The Name game

Pope and President. The most powerful christian leader and the new leader of the free world share something. Their name.
Barack is an Arabic name meaning blessed, it comes from the same root as the Hebrew name Baruch, the latin version of Baruch is Benedict.
In the Mutsu region of Japan there is an Obama Castle, left over from the feudal era. It later served as a base for Catholicism during the two hundred years Westerners were prohibited from entering Japan. Catholicism thrived there in isolation.
Perhaps this is why 54% of American Catholics voted for Obama.

President Palin?

The talk is that Sarah Palin the VP candidate on the McCain ticket is hoping to run for the Republican nomination in 2012. She has a few obstacles. Most Republicans think she lost them the election, the party is investigating the hundreds of thousands of dollars she spent on outfits and luggage and when she speaks she reminds me of when Jamie Lee Curtis played a teenage mall rat trapped in the body of her middle aged mother in Disney's 'Freaky Friday'. Of course in two years time a certain Austrian will stand for the senate and almost certainly try and pass a law to allow himself to serve as president (as the law stands now Arnold can stand and be elected but cannot serve as president). Put bluntly I don't think Sarah Palin will get to be President of the USA.

But how about EU President Palin, not Sarah but Michael. The EU needs an elected president and the post is to be created in the next few years. The front runners at the moment are Angela Merkel and Tony Blair. The former may well still be in power in Germany and the latter has repeatedly ruled himself out. Michael Palin is perfect for the job, he is well educated, understands history and of course is extremely well travelled and both open to and non judgmental of other cultures. Most people who assume high office get embarrassed by silly things they did in their youth, with Palin we all know he did lots of silly things in his youth, he got paid handsomely for it. Anyone who has read Plain's diaries will know that in the late 70's he had a grasp of British politics and the Northern Ireland situation which far outstripped that of the majority of Parliamentarians of the time. It all adds up Michael Palin is perfect for the role. He's make a much better President than Sarah and that is for dammed sure!

November 5th 2008

At 6 am as it does every morning my radio alarm switched on. It is tuned to BBC Radio Four and these days is a DAB model, which gives me crystal clear reception after a fashion. The clock is controlled by a digital signal the famous pips it seems are not, sometimes I hear them some times I don’t. This morning at 6 am I heard the voice of Barack Obama:

“If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.”

I held my breath for a few moments until in sunk in that this was a victory speech. Obama’s voice was replaced by that of the BBC ‘Today’ program presenter John Humphrys stating:

“Barack Obama has been elected as the first black president of the United States.”

I felt a great sense of relief and a hope that the future can be better place. We are each of us every day a witness to history, and the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States of America is a momentous day in history; my hope is that President Obama can create a future history of momentous and positive moments.