Guest 651- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 5,673
20 January 2009
18:5113328Am I the only one wondering what the fuss is all about ??
Been nice knowing you :)
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
20 January 2009
19:0613330Me too.....
OK, he is the first black American President and that is a significant achievement, but things really are over the top.
20 January 2009
19:1113331It does matter, even if it is deeply irritating! It is taking up much too much newsprint and airtime over here, but it really does matter, and annoying though it is, we need to pay attention!!!
Guest 644- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 1,214
20 January 2009
19:1913336The question is given the global recession, can he make any difference? It seems the hopes and expectations heaped upon him to deliver are so ridiculously high that he can but fail. Still, good luck to him, at least the world is finally free of that idiot predecessor of his.
I hope the blanket reporting fades quickly though, though knowing both the BBC and ITV the endless reporting without substance and reactionary speculation will still dominate the news for days to come.
Guest 667- Registered: 6 Apr 2008
- Posts: 919
20 January 2009
20:1413338Well all I can say is that I wish we could find a politician with his enthusiasm, that could unite the Country the way he appears to have pulled the vast majority of the States together.
The USA needs to get its act together and with Bush now gone, just maybe they will and what happens over there nearly always has a knock on effect here.
I watched the lot, I was not bored at all and I thought yep, he may well just be the man to do it. Only time will tell.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
20 January 2009
21:4613356good luck to the chap, i still have doubts over the validity of his election though.
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
21 January 2009
08:0613373It was a staggering turnout yesterday..2 million people in Washington and 2 billion people on television. Once again the BBC went mad with saturation coverage but okay maybe we can forgive them this time as it was one heck of a big occasion.
The real problem for Obama is that he has been unhappily elevated to something of a Messiah, a Christlike figure, a miracle worker and all these people in Washington were as his disciples. The expectancy is way too high and can only lead to disappointment in the end, as no one man can pull off the miracles people are expecting.
Now that he is in the White House with his feet under the desk it must be a daunting prospect that so many are expecting so much.
Despite the hullabaloo of hope in Washington yesterday, a few hundred miles away on Wall St, shares fell heavily.
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
21 January 2009
08:3613381Yes Paul - there is a big problem is raised expectation. Everyone in business knows it is important to manage expectation, not to raise it to a level at which disappointment and disillusion becomes inevitable. It is the same for politicians and that is Obama's big problem this adulation can turn against him later.
Guest 674- Registered: 25 Jun 2008
- Posts: 3,391
21 January 2009
08:5113383I think whats more of a worry is peoples views on politicians in general, famly i was with when all this was going on, culdn't understand all the fuss, couldnt understnd why Bush whisked away in a helicopter.
Whilst appreciating the new USA under this guy, this family is a very down to earth, well how will he help.
Certainly they have had dealings with politicians locally/nationally over issues that have come into there lives, but they certainly are your very avarage family., fighting for survival, and cannot see any politician thats going to help them.
It as interesting to listen to them
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
21 January 2009
10:3713392Keef many many families across the US have felt disenfranchised by politics and politicians but this new refreshing leader has given them new hope in a system that often leaves them behind. There is renewed interest right across the poorer voters that this new man can deliver. But alas it is rather Messiah like expectancy as we said earlier.
Many voters here in the UK do feel left out of the system too. Turnouts in general elections go down everytime...and it is extraordinary when you see on TV, even with celebs on shows like Big Brother, they hardly know who Gordon Brown is some of them, and some..shock horror... dont know who he is at all. So a whole wodge of life exists where people no nothing of politics whatsoever, dont know who's in charge and dont care. This wodge is growing.
In America they may have reversed this...at least for the moment.
Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
21 January 2009
11:2213396it might have been more intresting if it was a native american [indian to you and me] becoming the president.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
21 January 2009
23:4413427no chance brian, that sitting bull bloke had great pr, but no real substance.
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
22 January 2009
08:2513436One of the great motivations in bringing President Obama to office was the huge unequal distribution of wealth in the USA. Some people have huge amounts of dosh and millions of others have little or nothing. There was such a thin line of money keeping people in their homes right across the US last year so that when Johnny in Arkansas couldnt pay his mortgage the ripple effect was staggering.They went down everywhere like a pack of cards.
And so it is with healthcare over there. I saw a report on this on BBC News 24. Something like 27 million have no healthcare whatsoever in the USA. The american system runs on insurance, very high insurance, so if you cannot afford the insurance you are outside the system...leaving you with no healthcare.
Unbelievable in this day and age.
Obama has pledged to fix this problem. Among many other problems of course. But this is why his message resonates with so many working class people. He has identified the difficulties at the lower end of the social scale and has pledged to fix them. Let's hope he can. Lets be clear, horrifying to mention it in the 21st century I know but that is basically a communist principle.
Reading the above you can see why our NHS is such a blazing success story. It has its flaws but even with flaws its a masterpiece of socialism.
Guest 674- Registered: 25 Jun 2008
- Posts: 3,391
22 January 2009
08:2613437Yes fink American politics far more hyped up
UK its very dull, used to be characters at national local level
seem to have disappeared
politicians need to re engage
or turnout will get lower and lower
Guest 677- Registered: 8 Jul 2008
- Posts: 150
23 January 2009
23:0613683One of the things I found facinating was that this was the first Presidential election in about 4 terms where there was no rumours of vote fixing or foul play, don't you find that interesting.
I agree that there was too much hype, raising expectations to a height that no human could possibly hope to meet but if Obama achieves only half of what he's promised he'll being doing considerably better than those who came before him. And a sad fact of life is that, just lately, where America leads, Britain follows.
It's not the man in my life, its the life in my man!!
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
23 January 2009
23:2813691did make a nice change to have no accusations and the oven chip bloke was very gracious in defeat too.
my prediction is that BO will concentrate on domestic matters and ignore, as much as possible, the world stage.
the US is still a very backward society with no healthcare for the poor, no go areas, useless public transport, the list goes on.
certainly would not want his job.