25 May 2011

Miscellaneous

Obama's First State Visit to England

I have a friend who works in parliament, she sent me a message this morning saying it was utter chaos everywhere because of the imminent visit of President Obama, he has spent the day holding talks with the parliament elect. This is his first state trip to the UK and as we have seen already this year with the Royal Wedding, pomp and circumstance is the dish of the day.

I am a patriotic Englishman and I enjoy seeing good things going on within our country - however controversial this may sound, I am also a fan of both David Cameron and Barack Obama. I don't attempt to understand politics; it doesn't particularly interest me to the levels of others. I like to see the country doing well and when it comes to voting, I do vote and I didn't for the conservative party, yet since the coalition has been in force I have grown to like David Cameron, maybe more as a person than his politics. 

You could blast me with ignorance here, but I prefer to have someone in office with a personality and who seems to enjoy themselves, someone who you can relate to. Although I am aware that there is a vast set of people in the UK who do not like Cameron, or the conservative party.

So what's Obama here for? He's here to keep the links between England and America strong. A link which I think should stay intact - everyone has seen what's going on in the world, from the assination of Osama Bin Laden, to the uprising in the Middle East and Northern Africa. Were we right to intervene, it can be argued for hours and hours but if Western nations did not take control of the situation it could of been worse, a lot worse - and then what would people say.

I have just watched Obama's address as it happened and I was completely impressed with the whole speech. In England we do not get to see enough of what this man has to say and every time I do, I feel he speaks with such a humble tone. The most notable comment came with a standing ovation from the crowd watching his address as he said: "for the grandson of a Kenyan who served as a cook in the British Army to stand before you as President of the United States", this comment made me feel you can do anything if you try. Or am I just being naïve?

I'll let you make up your own mind; I think it's good to see two countries actually talking highly of one another. Today we saw a President who has the upmost respect for his strongest ally and likewise, a Queen and Prime Minister who share the same feeling, talking about the past and how the link between two nations was galvanised by two heads of state all those years ago.