Senator Barack Hussein Obama's victory is historic, even though recent US history had hinted (rise of Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice) that an African-American could become the president of what George W. Bush calls the 'greatest' nation on earth in spite of the fact that, until the 1960s, this great nation practiced slavery.
Yet, Americans deserve accolades for Obama's victory, and that too with a record majority. But this majority raises some odd questions: why Obama, and why now. The size of the majority reflects more than a measure of his popularity; it is the number hurt by the system and now looking to Obama for redressing their grievances. That's the tough part - it's a crown all right, but of thorns.
Perhaps, the reason for Obama's success is, that the mess created by George W. Bush and his cronies may have weakened Americans' belief in white superiority in economic management as well as sustaining an imperialistic US posture. Under the circumstances, a black with a controversial (by US standards) background in the White House could feel more obliged to pursue these goals vigorously.
Newt Gingrich thinks that Americans "don't elect presidents who tell them to make sacrifices; they elect presidents who solve their problems so that they don't have to make sacrifices". This setting will test Obama to the hilt, and the Bush legacy - a war torn and bankrupt America - may finally force him to opt for unpopular solutions because re-moulding American desires won't be easy.
Could a black president convince the Americans to change their ways? Could he tell them to start living within their means? Could he ask them to give up their extravagant life-styles and begin saving to repay America's enormous external debt, as well as to support their lives after retirement? Could a black president do that, and will his advice not be misunderstood as a mark of incompetence?
The white presidents before him didn't ask Americans to make such sacrifices. That's why, he had to begin this tough task by promising a 'stimulus' package of tax cuts that will alleviate the sufferings of '95 percent' Americans. With the current fiscal deficit bound to overshoot the projected $425 billion by a whooping $575 billion, where will he find the money to fill the gap that will be created by his stimulus?
With the economy in a prolonged tailspin, the hitherto un-ending flow of funds from central banks across the world (that the US got used to surviving on) will slacken. The only option left will be to tax big businesses even more - the bunch that funded Obama's record election campaign fund hoping that he will be soft on them ie neither catch the perpetrators of the Wall Street crash, nor tax big businesses.
A Democratic majority in both houses of the parliament will also displease the big wigs in the Defence Department, Pentagon, CIA and the FBI; such majorities make presidents too powerful for the bureaucrats used to 'mending' the ways of presidents to suit their own ends. Remember the difficulties faced by President Truman and the sad end of President Kennedy?
Apparently, Obama is conscious of this reality. That's why he has indicated that he won't upset the applecart by changing the heads of these agencies, at least now. He hasn't realised that, in its present form, CIA could make him believe in, and order a 'robust' response based on dumb intelligence reports like "Osama was seen shopping at a post office on a US military base in Asia".
In spite of the hopes so vocally reposed in him by people across the globe for undoing what George W. Bush and his neo-cons did, Obama opted to appoint Rahm Israel Emanuel as the White House chief of staff. Many Americans think that being the son of the founder of 'Irgun' (an Israeli terror outfit) doesn't discredit Emanuel but his track record in US politics certainly does.
Next, Obama picked up Sonal Shah - a highly controversial Indian - as an advisor although there were scores of highly respected Indians that he could choose from. Shah has close links to Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) whose Bajrnag Dal is thought to have carried out the massacre of thousands of Muslims in Gujrat's riots. Yet, the backgrounds of Emanuel and Shah don't bother Obama. Not good news.
It conveys the message that his deceptively convincing rhetoric about re-inventing statecraft to respond to emerging global realities was only a vote-getting gimmick. Given his racial and family 'handicaps', he may eventually (even if unwillingly) surrender to the neo-cons and the Zionists in the US administration. This shatters many of the dreams about a changed profile of US inter-action with the world.
It could prove a blunder because he could decimate the unique advantage he has being the first black US president. He can demand a lot in terms of ethical conduct by bureaucrats because his failure as president could (finally) convince even the Americans of the biases and self-serving practices of US bureaucracy - a development with lasting consequences for the US. But Obama has opted to cave in.
The Joe Biden forecast about Obama's foreign policy being tested within six months of his taking over isn't without a basis. Nor is Obama's promise to Bush-like Americans (in the neo-con style) that he won't 'allow' other countries (Iran) to do what the US doesn't 'approve' of. Could he be driven by the Zionists to do what even Bush refused - attack Iran - although it would be the blunder of the century?
Obama's magic will wither away if he is seen giving in to those who prescribe a continued imperialist posture for America. He must strive to project the image of the US as the state that means business not on its but on fair terms. America's real crisis is not financial; it is of confidence in America's belief in equity and justice - values undermined by the Zionist in the ranks of its bureaucracy.
To succeed, Obama must shun the Bush-invented hate-inspiring clichés if he wants the world to again befriend the US and allow it to benefit from global wealth, which the US badly needs for clearing the mess left behind by George W. Bush; people around the world don't hate the US as much as they hate him.
Obama can re-build confidence in the US as a global friend (which it was during and soon after WW-II) to pull the US out of its current financial crisis. Nations need to invest their wealth in a strong economy with dependable practices for investing that wealth in economic value creation (not fighting wars); the US can regain their confidence if only it can undo its warrior image. The 'crown of thorns' may, after all, become a crown bedecked with glittering economic and diplomatic successes.
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