Obama, A Boy With a T-Shirt

The new friendly face of America? Rather the new icon of a revolutionary civilization. An icon for which Europe has been waiting a long time, writes a journalist from the newspaper “Rzeczpospolita.”

Obama’s tour around Europe ended as a complete success. 200,000 Berliners screamed at the mere sight of him, Nicolas Sarkozy was as proud as a peacock that the democratic candidate visited him at the Elysee Palace, only Gordon Brown was fairly restrained and didn’t throw himself around Obama’s neck.

In America, Obama’s popularity rankings went up by 2%, but the liberal media was wondering disquietly why the ratings don’t go over the 70 percent barrier, like they do in the Old Continent of Europe.

Obama also won the hearts of critics and journalists, even in faraway places like Poland. The Senator from Illinois is charmed by Mr. Jaroslaw Makowski, who in the columns of “Rzeczpospolita” describes Obama as the “friendly face of America.”

Like many German, French, or Italian journalists, Makowski perceives Obama as anti-Bush, and a romantic idealist, who believes in peace and friendships among nations. Who believes that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will step away from his goal of wiping Israel off the world map, if only people showed him a little tenderness. Who wants America to become a gentle hegemon, rather than the hard, absolute sheriff, who steps on the will of weaker countries and ignores the magnanimous intentions of Europe.

The Modern Ruler

Obama, the fearless knight is to come galloping to the White House to save America, broken by George W. Bush and his group of neoconservatives. While he’s doing that, he might as well save the rest of the world, but with the fruitful collaboration of Angela Merkel, the European Commission and the UN.

But this is not even the beginning. “In Berlin we saw throngs of youth, it’s easy to misjudge them as without ideologies and cynical Europeans without propriety, who reacted enthusiastically to the flow of idealistic words from the American politician,” writes Makowski. “Yet, which other American or European politician is in the position to awaken such interest and attention amongst citizens? Where is the European husband of the state hiding who could arouse such hope among EU citizens, such as the Democratic presidential candidate has already done?”

Obama then will not only change the picture of his country, but he will also change people. He will change American and European points of view and make them believe in politics again, in the elections, in voting. Obama will redefine leadership; he will be the husband to the State like history has yet to see.

“Inhabitants of the old Europe,” continues Makowski, “who to this point have not hidden their anti-Americanism, want the new President of the United States to make it his priority to make a united Western world.”

Maybe the Europeans are not so concerned with priorities as they are about a victory of an ideological belief. Western Europe loves Obama because he makes himself out to be the anti-Bush, and because he is the closest thing to the European’s image of a new-age leader, who knows what the 21st century is suppose to look like and the steps that need to be taken to achieve it. Even John Kerry, who four years ago was George Bush’s opponent wasn’t as European as Obama. He certainly spoke French, had a Portugese wife, was Catholic, every Sunday he went to mass and took communion (even though he had non-Catholic views on abortion, which provoked right sided journalist’s virulent criticisms).

Obama, on the other hand, does not speak about his religion, and since the affair with Pastor Wright, he is very cautious in regards to the question of mixing religion and his public life. When it comes to abortion, Obama is exceptionally progressive: once he voted (while still in Illinois) against limiting thousands of late-term abortions, hence abortions to be carried out in the last trimester of a pregnancy. The Democratic candidate is opposed to legalizing gay marriage, but doesn’t want the prohibition to be written in the US Constitution, but he doesn’t have any opposition to gay or lesbian couples adopting children.

In Europe, such aberrations are the foundations of civilization, so Obama may be supported by millions of Germans, Spanish, as Dutch as the “savior,” but millions of Americans see him as the anti-Christ. The Senator is not very interested in a free market or free trade, doesn’t like big business, and he is a believer in a strict separation of church and state. Therefore, isn’t Obama more European than American?

Makowski suggests that if Europeans would deeply analyze Obama’s views on international issues, and if they would measure his charisma to the charisma of their premiers and presidents, they would realize that Obama is the long awaited for Messiah, who everyone is ready to follow like mindless sheep. For journalists (and most certainly for a majority of Europeans) Obama is already the contemporary John F. Kennedy, who was known as a womanizer, mixed in a collusion with the Italian mafia, and is similar to Kerry in being a Catholic. Obama is like Mahatma Ghandi crossed with Nelson Mandela and Mother Theresa from Calcutta.

Maybe we can reach to yet another level in history? Maybe Obama is today for European citizens the reincarnation of Che Guevara, the eternal revolutionary fighter from the 1968 generation. If t-shirts with Obama’s face in the pose of the Latin revolutionary similar to the photograph of Alberto Korda have not yet surfaced on the streets of Paris and Berlin, they most surely will soon enough.

Che was a symbol of change and progress in times when the Yanks were leading a bloody war in Vietnam (today they oppress Iraq), and Americans were concerned with plunders in Latin America (today they are focused on the Near East). Anti-American feelings in Europe that were cultivated at the end of the 60s have reached their zenith in the last century, today we have a similar example. Che declared a new, amazing, just world in which everyone would be satiated, equal, and happy. Does Obama not present a similar view?

Up to this point, Europeans have lacked a leader who embodies the characteristics of a revolutionary of a new sort, who has the bravery to stand up to backwards and conservative America, the only type of America sentiment they have known served to them by 90 percent of Western European sources. They lacked a leader whose face could be plastered on their t-shirts.

The politicians of the Third Road (the medium between capitalism and socialism) were too cynical, ecological activists were too dispersed in thought, wealthy philanthropists like George Sorosa were a bit too wealthy, even entertainers such as Bono, were not good enough to fill the role of leader.

But finally someone filled the role, and he doesn’t walk around in the uniform of a Maoist, doesn’t have a beard, but has one essential advantage: He is an American.

And that makes his chances of overcoming everything so much greater.