Lincoln's smile

[skyring]

Presidential Portrait,
originally uploaded by skyring.

Paul, my day driver, brought the cab home before three, and I began work almost immediately with a call from Ken Haley the famous wheelchair author, to come pick him up from the Press Club, where he had been watching the election count with the aid of Krug and the US Embassy.

Found him chatting to the Swiss ambassador, G'day, I said, and he smiled back.

I helped Ken into the car, dismantled his wheelchair, and we set off, to the sound of McCain's concession speech. I thought he was very gracious in defeat. I can't say that I've been paying much attention to what they have to say, but over the past few days, McCain was sounding very much like a loser, and this really just underlined the campaign.

But a good speech, nonetheless.

I dropped Ken off at The Canberra Times and he hurried inside to hear Obama's speech. You ever see a wheelchairman go through a revolving door? Ken did it with style and grace.

Which doesn't come close to summing up Obama's victory speech. Man, if he can govern the way he can orate, the USA is in for some good times!

It was electrifying. Even the parts that were pretty much mandatory were great. Thanks to my running mate, my wife etc.... That puppy's going to go down in history.

History was woven into the speech. You could almost see Lincoln looking on with an approving eye, the triumph of democracy manifest after two centuries of struggle and division, an example to the world.

I had a call to Parliament House, and my passenger was a little late. I sat outside and listened to the final minutes of the speech, and when it was over, my man came hurrying up. He'd been inside listening. Palaces and Parliaments.

We talked about Obama and his speech. "Everything changes, and everything stays the same," he said.

I thought about this. Really, all the USA has done is elect a young, articulate, charismatic President. Shades of John Kennedy. His racial background is as unimportant as Kennedy's Catholicism. The promise has long been that any American could be elected President, and the theory is proven to be reality. Big deal.

But I cannot help but think, what an inspiration! What a splendid example to set. How many young people, wondering at the unfairness and inequality of the world must now be rubbing out a part of the old way of seeing things? How many girls are dreaming of glories to come? And come they will.

Bless you, America. May fortune smile and may the present difficulties melt away. And may other nations, other cultures, other dreams take heart.

And may my American friends sleep well, dream of glories to come, and wake full of spirit and hope.

For me, I'm going to make sure that I have an hour of leisure to watch his inauguration in January. There will be a speech for the ages, something to remember.

After that, the rest of the day was an anticlimax. On the airport rank, two other cabbies discussed Obama's win. They were conscious of history being made.

The passengers talked of their affairs, of weather and travel and local politics. And I dreamed of my brief moments in the USA. Chicago, where Obama made his speech. Harlem in New York, where every face must be smiling today. And Washington DC, where the future face of the presidency in the National Portrait Gallery will surely be reflecting happy, hopeful, thoughtful and thankful Americans.

Comments

[skyring.livejournal.com]

Yeah, colour shouldn't matter. In theory, it doesn't. But you look around America, obviously it does. I don't think Obama's got a magic wand, but the mere fact that he was nominated and elected shows that times are changing and maybe the reality will one day match the theory in a happy world where blacks and whites will join together in unity to keep the Hispanics in their place.