The land of opportunity.

I am in shock. In disbelief. Although it was what I wanted, what was anticipated, I never dared to assume too much. The 44th president of the United States of America is Barack Hussein Obama. I am yet to have a proper reaction, there's been no laughter, no crying, just hands on face, staring at the TV. This could be due to exhaustion, after all it is tiring to stay up all night watching the numbers come in, state by state.

All I can say for now is thank you. Thank you America. Once again you have proven that you are the land of opportunity. The land I love to hate, the people I love to mock, have proven me wrong and I could not be happier. Obama's victory may not be beneficial to Africa in terms of funds and aid, but his victory means so much in the battle of race and ethnicity across the world. To think that people in their sixties can remember a time when they had to sit at the back of the bus, will now salute a black president. The man who was only the third black senator in American history, has made it to the top.

What makes it even more beautiful is the fact that he is a mixed raced man. A product of love between Africa and America, growing up in Asia. What person could personify unification of the world more?

Naturally, we should not forget that it is because of his competence that Obama was elected and as such, I look forward to watching how he handles the critical situation his country is now in and I hope and know he can handle it successfully. Lastly, I must say McCain showed great dignity and humility in his speech conceding defeat and I think he deserves all credit for that.

Now, I hope to be off to bed shortly, knowing that I will wake up to a world that is facing a brighter future. Once again, thank you, America!

Who will win?

It's getting so close now. The world is anxiously waiting. Has any other election gripped the world like this one? No matter who wins, history will be made. Will America see its first female Vice President (tofi akwa!) or its first African-American president? That brings me to another issue that's been on my mind for a while: is anyone outside of America actually supporting McCain??

Sweden is in majority behind Obama, Germans, if they were voting, would be 80% behind Obama and in France, out of our deliciously arrogant Frenchmen, 93% would readily vote for Obama! It is clear whom the world wants, now we just have to wait and see who America wants. As much as it is looking promising, they have disappointed us before, so I will wait and pop my Champagne when I am absolutely sure.

The main discussion topic around town (read: Facebook) is where to watch the election. It looks like Virgo and I will head over to SQB's, but just in case we don't manage, we're finally, as we speak, having our DSTV installed in the house. Another good option is to take in the moment with Americans in Accra at Headlines down the road from me in Labone.

What are your "valvaka" (that's Swedish for Election watch) plans? Whatever you decide to do, I hope I and you can meet dawn with a great new President elected. A President who stands for change, a change desperately needed in America. I hope and pray that two mavericks will not be selected, especially as I fear the main maverick may not survive the tough job of leading the US through a credit crunch and all else which comes with leading the world's most influential nation. If he were not to survive, it would mean him giving way to the most ridiculous maverick political history has seen in my lifetime; a maverick who makes a drunk Jeltsin seem the most respectable politician!

Ah well, in just a few hours we shall know. Enjoy the Valvaka!

Castro's back!

For weeks I have been wondering what's happening to Fidel Castro. It has been so quiet since Raoul took over I began to fear Fidel was no longer with us. Then, this Saturday he spoke out again. There are certain men who must be admired simply for the fact that they don't give a damn about what anyone thinks and therefore say exactly what they want. Castro is definitely one of them. There are not many of his comments I can disagree with relating to his opinions on the American election.

Personally, I never thought a black man would even get this far in a US election during my lifetime, but just as I begin to be impressed by the forward thinking nature of many Americans, I come across this video, which once again reminds me of the narrow-minded nature of the stereotypical red-neck.

...and suddenly, just like Castro, I can't help but feel it is a miracle that Obama is still alive, with all the ignorant, hateful people around in his country.

John McCain strikes back

Trust John McCain to ruin simple statistics for a Ghanaian-Swedish blogger!

After a night full of dreams two days ago, I woke up impressed by the discovery I had made. Don't worry, it's not as fascinating as it sounds. In one of my many dreams, Obama's son was being accused of sexually assaulting a girl who was either John McCain or John Kerry's daughter. It could be Obamania even in my subconscious, but I suspect I dreamt about this because the last thing I read before bed was an article about Michelle Obama.

Of course, when I woke up, I remembered that Obama doesn't even have a son, he has two daughters. Then I thought, wait a minute: Bill Clinton has a daughter, George Dubya has two and Obama has two! Does it take a 'daughters-only' household to lead America in modern years?

Very proud of myself, I set off to research McCain as I have not heard anything about his children (and I really wanted to be able to write a sexist post on how having daughters is the key to success for American presidents-to-be). Naturally, as in politics, he had to oppose me. John McCain has SEVEN children! Two adopted sons, then two girls, two boys and an adopted girl (did I get it right?).

Then again, if all goes well in the election ;), my theory will come true, meaning that for almost two decades, to successfully make it to the White House, you have to aim to only produce girls.

Kind of puts a new spin on the saying 'behind every successful man is a woman'.