Still the buzz in Rome: Obama and the turning point.

More conversations last night and this morning about Obama and the significance of this election victory. Some were commenting on the amount of money spent on the campaign. I became interested as one of my Italian friends said that he discovered that the money spent was not from the government, but raised by donations mainly in the realm of five and ten dollars. This shows it was the people's candidate. So a candidate who came from the people and who was financed by the people. How is that for testimony to the phrase: We can do it!

There was a lot of talk at breakfast about the Italian prime minister's comment that Obama is "young, energetic and well tanned". Silvio Berlusconi made the comment while in Russia yesterday in talks with Russia's president Dmitry Medvedev at the Kremlin. Berlusconi intended to make a humorous comment that Obama and Medvedev (elected in March of this year) both young, athletic and capable, and that the two of them will certainly understand each other as members of the same generation. But the comment did not come out that way. Now Italians are fretting over whether we will be depicted as racist. Whatever! It gives pause for an examination of conscience, certainly.

On the other hand, as a few professors pointed out over our morning caffelatte, Berlusconi always says the first thing that comes to mind and he is nortoriously politically uncorrect. He loves to be the center of attention… and in fact, this is what has happened. The world is talking not about Dmitry or Barak, but about Silvio.

This morning when I got to the office I saw some other blogs and news feeds. Not only are the conservatives worried about what Obama will do as president in terms of policies on taxes, health care or abortion, but the liberals are now worried since he appointed Rahm Emanuel as his chief of staff.

Oh well!

Give it time, I say! In the meantime, we all can complain about the statements of Silvio Berlusconi for the next few days (which I highly recommend) and let Barak do what he needs to do to get his work underway.

[Photo of Medvedev & Berlusconi: the Presidential Press and Information Office, Russia (6 Nov 2008); photo of Obama: AP (4 Nov 2008)]