World view shattered

It’s not because he is black, it’s not because he is a Democrat, it’s not because he is charismatic and it’s not because I think he will do a good job. It’s because he will probably shatter my world view over a decade old.

My earliest memories of American politics, news and current affairs were of the conflict in Kosovo and the attempted impeachment of Bill Clinton.

I barely remember Paul Keating as Prime Minister, some would say that was a good thing. It wasn’t until we were bombarded with advertising spruiking the messiah of the tax system, the GST, that I actually took notice of what was going on in Australia. Maybe it was because the ads were interrupting The Simpsons and Seinfeld or because they were shown 2,000 times a day. Helped by the malaise of the first year of the Bush Presidency, my curiosity in Australian politics grew. My attentions were transfixed with the impending doom of refugees and Norwegian shipping.

The Prime Minister’s office became an abhorrent regime one should be ashamed of. It seemed the Australian political machine could do what it wanted without fear of persecution. By September a blank cheque was written and action in Afghanistan was justified. It was the first time I felt that history was being made.

Suddenly the man no one was taking any notice of was ‘leader of the free world’. I was ready to give everybody a second chance. But by the time Iraq came along it seemed the world was intoxicated on war. Another great shock emerged; Tony Blair, the ‘young’ British Prime Minister was jumping right in with Howard and Bush. Here was a man who professed ‘New Labour’ but brought good ol’ American butt kissing.

After a decade of political awareness, absolutes started to emerge in my view of the world. The Liberal Party was an evil dictatorship that rivalled the Empire in Star Wars. The Republican Party was desperate to turn America and possibly the world white, by force if necessary. But then I remembered that Menzies, Fraser and Hewson, were all members of the Liberal Party – men, who, forgiving their setbacks and scandals, had the best interests of the country and its people at heart. I also remembered that the Republican Party’s first president was Abraham Lincoln.

Last week the men who helped construct this world view were together in one room congratulating each other for their achievements. Blair, Bush and Howard. Three lame ducks in a row, all three unceremoniously removed from their offices.

And while the election of Rudd effectively extinguished the ‘Howard Years’ for me, my perception, and that of many of my generation, will not truly change until the last of the three amigos leaves – and that’s today.