change
Obama and Blair?
Today Obama is expected to win by a landslide with the highest voter turnout in US history. His “Change” motto has been heard everywhere from TV commercials to social networks. Yet there seems to be a dark sense of similarity between him and Tony Blair. At the time of their campaigns, both young, energetic, well spoken, highly educated lawyers, promoting social change to fashion a better country.
In 1997, no-one really knew Blair’s agenda, a centre-right middleclass barrister and politician filled the shoes of the late John Smith. His rhetoric of “Change” and “New Labour” were heard everywhere, that eventually Tony Blair and New Labour won a landslide victory after 16 years of conservative rule. Blair ended up serving 2 1/2 terms.
Blair started off as a seemingly humble quiet man, with close knit family, moderate wealth and seemingly warm and good intentions. He ended up in causing the death of tens of thousands innocent civilians overseas in Afghanistan and Iraq, all in the name of promoting his own agenda, disguised as the “war on terror”. At the same time, he went from being moderately well off, to a multimillionaire with a vast portfolio of properties and advisor to multiple multi million-dollar companies. His sole trademark was his distinct ability to lie and deny the truth, whatever the facts had shown.
Many are predicting that Obama might end up with the first democratic majority win above 50% since Carter in 1976. Yet all this blind support and ignorant trust surely are the right ingredients to turn sour? Obama has no track record or any executive experience. There simply is no way to accurately know whether all his statements are true or not. He might have the same good intentions that Blair had in 1997 and is just as elegant with his words, but as many know, there is an underlying force in Politics that will steer even the best person in ways that were never fathomed.
It’s quite a show to see the US follow in Britain’s footsteps, and how they think this one man will make a difference. Let’s hope that this “Change” doesn’t take the world to a place of no return.