Obama Abroad

President Obama stood on the platform this morning in London at the G-20 Summit conference looking pale and exhausted. He had bags under his eyes, he was sniffling and sneezing, he must be suffering from serious jet lag, and yet, he stood there in front of hundreds of reporters cracking jokes and articulating complex plans to rejuvenate the world.

There were a few moments when his exhaustion seemed to get the better of him and I thought he might collapse in front of everyone, but then he would do his signature pause and stutter while gathering his thoughts and then he would go on.

I am 27 and I have never had, in my life, a public figure that I could call my hero. continued

I remember the Clinton era but my opinions were formed based on the opinions of those around me, not on what I knew about politics or on what I felt in my heart. The Bush era confirmed for me my Democratic roots as I observed, as a young person, all the damage that greed and lies can do a country.

I sat there this morning eating a fried egg sandwich and texting with my friends who were also watching and realized for the first time in my life, that I have a hero. My hero is my president.

I know that the unemployment rate is rising every minute of the day and that people are still getting kicked out of their houses left and right. I know that the answers are complicated and that people don't agree. I know that people will never agree entirely, but the main idea is that they don't have to, they have to compromise.

Obama has been charged with cleaning up the mess of all messes, so in the name of patriotism are we not responsible for supporting him irrespective of our ideological differences?

His brilliance is undeniable and obvious in his oratory skills. He is wearing his dedication on his thin pallid face, and though the eyes of the entire world are on him with arms crossed and toes tapping, he remains thoughtful, practical and in control, ready to save the world.

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