Dear America

Dear America,

I've admired you from afar for some time now. Something about your repeated assertions that you are "the land of the free" have made me feel a sort of jealousy.

Like many Europeans, I watched the presidential elections in 2004 with a kind of unrealistic hope that George Bush wouldn't retain his presidency. Having been so disappointed back then, I couldn't bring myself to think that Barack Obama would become president in 2009, even though Sarah Palin's part in the opposition made the Republican choice suicidally stupid.

On the day Obama became President I felt there was real hope for America and the rest of the world. Even though many things that were promised have not come to pass, I still believe that the effort of fighting against the Republican inertia is the cause, not a lack of integrity on Obama's part.

Basically, America, this is your chance. If you can't stop acting like a bunch of petulant children and get along, we're going to turn the world around and go home. Mostly it's you, Republicans. Somehow you've been polarised against your president even more than usual, but it's got to stop. You've assassinated enough good presidents in the past - please don't encourage more killing just because you don't like the way things are going.

Benedict