[Windswept]

I think many of us might be really interested to read about the reactions of people from around the globe to Obama's victory.

If you come across some interesting reactions regarding the American elections in your online rambling, could you please post links to those reactions in this thread, so that we can check out the articles, comments, observations, video clips, news reports, etc.?

The reactions could be from your own country, or from any other international source.

I think it would be really interesting to read about how the rest of the world is reacting to Obama and his win.

Thanks for any links you can provide.

[Windswept]

Originally Posted by scratt http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/gall...ture=339365861 http://www.time.com/time/specials/pa...rss-topstories

I put your links here, too, scratt.

Thanks.

[scratt]

There is also this on our own blog... A slightly different perspective...
http://blog.extremesportscafe.com/20...amilton-obama/

[Matsu]

I can probably give a more detailed Canadian political reaction than anyone cares to read, both conservative/right wing and progressive/liberal, the so called "left" in canadian politics is hardly worth speaking about. It is however, quite a sophisticated reaction. I'll simplify it with a bit of my own thoughts on the matter.

People from across the spectrum are going to expect a lot from Mr. Obama, of those some will hope he fails to deliver, but that is only so they can reassure themselves of their own politics. Business as usual has a powerful inertia and Canadian political culture is quite conservative, our usual business, I'm not ashamed to say, has been of a generally higher calibre, so this isn't always a bad thing.

Even those who hope "change" is minimal, recognize the social significance of his presidency, there's an affection for the ideals he represents, a notion of justice much more in keeping with our own domestic ideas. Canadians are in love (80% approve of Obama) largely because he reflects our native views of a just society more so than any American President, and does it more articulately than most Canadian Prime Ministers have. The fact that he writes them over top of the stirring legacy of American civil rights history and a culture of which we are all secretly jealous, only heightens the drama, and our delight. This is what America the beautiful would be if it truly realized the promise of its own mythology: which is to say, Canada, just sexier.

The other sense is that even if Mr. Obama is only an average president, hell, even if he's only a slightly below average president, he will still be a vast improvement over Bush and his entire cabal of greedy, inept, and just plain evil, ideologues. Those who understand what this means know that various state legislatures are about to get a whole lot dumber as they inherit the staff, consultants, and politicians from this group, but the world outside of North America breathes a little easier.

On the expectations, I think they are rightly high: democrats control all the federal executive and legislative machinery now, they need to adopt a much more Canadian sense of caucus discipline and get out of the every man for himself, local self interest that plagues bill passage in the US.

[danielsza]

I'll just sum it up with a txt message that's been going around all day...

2nite all women must shave their choochie in support of Obama which means NO MORE BUSH! ...pass it on. LOL

Canada for the most part does seem to love Obama

[tomoe]

I thought this quote from an article on The Guardian's website was hilarious:

I walked 15 blocks south to Times Square, where a huge crowd had gathered to watch Obama's acceptance speech on big screens. Chants of "Yes we can!" gave way to "Yes we did!" and finally to "What the fuck?" when, just before the president-elect started to speak, when the man standing next to me looked up at the scene being beamed in from Chicago and said: "Is that really a black family up there?", when a New Yorker looked pityingly at the foreigners in front of him and, reasserting an American pride that, for liberals at least, had been dormant for eight years, said, "They're about to witness history and they can't even understand it" (they were German, so obviously spoke better English than either of us) - that's when the satellite link broke and the screen went blank.

Original article here.

[turbulentfurball]

Large BBC collection of quote from international leaders.

Wikipedia - International reaction to the 2008 United States presidential election.

"The Resurrection of the American Dream"
"A Radical Cry for Change"
"Obama Awakens a New America"

Just some articles out of the full coverage of the US election you can find here:

http://www.spiegel.de/international/

It is a the English part of a german Weekly Magazine

America reverberated with Democratic passion. Even John McCain, the defeated Republican contender, called him "my president." It was the strong departure of a weak candidate.

Barack Obama wasn't elected as 44th president of the United States because of his political platforms. Hillary Clinton was more precise, John Edwards more aggressive, McCain more experienced. But none of them hit the Obama tone, the tone of our age.
His base note is conciliatory, his overtone is exalted and the harmony is finely balanced. If anyone out there still doubted that the American dream was alive, he called out to his supporters in Chicago, "tonight is your answer."

