Obama

So Obama is the new President. Good.

Two comments on that topic:

-Obama's arrival is necessarily good news for the planet as it means change from George Bush. Will he be a transformational president? We'll have to wait and see. He's definitely smart, well educated, and aware that the world is larger than Texas, so there's reason to be optimistic.
His first task will be to downplay expectations because there are millions of people expecting a miracle just as the economic meltdown is about to hit full steam. He should be fine in the long term, because the crisis will eventually be resolved, but the next few months mightn't be pretty.

-Is it just me, or did Canadians invest more emotional energy into the American election than into our own. For the past few days, my school has been filled with talk about Obama the Great and all of the wonderful things he represents. Many students stayed up all night with their parents to watch the coverage of his election victory and the Haitian-born students are still over the moon with excitement that finally, America has a black President.

I can only base myself on what I saw at my school, but the Canadian election didn't generate nearly as much interest or emotion. Certainly, no one at school stayed up all night to watch it. It's fashionable to bash the U.S. and to gleefully discuss its downfall, but if there's one thing that this election confirmed, it's that the America is still the country that makes us dream.