I think that is safe to say that Obama thinks very seriously of himself as a representative of Black men everywhere. There are very, very few Black men that have excelled at running any country. I can think only of Mandela as one who has actually done a decent job. Mandela and perhaps a couple of presidents of Botswana, but no major country has ever in all of history has had a Black leader. Nigeria is the most populous Black country on the planet, and Liberia and Ethiopia are the oldest, and mostly their leaders have been extremely effective examples of how NOT to run a country.
I really don't think that he wants to screw up in any way. History is watching him more carefully than anyone in recent memory, and the US as well, as it is pretty much unknown for the son of a foreigner to be elected to office in any of the G-7 or even G-20 countries. I think Sarkozi's parents were French citizens.
Juniorbush obviously wanted to finish the "unfinished" first Iraq War, by throwing Saddam out. He demonstrated precisely why this was a really awful idea, and also taught a negative lesson about how NOT to overthrow one regime in an alien country and replace it.
As I see it, we can only wish Obama well, because our fortunes, like his, depend on his success, no matter what our political orientation is.
