just been listening to some speaches obama has been making.
this bloke sounds very inspiring and seems pretty genuine to me.
i feel like changing my nationality to american.

also all the stuff on our tv at the mo, black people being interviewed left right and centre.
all seem on a obama high.
what do you think, hero or zero..

hero.

hero , thoughts and prays of millions all over the world are for him , i hope he and his goverment can deliver ,

if he inspires the senate and congress like he does his people then there’s hope

I was impressed with his whole speech – no reference cards etc all off the top of his head.

Better than the blubbering tit he replaced.

TBC

Lets not get into too much of a dasiy chain over the fellow.

Yes its great that Bush has gone (though not voted out sadly) but I remember back in ’97 a similar feeling of euphoria sweeping the UK over the election of an ex-PM of ours, who sadly turned out to be worse for this country than the chap before even though he had a bunch of ‘celebs’ singing his praises (for a while at least) and smiled a fair bit.

Time will tell.

We are only on day one. There’s so much bullsh*t in American (or our) politics that it’s just impossible to say what the man will do in a real crisis. Come back in 100 days and let’s see how he’s getting on.

I was impressed with his whole speech – no reference cards etc all off the top of his head.

he had autocue so i’m not sure he needed prompt cards!

Not hard to improve on the Texan corrupt monkey.
He inherits a tough “gig” though.
Its kind of the reverse of the UK a decade ago.
Labour stole the credit for John Major fixing the economy. Now I only hope that the Yanks memories are not so short that they start baying for Obamas blood in 2 years because the country is still feeling pain caused by Dubbya.

Let’s just wait and see eh? He could just be an insubstantial self promoter, swept in on a wave of ignorance. OR……..:-)

The cynic in me says he’ll start doing a headless chicken impression and implode in 6 months, leaving Hilary to take over. Or Oprah.

speech writers and autocues can make all but a chimp sound good. Fingers crossed for the fella though, potentially massive few years for the US and the world.

Labour stole the credit for John Major fixing the economy.
to be fair, he was only fixing a few things, after th*tcher f&cked the whole country up…

amazed that people care so much as we dont actually live in america . His impact on my life will not be that great nor will the leaders in China, France, India or Peru etc as I dont live there. They watched it at my work and not one person watching could name more than three cabinet ministers or a Tory other than Dave … and only one knew his surname. You cant get people to vote in their own country or have any real knowledge or interest about politics … made me think more about the media and celebrity culture to be honest.
Good luck though surely better than the last one

CHB … BLACK WEDNESDAY … what a great fix for the economy that was
the Tories spent £27bn of reserves in propping up the pound; the Treasury calculates the ultimate loss was only £3.4bn

Junk – the leader of the most powerful nation on the planet won’t affect your life? Really?

His impact on my life will not be that great

tell that to the banks clawing to reclaim their losses on the American sub prime markets. America’s wealth has a direct influence on how we pull out of this slow down

i’ll admit that 8 hours of live coverage on bbc news was a little overkill. maybe the American’s paid Israel to agree to a ceasefire so there weren’t pictures of children murdered with American made weapons on the new today?

oh yes the most poweful country on the world .. do explain then how will he help me pay my mortgage, get better at mtb, go on more holidays a better job ?etc what will change then as result of this for me personally then

Here you are ton, the whole speech :

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUKTRE50J5PS20090120?virtualBrandChannel=10112&sp=true

Some of my favourite gems :

“We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned………

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth……..

This is the source of our confidence – the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny……….

Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.”

.

Oh why oh why can’t British politicians make great speeches like that.

Great speeches which will make Great Britain great once more.

😥

ps off to watch the footie just wanted to rile a few of you think it might have worked 😆

It really wont affect me as much as a change of government in this country will … surely we could at least agree on that?

…amazed that people care so much as we dont actually live in america…

I’m amazed that you don’t realise why people outside the US should be interested in who is going to be running the worlds only remaining superpower.

