Tag Archive for 'Obama'

Obama – The Catch-phrase

It seems that Americans (and people in general, I believe) are very sensitive when it comes symbols and quotes of all sort. Rhetoric drives a lot of what we do, after all. It also seems that most memorable American presidents had at least one phrase in their inaugural speech that become a global symbol of what America stands for. For instance, Kennedy uttered the world famous ”Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country” in his inaugural speech, while Roosevelt cornered the equally famous “There is nothing to fear but fear itself”. I wonder what Obama’s historic catch-all phrase will be:

I have three candidates so far:

1. The world is changing and we are changing with it.

2. You will be remembered not but what you destroy, but by what you have built. (I have to pay royalties to somebody else for spotting this one)

3. In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. 

Any more ideas?

In 19 minute. Barack Obama

Sunt curioasa cum au perceput romanii discursului de investitura al lui Obama. Sunt curioasa pentru ca mi se pare ca intreaga ceremonie de azi, de la felul in care s-au prezentat fostii presedinti americani, pana la felul in care Obama si-a rostit discursul contrasteaza frapant cu felul in care am fost educati si, inevitabil, cu felul in care am ajuns sa ne structuram comportamentele. Lejeritate si totusi gravitate aproape poetica, indrazneala in a articula opinii greu de inghitit si totusi curajul de a promite o rezolvare. Caldura, curaj, logica si o atentie pentru detaliu cum rar mi-a fost dat sa vad. Triumfalism, mandrie si in general credinta furibunda ca orice este posibil. In scolile din Romania nu ne-a invatat nimeni ca cele mai importante sunt valorile si credinta, loialitatea si umanitatea. Ca daca vrem, putem. Am fost invatati sa fim seriosi si crispati, sa redam fidel comentariul, sa nu avem opinii personale prea puternice si in general sa nu jucam la mize mari.

Nu stiu exact de ce am facut legatura intre tot ceea ce inseamna America, reflectata pentru mine azi in discursului lui Barack Obama, si educatie. Si de ce am sesizat imediat o prapastie intre spiritul american si ceea ce percep eu a fi romanismul traditional.

Mi-au ramas in minte insa cateva fraze si franturi pe care nu cred ca un roman le va rosti vreodata in public:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America: They will be met.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. 

[...] the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things [...]

Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

[...] we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and nonbelievers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies.

But those values upon which our success depends — hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true.

[...] the price and the promise of citizenship [...]

Si iata-l aici pe tanarul de 27 de ani, Jon Favreau, care a scris ceea ce ati vazut mai sus. Via Madalina Ionescu.

PS: Se poate sa fiu usor subiectiva in tot ceea ce scriu despre Obama, pentru ca tocmai citesc “Dreams from my Father” si sunt marcata de fiecare secventa fantastica traita de, deocamdata copilul, Obama.

Obama Plays on Feelings

obama economist coverAs I’ve commented on several Obama-related blog entries today, it will be long before we see  a fundamental change in policy following the much acclaimed victory, but a permanent change in the political discourse has occurred, which will come to affect everybody in time – Americans and non-Americans, and yes, even Romanians.

Saying too much about all this as a Romanian living in Romania is somehow dishonest. Instead, I will dare copy-paste an email that I received today from a girl I worked with in New York, from whom I haven’t heard in two years. It’s touching, beware: Continue reading ‘Obama Plays on Feelings’

November 4th: My Birthday and Obama’s victory?

obamaI love it how Romanians realize the importance of public issues that surround them only when they are hit hard and heavy by them. There have been very few public debates, either on TV or in the blogs, about the US elections in Romania. This last week however, Hotnews (one of the most popular news portals in Romania) was packed with articles and more or less intelligent analyzes about the American elections. A very interesting debate – “The American Night” – is broadcast on TV as we speak, with influential Romanian opinion makers discussing the US elections. Before this nonetheless, few Romanian bloggers discussed this subject – a rather trivial indication of this is the absence of any category titles “elections”,”Obama” or anything similar in Zelist’s tag cloud (a Romanian version of Technorati).

I wonder whether this is because Romanians simply don’t care about international politics or because international politics doesn’t affect Romania. On a first glimpse, I’d tend to stick to the first version. However, over the last couple of months it became consistently more obvious to me that Obama’s stand on Europe will not change transatlantic relations in any way, hence won’t impact Romania. I discussed this topic a couple of months ago on Blogactiv, and later on with some American friends and we all concluded Obama won’t change in any fundamental way the current status quo. At least not as rapid as we’d like to see it changed.

In order to fundamentally change America’s position in the world, the President has to be backed by Congress, by a prosperous economy, by interest groups and, of course, by the American people (which is far from being as web 2.0 as we imagined :) . Surely, he is charismatic, surely I would vote for him, surely I’d never prefer a Republican over a Democrat, but still it takes more than one American president to change the world. Also because the world has dramatically changed:

Whoever wins the US Presidency today will be facing the ultimate challenge: steering a self-destructing Western-based economic growth model through a painful transition towards a new global sustainability. This is a task far beyond any past Apollo project. (Willy de Baecker on Blogactiv)

Overall nonetheless, Go Obama! Anxiously waiting for the victory speech…

Google ramane lovemark-ul meu

Intrigata fiind de acest post al lui Sorin Tudor – in care nu era prezentata decat punctul de vedere al adversarilor Google, am decis sa investighez daca intr-adevar Google (detinatorul platformei Blogspot) a decis sa intre in campania politica pentru alegerile prezidentiale din SUA prin blocarea blogurilor anti-Obama. Sorin preluase stirea de la un ditamai postul acuzator la adresa Google. L-am intrebat intai pe Vivi ce imi poate spune despre asta. Perfect profesional, Vivi mi-a indicat cui sa ma adresez, anume press@google.com. Am primi un raspuns perfect satisfacator in nici 20 de minute de la lansarea intrebarii: Continue reading ‘Google ramane lovemark-ul meu’

It’s final! Obama’s running for Presidency

It seems Blackberries all over the US are buzzing with the rumour. I was anxious this morning, but now it’s sure. NYTimes says superdelegates from South Dakota and Montana endorsed Obama, while ordinary delegates were still casting ballots. CNN – who was saying just a couple of hours ago that Hillary’s not giving up – is now saying the Hillary accepted to be Obama’s vicepresident :) In the meantime, MyDD claims it’s still not official…

Come on Hotnews… don’t disappoint me. You’re supposedly at the forefront of Romanian media… and nothing yet about Obama’s nomination…

Obama si Natiunile Unite

ObamaVa voi povesti in curand despre teza mea de licenta. In ultime vreme am citit anormal de mult despre subiectul respectiv, de la carti de filosofia dreptului, drept international, constitutionalism, relatii internationale, pana la autori de tip Kant si Burke (ca sa fac o mica aroganta intelectuala in debutul lucrarii, fireste). Pe scurt insa, teza mea spune ca Adunarea Generala a Natiunilor Unite ar trebui sa fie o busola mondiala a politicului si o arena unde tumultul politic sa se resimta cel mai bine. Continue reading ‘Obama si Natiunile Unite’