Identity Politics Are Not For Me

The idea of identity politics is to give a voice and a presence to the historically disenfranchised, which is good and necessary. For many people, identifying themselves as part of a group or community is empowering and it gives them a sense of self, belonging and purpose. This helps them become a more visible, cohesive and accepted part of society. However, what often ends up happening in the cacophony of conflicting identity politics currently being broadcast at an alarming volume by social media, is absurd (college cafeterias that serve sushi are accused of cultural appropriation), divisive (pitting men against women, gay against straight, liberals against conservatives, black against white, etc.), and overly simplistic.
I have always had an aversion to clubs, even those I can conceivably belong to. In that respect, I'm with the Marx who would not belong to a club that would have him as a member. And I'm even more averse to identifying myself by some willfully chosen slice of my complex makeup. I am from Mexico, born and raised there in a Jewish family, with an atheist dad and an observant mom. This is complicated enough, if not downright exotic.
The other day I was ranting about white people when someone interrupted to remind me that I am white. This stopped me in my tracks because I don't see myself that way, being Mexican and Jewish and all. Indeed, I am pale, have blondish hair and green/gray eyes, and according to everyone, I am swimming in great vats of privilege (another overused word currently in vogue to make certain people feel guilty for existing).
Having grown up well-fed, clad, educated and traveled in a country where children beg for food on the street, I have been aware of my privilege and my enormous luck since I was a toddler. In Mexico, the color of you skin may very well inform your station in life, with whites mostly on top. Still, I find that making people feel bad because they were born rich, male, white or lucky by accusing them of "privilege" is spurious. Privilege is not a choice. I am an accident of history. I find it a precious privilege that both sides of my family had the presence of mind to escape Eastern Europe long before the nazis came to get them, and that, having had less than zero privilege as Jews in the shtetl, for circumstantial reasons they chose Mexico, where it turned out I could be born free of persecution, into privilege.
I was straight for about 40 years and then fell in love with the woman who is now my partner. However, I like to say that if Michael Fassbender shows up, she'll be toast in a New York minute. I have been accused by gay friends of being in denial about my own sexuality when I have protested that I don't consider myself a lesbian. I had a gay male friend who, upon hearing me confess I had a girlfriend, exclaimed, "I always knew you were a dyke!" Well, isn't that rich? Because I didn't know, and not because of some closet I have yet to come out of. The problem with identity politics is that there is usually someone expecting you to be what they think you are.
I was invited to join Pantsuit Nation, a group of Hillary supporters on Facebook. A man was banned from the page because he had the temerity to put forth his views, which were in agreement with the liberal tenor of the group, albeit in a way which some women considered offensive. In truth, his post had an admonishing tone. But was this a reason to ban him? The responses to his post and subsequent deportation from the page went from puerile put-downs to women sensibly if timidly chiming in that banning him was a bit extreme. In fact, it was appalling. The guy was not disrespectful, just full of himself. He did not say anything offensive. He was contributing something of value. Do we expect all of us to think alike and agree on everything and sound exactly the same? In a democracy?
The current climate of polarization separates all of us into rarefied niches that end up floating away into their own select, put-upon bubbles. Recently, some of these bubbles have burst into attacks by legions of offended people, such as the reprehensible student behavior at Charles Murray's lecture at Middlebury College, or the brouhaha over a painting of Emmett Till created by a white artist at the Whitney Biennial, that devolved into some people demanding that the painting be burned. I was compelled to write on a Facebook post:
You may criticize the aesthetic and conceptual shortcomings of the painting all you want, but saying that a white person cannot make art about a topic that is judged unrelated to their ethnic background is absurd and a noxious kind of censorship. Does this mean that I as a woman writer can only write about women or women like me? If I want to write a story about Japanese internment camps am I not allowed? Till's is a story that shocks, saddens and outrages many Americans who are not Black. Is it possible that the artist feels the same? Attacks like this are a threat not only to freedom of thought and expression but they are against art, since according to this logic no one can create anything that is not directly related to their own personal history. Identity politics is reductive and instead of liberating people, it categorizes them into one-dimensional stereotypes, which is ironically what it is supposed to protect them from.
This tiresome cacophony of grievance, in my view, is related to seeing everything through the prism of one's identity -- it leads to the escalation, exaggeration, and distortion of alleged offenses against whatever labels define you as a person. I'm not saying that we should deny who we are, quite the contrary. The more people are antisemites, the more Jewish I'll be. The more anti-Mexican, the more proudly Mexican. All I'm saying is that we are greater than the sum of our parts.
Our enhanced sensitivity on behalf of ourselves and others is preventing us from fighting real evil. Accusing students of racism because they put a sombrero on a bottle of tequila for a Cinco de Mayo party, or firing a college teacher for defending the right to wear offensive costumes on Halloween doesn't help against the real forces of darkness, it actually abets them. In fact, the forces of darkness are rolling on the floor with glee at the crypto fascist excesses of the politically correct "left".

