Earlier today I posted an item: Iranian experts attend conference on flu in Morocco. This led to a comment about Barack Obama, which has now turned into a merry debate among some of my most cherished commenters...one of whom has asked to be deleted from the discussion.
Compared to some of the wild and woolly debates in my comments, this is pretty tame, and I'll be quite content to watch it continue.
If visitors here ever check out The Tyee, they know that I'm one of the billions of non-American fans of Barack Obama.
I've judged him as a writer, and as an online politician, and found him brilliant on both scores.
He's way too right-wing for me, but I can also see that he's the most remarkable politician North America has seen since Pierre-Elliott Trudeau swept us Canadians off our feet 40 years ago. Like Trudeau, Obama wants to unify a country that would rather break up in a fit of pique. Like Trudeau, Obama may not entirely succeed.
But Trudeau bought us time, when we might not have lasted long into our second century. Obama could help ensure that America reaches its tricentennial as a united and constructive world power, rather than as a hamstrung sumo wrestler. At the very least, he offers the world a chance to be more disappointed in an American president than it has been since James Buchanan.
On top of his other attributes, Barack Obama has been pushing his country to prepare for bird flu for the past three years. I'd be grateful to know what Hillary, McCain, and Ron Paul have said on this subject.
I love this blog in large part because I couldn't care less about the politics about my fellow Flublogians. No doubt some of my visitors and fellow-bloggers would love to shake me warmly by the throat for my antique left-wing opinions. Well, we've all had unique experiences that shaped our politics, and some of us might even be correct in our views.
So whatever your politics, if you want to quarrel about American politicians or vitamin D, or the Chinese Communist Party, my comments section is at your disposal. But as Obama himself has said, you can disagree without being disagreeable. (And if you are indeed disagreeable, expect to be silently removed.)
