America is black

Here is the editorial that appeared in Le Monde, commenting on Obama's victory.

First of all, one has to write these words out in long hand. Read them slowly and aloud in order to appreciate the magnitude of the news, its emotional and historical charge: the American people have just elected a black-skinned man to the White House. And what intelligence, brio, and sang-froid it took on the part of Barack Obama to win an election that -- let's not forget -- was anything but a shoo-in if we look back less than a year ago. How many pitfalls were avoided, how much resistence and how many prejudices were overcome before this victory was assured, giving a powerful sign of optimism to America and to the rest of the world. Obama managed to make hope coincide with darkness. Without ever, and this is where his virtuosity lay, seeming to be the candidate of a particular community.

Mixing his youth with wisdom beyond his years, the Senator from Illinois was able to break through the original cleavage of a nation born in slavery and segregation and reattach that nation to its founding ideal, the famous "E pluribus unum": making one out of many; believing that a multitude of origins does not prevent us from sharing an aspiration.

A post-racial president? Yes and, above all, one who can legitimately claim to be capable of making himself heard on both sides of the badly healed scar that lies between Blacks and Whites, this past "which has not even passed" as he stated, citing Faulkner, in an exceptional speech he delivered in Philadelphia on March 18, where he calmly and confidently announced his crazy quest for a "more perfect Union."

To win, he had to win over.

And Barack Obama did it by telling a story "that would not have been possible in any other country in the world." His bi-racial history, which finds its roots in Africa and in Asia. A father from Kenya (and not the descendent of a slave), a paternal grandmother living on the shores of Lake Victoria, a white maternal grandmother who died on the eve of his election, filled with love and irrational views on race, fearing Blacks with the same intensity that Obama's former mentor Reverend Wright was able to whip up against Whites.

The new president transcended tensions in order to cut through to what is essential: he managed to place black rancor and white fear on the same scale, uniting them in a single scheme of justice. In doing so, he is the first to break free of a heavy and long chain that runs from the first slaves who built the Capitol to the Civil Rights movement. From Martin Luther King to Malcolm X, from Rosa Parks (who was fined for refusing to give her seat to a White person on a bus in Alabama) to Condy Rice and Colin Powell, both of them propelled to the summit of government.

"Even before he was elected, Obama had done more to advance the cause of black people in the world than Martin Luther King," noted an African head of state recently, off-the-record. "He will be first and foremost an American president," says another. A perfect summary of the scene that will be played out now: the United States has in fact chosen an American who will defend US leadership and interests – up to and including protectionism – and undoubtedly, millions of Blacks will feel more American than they did before without millions of Whites finding themselves left out.

"America is back," shouted Ronald Reagan in 1980. "America is black" is what the world's most powerful nation is telling us today, a devastating power judging from its endless wars, its tattered image, and the unbearable and intense hatred that the lame duck administration has generated with its self-absorption, its Manecheism and its anachronistic reflexes towards the stench of the Cold War.

After electing George W. Bush twice in an incredible move -- bold, dynamic and indicative of faith in its own resources -- America is now closing the book on its conservative revolution, made of deregulation and the unchecked law of the free market, which was killed in the subprime crisis and subsequent collapse of the financial system. Thanks to his charisma and his lucidity, Obama has become the uncontested man of the moment, the man of America's here and now. America has brutally left behind in a dark yesterday both the outgoing president and John McCain, the man who would succeed him.

What an opportunity for this country and for its partners. But also for its enemies, beginning with armed Islamic fundamentalism, which has gotten its sustenance from Bushism's bellicose ideology, its repulsive slogans about the "Axis of Evil," and practices that are not worthy of a democracy--from Guantanémo to Abu Ghraib. After Bush, who was locked inside a set of certainties with no basis in reality, Obama offers the world another face while offering America the much-hoped for opportunity to look itself in the eye with newfound respect for itself, its values and its political institutions.

"Obama will give brand America the same boost that Jean Paul II gave the papacy," as political commentator Andrew Sullivan recently noted. According to Jean-David Levitte, diplomatic advisor to Nicolas Sarkozy and a specialist of the United States, where he represented France for many years, the new president "does not have a different vision of the world. He is a self-made man who is not beholden to anyone."