--> Identity politics affect people on both sides of the divide: the rabid conservatives with their bizarre sore winning and brutal contempt for the whining liberals, and the whining liberals with their p.c. concepts like cultural appropriation, microaggressions and triggering, which increasingly feel like censorship. Social media amplifies the abuse of terms like oppression, privilege, safe space, and has made them into overbearing clichés that weaken the actual meaning of those words and ultimately threaten the free exchange of ideas, which is the cornerstone of progress. If everything is offensive, then nothing is offensive. If everyone is a racist, then no one is a racist. Skirmishes about identity politics leave everyone exhausted and none the wiser. Everybody loses.

Liberal Kitsch

I've been spending a lot of time on Facebook and reading newspapers online trying to adjust to our new reality. I am petrified about everything: Trump's cabinet, a Republican government, Giuliani (the worst of the worst, and then some), nuclear codes, global warming, the alt-right, racist violence, school bullying, spineless Democrats, etc.
Though I don't have any, I'm very worried about the children. Imagine the powerlessness of children who witness such results and are supposed to continue trusting and obeying the adults who make such terrible decisions.
I am also suffering from echo chamber fatigue. It is amazing to me how social media (Facebook, Twitter) amplifies and distorts our sense that we are among like-minded citizens, all clamoring for the same thing and no one else can hear us. I think I know one person who may be a Trump sympathizer, and he hides it. One person among 800 "friends" on Facebook.
And I am also disturbed and deeply annoyed by some reactions on the liberal side.
As always happens in moments of crisis, the easiest shorthand for expressing ourselves tends to come wrapped in pat, sentimental empty gestures. Instant sainthood is bestowed (to yourself, by yourself) by changing your avatar or wearing some sort of symbol of solidarity with the nightmare du jour. This is (still) a free country and knock yourselves out, but this does not work for me. I don't take well to sentimentality.
I hope I do not offend my well-meaning friends who feel the same way I do about Trump, but choose to express themselves differently. Calls for togetherness, prayer and compassion may be what is needed; they don't do much for me. I find some of the most impassioned exhortations for solidarity easy to preach from the comfort of our devices, but not as easy to follow through. And their capital sin: they're corny.
It's liberal kitsch.
For instance, that safety pin symbol. Nice sentiment; by all means wear it, but I am not going to wear a safety pin in order to demonstrate my self-serving, self-righteous moral superiority. Instead, and I sure hope it doesn't come to pass, I will try to intervene if I see bigoted attacks in action. In fact, I shared a useful primer on how to do that on, where else, Facebook.
I have been on the receiving end of people saying idiotic and hateful things about Jews, and sometimes Mexicans more than once. It always feels like a kick in the gut, sucks the air right out of you, makes your knees go weak. I used to kind of let it go, or deflate it with a joke, or be too rattled to put a stop to it. Sometimes I politely disagreed. But ever since a Mexican student told me after 9/11 that Jews who worked at the Twin Towers had called each other the night before in order to save their own skin, I decided that I will not tolerate politely this kind of bullshit anymore. This applies to all hateful rhetoric.

