Getting It

A message of hope from Down Under:

It is indeed a wonderful thing for the US to have its first black president. No African-American child need ever fear there is any limit to what they can achieve. Whatever you think of Obama’s policies and capacity to govern well — and I have my doubts — his election is a powerful symbol of America’s inclusiveness and opportunity. Which other big, rich, predominantly white society has elected a member of a racial minority to be its head of government? Not Australia.

So as we salute Obama, let’s salute America as well.

The left liberal caricature of America was always nonsense. The militarism of American society is vastly overstated, just as its profound willingness to make sacrifice for other people’s freedom is under-appreciated.

No further comment necessary, except to say thank you to The Australian foreign editor Greg Sheridan.