barack and the dream

Embodiment of “The Dream”

To listen to Barack Obama’s victory speech last November 5th 2008 as President Elect was a priviledge. It was a priviledge first and foremost to be present in spirit at such a historic event which may have set down parameters for all future presidential elections. The hope is that other, similar, elections or situations are held within the same parameters, that is one based on content. His speech once more indicated his desire for inclusiveness. His desire to avoid division, to avoid falling into the pit-trap of the us and them syndrome. There is much we, in Malta, can learn objectively from the words of his speech.
His words for Senator McCain were of such respect that it seems almost objectively unacceptable to refer to each other as the victor and vanquished.
“Senator McCain fought long and hard in this campaign. And he’s fought even longer and harder for the country that he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine. We are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader. I congratulate him; I congratulate Governor (Sarah) Palin for all that they’ve achieved. And I look forward to working with them to renew this nation’s promise in the months ahead”.
These are amazing words that show the high regard in which he held his opponents. They also give us an inkling as to the gentlemanly manner with which Barack Obama intends to do politics. Criticism when fair is always acceptable. To err is of course human and so infallibility is not an option. To publicly show such a high opinion of Senator McCain is in itself an attitude meritorious of respect.

Barack Obama has built his campaign around the common man. His intentions are to improve the lot of the man in the street. He intends to make every Joe feel like a million dollars! He has placed a large emphasis on values. This is why his campaign was made by the common people. “But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to. It belongs to you. ...It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give 5 and 10 and 20 to the cause...It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation’s apathy, who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep...It drew strength from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on doors of perfect strangers, and from the millions of Americans who volunteered and organised and proved that more than two centuries later a government of the people, by the people, and for the people has not perished from the Earth”.
What wonderful words of thanks to all those hundreds of volunteers seen and unseen who gave up their time to work for what they believed in! The dream that is the American Dream is alive and well in these choice words of a man who is himself an embodiment of the Dream. There are so many members of the civil rights movement in the USA who still cannot believe what has happened. They cannot believe that the President-Elect is really there for them. Barack Obama has insisted on change because it is only through change that you can get to better way. To go with the flow is not enough when there are so many around who are suffering financially and emotionally. The election of Barack Obama is a huge generator of hope for better days.

“But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it’s been done in America for 221 years — block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.
“To those — to those who would tear the world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you. And to all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as bright: Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.

There will be those who will try to challenge the dream. There will be those who want Barack Obama to fail. There will be those who refuse to understand his meaning for change. There will be those for whom the status quo is a better option. BUT Barack Obama’s words have laid down the gauntlet. His way will be the better way, not always the easier way, but definitely the better way. Once his intentions are noble, that is already a victory in itself. The very fact of having so many millions of Americans sharing his noble dream of hope and change can only mean that his dream is their dream.
Martin Luther King had a dream. Barack Obama furthered that dream into a message of hope for the future. The American electorate has made that dream a reality. His success will be our success.

Nurse!

I have just seen a report on TVM on a press conference held by the Union representing nurses. I must admit that the quoted figures are shocking. It is unacceptable in today's age that our hospitals are not served with enough nurses. It is all the more unacceptable when in the past year alone the Government revenue last year increased by €146.1 million! It is unacceptable to have this situation when we have thrown so much money at Mater Dei Hospital to make it state of the art. Patient care has to start with the nurses. To have such a lack of nurses (at least 200 at Mater Dei) is nothing but sheer mismanagement and incompetence on the individuals in the Government who handled the Mater Dei business over the past years.

We are paying for this incompetence. It is true that technologically speaking the hospital is almost avant garde BUT not to have enough nurses is more than just unacceptable. Where were the powers that be ten years ago when the whole thing was being planned. Or for that matter where were they two years ago. I find it hard to believe that there is effectively no plan as to how to increase the number of nurses at Hospital. Again mismanagement of our financial and human resources.

Act now and act decisively please - that is what is expected of you Mr. Government!

Karl

I had only known Karl from the media then i got to know him better when, as a candidate for the MLP, we met on those required official occasions. We immediatly found we have a common bond - the love for Liverpool FC. Beyond that i will never forget the encouragement he gave me and the deep sense of doing something right. Of doing something for the common good. He was in politics for all the right reasons and for this he will always be an inspiration to me and, I am sure, countless others.

