Obama Makes My Face Light Up

When my Argentinean friends ask me how McCain could have chosen Palin as his running mate, I usually have to get into the discussion of America's culture war. It's a topic that always gets me worked up, so I try to summarize for them:

Half of the country is proud of our diversity and half is threatened by it. Half believes that people who don't have a job need a hand to get back on track, and half thinks they're slackers. Half believes in science, and half mocks science.

Then I explain that Obama represents the first half, McCain is somewhere in the middle, and Palin represents the second half. Poor Biden, no one seems to ask about him.

But whenever I talk about Obama, my friends notice that my face lights up. Since Argentines are inherently skeptical of government, they think I'm naive (and they may be right). Explaining my excitement over Obama is way more difficult than explaining the culture wars.

"It's what Obama represents," I tell them. "He's half black, half white, well educated, articulate, rational. He makes me feel good about my country again."

They inevitably bring up Clinton. "Besides the race issue," they ask, "isn't Obama pretty much like Clinton?"

And politically, they're right. He is a lot like Clinton. And while I liked Clinton, my face didn't light up when I spoke about him. "It could just be that the past eight years were so bad that any sign of hope makes one half of the country feel elated," a friend suggested.

"Maybe." I left it at that not sure how I could explain what it is really about to me.

But today I read Roger Cohen's op-ed in the New York Times, American Stories. And now, I'm ready to go out with my friends tonight and give them my answer to the question.

There are many of cultural divides in the US, but the big ones have been over race, religion, and region. White vs. black, Christians vs. secularists, Northerners vs. Southerners. And over the past eight years, us vs. them has reached catastrophic levels and it has been fueled by our leaders. To me, Obama represents the opportunity for Americans to be one people. His speeches inspire us to see past these divides. It's in part due to the fact that he doesn't attack his opponents on cultural issues, he rises above that, and, in so doing, sets an example for everyone. That's the hope that I see in Obama.

And I hope that if this is the change Obama brings to the States, it might spread. And that, I believe, would bring more security and prosperity to the entire world.

Worst Ad Ever

That's what they are calling Liddy Dole's ad which accuses her opponent of, in essence, being an atheist. The final line pretends to be Kay Hagan's voice saying, "There is no god." Hagan strikes back, "I've taught Sunday school."



A part of me wonders why this is considered to be the "worst" ad ever. I mean, oooooo... they called you an atheist. Get out the guns. Prove you aren't. After all, anyone who's taught Sunday school must be pro-America.

So, as Michelle Bachman made clear, elitists (i.e. those who read and speak in complete sentences) are anti-American. And now, Liddy Dole (and Kay Hagan with her response to Dole) make the case for atheist=bad person. Ah yes, you're an atheist, must mean you're a terrorist. You're the devil. Bet you hang out with that Ayres guy.

I get it. Anyone who wants to run for office in the States must end every speech with "God Bless America." I get it. Americans love their god more than their constitution. But since these people are not elitists, they probably have not read the constitution or history. To them it reads, we guarantee the "right to religion," and down low at the bottom in 6 pt. font below the signatures it says, "but if you don't believe in God, you're outta here."

The media should not be calling this the worst ad in this political cycle. The ad linked Hagan to a group of secularists that want religion to be a private matter. They want government officials who wonder "is this it? Don't we need to make life here on Earth the best it can be because there may not be a heaven?" They want "In God We Trust" taken off dollars because we should trust in ourselves. And hey, let's face it... if there is a god, don't you think that would be the big plan anyway?

I put you here, gave you these resources, this amazing planet, a whole bunch of other people to share it with....it's your turn to do something?

Something like, take care of this planet I gave you and take care of these other people you share it with.

Ah... I must be a socialist, communist, atheist, anti-American, elitist. How could I even think such a thing?

Keating Five and Today's Crisis

Sick.

Debates and Bingo

I'm sort of bummed to not be in Buenos Aires for tonight's debate between Biden and Palin. Last week the turnout in BA was amazing, so this one ought to really impress.



If I were there, I'd print out these Bingo cards and bring enough for at least the 300 people who showed up for last week's debate.

Small Town Values and Other Rovian Tactics

I've been in Los Angeles for a while now and got to see the Republican National Convention coverage and the aftermath of the Sarah Palin pick. And this is exactly why I don't watch TV. Talk about make you stupid. When I'm in Argentina, it's easy to not really know what issues are being talked about here in the States or if they are talking about issues at all.

One non-issue the RNC slammed down our throats at the convention was the small town values vs. the elitist cosmopolitan values of those who actually read books and have opinions (informed opinions) on the issues. Here's the Daily Show's take on small town values. You gotta love Jon Stewart and his gang.



Tell you what, these people don't do small towns any favors. Sounds like they're talking about the kinds of places where everyone knows everyone, ergo everyone knows everyone's business.

Throwing the hockey mom down our throats may not have been Karl Rove's idea, but the GOP has been paying attention during the last two elections. They know what it takes to win. Employing Rovian tactics--i.e. figure out what your competition will accuse you of and accuse them of it first--has worked before. Sure, it's not something to be proud of, but this is politics.

