The phenomenon that is Barack Obama!
This morning, I saw one of my Nigerian students and congratulated him. I told him how happy I am that a man of African descent has been elected as president of the world's superpower nation. And this is not because I am from Africa. The reason is because of my little knowledge of what happened among the Negroes in America since their arrival in the early 17th century until, well -- today.
I also have in me the inkling to go for the underdog.
But, was Obama the underdog in the just concluded US election?
In this article, I would like to play with colors. Just with white and black. I knew that there are those who say that white and black are not essentially colors. For white is the presence of colors, and black is expectedly the absence of colors. For prosaic purpose, I stick to the more conventional claim that white and black are colors. Besides, at least during the campaign, the issue of race became a sensitive subject matter.
Obama was fathered by a Kenyan. McCain was white. But believing that McCain's loss was not his doing but a carry over of the regime that was run by his fellow Republican who, according to the former Governor of Hongkong when the island was turned over to China by London, was the worst US president (in his lifetime), I deem it proper to say: Bush was white.
Yup, I think we have to be realistic in here. Obama, who was a politically unknown figure before he got the Democratic nomination, shone very brightly not only for the Americans but also for the entire globe to see because G.W. Bush dimmed not only himself and his presidency, but literally the entire globe. Obama's background was Bush. And Bush is anything and everything that anyone would not wish to be a US president.
During Bush's term, two wars were waged by the US. One is in Afghanistan, under the pretext of war against terror. The Bush regime claims they are chasing the Al-Qaeda, a group of militants that the CIA originally formed and funded, in order to get Osama bin Laden (a former CIA agent). Bush did not have the courage to tell all. I mean, the truth. That it was because of the Caspian Sea Oil Pipe. And since it is about oil -- or the black gold -- as they call it, it is money. And a lot of money! The other war is in Iraq. Against the Americans postured themselves as liberators of the world which was allegedly threatened by the weapons of mass destruction that was being concocted by the late Saddam Hussein. Until now -- after the number of dead G.I.'s has already exceeded the number of the dead Americans on account of 9/11, and the number of dead and affected Iraqis has been steadily rising, and Saddam Hussein was dead -- the Bush administration is yet to show that Iraq really had weapons of mass destruction. To cover up their false claim, they even changed their rhetoric. Lately, they were saying that Saddam Hussein was dictator. (A case of a log calling a plank a log...) And by invading Iraq, the Americans were freeing the Iraqis. Of course, we've known that the US has brought destruction and mayhem to Iraq -- not freedom.
As if a stroke of Divine Providence (for Obama's campaign, I mean), months before the election the US economic tumbled. Of course, it has been years since the US economy showed signs of failure. But during the earlier periods, the US can still sweep the figures under the carpet so to speak. They belied -- as they were still then in the state of denial -- that they economic conditions were getting worse. But when financial institutions in the US shouted SOS!, then the US government was left with no means to cover its failure and just had to admit what was already obvious. The economy was in tatters -- definitely, not a good barometer of an administration by a political party that tried to catapult into power again one of its own.
Outside of its territory, America's dimming -- courtesy of G.W. Bush -- is very manifested in its foreign policies. America is very arrogant. America appears war freak. Because it has preemptive strike policy, no one dares to look an American eyeball-to-eyeball. For it would at once mean to America trouble.
By the way, any student of American history will not fail to notice that America's economic system gets its needed boost always from the wars.
Inside its own territory, Bush's blackness is seen through the lay offs that were the fate of the employees of American financial institutions. Or, through the ordeals of different kind by Arab-Americans, for example, whose only sin is to look like the terrorists who brought the World Trade Center down.
Obama is yet to prove himself. But already now he's shining so brightly.
Good for him, he has Bush as his predecessor.
I overheard from our other Nigerian student: The White House is now painted Black.
I was tempted to answer: Actually, after the White House was made Black by its White resident, it's going to be White again because of its succeeding Black resident.