The keyword for Barack Obama, subject, is pragmatism. Undoubtedly, he will be more cooperative with his allies, more adept at soft power, more inclined to seek dialogue where it has broken down, with Iran for example. "But his multilateralism will not go very far," warns Hubert Védrine, minister of foreign affairs under French prime minister Jospin. He will never make US policy hinge on the outcome of a UN meeting." Surrounded by the diplomatic teams of Bill Clinton 1 (1992-1996), Obama turned the tables on McCain. He appeared to put experience on his side. It was his rival who gradually became the scary candidate who was unsure of himself. With his "change we can believe in" slogan, the new president has laid it on the line: he will do what he can, whatever works, to reduce injustice, educate, provide health care, help people find housing and jobs, letting the government plays its role but without repudiating the market economy approach.

Obama is a "possiblist." While a comparison with John Kennedy is apt ("a pragmatist brilliantly disguised as a romantic"), it must be added that he is a man of his epoch, the man who is most in synch when it comes to plunging America into the multi-polar bath of this 21st century.

On nearly every major issue, aside from the mantra of throwing off the shackles of the Bush inheritance as quickly as possible, Barack Obama has stuck to broad outlines, confident in his ability to understand rapidly and make the right decisions.

Brought to power without a clearly established doctrine, Obama is now in charge of the American dream, open and smiling, preferring calm over drama, reason over excess. He's the man we need. It's up to him to inscribe this moment in the march of time.

Eric Fottorino

High anxiety

I'd like to offer a ride to the local polling place to anyone who needs transportation. I am willing to stand in line and wait for people who are too old or sick or tired to stand in line for long periods. I'll save your place while you sit at Spud's and have a coffee. I'll do anything to help anyone who might otherwise have trouble voting.

Not voting is for losers. Seriously.

And the winner is....

Colten Obama, hands down!


I know this prospect scares many people, so what could be better than a Brock O'Bama Halloween mask?
Trick or treat?

Here is a breakdown compiled by amazon of the number of McCain masks sold versus the number of Obama masks: Supporters of either candidate can buy rubber masks of each to wear for Halloween. So far, 57 percent of the masks Amazon has sold have been Obama masks, versus 43 percent for McCain masks.

Here's how good masks have been historically at predicting winners:



For some of you - not many I hope - that might be kind of scary. BOO!!!!!

Harry's Bar (address: sank roo dan oo) in Paris always does a straw poll. The poll has been conducted for every election since 1924, except during World War II, and has been wrong only twice--when Jimmy Carter got elected in 1976 (over Gerald Ford) and in 2004, when George W. Bush was re-elected. In the voting this year, limited to Americans who present their passports, Obama led McCain 187 to 137, as of Oct. 29.
I was there in 2004, when we at Harry's bar chose Kerry over Bush. Bush's victory literally stunned the French. And being French, this sense of shock was followed by a Gallic shrug that meant "whatever." I got the feeling then that the French had finally given up on trying to understand America and Americans. Indeed, all of Europe pretty much turned away from us in shame. Wrote us off.

Let's hope we give them something to give a "thumbs up" about this time. Samuel Legitimus, a French stage director, said that by electing Obama, "maybe the U.S. can show the world how to really live as a multiethnic country." That's the reality, folks. We live in a global world. And whether you like it or not, that means we're all in this together and we're all mixed up and blended. We need to figure out how to live together. Hate, fear and greed are not going to get us there. The only way to blow us all apart again is to blow up the world. Who wants that? Not COLTEN OBAMA!

Sarah Palin, last seen hitching a ride back home

The Anchorage Daily news endorsement of.... Obama!
"The unqualified endorsement of Sen. Obama by a seasoned, respected soldier and diplomat like Gen. Colin Powell, a Republican icon, should reassure all Americans that the Democratic candidate will pass muster as commander in chief.

On a matter of parochial interest, Sen. Obama opposes the opening of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but so does Sen. McCain. We think both are wrong, and hope a President Obama can be convinced to support environmentally responsible development of that resource.

Gov. Palin has shown the country why she has been so successful in her young political career. Passionate, charismatic and indefatigable, she draws huge crowds and sows excitement in her wake. She has made it clear she's a force to be reckoned with, and you can be sure politicians and political professionals across the country have taken note. Her future, in Alaska and on the national stage, seems certain to be played out in the limelight.

Yet despite her formidable gifts, few who have worked closely with the governor would argue she is truly ready to assume command of the most important, powerful nation on earth. To step in and juggle the demands of an economic meltdown, two deadly wars and a deteriorating climate crisis would stretch the governor beyond her range. Like picking Sen. McCain for president, putting her one 72-year-old heartbeat from the leadership of the free world is just too risky at this time."

