What the Obama presidency represents to an expat

Pragmatism a la 2004

I was 20 and in Germany during the 2000 presidential election. The night of November 7th, I sat up in my apartment until 4:00 am wondering what was going on with the numbers from Florida. By the time I returned from Europe, George W. Bush had been sworn in as the 43rd POTUS. During his first term I traveled to or lived in eight other nations, and as time wore on the questions about my President became more and more difficult. He was viewed as arrogant and ignorant — a horrible combination in leadership — and his unilateral approach to foreign policy was not well-received abroad, especially in its stark contrast to the approach of the previous administration. Suffice to say, George W. Bush made it more difficult to be an American overseas.

This morning I read an opinion article posted from an American living in Indonesia. Feel free to read the full text here, but I just wanted to republish an excerpt:

“A headline in one [Indonesian] paper summed it up: Welcome Back to the World, America. From Americans living overseas, this is the sentiment I most often hear. We’re not expecting miracles, but to have our leading spokesman again as interested in the rest of the world as we are, and as interested as the rest of the world is in him — this is a source of hope. And yes, that’s a change.”

It continues …

“In America, the big hope is that Obama can take care of some of the pressing domestic misfortunes — job loss, foreclosures, financial oversight. For the rest of the world, the bigger hope is that America is opening its eyes again, seeing itself as a partner in a broader future. For that latter group, [inauguration day was] a chance to say, yes, we’re watching too, and we’re celebrating.”

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Photo credit: 10092007309.jpg posted by Yamica

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Happy “Law Day”

As stated by Presidential Decree, today is Law Day here in the United States.

What is Law Day you ask?  According to Mr. Bush, today, “we pay tribute to the men and women in America’s legal community. Through hard work and dedication to the rule of law, members of the judiciary and the legal profession help secure the rights of individuals, bring justice to our communities, and reinforce the proud traditions that make America a beacon of light for the world.”

Awesome, a whole day to honor lawyers.  Gotta tell you, didn’t see this one coming from a town like Washington.

By itself this wouldn’t be so bad, except that this holiday (established by President Eisenhower) supplanted May Day, or the International Workers’ Day, which was seen as communist.  (A nonstarter in 1958.)  Clearly our government has learned many of it’s tactics on the kindergarten playground.

I guess during the Cold this made some sense, as clear lines of demarcation between capitalist/communist, good/bad had to be drawn.  Right?  But as opined in this 2007 editorial, celebrating the rule of law has its own sense of irony here during the first decade of the 21st century.  The piece cites the “enemy combatant” and “unitary executive” doctrines as efforts to undermine the rule of law in this country.  Oof, today’s decree is looking more and more ironic!

So what do we do on Law Day?  Besides feeling discouraged by the state of our government’s paradoxical stances, you could:

• Participate in a Law Day 5K Run/Walk
• Go see Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
• Read Lawyer Jokes

Happy Law Day everyone!

(For more information on the efforts of the current executive branch to consolidate power within the Presidency, check out this Frontline piece entitled “Cheney’s Law.”  Click here for the full video.)