I was so nervous, I couldn’t sleep last night. Around 4:30 I woke up with the fear that the world, not America (because let’s face it, America doesn’t stick to it’s borders) would have to be subjected to another 4 years of the same shit we’ve all been eating for the past 8 years. After all the American people got it wrong not once but twice, I didn’t have any faith.

And can you blame me? From where I’m sitting those thoughts were completely justified. For the past 8 years it’s been a nation lead by the most moronic, idiotic, stupid, crass, juvenile, uneducated, uncouth, inexplicable, blundering, embarrassing, war-loving, money-grabbing, greedy, son of a bitch this world has ever seen as an elected president. The first time he cheated to get in. The second time he didn’t.

I have yet to meet an American I’ve disliked; the problem being of course that for the past 8 years Bush and his policies have been what America and by association Americans have been judged by. He is after all your biggest ambassador. It’s as if Bush’s mandate was to fuck up the world as good as he can before he left and he’s succeeded in that respect. Please let the door hit you on your way out.

(image lifted from the very talented Patrick Moberg)

I’m writing these words to reflect on how I saw things now in four years time after Obama’s first term in office. Why am I pleasantly excited by Obama? Because he is the complete and exact opposite of everything that George W. Bush is and has stood for. Obama has two brain cells to rub together and then some. The man is clearly a charismatic speaker, however what impresses me about his speeches (and to be fair maybe other presidents before him have done this, I wouldn’t know because I’ve never had the patience nor the inclination to listen to them, ever, because the amount of rubbish that was spewed was far too much for my delicate stomach, but back to my point) is the fact that he speaks to the people with examples. He remembers their names (and there are always several of them in any of his speeches) and the details surrounding their story. It’s a deliberate trick of course, but the fact of the matter is that most politicians can’t pull it off because of their history, because of their age, because of their insincerity. That is why I am most excited at the moment.

So with that, I’ll leave you with two excellent examples of his public speaking. The first was from his address to the democratic party 4 years ago. The second is his victory speech from last night, which has many similarities, but there is a calmness in the second one and a realisation of the hard road ahead of him.