As a parting gift for Sarah, a complementary transition wardrobe item. Remember, the $150,000 worth of designer clothing goes to charity.

Next to endorse Obama: The Terminator?

Arnold is definitely looking to the left here...

Seeing the New York Times endorse Obama, which it did yesterday (read the excellent article here: http://tinyurl.com/59shwz) is not much of a surprise. The Times tends to be left of center (indeed, it is widely regarded by the lunatic fringe on the right to be the spiritual and historical root of all liberal media evil), and even some of its more conservative opinion columnists (David Brooks) have been more pro-Obama than their past politics might suggest.

But recent Obama endorsements are really telling. Christopher Buckley, a wonderful humorist and political writer who is the son of William F. Buckley, founder of the National Review and one of the greatest and most entertaining conservative intellectuals of the 20th century, wrote a funny and intelligent endorsement of Obama on the dailybeast.com, and then offered to resign from the NR - a resignation that was swiftly accepted, as he wryly noted. Then came Ken Adelman, followed by Colin Powell and former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan.

It is also noteworthy that Barry Goldwater's own granddaughter came out in support of Obama, although her uncle quickly set the record straight: not all Goldwaters are voting for Obama (you can read both on huffingtonpost.com). I guess the Goldwaters are in for a lively Thanksgiving dinner! The WSJ reports that Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke also favors an Obama victory on November 4.

Moving beyond the United States, we see that if the rest of the world had its way, McCain would get about 25% of the vote, tops: http://tinyurl.com/4xtxua
And if he were running in France, he'd get no more than 5%.

Any day now, exepct to hear that McCain's own chief campaign strategist is urging people to vote Obama. Wouldn't that be a hoot? You betcha!

And how's this for a story of noisy desperation? Ashley Todd, a McCain staffer in Pennsylvania, cut the letter "B" into her own cheek (ouch!), gave herself a black eye (double ouch!!), and then, adding insult to (self) injury, tried to pass off this act of self-mutilation as the work of a black mugger. Apparently he was an Obama supporter who initially intended only to walk away with the 60 dollars in cash he had taken from her, but who then beat her up and carved a B on her face when he saw the McCain/Palin sticker on her car. The fact that she refused medical treatment and that the attack (near an ATM machine) allegedly took place out of security camera range aroused suspicion, but what really sealed her fate was that the "B" carved into her face was backwards -- as if it had been done while looking into a mirror. Oops! You can read all about it on my friend Steve Huff's true crime report, as the story breaks (http://truecrimereport.com).

It ain't a beauty contest

France's Ségolène Royal: She lost to Sarkozy, but nobody ever wondered if she was up to the job of President.

First of all, let me say that I don’t give a hoot about Sarah Palin’s wardrobe, hair-do or make-up, but I would like to know how much she’s spending on those French manicures. Just kidding! But did you know that what we call a French manicure is called a California Manicure in France? I guess nobody wants to claim ownership of those hideous-looking things. What does that tell you?

I find all this discussion of Sarah Palin’s "hotness" rather funny, frankly. Is it really surprising that the Republican Party would never accept a female candidate for high office unless she passed the Rush Limbaugh–John McCain "hotness" test? Nobody cares about her qualifications; they just decided a gal was needed to run as Head Stewardess to McCain's Captain in the Cockpit. She just needed to be hot in the quintessentially American way: Big hair, big make-up, big shoes, big French nails. Not to mention big white Chiclets for teeth and a perma-tan.

Somehow, I am sure the French are not drooling over our newest Poupée Barbie. And she would never have made it out of the starting gate in French politics. Like it or not, the French system actually prepares its politicians for fitness to perform in public life and determine public policy. Most of its politicians and top-level civil servants have been groomed at the elite Ecole Normale d’Administration (maybe I’ll write a post about this some day). In other words, regardless of their political views, they receive a solid grounding in government, history, diplomacy and all sorts of vital things like that. The contrast with Palin, who asked in late July what the Vice President actually did and doesn't seem to have understood the answer, could not be more total. However, she apparently can see Russia from her indoor home tanning salon.


Ségolène Royal was the first woman to make it past the first round in a French presidential election – there are two rounds, and the first one includes candidates who run the gamut politically from far left to far right. She lost in the second round to current president Nicolas Sarkozy last year. Y’all know him. He’s married to Carla Bruni, ex-top model, chanteuse de charme and more, touted as the new Jackie-O.

