I was in two minds about writing anything regarding the election in America. What does it matter what I - or anyone outside of the US - says as we have no input into their elections. The bottom line is that America is the strongest and richest country in the world. The only country with a global foreign policy and this therefore affects almost every country on this planet. Therefore, despite having no say in president-elect Obama's selection, his victory touches us all to a greater or lesser degree.
From thousands of miles away - and thousands of miles away from the hysteria of the pro and anti Obama factions - his victory seems like a great and historic occasion for America and Americans. Once Obama actually takes charge the realities of running the country things will be quite different from the rhetoric of the election campaign. The president is the leader of that country but I don't believe that he makes decisions in a vaccum. There are many advisors and elected officials who also have a major say in America's policies. Obama will not be able - or probably even want to - change established procedures and policies without much thought and planning.
In any case it will be at least 12 months until we see what type of president he makes and whether the electorate made a good decision or a catastrophic one.
CrownHeights.info has dozens of comments on their piece about Obabma's win. They also published an interesting article by Shmueli Boteach. Even after many years of viewing these websites the rudeness (and ignorance) of some of the commenters still surprises me.
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Zot Chanukah
4 months ago
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