Decisive Day
Published in Le Potentiel
(Democratic Republic of the Congo) on 4 November 2008
by Le Potentiel (link to original)
(Democratic Republic of the Congo) on 4 November 2008
by Le Potentiel (link to original)
Translated from
by AIME PINGI.
Edited by Sonia Mladin.
A page in the history of the United States is being written on Tuesday, November 4th, 2008. On that memorable day, more than 100 million of Americans will storm to elect the one who will have to succeed president George W. Bush on January 21st, 2009.
Two men are in the run for this position - the most prestigious in the world. Because governing the first power of the world all dimension included - means in other words governing the whole earth. That is the particularity of the American presidential election.
And, it is this particularity what justifies the interest the whole world has in this election; as far as it is the results of the American ballot which will make the world in the next four years. If the American presidential election was always a big moment for the whole world, that of the 2008 seems to be quite atypical.
Indeed, it is from the nature of the two pretenders in the White House that comes this reality. For this electoral battle, two big American political parties are aligned in the final sprint of the outsiders. From John McCain for the Republicans, to Barack Obama for the democratic camp, nobody thought either of them had a chance to successfully get through the primaries.
The first, a veteran of Vietnam, had, by the weight of his age, no favor in the forecasts. Quite as Obama, stemming from the black minority, who nobody could imagine, with certainty, that he would be ready today to mark history by becoming the first president of color of The United States of America.
So, for some, the dream of Martin Luther King Jr is coming true. "I have a dream," his magic sentence could come true, during this memorable day of November 4th, 2008.
But the world should not make any mistake on what tomorrow will be the American president. Citizen of the United States, his battle will above all be to defend the interests of the Americans - that is why he will be elected on Tuesday, November 4th. The interests of others will certainly pass in second position. And, if they must be taken into account, that will be certainly in direct relationship with the first interests of the United States. It is shocking, for some. No matter if it displeases most skeptics there. It is in this proportion of values that relationships between the United States and the rest of the world are defined.
So, one should not expect much from Barack Obama and even less from John McCain. At least, from our part, we are convinced that no considerable progress and no remarkable demarcation will be made with regard to what we know of the foreign policy of the United States. If it can change, if ever the democrat Obama would succeed the republican Bush, the guideline of this politics will, doubtlessly, be traced only by American interests.
But we hope, as many actually people believe, that something particularly advantageous for the world balance of power could be realized if the White House showed a democratic color. Regrettably, the democrats are not there yet, as millions of American voters will not decide it to be so.
Two men are in the run for this position - the most prestigious in the world. Because governing the first power of the world all dimension included - means in other words governing the whole earth. That is the particularity of the American presidential election.
And, it is this particularity what justifies the interest the whole world has in this election; as far as it is the results of the American ballot which will make the world in the next four years. If the American presidential election was always a big moment for the whole world, that of the 2008 seems to be quite atypical.
Indeed, it is from the nature of the two pretenders in the White House that comes this reality. For this electoral battle, two big American political parties are aligned in the final sprint of the outsiders. From John McCain for the Republicans, to Barack Obama for the democratic camp, nobody thought either of them had a chance to successfully get through the primaries.
The first, a veteran of Vietnam, had, by the weight of his age, no favor in the forecasts. Quite as Obama, stemming from the black minority, who nobody could imagine, with certainty, that he would be ready today to mark history by becoming the first president of color of The United States of America.
So, for some, the dream of Martin Luther King Jr is coming true. "I have a dream," his magic sentence could come true, during this memorable day of November 4th, 2008.
But the world should not make any mistake on what tomorrow will be the American president. Citizen of the United States, his battle will above all be to defend the interests of the Americans - that is why he will be elected on Tuesday, November 4th. The interests of others will certainly pass in second position. And, if they must be taken into account, that will be certainly in direct relationship with the first interests of the United States. It is shocking, for some. No matter if it displeases most skeptics there. It is in this proportion of values that relationships between the United States and the rest of the world are defined.
So, one should not expect much from Barack Obama and even less from John McCain. At least, from our part, we are convinced that no considerable progress and no remarkable demarcation will be made with regard to what we know of the foreign policy of the United States. If it can change, if ever the democrat Obama would succeed the republican Bush, the guideline of this politics will, doubtlessly, be traced only by American interests.
But we hope, as many actually people believe, that something particularly advantageous for the world balance of power could be realized if the White House showed a democratic color. Regrettably, the democrats are not there yet, as millions of American voters will not decide it to be so.
My hope in voting for Senator Obama is that his election will end a period of jingoist rhetoric, and cowboy attitude towards international relations, and bring us into the 21st century when oceans are no longer barriers to the world, but bridges.
We can hope. I think President Obama can change a lot, but the US Congress is still there messing things up.