Sexism may have played a role in Mme. Royal's defeat, but nobody would ever seriously claim that she lacks the credentials or training for high office. Her political career bagan in the mid-80's, and she has been everything from municipal counselor to deputé (like a member of the house of reps). She has also served in the cabinets of several Socialist prime ministers (environment, education, etc.), and even gave birth to her fourth child while holding a ministerial portfolio. Did I mention that she lived with but never married the father of her four children, François Hollande? And that this did not raise eyebrows in France, although their break-up after she lost to Sarkozy got some attention. But it is also true that politicians in France are not asked where they stand on abortion or gay marriage. It is a private matter. I'd better stop now. I'm starting to get nostalgic for French politics.

She is also a very attractive 55-year old woman. She doesn’t have big hair; she doesn’t wear a lot of make-up. She dresses well, in an understated way. She has imperfect teeth behind a broad grin. But the main thing she has going for her, besides having spent a couple of decades preparing herself before seeking the highest office in the land, is intelligence. She knows how to string a sentence together, she finishes her vowels and - gosh darn it - she has a grasp of the issues. Is that hot? You betcha!

That Sarah Palin is one unreal Alaskan

The issues in this election are so clear-cut that a 5-year old can explain them.

By SETH KANTNER
GUEST COLUMNIST

I'm sitting on my bearskin chair beside the woodstove, in Kotzebue, Alaska, 50 miles above the Arctic Circle, while outside the ocean begins to freeze over. Inside I have about 49 things piling up to say to you, America.

I'm an Alaskan -- born in an igloo, enjoy whale muktuk, all that -- and in case you aren't sick of our state by now, I'll start off with an apology for one of our residents: Sarah Palin.

We Alaskans are not generally so magazine-pretty like her, nor are we so confrontational and vapid. Most of us don't have those peachy cheeks -- we have sunburn, windburn and frostbite. Our fingernails are dirty from actually gutting moose, not yakking about it. Our hands are chapped from picking thousands of salmon out of nets, not holding one up for the camera.

Having said that, here in Alaska we are accustomed to getting jobs we're not qualified to fill. In our far-flung villages and towns we have big money surrounded by big wilderness; the combination causes warped career opportunities. Sort of an Edge of Nowhere phenomenon -- cousin to the Bridge to Nowhere one.

For example, in the village closest to the wilderness homestead where I was raised, I remember standing in my friend's cabin when his dad got a call on the CB radio: "People are writing you in for mayor."

"Nope!" my friend's dad transmitted. "Tell 'em no, I ain't doing that." He spit in a can, peered out the door at his Honda generator -- idling rough -- an extension cord running up the hill and under his door, to power the rerun of "Dukes of Hazzard" he was watching.

If he'd lived in Wasilla 25 years later, he could have responded, "Call Sarah, she'll want it."

Similar stories abound. Jimmy: who got the dogcatcher job by telling the interviewer, "I can shoot a shotgun, .30-06, .308 " Or my friend Ian, who this summer worked with computers -- until he was named CEO of a $45 million corporation.

Tougher in Alaska? Not necessarily. Here most anyone can be dogcatcher, city planner, governor, with little or no experience. That's one beauty of our state -- although, often the only thing keeping it all working is the lubrication provided by obscene amounts of money.

Sitting on this worn-to-the-hide bearskin chair of mine, scribbling, I pause to glance at a month-old newspaper before I stuff it in the stove. Lo! There's yet another photo of Gov. Palin; she's sitting in a glass office in Anchorage, with a bearskin, too, draped across the back of her expensive couch. Sarah's wearing heels. The bear's wearing a fake head with a plastic snarl. In the foreground on a glass table crouches something with pincers -- a taxidermied king crab!

I'll have to show this photo to my Eskimo friends I grew up with. We simply never contemplated such wanton unAlaskanness. Why not eat the damn thing? We ate this bear I'm sitting on, including the paws and jaw and fat -- some of which we ate raw, while some got rendered for piecrusts.

Out beyond my window, the slush ice is thickening. In the west lie the Bering Straits. Yes, Vladimir Putin and Moscow are over there somewhere -- a little closer than London. Plenty of us reside hundreds of miles closer to Russia than Palin ever did down in the big-cities of Wasilla or Juneau. In the past 40 years, Russians have motored across a handful of times, Russian Eskimos, in homemade boats. One that I know stayed and married. She's an Eskimo dancer and ivory carver, very capable and beautiful, in a real way. And, I guess like the rest of us now, an overnight foreign policy expert.