I am happy to march against Trump. I am happy to do whatever it takes to pressure this new government to respect human dignity and not destroy the world, but when people say #notmypresident, I have to part company with them. Imagine for a second if Hillary had won and Trump supporters came up with #notmypresident. Liberals would collapse in fits of outrage.
I beg you all to grow up. Hillary won the popular vote, NOT BY A LANDSLIDE. Trump won the Electoral College by a wide margin. He won legitimately, and democracy means that we accept the result. We may not accept the man, his policies, or his party and we should protest and do everything in our power to counter and oppose their influence. They don't have consensus and they should be reminded of it every second of their lives. But we were aghast when Trump intimated that he would not concede, and now we are acting like him?
We need to make our voices heard, but let's be tough and smart, like Harry Reid. Let's hope the Democrats will grow a spine and some cojones and make it as hard for these people to govern as they did for Obama these last 8 years.

Trump: A Disqualifying Event

The pathetic spectacle to which we are hostage right now as a country - having to endure a presidential candidate who is mentally unfit for office, is not a coincidence. It is the direct result of eight years of Republican Party policies. They courted the fringe, abandoned every pretense of service to the American people, made President Obama's job hell, did whatever it took to cater to corporate interests even in the face of unspeakable atrocities (NRA) and care about nothing except power. Their cravenness makes Frank and Claire Underwood look like Mother Theresa.
The Republicans made this lice-infested bed, and now we all have to lie on it. We are now the laughing stock (if not the waking nightmare) of the world. But here we are. That Hillary Clinton, whether you like her or not, has to campaign against this carnival barker  in her historic opportunity to become the first female president of the United States, is sad and unfair. This shameful humiliation is the sole responsibility of the Republican Party. The only consolation is to watch them self-destruct and slide deeper into indignity, absurdity, and shamelessness as they try to contain the demons they've unleashed: besides Trump's unbridled lunacy, the worse evils of xenophobia, racism, violence, divisiveness, and hatred.
My only consolation is knowing that anyone who is remotely associated with, and pandering to, Trump has soiled their reputations forever. The nefarious Rudolph Giuliani, Chris Christie; any Republican that has stood by and encouraged this to happen is a coward and will live in infamy for eternity.
But what kind of delusion are they under? It is barely understandable how any sentient being can support such a fake conman, regardless of how desperate they are to vote against their own self-interest, blinded by his simplistic bombast, his fake hair, fake tan and fake money. But career politicians who should know better? What in God's green earth is in it for them? Cabinet posts? Shady business deals? A lifetime supply of Trump steaks? Is their resentment at the legacy of a twice-elected Black president so pernicious as to aim to dismantle the entire nation? A legacy that is all the more admirable considering that they did everything in their power to thwart it.
Make no mistake: a lot of this particular descent into madness is the result of racism. Therefore, it must sting even more deeply to watch the Obamas sail into history with dignity and grace, having achieved some monumental changes like Obamacare and gay marriage. I think history will reciprocate. When Giuliani and Christie are relegated to the forgotten clown corner of the circus tent, the Obama presidency will be remembered as one of the greatest in history, his shortcomings notwithstanding.

On the one hand, Trump is a gift to the Democrats; they can't possibly lose this election as things stand right now (although one fears that they are entirely capable of doing so. Just look at Debbie Wasserman Schultz and her crew).
On the other hand, the presidential election should be between two feasible candidates. It took Trump to encourage Russia to spy on Clinton for pundits to scream that this is a disqualifying event, when everything he has done from day one should have disqualified him from the job long ago. It's like living in an alternate reality where reason, common sense, decency and integrity do not exist. The Republicans attribute everything to spin. "He was joking", "she didn't steal the speech". This deliberate denial of reality by the right is frightening.

I assume someone will write the definitive history of how this happened to us. It seems like we blinked and woke up in the middle of this nightmare. Let this be an eye-opener to politicians on both sides of the aisle. This is what happens by ignoring the reality of the vast majority of people in this country, who struggle and dream of a standard of living that doesn't exist anymore. This is what happens when, by inaction and cynicism they encourage the existence of an uneducated nation who gets their world view from reality shows and talk radio instead of a robust public education.

