Thank you for voting yesterday and choosing again Barack Obama as U.S. President.

Not only shouldn’t we take for granted Obama would be re-elected, we were also afraid he could be attacked by the many opponents who played for months against him, acting in favour of Mitt Romney.
The keywords “Hope” and “Responsibility” that became features during the first election campaign, back in 2008, are still on my mind.
Yes We Can, what Barack Obama repeated at the time, still represents an idea and an ideal. The idea that we should be equal and we should strive together for a better world. The ideal that our troublesome times can be fought, that people should walk together and help each other. No matter where they come from or what they do, no matter how much they earn or which God they believe in.
I believe the American reputation outside your country is in general better today than it was during “Bush era”. A lot of work has still to be done, but helping people to get e.g. medical care and treatment, or good education, is a landmark of a civilized country like U.S. are. For sure.
Please don’t get me wrong, Obama is not perfect and most probably he was simply better than his opponent to set his election program forward and win. In Italy we have been used to voting the “less bad” or the “half convincing” candidates rather than sincerely choosing the best for the country, for almost 20 years.
Don’t forget that Italian crisis is so much spread all over the country that we’ll hardly see any tangible improvement in one to two years. Unemployment rate is increasing, most social and economical indicators show that our country is less and less competitive in global markets. Many manufacturing companies are closing ore setting their factories abroad and many Italians take into consideration emigration as a solution. Again. Who will save us? I have no idea, hopefully our politicians are all going home within one year, we’ll let you know what happens next.
Don’t get me wrong. Obama did not take action in some international issues like human rights: Guantanamo has not been closed yet, some countries are still fighting wars that at some extent we contributed to start for our own business.
Death penalty should be abolished as soon as possible, it is a crime that makes no sense in any country, it just contributes to get rid of some people, guilty or innocent, I don’t mind. It should not be practised even in countries where dictatorship rules. Weapons availability should be dramatically reduced for the sake of people, who should find other ways to protect and defend themselves.
Shall we talk about Obama’s Nobel prize? I’d better ask you what the hell it was awarded for.
Many things should be done, many things can happen from today onwards. But I’m so happy that Obama will be your president. Four more years. I will try to come back to U.S. five years have passed since my last visit, I will find better people in a better country. God bless you. Thank you. Grazie.
Roberta