"At this defining moment," he declared, "change is coming to America."

Obama's tone embraces people, it doesn't exclude them. It's a tone of political romanticism. It doesn't solve problems, but it lessens the pain.


He has promised to sympathize, to listen, to deliberate. The others say "I want;" he says "we will." What a contrast to his predecessors......

...As the new day dawns in Germany, America is once again dreaming the American dream. It will be a deep, soulful dream after all these restless, dreamless years of terror attacks, reports from the Baghdad front and the collapse of Wall Street. It's a dream about a world without poverty or fear, of a life full of opportunity and devoid of George W. Bush.

Where Bush stoked fear, Obama spreads calm.

DER SPIEGEL 11/05/2008

[Doxxic]

I liked two headlines in NRC Handelsblad, a Dutch paper.
Article 1: "Smarter than Bill Clinton"
Article 2: "And he will need it"

[Moogs]

Originally Posted by turbulentfurball Large BBC collection of quote from international leaders.

Beat me to it, furbulent. BBC FTW.

[InactionMan]

Canadians love Obama. More than any of our own politicians (not surprising given our current crop of idiots). I don't think Canadians have been this enamored with a politician since Trudeau. And it's likely that Canadians will end up disappointed when Obama casts his gaze to the rest of the world instead of to the north.

[crazychester]

I think at the moment you're the luckiest people on the planet. For once you deserve all the accolades you give yourselves. You got yourselves the real deal. Humans are stupid. We rarely get it right. You did. Big time. Don't fuck it up.

[Argento]

You know I'm no flag waving wife beater wearing American but this international reaction is kind of bugging me. Everybody is saying "finally Americans can live the dream because a minority is president." While I couldn't be happier that we've taken that trip over the racial divide its not like Europe or the rest of the world is some enlightened bastion of racial tolerance. This talk about "the US if finally great again and so we can tolerate them," what the hell? Where is this great racial/religious tolerance echoed elsewhere in the world? Lumping Americans in with that retard turd Bush is unfair, and completely inaccurate.

[Argento]

Originally Posted by Argento You know I'm no flag waving wife beater wearing American but

You know if you say that in a Palin voice is sounds an awful lot like her........*shudder*

[Windswept]

Some really interesting links and personal commentaries here.

It will take a while to read though all those links, but I'm certainly looking forward to doing so.

Thanks to everyone for sharing international reactions! If you come across any more, please add them to the thread.

Thanks again.

[crazychester]

Originally Posted by Argento You know I'm no flag waving wife beater wearing American but this international reaction is kind of bugging me. Everybody is saying "finally Americans can live the dream because a minority is president." While I couldn't be happier that we've taken that trip over the racial divide its not like Europe or the rest of the world is some enlightened bastion of racial tolerance. This talk about "the US if finally great again and so we can tolerate them," what the hell? Where is this great racial/religious tolerance echoed elsewhere in the world? Lumping Americans in with that retard turd Bush is unfair, and completely inaccurate.

His colour didn't cross my mind. Though as an aside, I noticed a thread recently on the likelihood of a minority being elected in our own countries. If you're talking indigenous Australians, I think we'd be lucky to manage it within two hundred years from now but by then their bloodlines, culture and the dreaming will be so diluted that to all intents and purposes there will be none left. I think we are a deeply, nasty, hateful, racist people. We're just less honest and less obvious about it by not doing things like running around in hooded white nightgowns while carrying burning crucifixes.

I think you done real good because he's a calm, funny, well-educated, brave, charismatic man with one helluva a way with words, who knows his place in the universe, understands what his job entails, who makes mistakes, knows he makes mistakes and that he will continue to make them but who is nevertheless mostly honest like most of us are at heart with the genuine desire to make the world a better place.

And he's as smart as all fuck to boot.

The only thing I find to be a truly significant issue about the fact some people are white and some people are black (and yet one that, strangely, nobody else but me seems to wonder about) is that black men can't swim and white men can't run.

I even think you're grossly unfair to him about his dancing. For Heaven's sake, he's a soul man people. You put him dancing next to Nelson Mandela. That wouldn't be cool, that'd be absolute frickin' zero. Man, those dudes could have had the same dance teacher.

