Embodying his narrative

Part of Barack Obama's political narrative is based on his work as a community organiser in Chicago. The day before his inaguration - Martin Luther King Day - Obama called on Americans to dedicate themselves to a day of service.

Then he visited the Sasha Bruce House, a Northeast Washington shelter for at-risk adolescents from troubled families and helped renovate the temporary shelter in the upstairs part of the home. The project is designed to install curtains, lockers and energy-efficient light fixtures.

No politician and no person will ever be a paragon of virtue. But they all have to embody their narratives to be seen as authentic. Once again, Barack Obama showed us how it's done.

Are we going into a climate trance?

Not long after he was elected president, Barack Obama spoke of the “shock” and “trance” syndrome, that brings panic and then paralysis over America’s reliance on fossil fuels.

Britain (and most of the world) was in “shock” about climate change for a few years. But the credit crunch and the economic recession have now caused a climate “trance”. A trance? In this, of all years. A new global deal on emissions targets needs to be reached at December’s UN climate change conference in Copenhagen.

I have picked up this issue today, in a post on Liberal Democrat Voice.