What a week

Only 16 Months ago he was voted in as a Messiah on a wave of hope. Ever since he was continuously depicted, at best, as weak and feeble, at worst, as the Devil incarnate. In the last 12 months he suffered a level of abuse incomprehensible to anyone outside the US and unimaginable towards a white president. A level of abuse by right wing commentators that in any other country would have been considered enticement.

And still, he ploughed on. Not believing the dreams of the hopeful or fretting the nightmares of the paranoid. Steadily moving forward, in line with his clearly articulated vision (which, I am sure, Fox News would have referred to as "manifesto" - he is a Communist after all).

What is it that they say in the Guinness ads? Good things come to those who wait? Well, they did. Only this week. The healthcare bill, until recently considered doomed following a freak senatorial vote in Massachusetts, is now law. 32 millions Americans will now have healthcare insurance. That's half the UK! Now the cost may seem high at $100bn pa. Still, I bet you that if Obama took the following question to a referendum: "what would you rather spend $100bn pa on, healthcare or Iraq?" (which the US is spending) he'd win at least 75% of the votes.

Relationships with Russia, only recently heading towards WWIII, have now seen the largest reduction of nuclear weapons in 20 years. And, BTW, the Russians will be decommissioning double the number of nukes the US will. Not bad for a weak president.

What a week!

So, all that's left is: withdrawing from Iraq & Afghanistan, sustaining economic growth, finally closing down Guantanamo, reducing unemployment, Catch Osama Bin Laden, recovering the stimulus from the banks, disarming Iran & North Korea and tackling global warming. Not a lot then? You would have noticed that peace between Israel and the Palestinians is not on the list. I guess that's too much even for Obama.

BTW 265km down, 735km to go. Not gaining any "spares", yet not falling behind either.