If you cast your mind back a few years it was the actions of a previous occupant of the White House who took the US and a few other nations into two large scale conflicts in the Middle East, one of which we (the UK) are only starting to drag ourselves out of now and the other is continuing to prove a huge sinkhole for money, kit and more importantly, the lives of British servicemen.

The power of the President of the United States goes far beyond that of the leaders of the example countries you quote. We should all be interested in who our colonial cousins have entrusted with the big red button marked ‘game over’.

Errm

The whole sub-prime fiasco came out of the US, leaving us in the global financial sh*t that we’re in.

The US has (had?) the biggest consumer spending power on the planet. There’s a very good chance that the things people buy in the US have a direct impact on our wealth.

It’s a big country, you could certainly improve your MTB skills there too.

sorry, couldn’t resist

He’s started well and I hope he achieves something

I thought Reverend Lowery’s speech had a bit more embrace

His speech writers can`t get enough memorable quotes for Obama to spout out.
I think they may be the same writers that wrote the fake moon landing quotes 😀

it was the actions of a previous occupant of the White House who took the US and a few other nations into two large scale conflicts in the Middle East, one of which we (the UK

Nah, we took ourselves into those wars – no one forced us.

We could have told the Yanks to go and phuck themselves – what would they have done – started a war with us ?

You don’t really ‘do’ international politics do you ernie?

Which fake moon landing was that? I’m struggling to remember one. I DO recall lots of people saying it was fake, the same ones who say there were alien autopsies carried out at Groom Lake, Nevada. (That’s Area 51, for those not so familiar with US geography).

i like his speeches, but i am not sure.

He sure seems to like change though.

He must have loads of old Smirnoff bottles at home stuffed with nickels and dimes.

Which fake moon landing was that?

The one in which Neil Armstrong says, “That’s one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind” and you can clearly hear someone giggling in the background 😯

At the end of the day he is a politician, like all of them he will tell you what you want to hear to get elected and then proceed to do whats best for him and his mates

the lives of British servicemen.
I thought we didn’t have conscription any more?

JUNKYARD…BLACK WEDNESDAY. Not “Black September” or “Black 1992” or even “Black, oh poo our kids are gonna be paying for this in 20 years time”.

The Tories made a mess at the end of the 80’s and very early 90’s, but the collossal screw up that Broon and his muppets have led us into will dwarf anything in the last 30-40 years. And yes I know it’s partly global, but you only have to look at the £ today to see that Labour have left us knackered as a country.

And your point is AndyP?

Ah, is it one of those “if they don’t like it they can leave” things?

If all the Army’s infantrymen left do you think the government would restart conscription?

Would you be more happy people being sent against their wishes or for people to willing offer their services to the country?

You don’t really ‘do’ international politics do you ernie?

No but’s it’s obvious he subscribes to bo11ocks conspiracy theories…

..No but’s it’s obvious he subscribes to bo11ocks conspiracy theories…..

At least the price of aluminum foil is falling, I’m sure he’ll cut a dash in a smart new hat.

Would you be more happy people being sent against their wishes or for people to willing offer their services to the country?

what a stupid question. Point is, made choice – quit whinging.

I think he’s been hyped so much that anything less than delivering miracles to get the US out of trouble will be seen as a disappointment.

I hope he does well.

Its not a stupid question. Many countries have conscripts or as its also known, people being forced to serve in the military.

Is it better to have a professional army of willing volunteers, hopefully with the support of a grateful nation via the military covenant or a poorly trained group of cannon fodder? Obviously not taking into account the third option of not having a military and just trusting everyone to be really nice to each other.

sootyandjim: 2
AndyP:0

Folk really need to appreciate our armed forces a bit more.

Actually CHB, they don’t.

Thats what the military has fought for in the past, the freedom for people not to give a toss.

wish the guy well and yes, wish there was someone in power here (or coming to power) with half his apparent charisma……..
however, the cynic in me wonders just how long he can resist the pressure that will inevitably come from those who invested so heavily in his campaign, you can be sure they did not do it out of the goodness of their hearts, and you can be equally sure they don’t all manufacture and supply blue paint and new curtain poles for use in shelters for the homeless……