The World Watches

From the Washington Post:

John Mbugua, 56, a taxi driver in Mombasa, Kenya, woke himself at 3 a.m. the day of the Iowa caucuses and flipped on CNN. He said he watched for hours, not understanding precisely what or where Iowa was but thrilled about the victory of Barack Obama, the first U.S. presidential contender with Kenyan roots.

John isn't the only observer from outside the US who is interested in the presidential election process here.

"It's a great spectacle, and people are avidly devouring it," said Jeremy O'Grady, editor in chief of the Week, a British magazine.
....

"Love it or loathe it, this is still a world dominated by one great power," he said. "Even if we can't influence the election, we want to see how it turns out."

I can't say that I find fault with their interest. With Bush, the loose canon, in office for the last seven years, with great military might behind him, I'd be watching, no matter where I lived.

But much of the enthusiasm comes from anticipation of President Bush's departure, according to several analysts. U.S. prestige and popularity in much of the world have sunk to historic lows since Bush took office, over such issues as the Iraq war and climate change.

Yes! Here, too! With many of my fellow citizens, I can't wait for him to be gone. He's at 29% approval ratings according to the CBS/New York Times poll. I freely admit that I picked the lowest number that I could find. Yay 29%!

From England, to Brussels, to Iceland, to South Africa, to China, and, I'm sure, many other countries, they are watching. People want to know.

Last, but most certainly, not least, come these words in the comments from my virtual friend, Themethatisme, from the North of England:

Blogger themethatisme said...

I must admit I am increasingly fascinated by this process on t'other side of the pond. I've never been to the USA, have never fancied going, I've only ever met one American that I would happily meet again, (and he's dead now so that's not imminent. But I'm following this election in a way I have never done before. It can only be OCICBW influence in my life....

He may sound a bit anti-American (Can you blame him?) and misanthropic, but he's not, actually. He's truly quite nice. He was kind enough to say that if he met me, he was sure that he would like me.

In his most recent post, he says this about the British press:

The press are the most unclean thing around this country, traducing thought and reason, into pitch battles for the purposes of making money.

Isn't that an apt description of the US press, also? I could not have said it half so well. Those good words should soften your American hearts towards him.

UPDATE: TheMe has answered my charges of anti-Americanism and misanthropy in a post at his blog site.

I remind everyone of the words on the right sidebar of my blog, "Wounded Bird, on occasion, indulges in irony." In truth, I love TheMe. His wife should worry. He's not at all misanthropic or anit-American.