It's in the hands of the American people to save our own country, even the world, from disaster. This time, it means trouncing Trump so overwhelmingly that he becomes, in his parlance, a yuge loser, the biggest loser of all time.  If you need to hold your nose because you are a conservative, or a Bernie supporter, or you just hate Hillary's guts, then do it. But sitting this one out because you are apolitical, or too ideologically pure, is not an option. And voting for Trump or any third party is suicidal.
Trump must be destroyed, and the only safe way to do it is by voting for Hillary Clinton. So register to vote, whatever your persuasion, and let's make sure Trump gets nowhere near the White House.

Donald Trump, Or Panic in the Streets.

Only events that spark the utmost consternation can make the Grande Enchilada come out of her lair. To wit: the mass hysteria surrounding the ascendancy of human Cheeto and giant dingleberry, Donald Trump, and his possible election to the Presidency of the United States.
The headlines from the (liberal) media run from astounded exclamations that the biggest search on Google is how to move to Canada, to dire comparisons to the Nazis, the rise of fascism in America, the fall of the American Empire, Nero playing the fiddle while Rome burns, etc.
People on social media, when not dying of horrific glee over Ted Cruz's flying goobers, are tearing their hair out in astonishment and fear. It's understandable. No one in their right mind can fathom how we got to this place. Oh, wait. Yes, we can!
This is nothing but the end result of decades of deliberate policies by the Republican party to court and feed the most extreme right wing factions and to fight anything resembling common sense, sound governance and social cohesion (gun control, climate change, education, infrastructure, etc). For decades, they have devoted themselves to obstructing any and all paths to progress, have impeded President Obama to do his job in a racist, disrespectful and contemptible way and they have bowed down to the insanity of a lunatic fringe whose ranks they have helped swell, at the expense of their own survival. I am convinced that part of their hysteria stems from their inability to cope with the reality of a Black president. Besides that, they should have known they were sealing their fate when they invited an ignorant malignancy like Sarah Palin to run for Vice-president. This very well may have cost them the election. But instead of learning their lesson, they doubled down on their contempt for the citizenry. An abysmal disconnect exists between their ideology and most of American society, but they act like the fringe are the majority.
The Republicans only have themselves to blame and they deserve everything that has befallen them and that is yet to come. The rise of Donald Trump is a direct consequence of their willful descent into xenophobia, racism, nationalism, anti-intellectualism, contempt for society, venality and stupidity. They allowed this clown to run on their platform, probably thinking that it was better than if he ran as an independent, and then they were unable to control him. They stood by, happy about all the buzz they were getting, and now it's too late to stop him. Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney are now trying to reverse the damage with speeches about human decency and the party of Lincoln. Guess what? It's too fucking late! Where were they when Trump started uttering his idiotic, yet mediagenic, racist statements? Now the Republican party has neo-Nazis and the KKK in their corner.
To be honest, my schadenfreude is preventing me from running for the hills. I am almost hoping he wins: I want to witness with my own eyes the precipitous collapse of the American empire.  It's like being alive at the time of Caligula.
Will Trump win? Only if reasonable, decent people from both ends of the political spectrum fail to do their duty to vote against him. This country must unite against him. Meanwhile, Southern Democrats are not bothering to show up in big numbers at the primaries. Apparently, if they don't get homegrown heroes like Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton or Albert Gore, they won't give the time of day to two candidates from the North. I certainly hope that Trump's results will scare Democrats enough to haul their asses to the rest of the primaries, whoever they decide to vote for. In the case of the Republican party, the options are so frightening that there is nothing to hope for.
Only in America presidential elections resemble a sports' season (in hell). There are arcane rules to consider and nationwide tournaments to win or lose. So everyone is losing sleep over the odds of which one of the Democratic candidates is more likely to win against Trump or Cruz.
I know a lot of people think that Bernie doesn't have a chance in hell of being President. Perhaps.
But I am tired of deploying the useful vote. And so, I'm voting for Bernie in the primaries and you can blame me for the death of America all you want. He represents my political beliefs and what I want for this country better than anyone else. And while I have no doubt that Hillary will be a capable president and will support her if she wins the nomination, I want the Democratic party to start acting like the liberals they are supposed to be, and not like Republicans Lite (Obama included).
Now, to vanquish Trump and the obscurantist candidates of the GOP, and even maybe return their party to something resembling dignity, moderate Republicans should feel comfortable enough voting for Hillary Clinton: she is closer to them than the fascist bozos on the GOP circus. And everybody who has half a brain cell, regardless of political affiliation, should make sure to punish the Republican party at the ballots (provided they are allowed to vote once they get there).
When in an unprecedented election year the two most galvanizing candidates are perceived as outsiders and nonpoliticians, and they attract frenzied crowds, it's because the American people on left and right are tired of politics as usual. Politicians in Washington have been oblivious to the deep fraying of trust, which is now literally non-existent, between the American public and themselves. They allowed Citizens United to happen, they continue to cater to lobbies, they have allowed this nation to become a third world country, yet they didn't see it coming.
The Republicans thought Trump was a joke that would quickly implode, and never in a million years did Hillary imagine that Bernie Sanders, the old socialist hippie Jew from Vermont, would be a serious opponent. Well, guess what? Hell froze over.
I think a lot of this has to do with the internet age and the democratization of the media. News and their attending opinions travel much faster than the tortoises in Washington can keep their fingers on. As evidenced by the volatility of certain public debates, like the political correctness mass hysteria on campuses, and the way people take to social media to campaign for their candidates, it is clear that the people have left the traditional way of acting around elections in the dust. The establishment media tried to ignore and obscure the rise of Bernie Sanders with every weapon in their formidable arsenal. It didn't work. The Sanders campaign worked around it quite successfully. Donald Trump has done the same. So the media is now having a field day feeding panic into the hearts of liberals and into the hearts of beleaguered white people who live in suburbs and think immigrating predator zombies are out to get them.
The establishment doesn't know what hit it. To quote Grumpy Cat: "Good."
The American people are so fed up with the status quo, the entrenched corruption, the political dynasties, a mythically robust economy that only seems to succor the rich, that they are willing to vote either for a millionaire megalomaniac or a crusty old socialist. It's an interesting time to be alive.

