I Like Republicans or...

Okay, before all of you attack me for that blasphemy let me explain myself. A wise man (my uncle) once told me that I should read up on my enemy (the republicans) before I attack them. So I have been and LET ME TELL YOU! This could not be a better time to want to read about the Republicans. Sarah Palin and John McCain have just provided so much entertainment. Some of the quotes will go down in history. I think "I can see Russia from my house!" is my favorite. I wonder if the word LIPSTICK will ever be heard the same way again. I envision future generations of budding politicians just shouting LIPSTICK at each other, it having become an insult thanks to a hick from Alaska.

But I can't really make more than inflammatory comments about what's going on over there. Trust me though it makes for very interesting dinner convos at Campismo restaurant here amongst us Americans. The Republicans have afforded me with such wonderful practice and I am truly grateful. My republican friends here (yes I do have republican friends) afford me the practice to become more elequant in my speech as I show them the error of their ways. Someone who has 5 children under 20, believes she can see Russia from the middle of Alaska, and belongs to a church where it's believed homosexuality can be cured in 21 days really shouldn't be running the senate - is something I tell my friend Scott on regular occaisons. At least he finally believes that sexuality is not a choice! We're working on him.

What I'm even more appreciativve of though is the ability I've developed and the opportunities I've had to look at things from a different angle. Life is not about iced chai lattes from Starbucks, the newest bag from LV, or who has the best golfing average. Don't get me wrong, those things are nice - don't think I really care for any of them though. I don't like Starbucks, am not partial to handbags (even though I do have a lot of shoulder bags here for work) and have never golfed in my life. But going back. None of my friends here in Maxixe have probably experienced any of my 3 examples yet they live happy lives. I was talking to an American in California per google chat today and this person was explaining what happened this week with some what appeared to be unshakable American financial institutions who fell FLAT on their faces. A friend of his' Dad lost 6 million dollars in investments. See for me now, that money is just a figure. I see on a daily basis what such a difference $5 can make to buy a new mosquito net for someone sleeping in a reed shack. I hear people grumbling about gas just going up to 45 meticais a liter. About a pound a liter or $7 a gallon. Mozambique was the UN's most destitute country in the world from 75 to 95. The majority of cars here are rusted tin cans with wheels and trust me, do not get very good gas mileage. But Mozambicans aren't stopping to drive, A vida continua is the daily mantra.

We, as westerners, need to learn that. Personally I see good eventually coming out of this. But just think how much respect will be garnered for America and the West if we pull ourselves out of a mess that the world has never seen before. It was done in Germany. So let's all calm down, sort things out again, let Sarah Palin enjoy the view of Russia and realize that we are connected and need to work together. I know Africa would appreciate it and love to be able to eat 3 times a day again.

Obama and the Palin effect

Sometimes politics has the uncanny effect of mirroring the

national psyche

even when nobody intended to do that. This is perfectly

illustrated by the

rousing effect that Gov. Sarah Palin had on the Republican

convention in

Minneapolis this week. On the surface, she outdoes former Vice

President Dan

Quayle as an unlikely choice, given her negligent parochial

expertise in the

complex affairs of governing. Her state of Alaska has less than

700,000

residents, which reduces the job of governor to the scale of

running one-tenth

of New York City. By comparison, Rudy Giuliani is a towering

international

figure. Palin's pluck has been admired, and her forthrightness,

but her real

appeal goes deeper.

She is the reverse of Barack Obama, in essence his shadow,

deriding his

idealism and exhorting people to obey their worst impulses. In

psychological

terms the shadow is that part of the psyche that hides out of

sight, countering

our aspirations, virtue, and vision with qualities we are ashamed

to face:

anger, fear, revenge, violence, selfishness, and suspicion of "the

other." For millions of Americans, Obama triggers those feelings,

but they

don't want to express them. He is calling for us to reach for our

higher

selves, and frankly, that stirs up hidden reactions of an unsavory

kind. (Just

to be perfectly clear, I am not making a verbal play out of the

fact that Sen.

Obama is black. The shadow is a metaphor widely in use before his

arrival on the

scene.)

I recognize that psychological analysis of politics is usually

not welcome by

the public, but I believe such a perspective can be helpful here

to understand

Palin's message. In her acceptance speech Gov. Palin sent a

rousing call to

those who want to celebrate their resistance to change and a

higher vision.

Look at what she stands for:

--Small town values -- a denial of America's global role, a

return to

petty, small-minded parochialism.

--Ignorance of world affairs -- a repudiation of the need to repair

America's image abroad.

--Family values -- a code for walling out anybody who makes a

claim for

social justice. Such strangers, being outside the family, don't

need to be

heeded.

--Rigid stands on guns and abortion -- a scornful repudiation

that these

issues can be negotiated with those who disagree.

--Patriotism -- the usual fallback in a failed war.

--"Reform" -- an italicized term, since in addition to cleaning out

corruption and excessive spending, one also throws out anyone who

doesn't

fit your ideology.

