Part of me is very excited about the election of Barrack Obama as the 44th President of the United States. That part (it's actually quite a large part really), is idealistic, enthusiastic about the human project, happy to be swept up and carried along by noble-minded, high sounding rhetoric and energized by the call to action on behalf of the future.
The other part, that small, intellectualised compartment that comprises experience and considered opinion, whispers that the resultant actions will never match the words, no matter how hard the effort. That's not always the case, but often.
Obama has a mountain of goodwill, majorities in both houses in Congress and an obvious ability to motivate. Those are huge plusses. I believe him to be sincere also. The other mountains, those requiring the slow climbing, the hardest effort, the worst obstacles, are hoving into view. Global Warming, economic crisis, nuclear proliferation, two difficult to resolve wars, are just the front runners.
It's in all our interests that the new adminintration seriously takes on these challenges. Yes, it is about our children and grandchildren. Yes, it's probably about human survival. Yes, it's certainly worth it.
So good luck to President Obama and his team. I know that I'd prefer to see a gentle dawn, rather than 'the shining daffodil dead/and Orion low in his grave.'
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