Dec
6
Sorry Spain, Barack Obama is my president, not yours
It’s 3:01 p.m. here in Madrid or 9:01 a.m. in Washington D.C. where earlier today Barack Obama gave his weekly YouTube video address. The top news of the hour here in Madrid is President-elect Barack Obama’s announcement of a new wide sweeping public works program. The voice of Obama comes through loud and clear on my radio tuned to a Madrid radio station: “We will create millions of jobs by making the single largest new investment in our national infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s.”
That’s great news…for the UNITED STATES! Why is this the top news of the hour here in Spain??
December 6 is Constitution Day, a national holiday in Spain. And today is also the 30th anniversary of this date that officially marks the culmination of Spain’s transition in 1978 from a dictatorship to a democracy. That’s a big deal. So on a day like today aren’t there any items from Spain that merit “top of the news hour” attention? Isn’t Mariano Rajoy out there somewhere putting his foot in his mouth?
There’s an unsettling trend taking root in Spanish media. It appears that many Spaniards believe that Barack Obama is their president-elect. I heard one Spaniard call into a Spanish talk radio program saying Obama needed to get to work ahora mismo and keep his campaign promises. Whaaa??
Sorry, amigos, but the New Kid on the Block is moving to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue not La Moncloa. He already has his hands full trying to fix what ails the United States and doesn’t have time to be Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero’s “becario” (intern).
Obama Undertakes Presidential Internship To Ease Concerns About His Lack Of Experience
And Spain isn’t the only one with a crush on Obama. Other parts of Europe as well have staked their claim to Obama, expounding a “he’s one of us” or “he’s more European than American” view of Obama.
There is a recurring theme of “orgullo” among Spaniards over the election of Obama. I recently heard someone on the radio talk about how much “orgullo” (pride) they had about the announcement that Obama had selected Bill Richardson, a Hispanic, to be Commerce Secretary. (Hey, since when do Spaniards identify with the term “Hispanic”??)
The day after the election, I read the following comment on a Spain blog:
“For the first time in like 800 years (Genghis Khan??) the world’s most powerful man is not white. If, only for this (though not only for this), we all have to congratulate ourselves.”
Huh? Congratulate yourselves for what exactly? For reading El País and deciding that Obama was cooler than John McCain just because he wasn’t Republican? Gimme a break.
Sorry Spain, you can look and you can gawk, but please, keep your hands off. Barack Obama is not your president. He’s ours. Get your own multi-culti (multicultural), chainsmoking, wine drinking, young, inspiring leader. 
Why should Spain be happy with Obama? Well… Trans-Texas Corridor – ironically funded by Spain – is part of a movement to integrate the U.S., Mexico and Canada. Zachry Construction Corporation, headquartered in San Antonio, has entered into a limited partnership with Cintra, a capital consortium based in Spain to undertake the TTC construction. That means an investment of almost 180 billion for the full build-out of the TTC 4,000-mile network.That is one example. Second, Hispanics? maybe to proliferate the Spanish language?
For better or worse, decisions made in the White House affect everyone in the world, including Spaniards. And under the previous U.S. presidency, there was considerable impact on Spain, which lost soldiers in Mr. Bush’s war, and lost additional lives in the Atocha bombings in retaliation for Aznar’s support of the invasion.
Similarly, what happens in the U.S. economy — think subprime mortgages — affects the economy worldwide.
That’s why one often hears Spaniards say (sometimes seriously, sometimes in jest) that everyone in the world should be able to vote in the U.S. presidential elections, since everyone has to pay the price if the White House makes dangerous decisions.
We have to take the blame for Bush (no matter who we voted for) for eight long years in every conversation that takes place in smoke filled Spanish bars, but when we elect a typical American President – that’s right I said a typical, multi-heritage background American as our president, Europeans take the credit? I say only in America could this happen.
And, didn’t the elected leader of Spain decide to send forces to Iraq? How is that Bush’s fault? Aznar is a big boy, and Spain chose him.
Hey Carl,
Good to hear from you. Spanish entrepreneur Martin Varsavsky blogged last week about the topic of whether or not Spain could have its own Barack Obama in the near future. One of his (Spanish?) readers commented that France already had its own Barack Obama….Sarkozy. My reaction… sin comentarios. The fact that a European would view Sarkozy as being in el mismo saco as Obama is beyond laughable.
http://english.martinvarsavsky.net/general/could-spain-have-its-own-barack-obama.html