Which is why I'm so shocked when Republicans claim that McCain and Palin would bring about change or that they would clean up Washington. What? They're playing the exact same game as always. McCain's pick of Palin was political, it wasn't about choosing the best person to take over should something happen to him.

At the end of the day, any educated voter who chooses the Republicans does so either because they're rich and want to pay fewer taxes or because they think flexing your muscles shows your enemies that you are a force to be reckoned with. If it's because they're rich, I don't have an argument for them. They will probably pay fewer taxes with a GOP president. But if it's because they think the Republicans are the ones willing to do what it takes to keep America safe, they couldn't be more wrong.

I've heard the "the end justifies the means" argument regarding our occupation of Iraq and our use of torture. It's the equivalent of selling your soul to the devil and then being surprised when you find yourself in hell. You'd think that the 7th anniversary of 9/11 would have brought out the issue of how we deal with threats to our security. Instead, the talk was about whether Obama called Palin a pig and the nasty mudslinging that this election has brought about.

Guess we'll have to wait for Jon Stewart to steer us back towards the issues again by making a mockery of the talking points. If nothing more, the Daily Show will give us a good laugh, something I think most educated voters are in dire need of.

Reaching Broader Audiences

I've followed Howard Zinn's writing for years. His book "A People's History of the United States," is a comic book illustration of American history meant to reach an audience that is outside of the establishment. I love the idea.

When I taught composition, I always wanted to have students create video essays. I believed that this generation is more impacted by images than words, and that the combination of images and words is an incredibly powerful medium. The challenge would have been to maintain the same standard for sources and arguments required in an academic essay (i.e citations, credible sources, well-balanced arguments, etc.). My bosses never liked the idea. I wish I could have shown them this video, "Empire or Humanity? What the Classroom Didn't Teach Me about the American Empire," based on an essay Zinn wrote for TomDispatch and narrated by Viggo Mortenson.



Will it reach a broader audience? It's been viewed almost 80,000 times and I bet a large number of those 80,000 people don't have a copy of the book. Plus, there are roughly 340 comments on YouTube. Some of them are worthless, but others resemble the types of discussions I tried to get my students to engage in. For example:

"How does one spread humanity? The problems that he identifies are real, but his solutions are too vague?"

Maybe it's all wishful thinking, but the video does prove that a message that combines words with images can be as powerful as a book (if not more powerful). What do you guys think?

Meatless in Buenos Aires

The two-week strike keeps going. Farmers, protesting massive taxes (41% for soybeans), have barricaded roads and stopped shipments of beef, dairy products, and other grains. The beef aisles in the supermarkets have been shut down and covered with tarps. Butcher shops are empty. Chicken prices have skyrocketed. We're all eating pizza and we may soon have no cheese for our pizza.

Yesterday a protest in Plaza de Mayo turned ugly. I asked a taxi driver and a friend of mine their opinion of the protest. Both said the government sent in their bankrolled protesters to beat up the others. The called it a mafia and voiced concerns that Argentine President Cristina Fernandez won't be able to handle the crisis. Neither wanted to think of what that would mean to the country.

According to the taxi driver and my friend, the problem isn't only that the taxes are too high. Argentina is one of the few places where the dollar is still strong. They claim that farmers and the government are enjoying the weak peso as exports grow. But the farmers aren't seeing much return. What's worse, the taxes, which the government claims are meant to disperse the money to sectors more in need, are not going back to those sectors. Corruption.

I used to think that the word corruption was overused here as if it were thrown around to explain all of the country's problems. Now I realize I have no idea what I'm talking about. Would the government actually send in paid protesters to beat up the legitimate protesters? Do they think people will believe that the farmers aren't in agreement and some farmers would beat up the others?

Regular citizens showed they too sided with the farmers by honking their horns ALL NIGHT LONG. More horns honked than when River or Boca when a match. The strike can't go on much longer, but I have no idea which side will retreat. One thing is certain, yesterday I had the worst empanada I've had since I got here. Don't eat meat until this is over.

Symbolic and More: Obama '08

Back in December Andrew Sullivan wrote an article in the Atlantic Monthly, "Goodbye to All That: Why Obama Matters." I don't always agree with Sullivan, after all, he did endorse G.W. in 2000. But his December article made the point that an Obama presidency would symbolize a turn in American politics that would help us restore our damaged image. I couldn't agree more.

But symbolism is not reason enough to vote for Obama. There's much more substance to the man and his campaign than mere hope and symbolism. Change is a big part of it and something I think Clinton does not promise. Lawrence Lessig's 20-minute video (embedded here below) on why he supports Barack Obama puts it better than I ever could. Enjoy!

Two Weeks in LaLaLand

I'm back from two weeks in California, a blue state. I was there during the Oscars when LA became a ghost town. No traffic, no need to make reservations, no lines anywhere, save, I suppose, in front of the Kodak theater. Back in 2003 there was talk of whether or not they should hold the Oscars. After all, we were a country at war.