By now the world knows our Gov. Palin is an expert at swishing around in color-coordinated this and that, with her makeup, fake Minnesota accent, and her mooseburger and mean-spirited commentary. We can only hope people realize she's a pretty unreal Alaskan, one who is simply skimming the gravy off our hard-earned Alaskan mystique to mix with her varnished nonsense.
(And yes, some Alaskans do sell varnished moose turds, also.)

In the Arctic, where global warming is melting our world regardless of Palin's lone charge against reality, her alleged appeal leaves many of us cold. With our long winters and tough trails, we still value a beaver hat and common sense more than high heels and clip-on hairdos. We simply don't want another leader less intelligent than we are.

Eight years with the cowboy and copilot Halliburton at the helm has been hard on our land. Too much polluting, an unnecessary war draining our economy and both men too cool for global warming. We can't afford to turn now to a beauty contestant and an old guy who's acting like he's run the Iditarod too many times without winning. (Beating his dogs, he's so desperate to win.)

Come on, people. Our ice is melting. Your jobs are turning to dust. Everyone's bank statements are on the verge of being firestarter. Your heating oil is $4 a gallon, ours is $8.

John McCain's answers to those problems? Heck, I honestly don't know what he stands for this week. Talk about a shifting ice floe. But his running mate, we've heard her answers: She's already sued the polar bears, now she's chanting, "Drill, baby, drill!"

Wake up, folks. Sarah Palin is America's bridge to nowhere. Get off it.

From up here in the Arctic -- not left or right but north of the campaign trail -- the reality is clear and cold: When John McCain chose Sarah Palin, he wrote America out of his will. It's time for us to write him out of our future.

Seth Kantner was born and raised in the Arctic and is a commercial fisherman in Alaska's northernmost salmon fishery. He is the author of "Shopping for Porcupine" and the best-selling novel "Ordinary Wolves."

© 1998-2008 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/383843_alaska19.html

John McCain goes in for a little facial yoga

John McCain emits one final grimace in the third debate

We've all been caught by the camera in a less than flattering moment. I probably lead in this category, which is why I have become adept at hunting down and destroying bad photos featuring one of my many unfortunate grimaces. But I'm not running for President of the United States.

This picture is downright scary, as was the "moving parts" version of it at the end of the third debate. It would make a good model for the inevitable John McCain Halloween masks, although I suppose it's too late. Those were made in a Chinese factory last summer and shipped to America for retail distribution by mid-September.

There is a facial yoga exercise that looks a little bit like this. You stick your tongue out as far as you can and hold it for a count of ten. Maybe McCain was just trying to show us that he is hip and now, and that he is working on that anger management problem by embracing holistic techniques.

The Body Politic

Why is this issue still on the table?

First of all, I am as pro-life as the next gal and also staunchly pro-choice. However, I refuse to allow people who want to tell me what to do with my body and my life to usurp the term "pro-life," implying as it does that I and others who defend the right of an individual to choose are somehow anti-life. Sorry, but no. I am pro-life, too.

It has always astonished me, however, to note that those who are opposed to abortion are generally also opposed to sex education, the use of contraceptives and financial and social assistance to the women they would force to bring a baby into the world and the foetus they are calling a person and forcing to be born. In fact, I think it is important to look at all the premises underlying their position.

The premise of the first part of their argument is that life begins at conception. Unfortunately, the premise of the second part of their argument is that it apparently ends at birth.

Passionate concern for the unborn + total indifference for the born = Not really pro-life at all, but definitely anti-choice.

Frankly, I would like to see this divisive issue taken off the American political table once and for all. It is clear that overturning Roe v. Wade is about as likely as revoking the right to bear arms. It is just not going to happen. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever.

Wouldn't it make a lot more sense to accept the fatality of both in American life and just move on? Maybe those who are against guns (I personally abhor guns, but I realize our gun culture is deeply and historically ingrained) could focus exclusively on making gun ownership more difficult and safer for the accidental victims of someone else's need to own one. And those who are opposed to abortion could focus exclusively on making sure that girls who find themselves in the family way have someone to turn to as they face this difficult situation. Adoption could be actively promoted and made much simpler. Abortion, if this option is chosen, could be done as early as possible. After all, China and Guatemala are no longer viable sources of adoptable babies for Americans.