[colivigan]

Originally Posted by Argento You know I'm no flag waving wife beater wearing American but this international reaction is kind of bugging me. Everybody is saying "finally Americans can live the dream because a minority is president."

I think you're missing the point, and crazychester nailed it. The world doesn't like him just because he's a minority. They like him because he's smart, thoughtful, worldly, and inspiring. They like him because he's humble (yes, I really think he is), knows how to listen, and respects other people's opinions. They could care less about America "living the dream", but are hopeful that America will at least start to become a better world citizen.

Lumping Americans in with that retard turd Bush is unfair, and completely inaccurate.

Of course it is. But, like it or not, people in other countries view us through the lens of our leaders and our foreign policy. How do you feel about Russia, Iran, and North Korea? I know there are plenty of good, decent people living in those countries, but their leadership colors our opinions.

[ezkcdude]

Originally Posted by crazychester I think we are a deeply, nasty, hateful, racist people. We're just less honest and less obvious about it by not doing things like running around in hooded white nightgowns while carrying burning crucifixes.

I don't think too many folks run around in white nightgowns here these days. At least, I hope that's not the case anymore.

So, what's the general feeling about Obama down under? I would assume the majority of support was for McCain.

[crazychester]

Originally Posted by ezkcdude So, what's the general feeling about Obama down under? I would assume the majority of support was for McCain.

Nah, we like Obama. We know what socialists are and that America doesn't actually have any.

[scratt]

Originally Posted by colivigan I think you're missing the point, and crazychester nailed it. The world doesn't like him just because he's a minority. They like him because he's smart, thoughtful, worldly, and inspiring. They like him because he's humble (yes, I really think he is), knows how to listen, and respects other people's opinions. They could care less about America "living the dream", but are hopeful that America will at least start to become a better world citizen. Of course it is. But, like it or not, people in other countries view us through the lens of our leaders and our foreign policy. How do you feel about Russia, Iran, and North Korea? I know there are plenty of good, decent people living in those countries, but their leadership colors our opinions.

Excellent post. You nailed it too.

Especially the last paragraph: And that also is one of the differences between Obama and Bush. He sees that too.

[Swox]

If Obama was a neo-con, I wouldn't be happy that he won, and I imagine that would be the general reaction around the world. I understand the significance that his race must have for many Africans and African Americans (and maybe others, too), but it would be little more than a novelty to me if he were not the person he is (or I imagine him to be - he's got at least 4 years to disappoint me ).

And Re: Bush - I think it is fair, to a degree, to judge the US based on him - you guys re-elected him! If after four years, you collectively said "wow, that was a mistake!", it would be a different story.

Just my $0.02, I don't speak for the whole world (yet, anyway...).

[crazychester]

Originally Posted by Swox And Re: Bush - I think it is fair, to a degree, to judge the US based on him - you guys re-elected him! If after four years, you collectively said "wow, that was a mistake!", it would be a different story.

You gotta love them going from Bush to Obama though. Fuck they're a weird bunch. Deserve accolades for the sheer quantity of entertainment value they provide if nothing else. Talk about from the ridiculous to the sublime.........

Frankly, I think stepping down a few levels to join the rest of us riff raff could be the making of them.

I can see it now,,,,,2025 <screen goes wobbly and fuzzy>

In a special UN address every other country on the planet passes a motion stating "God bless America. The greatest country on earth."

The US rep stands and looking down at his shoes as he scrapes them embarrassingly on the carpet, responds 'Aww you guys are great but there's nothing that special about us. We're just one of the gang. Look at the French. Their skill in fine cuisine makes our food look like pigeon droppings."

At which the French representative leaps to his feet declaring, " Mais non Monsiuer! To suggest such is sacrilege when speaking of the country that gave us clam chowder and grits. Not to mention the turducken!"

[PB PM]

Originally Posted by InactionMan Canadians love Obama. More than any of our own politicians (not surprising given our current crop of idiots). I don't think Canadians have been this enamored with a politician since Trudeau. And it's likely that Canadians will end up disappointed when Obama casts his gaze to the rest of the world instead of to the north.

Speak for yourself, I know a few fellow Canadians, including myself, who don't like Obama. Watching people around him is like going to a religious service. You'd think the guy was going to save the world or something. In five years from now, I cannot honestly see people still liking him as much. Americans may want change, but personally I think they got more than the bargained for. Either Obama will do everything thing he says he will, or he'll just be another lying cheating political leader, like the rest of them. Personally, I'm guess the latter will be the case. Guess none of you guys watched the videos from the church he went to until sometime early last year, again I think American's will get more than they bargained for.

