Yesterday, the world's most powerful man played with — and won — the minds of many young, and some not so young, Australians. The majority hadn't the slightest notion they'd been played, and others again wouldn't care — such is the allure and power of celebrity.
The speech was a great one. It had humour, relevance, breadth, and more — as befitting that of one of the modern era's best orators.
His sentiments on the responsibilities of being the world's only superpower, same-sex marriage, empowerment of women, and more, were a welcome and necessary contrast to a world stage stifled with inertia from the likes of North Korea, China and Russia.
But what Obama had to say on the hot button topic of climate change was hardly heady stuff: "everyone has to do more, now is the time", et cetera et cetera, and so on and so forth. For those paying attention — and those old enough to remember — he essentially repeated Kevin Rudd's 'Greatest Moral Challenge' from 2007. If maths isn't your strong suit, that was a full seven years ago, making Barrack Obama and the United States of America very late to the table.
The United States has been slow-moving on climate change
Under Obama, the United States has been slow-moving on climate change — and the Brisbane Speech offered nothing of substance — new or otherwise. Here was a man promising things he won't be around to deliver and resolutely failed to do so when he could.He announced:
• a 'deal' with China to reduce their emissions
• the US will commit federally to reduction targets
• the facilitation of $3 billion towards assisting emerging-economy reducers
leftgasm
By this point in the speech, the leftgasm had blown, the intended and crafted legacy had been written — and the domestic political opportunists were writing their copy. For thousands of people, and many pop websites that's where the story — and the hundreds of thousands of hits and social media shares — starts and finishes.What's not getting play on pop media is
• The non-binding China 'deal' doesn't kick in until 2030 (a 29-year-old today won't see China lift its first finger in reduction until aged 45).
• China's reductions — if and when — will largely be achieved on the back of nuclear energy. Something which Australians apparently have no truck for.
• America's touted reductions will largely be achieved on the back of fracking — something that Australians also despise.
• Australia, under either stripe of government, is already under way with its reduction targets.
Even if you liked what he said, it was all said 7 years ago
But such is the power of a great orator. He can suspend intelligence, say little of substance and be lauded for it. Even if you liked what he said, it was all said 7 years ago.Yesterday's $3 billion announcement was made without the consent of a Congress, which Obama no longer controls (he lost badly in last month's mid-term elections). The money's unlikely to ever see the light of day, but Obama knew, some would say cynically, that that's an irrelevance when busy building one's legacy.
I don't judge Obama adversely for telling the best story he can. I highlight the power of the man — and great orators in general — to carry the hearts and minds of a people to a place far removed from reality and history — and send them into delirium for good measure.
I like Obama. I think he's a good man, but history won't be overly kind to him for the deficit between what he promised and what he delivered.
But yesterday he was crafting a legacy (he has two years remaining as a lame duck president, with his domestic support at record low levels) — and for one day in November in Brisbane, on the other side of the world, he found the old magic and could have sold the locals shares in the Story Bridge — many times over.
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