Obama answered the question last night as well, as compassionately and as pragmatically as it can possibly be answered. I am proud of him for owning the pro-choice position. In contrast, McCain decided to channel Sarah Palin and started babbling about partial live births.

Here is what Obama said:
"This is an issue that—look, it divides us. And in some ways, it may be difficult to—to reconcile the two views. But there surely is some common ground when both those who believe in choice and those who are opposed to abortion can come together and say, "We should try to prevent unintended pregnancies by providing appropriate education to our youth, communicating that sexuality is sacred and that they should not be engaged in cavalier activity, and providing options for adoption, and helping single mothers if they want to choose to keep the baby." Those are all things that we put in the Democratic platform for the first time this year, and I think that's where we can find some common ground, because nobody's pro-abortion. I think it's always a tragic situation. We should try to reduce these circumstances."

McCain, who went first, used the question as an opportunity to attack Obama:
"Sen. Obama, as a member of the Illinois State Senate, voted in the judiciary committee against a law that would provide immediate medical attention to a child born of a failed abortion. He voted against that. … Then there was another bill before the Senate judiciary committee in the state of Illinois not that long ago, where he voted against a ban on partial-birth abortion, one of the late-term abortion, a really—one of the bad procedures, a terrible. … I don't know how you align yourself with the extreme aspect of the pro-abortion movement in America. … It was clear-cut votes that Sen. Obama voted, I think, in direct contradiction to the feelings and views of mainstream America."

As a reminder, and in case you had forgotten, this is the Maverick who reaches across the aisle and brings people together on issues.

With all due respect, Senator McMaverick, I believe that mainstream America wants to just move on move on and talk about the things that matter to Americans as a people: the economy, ending the war in Iraq, energy, jobs, education... Mainstream America knows this is an issue that divides us and that will never be resolved to anyone's satisfaction politically. Mainstream America knows that public policy on this issue needs to be pragmatic and not polemical. Mainstream America knows that if we let people choose to own guns or not, then we need to allow people to choose parenthood and not impose it as a punishment for bad judgement or lack of self-control.

Mainstream America knows that if we don't solve the immediate problems that face our nation--as opposed to pontificating on private matters that face men and women--then it is no use forcing women to bring babies into the world or forcing gun nuts to put their weapons down. Where once there was life, there will be only desolation.

Guest blog: Fragment G to Joe the Plumber

Hey Joe, where are you going with that plunger in your hand?

Hey Joe, last night we heard a lot about you and your dilemma. Sounds like things are starting to look pretty good for you, though, and you are wondering which of these candidates can help you the most. Yes, America has some problems right now. Much of the former middle class is struggling, healthcare costs are out of control; education and educational opportunities are suffering; the financial markets are collapsing, and so is our infrastructure. But I’m delighted to hear that things are looking up for you and your personal economy. I’m glad to hear you are earnestly considering which of these candidates is best for you. But I’m saddened to hear that you think it might be John McCain.

I want you and every other undecided voter out there to think about what JFK said:

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.

This IS a great country. It truly is the land of opportunity. Despite its serious problems, some of them listed above, our nation is a great one and we are lucky to live in it. I am very proud of this nation. I would not seek to live elsewhere. I feel lucky to have been born here, to have the opportunity to live here, to make my living here. America has been very, very good to me.

I find it increasingly difficult to take seriously people who wrap themselves in our flag, call themselves patriotic, chant “USA,USA,” and then moan about paying too much in taxes and the need to get government off our backs. You can’t have it both ways.

America is our host. America embraces us. America gives us strong soil to nurture our crops. America gives us a home and a place to raise our family. And now some people who call themselves patriots want to go cheap on her—just when she needs us most.

Hey America, they’re saying, thanks for the opportunity, thanks for giving me everything I needed, and by the way, sorry to here about YOUR problems. Good luck with them!

America is in trouble. America is in debt. We ARE America. We are in trouble. We are in debt. Instead of bitching about how much it is costing us as individuals, how about if we all pitch in and come to the aid of the great nation which has done so much for so many.

How about if we all do our part?

Hey Joe. I paid my taxes yesterday. The good news is that I can’t believe a poor boy like me, who started with so little, has done so well. Thank you, America! The bad news is that I know I will have to pay more next year. I can’t wait. Thank you, America!

