I was just conversing with a student, a likable guy who supported McCain, and asked him how he felt about the entire world being so jubilant about Obama's victory. His answer was so prophetic, simplistic and penetrating that I thought it worthy enough to share. He responded by saying that "the world would not be so jubilant when they find out that he is an American".

Wow!!! Obama is, afterall, an American. Will that mean that he cannot, will not and should not be engaged in and with the world? Obama faces an uphill battle in balancing the needs of human decency and maintaining control of the US agenda.

What does it mean to be an American? Can minorities also be "Americans"? (The same questions could be posed using Canadians, French, British, Norwegians, Swedes, Spaniards, Greeks, Italians, etc.)

But, ultimately, there is something in the air, for right now anyway, that is different.

Obama won!! Of course, the whole world knows this, celebrated this, prayed for this, and is now recoiled in anticipation for great things to happen. Why shouldn’t the world expect great things from the “greatest” country?

After two solid years of observing every potential foible, character idiosyncrasy, banality, triviality, and, otherwise, generally irrelevant piece of information about THE candidates, little has been discussed within the mainstream mass media context about the big issue in this campaign, and, for that matter, every campaign:

Greetings,

A few quick thoughts about the unending soi-disant political campaign state-side.

First, if you have the time, please listen to the March 14, 2008, interview that Amy Goodman of Democracynow.org did with Gore Vidal: http://www.democracynow.org/2008/5/14/legendary_author_gore_vidal_on_the

Vidal provides such a delightfully critical, frank and insightful analysis about why and how the US has plummeted in the global market-place. His thoughts are a nice compendium to what Chomsky has been saying for decades. 

About the election:

Much can be said about the Olympics. Nations competing with one another to advance cultural connections. Striving to be the strongest, the fastest, the best. Putting aside all that ails us to immerse the human condition in challenges and the undeniable quest for peace. If we are all in the same sand-box together, playing, then we cannot be out in the street, fighting.