Inauguration thoughts

Its really difficult to derive complete thoughts or sentences about watching the inauguration of the 44th president. But I can begin with a bit of background.

Germans, for the most part, love Obama. In fact, most people outside the US adore Obama. But there is something to note about their love of Obama....they know who Obama is and much about the country that elected him. How many US citizens can say they know the Chancellor of Germany (hint, infamous backrub moment with #43)? How many people know the prime minister of England, which is supposedly our biggest trade partner and ally in the war on terror? Even more so, how many people can name people in Chinese leadership? (Especially important considering that China holds the loans for over 500 billion dollars in US debt) On the other hand, there are few pople in the world that can not name the 43rd and 44th presidents of the US. What is even more telling is that German citizens can often provide more information on US politics (including VP Joe Biden's home state) than German politics. In fact, most countries all over the world could debate the strength and weaknesses of the two main (and some minor) parties. The cititens knew enough to actually prefer one candidate over another. There are not many people outside of Germany that can give an opinion of the Social Democratic Party versus the Christian Democratic Union. One thing the 2008 election confirmed is that the United States of America is incredibly relevant for global politics.

But the global impact of Obama's election and inauguration have been discussed in many articles and many blogs by people much more qualified than me. (just google global reaction to Obama to find a few). I want to focus on thoughts that are unique to my situation.

Just like many expats, and quite a few Americans, I watched the inauguration proceedings online. I logged on to the cnn/facebook partnership around 1pm German time which was 6am EST so I beat the internet traffic jam that others experienced later. My initial reaction was one of annoyance. The commentators at CNN (and I believe all US stations) kept talking about the peaceful change of power that can only take place in the US. So the election of new parties in nearly every Western European nation doesn't count? Great Britain recently elected the first Scottish Prime Minister, switching the center of British power from London to the Scotts (remember Braveheart?). Nobody died in the transition. The inauguration coverage reminded me about all the reasons why Western Europeans consider Americans to be so self-centered. However, I realized that inauguration day was special so I pushed my annoyance to the side to focus on the exciting day.

I logged into the cnn/facebook interface in hopes of connecting with friends and colleagues back in the states who would share comments as the action took place. Sadly, very few of my friends could log in, so I basically had to watch the proceedings alone. Since I was at work, I had to keep up appearances, so I wrote job scripts while listening to Obama's speech. Thus I did not cry or even tear up during the speech. Keeping with the annoyance theme, I actually grew angry at Obama for making such grandiose claims about the specialness of the US. However, after the speech concluded, it hit me, Obama is really my president. I no longer have to listen to 30 minute diatribes about how President Bush's policies have ruined the world. Although I was never afraid to say, 'Ich bin Amerikanerin', I no longer have to wait for the inevietable statement, 'Your president is an idiot.' (heard many times in my travels). I finally have a president that not only understands global culture, he experiences it through his own family (See Obama's family tree). Someone who realizes that our decisions impact not only Joe the Plumber in Ohio, but Soli the seamstress in Indonesia and Chie the Car parts factory worker in China. America's role is no longer just to provide prudent leadership to American citizens, but to global citizens, because the globe impacts America as well.

Because I was unable to celebrate with friends in the US, I decided to throw a spontaneous celebration with my housemates. After a quick run to the supermarket, I returned with 4 bottles of wine and several types of cheeses and set up a spread in the shared kitchen. I grabbed the arms of every person who entered and said 'Ich habe einen neuen Präsident!' Most people smiled and moved on, but about 7 people sat down and partook of my meager feast. Between these 7 people, 7 nationalities were represented. Every one wanted to talk about the new president (see, the US is relevant!) and provided several interesting comments. The conversation lasted for 3 hours and took place in German, English, and French while we watched parade coverage in German.

The conversation that stuck most in my mind focused on the party atmosphere for the US election. One person said, 'The US is the only country where the inauguratioin of a democratic transfer of power resembles that of a dictatorship.' I stopped cold in my tracks. 'Is this guy comparing the US to North Korea?' I thought. It turns out he was not. Part of his comment meant that he was a little jealous that German people and the world would never express that much excitement of the election of a new Chancellor. I responded that I was grateful to be a citizen of a country that captivates the rest of the world. In makes it harder to become homesick and means that I will always be able to converse with people about I feel passionate about (my home country). The rest of his comment dealt with the faith that Americans put into their democratically elected leaders, which provided a very interesting criticism. In his perspective, Americans spend more time electing leaders than actually following what the leaders do. Thus, we place all the responsibility on our elected leaders and none of the responsibility on ourselves.

The US is a democracy, meaning that we have the right to elect our leaders, but we also have the responsibility to lead ourselves. By placing a large amount of trust and all the responsibilty into our leaders, we become people under a democratic dictatorship. Thus, when I went back to watch Obama's inauguration speech two days later, I started to cry. Obama's speech discussed how our leaders have sometimes failed us, but emphasized that its time for individuals to take responsibilty for their actions. We need to 'Pick OURSELVES up, dust OURSELVES up, and begin again the work of renewing America'.

Obama's speech inspired me to go from a self-absorbed student trying desperately to experience an American inaugurationto celebrating a party with people from all over the world. Although I may not agree with everything Obama does, I am overjoyed to have a president who speeches inspire me to become a better American, even a continent away.