Barack Obama By Lee Cassanell

Civilisations rise and fall. People live and people die but sometimes we are lucky enough to bear witness to moments of great historical significance, moments of pure hope and optimism for a better world and a better tomorrow. The election of Senator Barack Obama has renewed my belief in the American public and the American ideal. It has renewed my belief that no matter who you are or were you come from, if you work and you fight and you strive for a dream you can make that dream a reality. I remember a time when I was a cast iron optimist.

A time when I looked across the Atlantic to the country on the other side and I was awe struck and dazzled by the land of opportunity, the classless society and the glowing pride of the American people.

As a child growing up in the 80's America was my promised land. I wanted to live in New York and be a high flying civil rights lawyer. I wanted to stroll through the streets I'd seen in Hollywood films, drink a beer in a bar full of strangers and then amble home past a deli serving fresh bread and coffee at four in the morning. Once upon a time that all seemed possible and once upon a time that was the only thing I ever wanted but as I got older and became educated and interested in history and politics, my passion for that goal faltered, dwindled and eventually died.

America became the land of illusions, a land of corruption, of gun crime, of inequality and shadowy elitist control. My dream was still achievable, I could still claw my way to the top but at what price to my soul? Who and how many would I have to step on in order to achieve my ambitions, whose wheels would I have to grease in order to get what I wanted?

I lost faith, I lost hope and my dreams changed. Slowly but surely through the first Iraq war, the false dawn of Bill Clinton, the Bush win, 9/11 , the rigged elections and the continuing battle in the middle east I became anti American. I saw America as the personification of everything that was wrong with the world and I wrote and I ranted and I embarked on my own little burning crusade against the culture that dominated the planet through fear, religious zeal and the promotion of greed. That crusade ended last night with the election of Obama. The slate has been wiped clean, my optimism has returned and once again I can look to America with sparkly eyes and a sense of wonder.

It might all go to shit of course. It might be a false dawn and a freak accident but I don't care about the if's the buts and the maybe's today. I'm not interested in satire, spin and negativity.

Still there is one thing that I will say in the midst of all this excitement. Where the fuck is England's Barack Obama? Where is the party, the candidate and the principles that will lead this country into the future? Are we seriously going to let this wave of change and optimism pass us by and elect one of the same old red and blues into office come the next election or are we going to make our own mark in history by giving new ideas and beliefs a chance ?

The Labour party has been tarnished by the corruption and illusions of Tony Blair. The man we all thought would change this country for the better but who instead lied, cheated and betrayed those who elected him in 1997 and beyond - and Brown is paying the consequences, as he should being one of the major players in the New Labour false dawn. As for David Cameron, he's a ridiculous and archaic throwback. An upper class fool with delusions of grandeur and if he becomes the next prime minister then we should all be thoroughly ashamed of ourselves. We will be the idiots of history who stood and admired a political revolution overseas and turned our back on it.

I hope that this is the day that will inspire British people for generations to come, a day when not just America changed, but the whole world changed. I hope a day will come when I can write in support of the system rather than against it. I hope that when I cast my ballot for the next general election I will be voting for a party with ideals I believe in. I hope that in the moment the breath finally leaves my body I can die knowing that the good fight was fought and won, that the bad guys lost and all is peaceful on the prairie for now and for all time. I hope....

thisisUll.com Featured Writer Lee Cassanell
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