The unavoidable Obama post

I think it's safe to say that most Western democracies are more left-leaning than the United States, and so the election of Barack Obama as a Democrat president seems to have basically pleased Europe.

I'm no pundit and I don't know much about politics but it does seem like Obama has reinvigorated people here. Andrew reports overhearing excited and friendly (!) conversations on the bus home from work about the new president and certainly I've had several conversations with storekeepers and market vendors about the change in government and how happy they are about it.

Anyway, I am kind of surprised at the level of expectations that have now been placed on the Obama. I mean, I'm happy he won, but firstly he's just one person, secondly, he's a politician, so no matter how upstanding and integrity-filled he might seem, I'm sure he's done some weasly things in his day, and I'm sure he'll do more weasly things at some point or other. I mean, they all do, right? Thirdly, no matter how great he is, I don't think he can fix everything.

One thing he has fixed, though, is my vision. That's right, I'm here to report that Obama has healed my eyes. I went to the eye doctor the day after the U.S. election and for the first time since I was 9 years old and started wearing glasses, my eyesight actually IMPROVED slightly. This is amazing, because for the past two (ahem, plus) decades my eyesight has been stedily and depressingly getting worse... It's got to the point where I get more stressed out going to the eye doctor than the dentists. Fine, the dentist will cause you pain and discomfort, but the eye doctor will nonchalantly consign you to near legal-blindness. Not cool.

It was indeed a miraculous moment when the doctor told me that my vision had improved, and my immediate thought was that Obama had had a hand in it. Indeed, in support of my theory, an enormous light shone down from above and Obama came floating into the office on clouds of buttercups and Mars bars to bless me with his holy goodness.
Or something like that.

I can't say for sure, I wasn't wearing my glasses.