Once again the Oscars almost didn't happen. But not because of our ongoing war: the writer's strike nearly brought down the annual celebration of overpaid stars, mediocre scripts, and ego hasta la luna.

This year's Oscars were considered a flop. Fewer people attended, fewer viewers tuned in, and, oh no, for the first time ever all four major Oscars for acting went to foreigners. A true tragedy.

No activist actors boycotted to send a message to the presidential candidates that it's high time the war become the subject of debate in this campaign. Well, that's not totally fair. McCan't is all about war, and fear, and no tax increases, and riding the wave to oblivion. Our troops will stay there but we won't call it war.

So why not? Why was there no talk of whether or not it would be in bad taste to hold a party celebrating our cinematic triumphs when our soldiers and Iraqis continue to die (more than 1.3 million so far have died according to the Oxford Research Bureau)? Why isn't the war the main issue in this campaign?

It's the economy. LA's economy was hurt by the writer's strikes. People were out of work. Studios couldn't produce. The films that were already being produced were nearing completion. Ending the strike before the Oscars said "We're back in business." The US economy is also hurting. And since there really is no cheap or clear solution for ending our occupation of Iraq and rebuilding the nation we wrecked, the candidates are ignoring the fact that the majority of Americans do not support the war. We can't afford to fix it so we'll stay indefinitely, or at least for the moment.

I've often thought that California would be the one place I could live in the States if I were to return. It's the nexus of change. I did meet people who get it. And certainly more than I would find in other parts of the country. But I was astounded at how many Democrats with Republican talking points I met. The blue state, save New York, maybe. The people who gave Gore an Oscar last year, the people who push for cleaner fuels, who eat organic, who teach the difference between religiosity and spirituality, who probably started the worldwide anti-smoking movement, were largely missing in action.

Fear of Knowledge

The New York Times published a review of a new book called "The Age of American Unreason," by Susan Jacoby. She decided to write the book on 9/11 back in 2001 when she overheard a conversation comparing the attacks to Pearl Harbor. "What's Pearl Harbor?" asked one of the guys. The other explained that it was "when the Vietnamese dropped bombs in a harbor, and it started the Vietnam War." Yep, overhearing that conversation could drive any informed citizen downright mad.

What is the deal with the anti-intellectual trend in the States? There's hope though. Check out the video below to hear a young guy who has informed opinions and expresses them well. He even looks cool.

McCan't See the Forest for the Trees

Had a brief debate with a friend who supports McCain. My friend explained that he and I see eye to eye on most issues, but that there's one big difference.

The issue we see differently is the “terrorist threat” posed by Muslim fundamentalists (fundies, I call them, whether Christian or Muslim). He thinks the fundies are a major threat. I won’t argue with that (not because I agree, but because I know there is no point arguing on that subject).

So if the terrorist threat is the main issue for him, then he must be supporting McCain because of his stand on Iraq and Iran. I pointed out that the war in Iraq had nothing to do with terrorism. He agreed that it didn’t at the beginning, but said that in his opinion it does now. So I asked if he thought that invading and occupying another country and maintaining a losing war in that country created more terrorists (whatever their religion may be). Destroying your image around the world and acting like self-righteous mavericks can’t help the “War on Terror” if such a war even really exists, can it?

A lot of people think my view of reality is tainted by having lived in the Middle East for a spell and because I haven't lived in the States much for the past 15 years. They tell me I am misinformed and cannot see the forest for the trees. Odd that having actually lived in the Middle East for three years would qualify me as “uninformed.”

Of course, the way I see it, it’s the Republicans who can’t see the forest for the trees. It’s anyone who believes this war was about anything other than oil and money who are blind. And it’s those who think that starting another war would make us more secure.

So to me, McCain will forever be McCan’t. And considering I support the “Yes, We Can” candidate. I think it hits the nail on the head. Go Obama!

Breaking the silence... well, sort of

I’m breaking my silence. I haven’t written in a while because the only subject that inspires me now is politics, and some years ago I decided not to talk about politics. It was a practical decision. I made everyone mad when I talked about politics and I need friends.

People who know me might think I haven’t really sworn off the subject of politics. I do join in on occasion. But I never really say what I honestly think. Or better, I throw out some simple statements to get a feel for the climate and take it from there. The exception is with those friends who see things the way I do. Then the real me comes out.

When I’m not thinking about the elections in the States, I am typically writing lessons about communication. How’s that for irony? My lessons are for business people around the world learning English and the goals are very different.

In these business communication lessons I teach people to analyze their audience, to pace (that is, to match the audience’s expectations in terms of delivery speed, word choice, nonverbal communication, etc.), to use positive emphasis (point out the good side), and to reserve emotions.

I may have been teaching this so long that I’ve become a business communicator all the time. When there is conflict, I know I need to listen carefully and reserve judgment. I’m aware that my view is not everyone else’s view and that people rarely hear a message the same way the sender intended it to be heard. I teach that as we listen, we delete the information that doesn’t match our own views and then distort the rest of the information so that it does.

So I think I’ve become a walking business communication puppet. And it’s driving me absolutely nuts.