Palin reinforces the overall message of the reactionary right,

which has been

in play since 1980, that social justice is liberal-radical, that

minorities and

immigrants, being different from "us" pure American types, can be

ignored, that progressivism takes too much effort and globalism is

a foreign

threat. The radical right marches under the banners of "I'm all

right,

Jack," and "Why change? Everything's OK as it is." The irony,

of course, is that Gov. Palin is a woman and a reactionary at the

same time. She

can add mom to apple pie on her resume, while blithely reversing

forty years of

feminist progress. The irony is superficial; there are millions of

women who

stand on the side of conservatism, however obviously they are

voting against

their own good. The Republicans have won multiple national

elections by raising

shadow issues based on fear, rejection, hostility to change, and

narrow-mindedness.

Obama's call for higher ideals in politics can't be seen in a

vacuum.

The shadow is real; it was bound to respond. Not just

conservatives possess a

shadow -- we all do. So what comes next is a contest between the

two forces of

progress and inertia. Will the shadow win again, or has its

furtive appeal

become exhausted? No one can predict. The best thing about Gov.

Palin is that

she brought this conflict to light, which makes the upcoming

debate honest. It

would be a shame to elect another Reagan, whose smiling persona

was a stalking

horse for the reactionary forces that have brought us to the

demoralized state

we are in. We deserve to see what we are getting, without disguise.



Something I found on the internet. Good reading for ALL

Really?

This is just too good. I've been following things through a variety of news sources about the elections of super stars. Obama v. Palin. I'm sorry but McCain is just an accessory at this point. You gotta hand it to him. It's like Obama is running against Hillary again and it's kind of scary because people may vote for the republicans just because they have a woman on the ticket and not because of her track record... oh wait she doesn't have much of the latter. :) Take that Obama-bashers. But I found something interesting on the BBC website which made me laugh so hard.

It's called SARAH PALIN: 10 Things We've learnt
A couple of the points about things we've learned have shown me her "true" character. I know that's an oxymoron, you can never learn the true character of any politician. Number one caught my attention. It has to do with the names of her gaggle of children. The woman likes to live in Alaska. Why invite her to Washington? She's so tied down to Alaska that her children are burdened with geographic coordinates as names... thanks Mom. Number 4 quotes actor/presidential candidate (why do actors always go for the Republican party?) Fred Thompson as saying that Palin is "the only nominee in the history of either party who knows how to properly field-dress a moose" And that's an important trait for the leader of the senate why? I guess there could be lots of moose in DC some day. Number 8 just tickled my funny bone to no end. I'm still laughing about it now. I want to know WHY HAS RELIGION BECOME PART OF POLITICS? What ever happen to separation of church and state? Being "religious" doesn't automatically make you a wholesome or good person. I remember this family of religious nutters that lived down the road from me growing up. They were some of the most stereotypically religious people yet some of the most hateful, ugly, and down right mean people I've ever met. So having a leader of the senate (remember the VP does have a constitutional job to do) who belongs to a non-denominational fundamentalist church that believes they can convert gays through the "power of prayer" just makes me want to go for the job myself. I guess the most basic thing for me is we don't need to burden a 44 year old mother of 5 (and soon to be grandma) with a son in Iraq, a pregnant out of wed lock (like that really matters in the 21st century) daughter and a child with down's syndrome, with all of our problems. She's got enough of her own!!!

But if she puts on some more lipstick, we may just have the Alaskan Evita. Oooo can't wait for THAT musical!!

Palin's experience

Just got this off the BBC

* Has she travelled outside the United States at all - other than an official trip to the Middle East last year?

* Does she have any appreciation of foreign or national security policy? Or any personal vision of the uses of American power?

* Did she improperly use her position as governor of Alaska to force the sacking of a senior state official for personal reasons? An investigation is under way in the Alaska legislature, and Governor Palin has retained a lawyer

* Was she a member of the Alaska Independence Party - a fringe group advocating secession from the United States - in the 1990s? The AIP says yes; her campaign says no

* Was she a supporter of the conservative Pat Buchanan, the one-time presidential candidate whose political star declined, especially among Jewish voters, after he was accused of anti-Semitism?

* What is her attitude to "pork" - the practice of lobbying for federal dollars from Washington to fund local projects and keep local supporters happy? She says she fought pork aggressively. Newspaper reports suggest she was adept at securing federal money when she was mayor of the town of Wasilla

* Does she really support the idea of teaching creationism - the belief that God created the world in six days, as stated in the Bible - in schools?

* What is her view of the causes of climate change?

* Did she oppose sex education in schools? Some commentators have noted a possible irony if she did, given her own pregnant teenage daughter.


WONDERFUL!!!!

Real Americans?

I believe in Karma and I'm a firm believer that it bites you in the ass if you are not careful. I've gotten bitten too many times here in Moz so I don't want to do anything more. But I've been reading up on this Sarah Palin and man is she an interesting one. She accuses the Democrats of talking too idealistic and not working for the "real american." We all know how well the GOP does that now don't we? What I want to know is if thinking everybody should have access to health care, a decent education and oh wait "life liberty and the pursuit of happiness" is too idealistic what plans do they have for us? I may just stay here otherwise....