O Obama!

Walt Whitman's great ode to Abraham Lincoln, O Captain! My Captain!, delivers a passionate address on Lincoln's passing:

"O captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up! For you the flag is flung, for you the bugle trills:
For you bouquets and ribboned wreaths, for you the shores a-crowding:
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning."

Similarly, at the start of his presidential campaign, it is for Barack Obama they call.

But not all of them...

John Howard's cat-call across the Pacific yesterday achieved outcomes that you couldn't wish for in a month of Sundays:

Firstly, name recognition. The Australian people have been told loudly by the Prime Minister that Barack Obama is a serious danger to Mr Howard's republican mates in the next Presidential election. That Obama has numerous hurdles to cross before ever getting the opportunity is irrelevant. By calling him to task on his Iraq strategy, Howard has delivered eager Australian eyes to Obama's campaign of hope.

Secondly, John Howard has again demonstrated to the world his inability to have an independent voice. His blind acceptance of President Bush's Iraq doctrine plays right into our hands. His additional attack on my Iraq position only makes his position more tenuous.


Footnote: I see Barack Obama has rejected Mr Howard's criticism with a strong point on Mr Howard's action versus rhetoric:

"I would also note that we have close to 140,000 troops in Iraq and my understanding is Mr Howard has deployed 1,400.

"So if he is...to fight the good fight in Iraq, I would suggest that he calls up another 20,000 Australians and sends them to Iraq, otherwise it's just a bunch of empty rhetoric."