I was not a supporter of Barack Obama during or after the election campaign. I thought him smug and often fatuous. I found his inexperience deeply troubling, and his voting record appalling.
Now don't get me wrong. I still think all of those things. Certainly, there is something inspiring about the election of a black President. Certainly, he is a tremendous speaker. But I did not think that those things were enough and still don't. Furthermore, I have found the gushing from so many (even in this country) about him to be pretty stomach-churning. I'm certainly no "Obamacon", the strange group of supposed Conservatives whose interest in jumping on any populist bandwagon passing by led us to adopt totally intellectually unjustifiable policies like our brief (thank goodness) opposition to tuition fees.
But yesterday, I was impressed. In the course of a press conference, Joe Biden had a cheap crack at Chief Justice Roberts. He was being silly. No news there. The news is that Obama, lips pursed, brow furrowed, was demonstrably unimpressed by Biden's quip. Rightly so.
Because they're not campaigning any longer, they're not swinging against the establishment - they are the establishment and if they're going to get anywhere they will need to work with the other branches of government. Obama knew this and despite the fact that he was surely sore at the Chief Justice over oathgate he knew clearly what's more important - not personally insulting the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court at the outset of his Presidency, during which he hopes to Get Things Done. He was mature and his Veep wasn't. On this site I know that we all wish America well, whatever our preferences politically - and I took this to be a good sign.
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Postscript: and of course I was also delighted by his decision on Guantanamo Bay, which I have discussed previously on this site