[scratt]

ROFL

Certainly looks like a different kind of leader to me...
http://flickr.com/photos/barackobama...n/photostream/
http://cache.boston.com/universal/si...7_16804595.jpg

[AWR]

Originally Posted by PB PM Watching people around him is like going to a religious service.

Well what can you expect having spent the last 8 years getting kicked in the balls (or neglected) on a daily basis. We need to be saved!

Great pics, scratt.

[scratt]

FTW!

http://obama2008.s3.amazonaws.com/headlines.html

Mwuhaaahaaaahaaaaa!

[PB PM]

Originally Posted by AWR Well what can you expect having spent the last 8 years getting kicked in the balls (or neglected) on a daily basis. We need to be saved! Great pics, scratt.

I guess that is one area a differ views with others on. People asked too much on government now days, while at the same getting all upset when it does get involved. Anyways, we'll all see how it pans out. I honestly hope it goes well, but I'm not counting on it.

[Windswept]

Originally Posted by scratt FTW! http://obama2008.s3.amazonaws.com/headlines.html Mwuhaaahaaaahaaaaa!

Wow! What an incredible assemblage of front pages/headlines. Thanks for posting this. It's truly remarkable and I would hate to have missed it.

Originally Posted by PB PM I guess that is one area a differ views with others on. People asked too much on government now days, while at the same getting all upset when it does get involved. Anyways, we'll all see how it pans out. I honestly hope it goes well, but I'm not counting on it.

I am really looking forward to watching things unfold. I feel quite optimistic about what Obama will be able to accomplish. He reads; he thinks things through in depth; he thinks in terms of both short and long-term goals; he seems *not* to be overwhelmed by the vast array of problems facing him, but appears ready to tackle them calmly, one at a time, step-by-step. The very fact that he *doesn't* seem overwhelmed inspires confidence in me.

Honestly, I can still hardly believe that we have elected this man. It's amazing how a particular confluence of events has brought this about.

I watched the Tavis Smiley show last night (a talk show hosted by a black man on Public Broadcasting), and I think that American blacks are all just astounded too, that a fairly large chunk of white America has voted to have a black as their president. No greater sign of acceptance and respect could possibly be given in any country.

I sense that, for black men especially, their hearts are singing, they're walking taller, with a huge burden lifted from them - the burden of feeling that they would always be 'held down' by others, in the country in which they live.

And now they see that many Americans really 'are' fair, open, and perfectly willing to give respect where respect is due. I'm so very happy for American blacks. I see this incredible event as changing their lives forever with one single stroke.

[crazychester]

Originally Posted by Windswept he seems *not* to be overwhelmed by the vast array of problems facing him, but appears ready to tackle them calmly

That is his word. More than anything else, it is his calmness that gives him away as something special.

Honestly, I can still hardly believe that we have elected this man. It's amazing how a particular confluence of events has brought this about.

See it's really you guys that are hung up on the black thing. Whereas large numbers of other people's reaction to the issue is simply "Yes and?" It's funny though to hear now you've collectively done it, you're kind of having trouble believing it yourselves.

I sense that, for black men especially, their hearts are singing, they're walking taller, with a huge burden lifted from them - the burden of feeling that they would always be 'held down' by others, in the country in which they live.

Yes symbolism is far more powerful than we give it credit for. But I daresay there are black men in the US at the moment who feel like their lives have literally just begun. It's good the win was so decisive.

And now they see that many Americans really 'are' fair, open, and perfectly willing to give respect where respect is due. I'm so very happy for American blacks. I see this incredible event as changing their lives forever with one single stroke.

But here is where I think you go wrong so allow me a little rewriting:

And now I see that many Americans really 'are' fair, open, and perfectly willing to give respect where respect is due. I'm so very happy for America. I see this incredible event as changing our lives forever with one single stroke.

Besides, the way my intuition has been working with regard to political matters over the past few years, if I say the dude is a walking god, anybody who doesn't believe me is a fuckin' tool (except scates - we're not allowed to fight by order of alcimedes). Having said all that, it's worth remembering big things don't happen easily.