Aah Jon Stewart. Sometimes you need a little heavy-handed humour. i know the whole experience has been very Team America: World Police; and what we’re looking at is a political assassination of the craziest kind. Killing an unarmed alleged mass murderer in his pyjamas etc. Not to mention the singing and dancing in the street. But ..How About the Bush People trying to take credit for killing Bin Laden?! No wait, it was Reagan who got him. If you need some laughter on the topic, watch this video.

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“i do know what it’s like to grow up feeling like you don’t belong.”

okay, Barack’s popularity might be rapidly declining with people living in the USA (due to the heinous media campaign against him), but i’ve got to say he is becoming one of my all time heroes. Who gets hold of the US presidency and makes a video like this, for gay and lesbian kids still at school?

Go Obama.

Watch and enjoy.

via YouTube – President Obama: It Gets Better.

Boxing Day (PS): i’ve just found one of the sequels, where White House staff add to this message with their own stories. It’s so good to see this kind of message coming out of the US government. They have a whole part of the wh.gov website geared toward the campaign. wh.gov/itgetsbetter Which is part of the larger campaign at itgetsbetter.org

PS: i know many people are probably angry with Obama’s administration for fighting to prevent a Judge making the decision to get rid of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” military position.. even though they’ve said they want to get rid of it.

Sigh. Seems bizarre. They say they want the change, but when a judge gives it to them, they go, “ah no wait til we’re ready”.

Postscript, December’10: well Obama was good for it. The military, congress and the senate all worked together to repeal the DADT regime. Good news.

i wonder if this Bill Hicks video is offensive. Probably i shouldn’t post it without listening first, but my speakers aren’t working, so here goes.

Oh yeah, there’s a severe language warning on this one. NSFW!! And it’s likely to offend supporters of military personnel. Thank you Bill.

Just finished reading Barack Obama’s “Dreams from my Father” – it’s a good read – flowing narrative that draws you in, with insightful and nuanced reflection. The book is about his journey to discover and forge his own identity, and also about his thoughts on race politics. He writes about growing up with the identity struggles that come with mixed cultural background, working as a community organiser in Chicago, and returning to Africa to meet his father’s side of the family.

i was surprised how emotional i became when reading about Obama in the latest edition of Time mag. Emotions that kept returning as i read the book. Could there really be an authentic person in politics? Someone with intelligence, decency, style and the competence to govern .. who believes in assembling the best minds and working together to solve problems?

That sense of hope that he generates was sorely needed in the world, especially when looking to the USA to return to its noble visions of highest and best potential.

For me it’s not so much about the colour of his skin .. as the fact that we are about to have a Community Organiser in the White House. Not only a person who works at grass roots level, but someone who understands that to solve big problems, we need to find common ground and work together.

(i say “we” .. meaning that .. that the whole world depends on that one country to be their best. Unlike the fearful and aggressive, unreconstructed alcoholic version of the US we’ve had recently.)

In my view Barack is a good person, who believes in getting things done .. and does things differently. My hope is that he will move politics back into a place of decency and competency, genuine problem solving and that he will inspire others to join the world of community organisers.

He is a good person .. i wonder if he will turn out to be a great person.

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i just remembered watching the acceptance speeches at Ben and Rhi’s house, projected huge upon the wall.
Just as sweet as the day kevin007 took the throne of Oz.

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Links:

• Article in Newsweek about the book.
• Book on Amazon.

photo credit: Hot Meteor