military Industrial complex and got rich directorships in companies like Carlyle and Halliburton, the guys who thought climate change was someone else's problem and that the rules of the World Trade Organisation on protectionism applied to everyone else not the USA.

Now the world has an American President who is singing from a different hymn sheet and I only hope his hopes and fine words can be matched by action. That can only be judged after the magic 100 days but his inauguration speech was a fine and biting one. It was almost European in its delivery - I say almost because there was the reference to God and faith which is a mandatory element in American politics and would be the kiss of death in England - but otherwise there was a clear, strong unambiguous statement of intent to do a lot of things very differently. I heard talk of a deliberate reconciliation with the Muslim world based on mutual respect, of an Administration that intends to exhaust diplomacy before military options are considered. An acknowledgment that the rest of the world - and its perception of America - actually matters!!! Dear Lord above, what is going on? Did my ears deceive me? No they didn't. That's what he said and I believe he means it. If he carries all this through, America will earn more respect than for decades.

Obama certainly has a personality but its not the same kind of personality as Bush - or for that matter many other American politicians. He's not a folksy, good 'ol boy. He's not always ready with a wink and a smile on cue. He doesn't have that 'well I'm just one of you guys' appeal which seems to captivate so many American hearts.

He is almost a political loner. He doesn't try to ingratiate himself. He doesn't need to. He's a man who seems to believe he has the ability to lead and has the confidence to do it. He has, at the moment, my unqualified admiration and my warmest best wishes for the task ahead. He will need every good wish and every prayer going to accomplish it.