Obama’s inauguration was the closest thing I’ve ever felt to the descriptions of the coronation in 1952; the popularity of TV in the UK pretty much began with the coronation.
I was at work, and we all watched it on the big TV in the conference room. Afterwards, we had lunch, and when I got back to my desk this email from my dad was waiting. It summed up my own feelings in a far more elegant way than I could have achieved:
That was wonderful. Congratulations America.
The age of George Bush is over; The age of Obama begins. Not my words but those of the BBC reporter.
This is the Labour Party winning the 1945 election. The end of the the War In Europe. The final end to The Second World War.
How about the beautiful poem and the emotional speech at the end of the ceremony by the old Civil Rights campaigner.
And Aretha!
Three great days in one lifetime is really more than one can expect
And Obama is already putting into effect the things he promised. For a day or two, the media on all sides couldn’t avoid acknowledging the greatness of it all.
But now, we’re back to business. Fox has already started its campaign of hate that would be comical if there were no stupid people to lap it up.
“Do you want terrorists living in your back yard ?”
But the cynicism in me, seeded by being English, left wing, and not part of the aristocracy, has now mutated to aggression. Anyone who doesn’t realise how wonderful and historically significant the recent events are, is clearly an irredeemable moron.
Twice today I got very angry as the result of ignorant, bigoted, bullshit. This time I’m going to keep up the pressure. Inaction is a weapon of mass destruction. Even if it means losing touch with friends or even family, I’m going to be true. Leaving my own parents, and some of the best friends I could have ever imagined, has taught me a lot. Not matter how crap I am at keeping in touch with people and how crap they are at keeping in touch with me, the real friends don’t mind. Bernard Baruch (not Dr Seuss) summed it up many years before though:
Those who matter don’t mind, and those who mind don’t matter.
