April 29th has been a hell of a day, with every news network killing themselves with the 100 day milestone of President Obama. Don’t get me wrong, I like Barack Obama and what he stands for, but I do not recall all these daily milestones for any other president, but I guess things in our society have become so "instant" that we have become addicted to constant updates, with Twitter, Myspace, Facebook and every other social network and tracking platform on the web. I think people are beginning to tire of all the media over-saturation with him and the markers… Even the President himself ranted on about "the 100 days and the next 100 days" in his address tonight. There’s nothing wrong with analyzing what the President has done and is doing, but people should be able to form their own opinions based on what has been reported and known of his actions.
Overall, with all of the positive and negative press, President Obama receives on television, online, print and radio, I think he has done an exceptional job. And my main reason for saying this is because he has shown the American people and the rest of the world, that a US President is human being, just like them. He shows compassion and understanding and chooses to listen, before speaking. I really give him a great deal of credit for his re-shaping of perception of Americans. Being a Canadian, I grew up hearing and seeing that American people could be some arrogant and cocky individuals, but I let a lot of that slide, because the arena was sports related and they were 9 times out of 10, better than we were in every way. As I got older, I started to see that these attitudes were not only related to sports but many other areas, where America didn’t have the upper hand that they did with sports. Barack Obama is showing Americans that things can be achieved with out beating your chest and saying how great you are. Everyone that hasn’t been living under a rock knows that America is a "super-power" when it comes to world affairs and if you don’t know, just take a look at who everyone looks to for help when their country is in crisis.
The public just needs to realize that Barack Obama is a man, not a miracle working. He is not going to be able to change the way that politicians operate overnight or even in his first term as President. The old ways of reciprocal back-scratching to get things done is going to be a hard system to break and with far right Conservatives offering criticism rather than solutions, they are only making things more difficult in the long run.
Continued success, President Obama, don’t let anyone change your sense of responsibility to your fellow man. If you’ve made a mistake, own up to it like you’ve done in the past. No one expects you to be perfect, but we are all appreciating your honesty.
See you in the next 100 days or so!