Every teenager has to have their go at it no matter how smooth or rough their parents had it. it’s just how it is.

As one of the early naysayers [or overly cautious optimists :)], I, too, had to eat not one, but two of my hats last year. The first when the son of the native son, Obama, dismantled the Clinton Machine to clinch the nomination and later when he walloped McCain the Maverick, to become America’s 44th president.

THINGS TO PONDER [whaaa...again?]

Is it good leaders before a responsive population or vice versa?…à la the chicken or egg?

If leaders are a subset of a general populace, then are we as Kenyans forever stuck in an endless loop of less-than-desirable all-round leadership?

I know, I know…it’s been argued exhaustively and the solutions are known but hardly ever executed.

I was in a passionate argument with a gentleman yesterday to the effect that America has had 200 years to get themselves in order whereas we are a young country.

I find this to be a bullshit excuse not worth the 1ply it deserves to be written on. Show me the commandment that dictates we must learn from the school of hard knocks! Is it not wiser to learn from the successes and mistakes of others.

It may be a bullshit excuse but M’s unnamed debate opponent wasn’t as wrong as we would all like him to be. America’s core beliefs/values have remained somewhat intact [on paper] and they have been the guiding light for the leadership and the population but have also been subject to flawed interpretation. Still, [in practice] the passage of time with the added benefit of evolving hearts, mindsets and circumstances, have afforded them the opportunity to reevaluate, reinterpret and amend them and in turn continue to build a “more perfect”, more fair union. America is not yet a finished masterpiece, but a work in progress with the deliberate aim of being a one.

In 2004, then Senator Obama [and his dream team] felt America’s pulse and determined that it was time to defy conventional wisdom. Time gives people the opportunity to make drastic changes and remain true to their collective beliefs/values even if it’s far from a perfect state of affairs. Americans have shown that they can talk the talk and walk the walk….
Can Kenyan’s pull something like that off in the near future even by following a working example?

All in all, from my vantage point, it seems that transcending race may be easier than tribe…or is it?

I, of course, reserve the right to be as wrong as ______. ;)

MISC. NONSENSE

There once was RFK*, MLK*, JFK, LBJ, FDR and then there was BHO…nnaaaaaaahhh :P

OUGHT TO BE:

their senses and “agree to do this thing amicably”.

2.the prolong the senseless shedding of blood and suffering unnecessary.

OUGHT TO BE:

they prolong the senseless shedding of blood and the eventual unnecessary suffering.

I agree i am “couch” revolutionary. I deny it not, but the fact is: History bears record that no good system ever came into being without the some blood being shed.

Now, that blood my be the citizens ( God forbid ) or Christ’s ( but men care not for Christ). Take Your pick- Whichever it is, there is ALWAYS the shedding of blood.

Now, if the men involved are wise, sooner than later, they will come to their senses “agree to do this thing amicably”. If not,as is mostly the case in Africa and elsewhere, the prolong the senseless shedding of blood and suffering unnecessary.

That is the unfortunate world we live in.

So this goes our to Toiyoi:

In response to your comments, “Why, i ask: if ECK forced Kibaki KEs and Annan forced Raila on KEs, why on earth don’t the people remove them, even if it means death? Did not one wise one say
“Give me liberty or death””

Show me your fatigues, your boots, your AK, and your commitment to go to the death, and we’ll think about following you.

Otherwise, keep your couch-based revolutionary rhetoric to yourself.

Secondly, I enjoyed the inauguration, and that closing benediction was simply off the charts. How the man managed to distill decades of civil rights struggle into a four-minute prayer… it was one of the most evocative moments of the whole day.

Thirdly, I agree with Toiyoi. Kenya cries out for a leader like President Obama, but her own people stand between her and the object of her desires. I would like to believe that Kenya has plenty of capable leadership. Our leaders are a reflection of who we are.

Lastly, I PARTICULARLY enjoyed this portion of Obama’s speech (quoting offhead, may not be exact):

To those of you who cling to power through corruption, deceit and the silencing of dissent: you are on the wrong side of history, but we will extend a hand to you, if you will unclench your fist.

But seriously M. How about running for President? I think the only requirement is being over 35.

Besides, it may be misconstrued as gloating. And I wouldn’t gloat now, would I?

After all, I think we made a wager and, if my memory servces me right — unlike that of my Chief Justice namesake, all I asked for were a pair of tickets…

What now, my jolly old friend?