Friday, October 16, 2009

 ...NOW THERE'S A CLAIM TO FAME

A friend arrived in town, visiting from Washington State, (where she'd returned to after three years living here in the UK).  It brought back memories of how well informed she felt she was on global issues when she lived in the UK, in comparison to now, where a lot of unfamiliar information jumped out at her on this visit. Yes, she said, the Americans knew about the latest Tsunami and the earthquake in Sumatra because it was an American interest.

One part of our wide-ranging conversation went as follows:

Who is this man, he's all over the London newspapers? ... London is going to make him your prime minister at your next election ... They are...who?...  Cam somebody.  You mean David Cameron? ....  Yeah, that's him.  You are going to turn Conservative. We've not heard a peep about him in the States....   And you think London is going to elect him?  ... It looks like it... It is a UK election you know, not just a London one. On the other hand, the media are busy being king-makers, and they'll ensure who they want is elected. ... They always do, Oprah Winfrey was all powerful in our last elections, she is credited as turning the election, all by herself.  

Now there's a claim to fame.  I wonder if Oprah could weave her magic in the UK from London or Cardiff or Edinburgh.

2 comments:

TG said...

Hahaha... Oprah had some influence in the primaries, but she didn't turn the election. It was Obama, his people and all the supporters around America... his ideas and a huge amount of money. If so... money turned the election and possibly the recession. And lets not forget George Bush and Sarah Palin. If all these things weren't intertwined, you would not see a black man with universally great ideas being the prez of USA.

ZACL said...

George Bush was elected twice???????? What does that say...

The thought of Sarah Palin being the vice president to an old man, who could have died while in office, who may not have been equipped for doing the job, was enough to turn anyone to look elsewhere. But, this element of discussion, is all from a European perspective, not an American one.

Sure, Obama is intelligent, engaging, and connects with people, many,many kinds of people. He does have talent. He is also a fine orator. He has had to be better than the best in the race to obtain the prize.