Today is a day of hope for the USA
(and, indeed, for the rest of the world). A large proportion of us are
hoping for change in the USA. The three changes that I would most like
to see are:
- A country that no longer believes that it should attack countries on the other side of the world in the interests of “national security”
- A country that doesn’t treat its visitors like suspected terrorists
- A country when science and rationality have more input than superstition and faith into policy-making at all levels
Only time will tell what will actually happen. Call me cynical, but I remember how I felt on May 2nd 1997 and how quickly afterwards my enthusiasm evaporated.
Quite. He’s still a politician after all and office does funny things to them.1997 was the first year I was old enough to vote and I made the same comparison yesterday. I hope I’m wrong.
“A country that doesn’t treat its visitors like suspected terrorists”Oh I don’t know, as a middle-aged respectable old fart on holiday I recently quite enjoyed being prodded, poked, strip-searched, mechanically sniffed and made to stand in front of a dozen or so seated immigration officers while they barked questions at me – it was the nearest I’ve had to S&M sex for years. I especially enjoyed the rubber-gloved officer warning me that he was “about to pat down my sensitive areas”.Mexico, on the other hand & all in the same trip, simply wanted reassurances that I had my wallet with me, that I knew how to use it and that I was not afraid to do so …Long live Mexico. Sod the USA.