http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/10/25/barcelona.obama.art/index.html
I’ve been considering a hypothetical NAU (North American Union), but it would be easier to incorporate some of the European Nations into a Union of some sort – rather than Canada and Mexico. The above article is about an artist who has been granted a huge amount of land in Spain so he can create a gigantic portrait of Obama.
I am reminded of the Chancellor in Star Wars who was granted Hitler-type powers to deal with the rebels. The Republic (it was a Republic at the time it granted him these powers) trusted him completely. There was no mention of gigantic portraits of him, but they wouldn’t have been out of order. It turned out the Chancellor was secretly a Sith Lord committed to the “Dark Side.” He didn’t relinquish his extra powers when the rebels were defeated. Instead he converted the “Republic” into an “Empire.”
But it wasn’t just Hitler who did this. It is “natural” in human history for a leader to want to retain power once it is given to him. Cromwell didn’t relinquish power during his life-time, but in a way he did because he wouldn’t pass leadership to his son. Presumably the Star Wars Sith Lord wasn’t going to die; so he wouldn’t have Cromwell’s problem. George Washington may have been unique for that time in history by refusing to become a king in America. There were those who urged that upon him.
I read some opinions about what people in various nations expect from an Obama presidency: http://www.lawrencehelm.com/2008/10/which-country-can-we-flee-to-if-obama.html After presenting various opinions, I concluded, “what effect would an Obama presidency have on our future foreign policy? The impression I get is not much. The “man in the street” almost everywhere in the world likes the idea of Obama, but the serious student of foreign policy, almost everywhere, warns that all those street-walkers are sure to be disappointed when they see what Obama actually does after he becomes president. Muslims like it that he has an Islamic heritage. Africans like it that he has an African heritage. Leftists in Europe like it that he is Leftist. But more serious minds caution that when push comes to shove, he is going to place American interests first. He will not favor Muslim or African interests over American interests. He may wish to favor Leftist issues, but he won’t go as far as Europeans want. And even if he would secretly want to move the nation further to the Left, political exigencies will constrain him.”
But these serious students of foreign policy are assuming that Obama will follow in the footsteps of Washington and relinquish the presidency when his terms are up. None of them are assuming he is secretly a Sith Lord.
Lawrence Helm
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