In a recent blog post by Thomas De Zengotita, he asks the question, “Can Obama the man measure up to Obama the promise?” He goes on to reflect:
“That’s the big question. It’s a tall order. That promise is global in scope and historic in depth. Obama could be the first candidate of world culture–the political analogue of world music and world cuisine, the ultimate expression of the ethos of fusion. It’s a hell of a load to put on the shoulders of one flesh and blood person, especially one as young as he is, and even one as gifted.”
That’s quite a remark: “the political analogue of world music and world cuisine, the ultimate expression of the ethos of fusion.” Zengotita has awakened my attention to a whole other dimension to Obama’s Presidential campaign that I haven’t spent much time reflecting on. Not only is he “the first candidate of world culture,” but his “Presidency of Fusion” will inevitably take on an unprecedented global character that we’ve never seen before. And what could be more fitting for our global twenty-first century, not to mention our severely battered American image and integrity throughout the rest of the world?
