Happy Obamaness

[supercheesegirl]

Good news from around the world (totally stolen from amazonsun):

• Kenya declares a public holiday.


• Indonesia celebrates.


• UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was looking forwards "to an era of renewed partnership and a new multilateralism".


• Nelson Mandela (South Africa's 1st black President) congratulates Obama, saying "Your victory has demonstrated that no person anywhere in the world should not dare to dream of wanting to change the world for a better place"
• Rama Yade (France's black junior minister for human rights) says "This is the fall of the Berlin Wall times ten, America is rebecoming a New World"
• Britain describes Obama's election as "one giant leap for mankind"
• UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown called Tuesday's poll historic and said he and Mr Obama "share many values".
• Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said he hoped the incoming administration will take steps to improve badly damaged U.S. ties with Russia, adding "I stress that we have no problem with the American people, no inborn anti-Americanism. And we hope that our partners, the U.S. administration, will make a choice in favor of full-fledged relations with Russia"
• French President Nicolas Sarkozy sent his congratulations, saying "At a time when we have to confront immense challenges together, your election raises great hopes in France, in Europe and in the rest of the world."
• Poland's Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski spoke of "a new America with a new credit of trust in the world."
• Many in China were surprised but happy that a black person has actually become President of the United States of America. One quoted, "American elections have shaken me to the core. I have always thought the Chinese political system is the best in the world, but it is not so. We are deprived of our sacred rights, rule of law and human rights are trampled upon. To have a democratic system like the one in the USA is more difficult than touching the sky... But we long to achieve freedom and democracy, which is a difficult task for us young people in China."
• Obama's victory was greeted with cheers across Latin America, a region that has shifted sharply to the left during the Bush years. From Mexico to Chile, leaders expressed hope for warmer relations based on mutual respect — a quality many felt has been missing from U.S. foreign policy.
• Venezuela and Bolivia, which booted out the U.S. ambassadors after accusing the Bush administration of meddling in their internal politics, said they were ready to reestablish diplomatic relations, and Brazil's president was among several leaders urging Obama to be more flexible toward Cuba.
• On the streets of Rio de Janeiro, people expressed a mixture of joy, disbelief, and hope for the future.  "It's the beginning of a different era," police officer Emmanuel Miranda said. "The United States is a country to dream about, and for us black Brazilians, it is even easier to do so now."
• Many around the world found Obama's international roots compelling and attractive.  "What an inspiration. He is the first truly global U.S. president the world has ever had," said Pracha Kanjananont, a 29-year-old Thai sitting at a Starbuck's in Bangkok. "He had an Asian childhood, African parentage and has a Middle Eastern name. He is a truly global president."

Copied from various news sources (AP, BBC, Yahoo)

Celebrity responses:

• George Clooney - "I congratulate President-elect Obama on his historic victory and now it's time to begin unifying the country so we can take on the extraordinary challenges that this generation faces."
• Oprah Winfrey - "It feels like hope won. It feels like it's not just victory for Barack Obama. It feels like America did the right thing."
• P Diddy - "I felt like my vote was the vote that put him into office. It was down to one vote, and that was going to be my vote. And that may not be true but that's how much power it felt like I had."
• Usher - "So many people sacrificed for us to have a voice. It was one thing to have a voice but, to eventually know the best way to use it and then it grows into this, it's just incredible."

Comments

[moonshadow.livejournal.com]

Thank you for sharing. That is really heartwarming.

[birdmaddgirl.livejournal.com]

I'm particularly excited about quotes like this: "Venezuela and Bolivia, which booted out the U.S. ambassadors after accusing the Bush administration of meddling in their internal politics, said they were ready to reestablish diplomatic relations, and Brazil's president was among several leaders urging Obama to be more flexible toward Cuba."

I haven't looked much yet (midterm frenzy attacks!) but I haven't seen a lot of reaction of out the Middle East or Southeast Asia. Have you?

[supercheesegirl.livejournal.com]

I haven't looked at all, honestly. I snagged this entire list of stuff directly from amazonsun. I'll be interested to see what reactions are from those areas, though.

[espadarte.livejournal.com]

I loved this! I especially liked the last quote, about how he is a global president; I think that is so important. Everyone is hung up on him being black, but he is so much more than that! And I think his being 'global' already gives him more foreign policy experience than some others. Who live near Russia, etc, etc.