Ave duci novi. Similis duci seneci

Or maybe it's cooler to say Ave bossa nova. Similis bossa seneca. Still don't get it? How about Hail to the new boss! Same as the old boss.

So Barack Obama won. He is the son of a Black man and a white woman, so I guess that makes him Black enough for American historians to say that he is the first Black president. Fair enough. After all I have seen Indian - I mean Native American - Princesses who were whiter than most White people. SO Obama can go down in history as whatever he wants. Of course this only proves something I have said since watching the 1992 elections. Americans will wote a black guy for president before they vote a white woman in.

So now we have Obama. Who hopefully will be a better President than the Shrub. But what have the Americans done, really? Is this as big a change as they think?

First off. I am not a McCain supporter. During the last election I was hoping he would win because he was the not-Bush. And this time Obama gets my support because he is the not-McCain-and-thank-eris-Biden-is-the-not-Palin. But really, is he any different?

The President of These United States (and yes, it is these) is supposed to be about freedom. And at least according to his voting record, Obama seems to be fairly close to it. Or is he? I went to Project Vote Smart - an online archive of senate bills, who voted for them, what they voted, and a lot of other information about the candidates. And what I saw there was, not exactly pretty. Obama voted to pretty much carry on things as they were in Guantanamo bay, famous for torture and other activities against civilians from around the world. He voted that gun manufacturers can face civil cases for damages caused by their guns (kind of like cigarette makes being liable for civil cases brought on by people who suffered at the hands of others who smoke).

The way things are shaping up, Obama looks to be an anti-abortion kinda guy. Maybe not as much as Palin is, but definitely up there. He doesn't seem to respect gun rights, or the right to smoke.

Obama also raised US$639 million in campaign contributions. Of that he has spent US$573 million. The list of campaign contributers ranges from big organisations who donated from 500,000 to 900,000 USD to small online donations. I got that info from Open Secrets. What's going to happen when the time comes to pay the piper?

So what will Obama's term be like? Its hard to tell. But Right now he is riding a crest of popularity, buoyed on by the current financial crisis. He may not have played the race-card, but race is a factor in his election. In three months the honeymoon will be over. he will have to bring the economy back under control. He came in because the country was tired of what Dubya had done to it. The economy in recession. Gas prices high.

He's going to have to pull some serious magic tricks out of his hat to make it come together. And when he doesn't what will happen?

This is the TV generation. They want a sitcom ending. 30 minutes minus commercial time to solve any problem. And he can't. So like most leaders before him, he will engage in short term plans. Do some handwaving and try to make all the problems disappear.

Just like Dubya, Clinton, Bush sr., Reagan, Carter, Nixon, and so many others before him.

I hope I'm wrong.