Monday 17 November 2008

(I am) Everyday People


November 4th, 2008: US Election Night. A couch in the Casa Campasino, Cuzco. A clay oven baked takeaway pizza. Two bottles of Inca Kola. A twix. A snickers. Tuned to BBC World Service TV. David Dimbleby at the helm. Kathy there last time around. With Ken MacDonald. She wore a red stetson. The fridge at home covered in magnetic memories. Points of place. "A village in Texas has lost its idiot," one reads. To prove aonther point. Kathy´s excitement is uncontainable. She wriggles and squirms, blurts out facts, figures; makes noises of disapproval and sage nods of agreement. John Bolton recites his own Satanic verses. A colossal brute. Obama is a left-wing radical. He generalises. The BBC are incompetent left-leaning hacks. He generalises some more. The panel seem nervous but David is calm. The ship is steered deftly into neutral waters again. The results are slow. The new touch screen graphics a bit crap. We wait. David fills. Switch to New York. Cocktail politics. Ricky Gervais. Eddy Izzard. 2 bloggers. Not sexy. Talking drivel. David reels it in. Back to the studio. Serious chat.
Suddenly. New Mexico votes for Obama. They never get it wrong. Obama begins to stack them up. Oven chips are off the menu, sir. Kenya anounces a national holiday.
McCain´s concession speech is eloquent and touching. A park in Chicago awaits.

The turntables might wobble but they don´t fall down.

Obama appears. He looks formidable. Strong, tall, confident, black. Yes we can. He offers hope and puppies for his daughters. Bribery and optimism: classic teaching tactics. Yes we can. Oprah is there, hugging the shoulders of the person in front. Big eyes. The Rev. Jessie Jackson is there too. In tears. Who can blame him? We are both in tears. Yes we can. Is it real? Or is it just Hollywood? One hell of a speech, all the same. Am I being foolish? Am I being naive? I want to believe. Will puppies work in Iraq?

Different strokes for different folks.
And so on and so on
And scooby dooby doo...

Bring the noise! (turn it up)

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