Dear Editor,

Which Guyanese can proclaim that he she is insulated from the Obama phenomenon? I dare say, not many. Especially living in a country where political diatribe seems as fixed as the northern star and as immovable as the Rock of Gibraltar.

Some will observe the inauguration of President-elect Obama with heavy hearts and mixed feelings. Some will witness history on Tuesday via modern communications with both joy and then melancholy as we reflect on our local politics. It will be nearly impossible not to ponder on the question of status quo and change here in Guyana. Where is our saving grace? Where is our Huey Long, Che, Nelson Mandela and of course, the indispensable Barack Obama? I fully acknowledge the local circumstances that mitigate against the emergence of such a figure.

Be that as it may, David Kennedy’s sagacious words still hold true: politics, no less than nature, abhors a vacuum.

Yours faithfully,
Ronald Austin, Jr