Memo To An Egyptian Mummy

This is my fantasy, which is what would happen in a rational, commonsensical world.
Someone (preferably Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, and the rest of the international community) would whisper in Mubarak's ear:
"Dude, do you want to be remembered as the hero who liberated Egypt (from yourself, but never mind)? Or do you want to be remembered as a stubborn, dictatorial, murderous kleptocrat? You've been in power for 30 years, it's about time you step down. You want to be remembered as the father of Egyptian democracy! So instead of hunkering down, turning the police and the army against their own and taking away the people's internet (for better or for worse, the single greatest spreader of human freedom ever), why not step down and put Mr. ElBaradei in your place?
What could be cooler than Egypt having a Nobel Prize winner as a leader? Everybody seems to like him! ElBaradei would have the support of the international community and could stabilize the country while it gets ready to transition to a vote in which Egyptians would choose who they want to rule them. We are all hoping that instead of choosing a stone age theocracy, they would choose to bring Egypt into the 21st century, which is what they seem to want. Both of you would ask the army to protect the citizenry instead of seizing power, and allow for a democratic transition, even if this country has never really seen one. Egypt used to have a king, who was a corrupt scoundrel, then General Nasser ousted the king, nationalized the Suez Canal, and started a chain of tyrannical rulers, including yourself. You have kept Egypt, if relatively peaceful, with the help of gazillions of our economic aid (where has all that money gone, by the way?) and a repressive iron hand, mired in social, cultural and economic stagnation. And now you were thinking of imposing one of your sons to continue to rule, as if you people were a monarchy? No way Jose. You are not wanted any more. Don't paint yourself into a corner and make our lives a foreign policy living hell in the process. We have too many messes in our hands already. Be a good sport. Scoot over, Hosni. 
By the same token, someone would be whispering in the US Administration's ear: for the love of God, do not fuck this one up.
One can dream.

And if McCain croaks...

...which is not unlikely, given his age, she is going to be the President of the United States?
Permit me to express strong feelings of panic over this potential scenario.

Hillary must be wishing she'd crossed party lines.

