Exactly eight years ago I got a small black and white pony who needed a new name, and the United States of America got a new President. The President was black and white and it was the least relevant thing about him. The pony was black and white, and again it was the least relevant thing about him. So the world acquired a second Obama. I admired both of them then, I admire both now.
In eight years I cannot remember a moment when I regretted naming my pony Obama. I was never embarrassed or ashamed of the name. The President and his family, behaved with honour. In modern politics, that alone makes President Obama stand out.
Let us hope the President Obama can start a new tradition of honourable Presidents. But tradition tends to favour the powerful, and those who have been powerful for years. New ideas and new people are not loved by tradition. Both Obamas have suffered from tradition. The President because Presidents are traditionally white, and my Obama, because I broke with tradition.
Traditionally, the countryside is not accessible to people who use wheelchairs. Beaches are not traditionally accessible to people who use wheelchairs. Tradition blocks so much. Obamacare, gun control, judging people as people and allowing people who use wheelchairs to enjoy the countryside.
Type “wheelchair access Exmouth Beach” into Google, go to Images, you will see what Obama has done. Nobody else is taking people who use wheelchairs onto the beach. But it isn’t traditional, so it can’t be a good idea, can it?
I hope that the future will look back on the work of both Obama’s and admire it. It would make a change.
PonyAxeS 