Better times ahead I hope

This week saw the historic inauguration (both of them as it happened), of President Obama, which is a step forward perhaps the world has needed. I have to say that I saw Mr Obama’s inauguration on Tuesday, and I was impressed and somewhat relieved by the message which preached, tolerance, responsibility and hope.

The feeling is that America is now redeemed somewhat in the eyes of the world now that warmongering joke that was the George W Bush era is consigned to history. There is certainly a lot to be done to fix America’s position in the world and I have no doubts that this week is only the beginning of a long process of change, but it makes you feel good to know that an intelligent and tolerant leader is now at the helm of one of the most powerful countries in the world.

This week also saw what I thought was a rather dubious democratic decision. That is the public vote which awarded Ulrika Johnsson the victory of this year’s celebrity big brother. I suppose I didn’t really watch it but I still don’t understand why we would congratulate a rather unsympathetic (try as she might to be seen as sympathetic with her high profile train-wreck of a life) character such as her but then the world doesn’t always make sense does it. Maybe Ulrika really does have a sympathetic side that I didn’t see but personally I was rooting for Terry Christian to win, as he seemed like the most genuine character in the house. Then again considering I didn’t watch the show who am I to comment.

Still whilst democracy isn’t perfect, and is highly reflective of the attitudes and prejudices of a population, with Obama in charge of the USA let’s hope that things will run more smoothly in the world once again. Who knows we could even be seeing the dawn of a new more enlightened era. We can only hope.

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