2008 Letter from Australia
posted by on November 3 at 19:08 PM
Alas, I am not an American citizen. If I were, I’d be able to cast an absentee ballot from my home in Brisbane, Australia and vote for Barack Obama.Like every other country in the world (including, I’m delighted to say, the USA), Australia is overwhelmingly behind Obama.
Why do we care so much? Why have I followed every sling and arrow of Barack’s outrageous fortune over the last 2 years with excitement and hope? Why have I invested more time and emotional energy in your election than in my own? Because your President affects our lives more profoundly than anyone living in the USA can imagine.
I ask you to imagine for a minute, leaving domestic issues aside for a minute, what a different place the world might be today if Al Gore had won in 2000. How many of those who have died in the last 8 years might still be alive today? How might the plight of the world’s poorest and underprivileged have been improved? How many voices, silenced or overborne by Bush’s foreign policy priorities, might have been heard? How might the middle east look now? Iraq? How might democratic progress in Iran have played out if Bush’s aggressive policies not scared the voting population into electing Ahmadinejad? How fearful might we be today about Al Qaeda and the threat of terrorism? How might the pace of climate change in the world have been slowed?
Thank you America for voting for Obama. The world is going to change tomorrow. And I for one can’t wait…
Keep on sending these.
Eli et al ...
is it surprising to you to see the international breadth of SLOG readers?
I think it is quite cool to see all these messages coming from afar.
Equally I enjoy seeing the Stranger listed amongst the Seattle Times and Seattle PI in candidate endorsement ads on TV.
Dear Australian:
I don't tell you who to vote for. Fuck you for being so patronizing.
@2 was harsh, but I will say, the "I ask you to imagine" part was a little patronizing. 50% of us have been imagining those things for the last 8 years. I assure you, we are as depressed about the impact of of Bush's presidency as you are.
And to pile on... the Hamlet reference is weak. In fact it's probably more appropriate for Bush than Obama.
In the streets, after the election:
Dancing, or rioting?
Stay tuned...
@2 - right, especially the part where the Australians gave John Howard 11 years in power.
About 50 million people voted for Gore and Kerry in 2000 and 2004; that's a population of progressives greater than the entire populations of most countries. Including Australia.
Of course, I would remind our Australian friend that Gore DID win the popular vote in 2000, and I sincerely believe that Kerry actually did win in 2004, it's just that the Supreme Court installed W. instead.
Better than writing sappy letters to Americans on how to vote, non-Americans should stop traveling to Blue States and and spend more time in Red States when they visit this country. Strike up a conversation with a Texas ranch hand or with a Kentucky Derby horse owner or with an Biloxi resort guest about how health care works in your country, about how strict environmental standards help the economy, and the positive role religion plays in everyday life in your home country. We can't readily ship Red Staters on exchange programs overseas to get a dose of reality, so it's up to you to learn these Red Staters a thing or two. That's my idea, anyway.
Yo Simac, I like your style. Word.
Two friends of mine in the swing state of Virginia are voting for the old man. Go PUMA and go Hillary in 2012 !!!
Hi everyone, I'm the Australian poster.
I must have expressed myself badly. I wasn't intending to admonish "America" for electing Bush. My "imagine" flourish wasn't intended to be patronising. It was a (I assumed) shared lament, and a counterpoint to the expression of hope that followed it.
I was sharing my perspective on this election, and this candidate, because I'm excited about the future and I believe that Obama is not only the President that America needs right now, he's the American President the world needs right now.
To those who want to ring fence the USA and tell me to mind my own business, to those who don't care what anyone outside the USA thinks about the outcome of your election (eg.@2), I'm going to disappoint you by continuing to care, support, encourage and engage. It's what friends do.
Chopper Read here, telling you to harden the f*#k up.
Dear Aussie Steve,
Thanks for your support and encouragement!! We tried really hard in both 2000 and 2004, and nearly made it. Does anyone remember the "Sorry, World!" photos that blanketed the internet? In any case, Obama's reception in Berlin and elsewhere has a bunch of the non-curmudgeonly among us inspired and hopeful that we can reach out to the rest of the world as allies once again, rather than the arrogant war-mongering bastards that Bush et al have made us out to be. See y'all tomorrow; if you need me I'll be dancing in the streets at about 11 pm.
@11, fine, continue to "care, support, encourage, and engage." (I think I just threw up in my mouth reading that.) Until you can vote in an American election, I don't give a flying crap what you think of our leaders, regardless of party.