EU Leaders React to Obama Presidency
There will be plenty of support provided President-elect Barack Obama from liberals and anyone else who voted for him. To keep the discussion honest some of us will have to present the less positive aspects of this new development. Questions raised during the campaign and not answered by the Obama/Biden team are again surfacing in responses from around the world on the US election results. This post starts with European leaders weighing in with their reaction to the new President.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown began with a comment that was relatively benign. He said he looked forward to working with the new President. A statement one might expect if the source was trying to remain somewhat neutral. The part that raises questions similar to those from the campaign would be his conclusion that Obama is ‘a true friend of Britain’ and that he has shared values and policies with Britain for solving current economic issues. What information did Gordon Brown have access to that the rest of us have been denied? Or more precisely how did Mr Brown come up with that analysis? No one else seems to know what he will do for sure when this whole thing gets under way.
Sarkozy of France is buying into the Obama and DNC hope mantra. He says this election raises hope for just about everyone on the planet. This entire hope and change slogan seems to be long on optimism and short on details. Are people so simplistic to believe that just putting someone else besides George Bush in the White House will cause some sort of global enlightenment? Will all the barriers between people of the world be suddenly vanquished? No one yet has provided a coherent agenda that may be forthcoming from the Obama/Biden team. Why all the high praise and complimentary expressions for a huge unknown?
The German Chancellor and EU foreign policy chief expressed closer cooperation and an emphasis on change, respectively, as their appraisal of President-elect Obama. Aside from possibly echoing the hope and change mantra, a more realistic assessment of Merkel’s statement may be the reason many foreign powers are happy about Obama being elected. Appeasement and caving to the demands of foreign governments may be the hope from abroad regarding the new US Presidential Administration.
The statements from foreign leaders sound as uninformed as those from people on the street where one person said they are excited that Obama might bring some changes. This is a sentiment that was repeated regularly during the campaign and now again afterwards. It is alarming that people can base such an important decision on such flimsy rhetoric. The reliance on the idea of hope and change as a reason to vote for Obama and Biden is absolutely stunning. Perhaps privately those being quoted from around the world are laughing hysterically at the foolish Americans who chose a President on a vague idea and promise. One which Barack Obama quickly extinguished in his acceptance speech when he said things may not get done in one year or his entire first term. Rather than help the middle class he expressed everyone’s need to sacrifice.
That was President-elect’s first speech, the acceptance speech. You may wish to read or hear it again. It is available around the internet in text and mp3 form. The first words he uttered after the deal was done. After the campaign was over and the votes were in and tallied for the most part Mr Obama made a speech. It could very well be that all bets are off based on his comment that nothing may get accomplished in his first term.
As stated at the top of this post someone has to bring up the less than positive as the MSM and staunch Obama/Biden supporters will dominate the discussion. You may or may not wish to consider the possibility you were just sold something equating to the well known swamp land in Florida or the Brooklyn bridge or just the simple bill of goods the value of which are suspect.
You may not but foreign leaders around the world may get what they want from President-elect Barack Obama and the Democratic majority in Congress.
Stanford Matthews
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