Welcome Obama

Image: Bobster1985

Woke up this morning to the sound of a woman screaming abuse at her husband. Such is Leith. Thankfully, it wasn’t me who had stepped over the line, but by the sound the woman was making, and the language used to make her point, somebody, somewhere in my street, had really pissed off his wife.

I got ready rather swiftly and had my breakfast in front of the television for a change. I was happy to see Barack Obama had won the US Election. Personally, I’d rather leave American politics to the Americans, but I can’t see this new President being anything but a good thing for the American people or the world at large.

From what coverage I’ve seen on this side of the pond, he seems to be a man with a powerful presence, can galvanise through words, has a sense of determination and pride in his country (Bush also did, but proved it the wrong way), and talks with a common sense approach that’s backed by a level of intelligence unseen in the White House for many years.

He’s a young man with a lot going for him, and I think the fact the Americans voted someone of his age and background to be their President shows how much they have grown up on the issue of race, and just how badly they needed a change in direction. McCain, quite simply, couldn’t have cut it. He sounded as stale and limp as John Major did when he lost to Blair in ‘97.

It’s no exaggeration to say that the sense of such an important and far reaching change has not been felt since the Tories were ousted from power here in the UK in 1997. Even from a dew-soaked Leith Links early this morning, the dawning of a new era (to quote Jerry Dammers) could be felt tangibly along the haar-smitten shores where Leith meets with the outer reaches of the Firth of Forth.

Goodbye Bush – I doubt there are many who will miss your politics or your (lack of) ability to speak publicly without messing things up.

Here are two interesting facts about fireworks:

• Robert Catesby led the plot to kill James I and leading nobles at the Houses of Parliament on 5th November 1605
• It was a conspiracy of disaffected Catholic gentry who wanted to overthrow the Protestant monarchy

Given these two nuggets of info, I ask every anti-unionist Scot to ask themselves this:

Why, given it was an attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament in London, and that it was a direct attack on your monarchy, do you still want to celebrate it by sending fireworks up my street from dusk till dusk in the week leading up to and after November 5th? Surely, you would not want to be seen supporting a failed attempt at a terrorist act, or show your support for a catholic attack on the King of the time?

Unless of course you’re just a ned with no brain and an easy sense of pleasure. I suppose, instead of littering the streets with used syringes, I should be happy it’s discharged fireworks instead?

I wrote almost 400 words of Blood Ties over my lunch break, but then forgot to take the manuscript home. Not that I would have got anything done tonight – I gave up from being unable to concentrate on anything, and being startled out my wits every two minutes by the fuckwits in the walkway near my house setting off crackers and starting fires. Busy night for the boys at Marionville fire station; long night for me.

Blood Ties

---

Reddit

Facebook

Del.icio.us

StumbleUpon

Digg