Qué Sarah Sarah?

I wanted an image of Sarah Palin that captures my apprehension about her candidacy and her fitness for high public office at the national level, and this has to be it. Thanks to my friend Cathleen Vella for sending it. Notice that she is larger than life and has a pleasantly vacant expression. Notice too that she is wielding both an axe and a harpoon. Also, notice that she is the center of attention, to the exclusion of everyone and everything else. Finally, is it just me or is the moose looking up her skirt?
I think if she were to topple over, among the contents that would spill out would be that weasel husband of hers, Todd. Does anyone besides me have the sinking feeling that Todd is perhaps more involved in his wife's governance duties than he should be, and that this is a modus operandi they worked out long ago? She is his Trojan Horse, and they now have their sights set on Washington. Look out. Hockey Mom and Little League Dad are headed your way!
Not that this was their original plan. A couple of weeks ago, they were sitting around their living room looking at Russia on the horizon and wondering what they were going to do about that naughty Bristol. Was there something in "abstinence only" that she didn't understand? Maybe she could best her mom, and manage to hide that bun in the oven for a full nine-month term. She could be whisked off to boarding school, like people used to do when faced with this kind of mishap, or be sent off for a year of home-schooling in eastern Washington State somewhere. Then THIS happened. Sarah Palin got the call from the McCain people and, as she tells it, she did not blink. Okay, so she didn't blink. But would it have been too much to ask her to think? And what about McCain? What was he thinking? And I don't mean what were his political motivations. They seem patently obvious.
Apparently, he was thinking that he would do anything -- anything -- to be elected President. Show that fucking Republican Party a thing or two. Damn right! Country first, my ass. Me first. And in Sarah Palin, he found his soulmate, not to mention the political world's idea of a playmate. She too has mastered the country first rhetoric while putting self and self glory above every other consideration. She also knows how to use Old Glory, as a recent photo in a Newsweek cover story demonstrated. For the record, I only saw this because my dentist kept me waiting. It made me feel so numb I did not need novocaine.
But boy can she talk politics:
"Bush Doctrine? Never heard of it, why?"
"Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? It is time to take these two motherfuckers off the back of the US taxpayers. What? The government is giving each of them 100 billion dollars? Really? Well, never mind then."
"Do I think it was okay for the US to bomb Pakistan without consulting its leaders first? Well, sure, why not? Where is Pakistan, by the way?"

For just a moment, let's set aside the issue of experience, but not before noting that the Republican team vying for office has to its collective credit 26 years of national-level legislative experience (him) and less than two years of experience in state-level politics, plus a stint as mayor of a small town in Alaska. Everybody knows that. If you look at the Democratic team, you can make a similar collective tally that would add up to something at least slightly better. But I don't think experience is the problem. Or rather, I think it is everyone's problem in this race or no one's problem. It is a sterile debate. Un partout, bal au centre, if you know what I mean.

Personally, what I look for in a leader is wisdom. And that is what is totally lacking on the McCain-Palin ticket. Even if you grant McCain a few points for being a POW and a state Senator (who has supported the current Idiot in the White House 90% of the time, including throughout his disastrous first term of office), I question the wisdom (not to mention the compassion) of a man who cannot control his anger, who has called his wife an overly made-up c*nt in front of others (no wonder she allegedly has drug problems) -- presumably because his anger got the better of him -- and who showed reckless disregard for the welfare of this country by naming a running mate who has no wisdom whatsoever. I am sure she is a great hockey mom. However, I don't want to be governed by a hockey mom.

Trust me on this: I sat through her excruciating series of interviews on ABC, where she occasionally had to break with the vapid script and talk. It was heavily edited and, given the remarkably low caliber of the discussion, I had to wonder what was lying on the cutting room floor. What was left, with or without the script, was robotic nonsense. Pure gibberish. It was scary. It was like seeing George Bush in drag. She even had the same blank expression of angry bewilderment he often wears. I just made up a great joke, which I have posted on a PI blog about how Sarah's favorability ratings are falling:

Question: What is the difference between Sarah Palin and George W. Bush?

Answer: Lipstick.

I don't know about you, but I find that more scary than amusing. We have already tried this kind of executive leadership team, only in reverse --twice in a row in fact. And as a result, our country is more divided than ever; it is more hated than ever by other nations; our economy is a mess thanks to our dependence on foreign oil (and the price per barrel for crude), crazy credit and a war that is costing us 20 billion dollars a month. As those of you who have been paying attention will remember, Donald Rumsfeld told the nation in March 2003 that this war would be over in a couple of weeks at most. I guess toppling over that statue of Saddam Hussein was not enough. Oops!

