France's View Of An Obama Presidency

  Oh Yes, ladies and gentlemen. Time for a look at our country's President-elect, from a foreign country. This time we go to France, by way of Watching America, which posts an article from the French La Provence.

The French Consider
Obama’s Victory

By Nina Montagné
The real revolution in the United States will come not on the day a black president is elected but on the day a president of any color says, ‘God bless the planet,’ instead of, ‘God bless America’!
Translated By Joe Fiorill
5 November 2008
France - La Provence - Original Article (French)
This morning, candidate Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States of America. Many of you have reacted to this historic event and have debated the question of his skin color.
Barack Obama will be, it seems important to point out, the first black president of the United States of America. For the many foreign and minority communities now present in the U.S.A. and around the world, the election is a very important and telling signal of an evolution in mentalities. But did the color of Obama’s skin truly work in his favor? Many La Provence.com readers have reacted and expressed themselves on this issue.
Many of them think that the fact that Obama is black was very important or even decisive in the race for the White House. Martine56 takes a radical position: “Obama was elected for the color of his skin and not for his platform . . . . His skin pigmentation was constantly emphasized during the electoral campaign.” Chicago1984 adds nuance to this view, calling it “nevertheless important to emphasize his skin color to show the evolution of the mentality of the American population.”
Some La Provence.com readers opposed intensely this view and were shocked by this title of an Agence France-Presse article posted this morning on La Provence.com: “Obama’s Victory: First black president of the United States.” chuipakon13 levels this criticism: “I find this title horrible. It seems to me that skin color is not a social category . . . . Let’s stop talking about people’s color, religion and sexual preferences and instead talk about their politics!” nfrommars chooses milder words but highlights the media’s irritating obsession with this subject: “Symbols have never solved problems . . . . Let’s judge people for what they are and not for what they represent.”
Other La Provence.com readers said the issue was not whether the president of the United States was white or black. Chrissaix, for example, says: “The real revolution in the United States will come not on the day a black president is elected but on the day a president of any color says, ‘God bless the planet,’ instead of, ‘God bless America’!” Meanwhile, toupaga focuses on the quite extraordinary aspect of these elections: “There is an incredible paradox in the schizophrenic America that elected Obama, not only because he is black and young but also and above all because he represents a current that is totally opposed to the free-market extremism that dominates the world and, from its base in the United States, has oppressed the least fortunate for the last 30 years.”
Readers such as champollion criticized the general frenzy, which they found excessive and disproportionate: “What I find pretty funny and ultimately pathetic is that the great majority of French people, in particular in the political arena, are suddenly switching from a crude and hypocritical anti-Americanism to a generalized ‘God bless America.’” Finally, YOHANN sets things straight with the last word: “After this night of collective hysteria, time to get to work, Obama!” Indeed, but not before his inauguration on Jan. 20.

  God Bless the planet? I like that one.

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