Karl, in a completely unoriginal way I can only tell you - you will never walk alone !

inclusivity

INCLUSIVITY
Barack Obama has now been officially confirmed as the Democratic Party candidate for the election of President in the USA. What was witnessed over the past few days at the Democratic Convention was an affirmation of the need in the USA of a change. It is often that politicians refer to the need for change, but few have done it in the charismatic way that Barack Obama has done. His change is not a change for the sake of a change. It is a change in the way politics is meant to be.
Barack Obama’s acceptance speech this week was full of quotables, something we have got used to such is the quality and content! However, to my mind, what is highly praiseworthy is the one simple fact: Barack Obama intends to be a President for the people of the USA without any fear or favour. It seems fairly clear from his words where he wants to take the USA. It also seems fairly clear that he wants his Presidency to be an all-inclusive Presidency as witnessed by his initial statements whereby he honoured his beaten opponents.:Let me express my thanks to the historic slate of candidates who accompanied me on this journey, and especially the one who traveled the farthest, a champion for working Americans and an inspiration to my daughters and to yours, Hillary Rodham Clinton. In honouring the vanquished (metaphorically speaking of course) Barack Obama has shown he can be an agent for change in a positive fashion.
For me this was one of a number of highlights in Barack Obama’s speech. In his speech there is a clear indication that for him there is nothing wrong with idealism. Barack Obama here is not expressing a fervent wish verging on utopia but of a declared intention to try to be the best. To always strive to improve his country. Is this not commendable? He makes this clear when he indicates that his is a promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort. I know there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk. They claim that our insistence on something larger, something firmer, and more honest in our public life is just a Trojan horse for higher taxes and the abandonment of traditional values And that's to be expected, because if you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare voters.
In this respect Barack Obama has distanced himself from the slangering way of doing politics. He intends to get by without the mud-slinging. However, he also takes this a step further by indicating that it is the opponents of change who use scaremongering tactics. This makes so much sense if interpreted the right way: needless and senseless criticism strengthens the target.
Finally, Barack Obama also makes it amply clear that change will always happen when the people want this to happen. Change happens because the American people demand it, because they rise up and insist on new ideas and new leadership, a new politics for a new time.
He refers to this as a new way of doing politics, a politics which is all inclusive. In this he hits the nail on its head. It is useless to think of politics as a means to an end for the sake of power. Nor can politics be seen as the strengthening of the few as opposed to the many. Politics in a democracy can have only one goal, that of becoming all inclusive. A political party must have as its primary objective to seek to represent each and every one. It may not be easy, and very often may lead to misunderstanding, but, as Barack Obama concluded: "And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.".
I believe that the understated theme of Barack Obama’s speech is quite simply that it is madness to walk alone when there is so much strength in unity.

JOE MUSCAT

Joe is now our main man. Yesterday night he gave an indication of what he expects of the labour party with him at the helm - a sense of togetherness within the same political family. His immediate call to the fellow contendors to join him in the re-organisation of the MLP speaks volumes. As spoke volumes the applause the delegates gave to the contendors. This is a sign of respect that all deserved.



In the political sphere although we cannot that the laurel goes to the victors, we accept that there is no role for those who came second, or who came last. Joe's description of each candidate was spot on. This is surely the way forward: utmost respect for all who wish to give a hand within the Labour Party. Utmost good will to those who have strived for what they believe is the best for the Labour Party.

As was spot on his immediate reaction to his election. The honeymoon is over for the Nationalist Party!

L-GHAQDA

Kullhadd ghandu l-preferit tieghu. Kullhadd ghandu D-DRITT li jkollu l-preferit tieghu. Kull min huwa fdat bil-vot naf li ser jaghmel xoghol kif mistenni, jigifieri bil-galbu. Jigri x’jigri fl-ghazla tal-mexxejja taghna huwa necessarju li lkoll kemm ahna nzommu quddiem ghajnejna xi riflessjonijiet.

L-ewwel riflessjoni hija li m’ghandniex nippretendu mirakli. Gia hemm min qed jikteb fil-gazzetti kollha li min ser naghzlu zgur ser ikun il-Prim Ministru ta’ Malta hames snin ohra. Dan qed jinghad billi jidher li hemm min donnu qed jirraguna li l-PN semplicement rega ha r-riedni ta’ pajjizna bi zbrixx u mhux ghax fl-ahhar mill-ahhar riditu l-maggoranza tal-poplu malti, zghira kemm hija zghira din il-maggoranza. Dan ir-ragunament huwa ZBALJAT. Sa hames snin ohra jrid isir hafna xoghol mill-mexxejja taghna sabiex insibu u nispjegaw l-formula necessarja biex inmexxu l-pajjiz taghna mill-Gvern. Huwa necessarju li verament inhossu l-polz tal-poplu. Li verament inkunu nafu x’inhu jigri madwarna. Li verament noffru alternattiva tajba. Inridu noffru nifs gdid, pagna gdida, aspettativi godda.