The biggest joke of all is that we now have two ambitious clowns trying desperately to get into the White House by distancing themselves from their own party and painting themselves as mavericks. Give me a break! They're going to save us from the Republican Party? S.A. Maverick, the Texas engineer who inspired the term, is surely having a good laugh. Lucky for him that his death in 1870 spares him from having to see what gets passed off as maverick these days.

Gobama!

It isn't that I am apolitical, but I have not followed American politics as closely as I should have in recent years. In my defense, I would put forth the fact that for most of the last 25 years I have not lived in the United States. I have watched US politics from afar, and got quickly absorbed in French politics. It was easy to be drawn in, living in Paris. I actually saw many of the big name career politicians going about their daily business. Maybe people who live in Washington DC feel the same way about their "local" politicians.

For instance, I once saw Sarkozy (photo from when he was the young mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine) jogging around Parc Monceau. It was my neighborhood park and the place where I took my daily walks. At the time, he was the rising star in Chirac's government (actually, Dominique de Villepin's government, presided over by Chirac), much to Chirac's dismay. He was Minister of the Interior, and lived at Place Beauveau, which is just next door to the Elysée Palace, the White House of French Presidents. Incidentally, the US and British Embassies are the nearest neighbors. How cozy. Anyway, Sarko and several of his bodyguards were jogging around the path that encircles Parc Monceau (about 1 kilometer around). It was a brilliantly sunny Sunday morning; naturally, the entire 8th arrondissement was out and about. Nobody bothered him, but everyone was aware of his presence. He would have been mobbed in the US or anyplace else. But the French, and more specifically the denizens of the 8th, left him alone but cut him a wide swath. They had to, given the size of his entourage. What fascinated me was how short he was (a fact apparently discovered by the rest of France only after he was elected) and what a big butt he had. A womanly butt and hips. I thought to myself, it's a good thing he has political power because otherwise he would have trouble getting laid. And now look at him. Cécilia leaves and is replaced a couple of months later by La Belle Carla Bruni. She is several inches taller than he is, even in flats, and had a long career as a top model back in the days when that meant something! She said it was love at first sight (un coup de foudre). It must have been those womanly hips. As David Byrne once sang, the world moves on a woman's hips. I guess so!

On a more prosaic note, I saw the Corsican elephant Charles Pasqua going into what I took to be his Paris office one day. But he deserves a whole blog entry devoted to his person. Suffice to say at this time that he and his actions apparently inspired the film The French Connection. And not in a good way.

There have been others over the years. Lionel Jospin, in the final days of his stint as Minister of Education. Jack Lang (Langue de Blois), near La Place des Vosges.

But I digress. I really wanted to write about the Democratic Convention, which uncharacteristically had me glued to the telly last night. Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg was a huge disappointment as a speaker -- bad delivery, no substance. Her Uncle Teddy was simply amazing: the man has brain cancer, after all. He was forceful, eloquent, on fire even. It could just be the medication but, if so, then everyone in this country really does deserve decent health care! Then came Michelle Obama. It was the first time I had heard her speak. She was absolutely phenomenal, and I am not saying this as a groupie or a Democratic partisan (even though I would rather vote for a Democratic psychopath than any Republican, because they're all sociopaths). From a public speaking point of view, she was perfect. Tone, substance, delivery, eye contact, sincerity, timing, you name it, she had it going on. Maybe the bit with the kids at the end was a little cheesy, but who cares? I was eating out of her hand by then. Not a dry eye in the house. I realized watching her that the real reason the fat cats--the ones who vote Republican, send their kids to private schools and don't want to share any of their wealth with people like her--want to maintain the status quo is that people like her, who start out without the advantages, just make people like them look like pampered woosies who could not make it out of the starting gate if the playing field were really level. The fat cats need that built-in advantage because they are mediocre. And the success of someone like Michelle Obama is so much more satisfying and meaningful.
People with money wonder why their kids are spoiled and unmotivated. I think there is no real mystery: Why reach for the stars when everything that glitters is handed to you on a silver platter? Why take risks when you know that you won't be allowed to fail because it would look bad? Food for thought, fat cats. Think about it. And in the meantime, take a chance on change. Vote for Obama.