Tonight, America made history. In a country where a few decades ago, blacks were lynched and where racism is still rampant, a black has become the President of the United States of America. Regardless of what I think about Obama and his positions as a celebrity politician, I believe he has achieved something people couldn't imagine even in their dreams. Let's see how he uses this historical opportunity to bring about real change in action, beyond nice words. Especially now that he has won not only the White House but also both chambers of the Congress.
And I find it interesting how I've followed this election over past 2 years as if I were an American citizen. Tonight, although I was extremely busy with my schoolwork, I found myself following minute-by-minute results of election in different states. And although as a non-citizen, I've stayed more or less objective over this campaign, at times, I didn't feel like analyzing things as an outsider.
But maybe I'm not a total outsider, practically speaking. If you limit citizenship in terms of the passport you possess or the flag you fly, I'm a proud Iranian citizen. But if being American is defined by the values that shape American identity, I believe my rich cultural heritage as an Iranian and the values and maxims I've lived by as a Muslim since my childhood, would make me much more American than some people whose Americanness is limited just to a lapel-pin, lacking American spirit altogether.
Tonight, while I was following developments online and trying to make predictions for critical states, sometimes I had a feeling as if I was doing it in my own country, the same way I did in Iran for my own presidential elections. At times, I felt as if this was my election and I had personal stakes in it. Odd feeling.
And without trying to make any analogy between Obama and my former President Khatami (his personality, character and integrity stood way above Obama), I find this election and its atmosphere, very similar to his election and his presidency back then with similar dynamics working in both countries. I've touched on this briefly while writing about negative campaigning in Hillary's rally in Toledo. Well, maybe not exactly similar.
Actually, it would had been impossible for Obama to win this election without the media covering him like their favorite celebrity poster-child. Back in 1997 when Khatami ran for president, almost the entire official media and resources were mobilized against him. To get an idea of Khatami's uphill battle back then, have a look at this stupid anti-Obama clip. And unlike Obama, Khatami did not have the luxury of liberal media support to offset the propaganda against him. Yet, he managed to win both his terms in a landslide (and that's what makes him and his victories so great).
And despite my strong criticism of Obama, his politics and his flip-flopping positions, probably the similarity between overwhelming stupidity in Obama-bashing and Khatami-bashing was the reason I wrote my angry rant, Obama In God we Trust, not in his defense, rather in opposition to the stupidity manifested in anti-Obama hoaxes. And now that Obama has surpassed all that stupidity, I enjoy watching that anti-Obama clip again, as it's a strong evidence that all that stupidity didn't work. Well, at least in the sort run.
But still, some similarities exist and that's the dynamics behind anti-reform camps in both countries who wouldn't accept defeat easily. People booing Obama over McCain's respectful concession speech is just the tip of the iceberg. And that makes me worry that things could happen to this President of change and hope on this other side of the planet. And Obama may undergo similar challenges that Khatami faced over his presidency. And if that happens here (and odds are high for that), and if he fails to act on this historical opportunity (for whatever reason) or if he lets the radicals in his camp rig the change, that would be the difference between hope and disillusionment.
And I find it interesting how I've followed this election over past 2 years as if I were an American citizen. Tonight, although I was extremely busy with my schoolwork, I found myself following minute-by-minute results of election in different states. And although as a non-citizen, I've stayed more or less objective over this campaign, at times, I didn't feel like analyzing things as an outsider.
But maybe I'm not a total outsider, practically speaking. If you limit citizenship in terms of the passport you possess or the flag you fly, I'm a proud Iranian citizen. But if being American is defined by the values that shape American identity, I believe my rich cultural heritage as an Iranian and the values and maxims I've lived by as a Muslim since my childhood, would make me much more American than some people whose Americanness is limited just to a lapel-pin, lacking American spirit altogether.
Tonight, while I was following developments online and trying to make predictions for critical states, sometimes I had a feeling as if I was doing it in my own country, the same way I did in Iran for my own presidential elections. At times, I felt as if this was my election and I had personal stakes in it. Odd feeling.
And without trying to make any analogy between Obama and my former President Khatami (his personality, character and integrity stood way above Obama), I find this election and its atmosphere, very similar to his election and his presidency back then with similar dynamics working in both countries. I've touched on this briefly while writing about negative campaigning in Hillary's rally in Toledo. Well, maybe not exactly similar.
Actually, it would had been impossible for Obama to win this election without the media covering him like their favorite celebrity poster-child. Back in 1997 when Khatami ran for president, almost the entire official media and resources were mobilized against him. To get an idea of Khatami's uphill battle back then, have a look at this stupid anti-Obama clip. And unlike Obama, Khatami did not have the luxury of liberal media support to offset the propaganda against him. Yet, he managed to win both his terms in a landslide (and that's what makes him and his victories so great).
And despite my strong criticism of Obama, his politics and his flip-flopping positions, probably the similarity between overwhelming stupidity in Obama-bashing and Khatami-bashing was the reason I wrote my angry rant, Obama In God we Trust, not in his defense, rather in opposition to the stupidity manifested in anti-Obama hoaxes. And now that Obama has surpassed all that stupidity, I enjoy watching that anti-Obama clip again, as it's a strong evidence that all that stupidity didn't work. Well, at least in the sort run.
But still, some similarities exist and that's the dynamics behind anti-reform camps in both countries who wouldn't accept defeat easily. People booing Obama over McCain's respectful concession speech is just the tip of the iceberg. And that makes me worry that things could happen to this President of change and hope on this other side of the planet. And Obama may undergo similar challenges that Khatami faced over his presidency. And if that happens here (and odds are high for that), and if he fails to act on this historical opportunity (for whatever reason) or if he lets the radicals in his camp rig the change, that would be the difference between hope and disillusionment.
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