Importanti ghalhekk it-tieni riflessjoni. Il-mixja li ser naghmlu trid issir flimkien. L-ghaqda biss iggib maghha s-sahha necessarja li tista twassal ghal rebha elettorali, li mbaghad issarraf finalment fi gwadann ghall-poplu malti kollu. Dan qed nghidu mhux ghaliex ma kienx hemm l-ghaqda fl-ahhar elezzjoni, izda sabiex inkomplu nsahhu dik l-ghaqda li kienet hemm sabiex indahhlu aktar u aktar nies fil-familja laburista. LI nserhu rasna fuq l-ghalza tal-mexxeja u nieqfu hemm ikukn zball. Dan inridu dhahhluha f’mohhna minn issa.

Ghalhekk din l-ghaqda hija necessarja wkoll sabiex insahhu aktar lill-mexxeja taghna. Ma ninsewx minn x’hiex ser jghaddu bis-sagrificcju li qed jiehdu fuq spallejhom. Haddiehor ser jaghmel minn kollox biex ikisser il-mexxeja taghna, anzi, gja bdew jitfghu l-vlegeg! Li jigri dan jaf idejjaq ghaliex min jitfa l-vlegeg mhux dejjem ghandu intensjonijiet puri, anzi l-oppost! Dan pero’ inridu naccettawh. Kif ahna dejjem lesti nikkritaw lil haddiehor, inridu nkunu lesti dejjem li naccettaw il-kritika tigi mnejn tigi u tigi kif tigi. Basta nwiegbuha effetivament. Irridu naraw ukoll li mill-kritika nistghu wkoll nitghallmu u nikbru. Min jigi kritikat jaf li qed jaghmel hoss, sta mbaghad ghalih juri li minn din il-kritika qed jikber. Hawn terga tidhol l-GHAQDA. Il-mexxeja li jafu li ahna warahom ser ikunu aktar b’sahhithom meta jigu biex jaffaccjaw il-mewg u maltemp. Kaptan fil-bnazzi facli, id-difficli huwa fil-maltemp. Izda jekk ghandek madwarek kumpliment ta’ bahhara li huma mieghek u jafdawk kif inti tafda lilhom allura fl-ahhar il-vapur iddahhlu fil-port!

First amongst equals

I, for one, am not prepared to join in with the chorus and cast blame on Dr. Alfred Sant. First and foremost mea culpa: I was there with the rest so some of the blame must lie with me. There were so many possible reasons for the electoral defeat for the labour party that are now coming to the fore, that it seems almost puerile to just blame one man. It is necessary for us to remember how the man (not the politician) was vilified throughout all his years at the helm of the MLP for percieved mistakes. Definitly a case of over the top criticism which went on unabated right to the very end of the electoral campaign. I cannot recall the same sense of vilification with regard to Dr. Gonzi.

Although the PN tried to portray Dr. Gonzi as a superman, we all know that he is not. The marketing behind him was better than Dr. Sant’s and that’s about it. Gonzi the man was sold as being a better option than Sant. His greatest marketing coup was in indicating to the electorate that he needed the electorate’s help not only in getting re-elected but in changing the people around him. In truth this was a sign of weakness which I believe too few people appreciated. It is a weakness that has re-surfaced in his first few days in office with some clearly strange decisions and I am sure it will come back to haunt him. Not everybody within the PN camp is happy with his GonziPN takeover.

(As an aside, is it not a shame that so many people look to politics as mainly an issue of marketing over subtance)

Be that as it may I prefer to look to the future of the labour party. To look to the choices to be made in our leadership selection. My opinion is simple: I believe that all the contestants are equally competent in different ways. Their task as leader will be to convince the electorate that where they lack, they are capable of delegating. They must be capable of having the right stuff around him or her. All have the right credentials. All have the right potentialities. All will have our 100 % backing.

One thing is sure: He or she will have to have thick skin to ward off the arrows that will be shot his or her way. Some of the contestants have already had to ward off criticism which has been by and large unjust. It is fair and correct for all and sundry to have their say. The choice of leadership of the MLP is obviously a matter which affects us all. As such I find no objection to having people express their opinion on the whole leadership matter. Needless to say opinions are relative to the opinionista! Some will have to be taken with the proverbial pinch of salt, which salt rubs both ways.