Doesn't seem like the smartest strategy to me. Trying to appeal to the jilted Hillary voters and Republican women now seriously fantasizing about Obama, but picking a woman who nobody knows, who governs a place where there are probably more penguins than people. Was this the best choice? Weren't there any other prominent Republican women with more of a profile? This is pathetic.
It just goes to show how out of touch the Republicans are. This is an empty gesture that to them looks like change, or they think they can fool us into thinking it is change. It really isn't and everybody with half a damaged brain cell can see that.
Now, the only way McCain can win is if this country is still held back by racism. This is still a very distinct possibility. However, time will tell if we indeed have come a long way. After all, a Black man is actually running for President. And he has a very good chance of achieving it. Things have changed.

Biden, Vidi, Vinci

As occupied as I am with the premiering of my opera prima, I heard rumors there is some sort of a convention somewhere in Colorado...
I cannot tell you how relieved I am to be spared of the nonsensical circus.
Having said this, I'm very happy about Joe Biden. I've always liked Joe Biden. He was always funny and smart at the Jon Stewart show, which is indeed the only reliable source of political news in this country.
But wait a minute, wasn't Biden the one who said Obama was "articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy"?
Apparently all is forgiven.
Not so with the couple from hell, the Clintons, who I hear are still making trouble.
I have this to say to the 18 million Hillary supporters: Stop acting like the jilted woman. Grow yourselves a pair, goddammit, and stop whining. Angry because she lost? Angry at who, exactly?
It's unbecoming, and worse, truly unpatriotic. Right now all you should be fighting against with every fiber of your being the possibility of another Republican presidency. Anything else is insane, irresponsible and downright suicidal.
Politics makes me vomit.

$600 Bush dollars

I just got my "economic stimulus" little check from the federal government. Until yesterday's horrendous slide of the stock market, I was thinking of donating them in full to Obama's campaign.
I was thinking of donating this evil money to whatever would hurt Bush and the Republicans the most.
You are welcome to contribute ideas.
Until yesterday's beginning of a love fest between Hil and Barack, I was thinking of giving the money to him, so he can be our President. I just don't want him to use the money to pay back her debt. What is that about? How dare they talk about unity NOW? Why didn't they think about freaking unity when they were tearing each other to shreds (or rather one of them was trying to tear the other one to shreds). How soon they forget! Assholes.
Now I'm wondering if I should not hold on to it for when the shit really hits the fan, which promises to be rather soon.
Perhaps the Republicans knew they were destroying the economy all along and they knew that the best way for us not to use that money against them is to just crush the economy of this country, so we hold on to the $600 to buy groceries. As if this is going to help us out of the shithole they've sunk us in. Motherfuckers.
As you can see, I'm upset.

Let the love fest begin

How long did we think it would take until the two Democratic Presidential candidates would start air kissing each other? I'm surprised it took this long. It's named politics, and it reeks.
Why does anybody who is not Hillary Clinton have to pay Hillary Clinton's campaign debt?
Why does Barack Obama feel the need to donate funds to pay for her mismanaged campaign?
You want to bet who is going to be his VP?
Guácala, as we say in Spanish.

What next?

Read this Frank Rich editorial and read my mind.
This is what cannot happen:
Hillary and Barack are not a dream ticket. It would be the height of hypocrisy for him to choose her as running mate, and for her to accept it.
I'd be horrendously dissappointed.
As for the cluelessness of the old guard, to me, the Hillary-Barack rivalry can best be summed up by the analogy of the Microsoft vs. Apple commercials, whereby Hillary is the old, bloated, dysfunctional system and Barack is the thing of beauty that works.

Wrong

Just as I think that charging people for checking a bag of luggage is wrong, I think that it is the epitome of chutzpah for Bill Clinton to now ponder whether his wife should be the vicepresident. After the hideous name calling and the animosity and the divisiveness, all of a sudden we're expected to believe that these two people will be running mates? And the only reason is, he wants her to be President next time. It is the height of nerve. Somebody in politics has to have some integrity. For the love of God.

Anybody but her

Are people really considering the possibility of an Obama/Clinton (as VP) ticket? It is preposterous.
After all the insinuations and the bad blood, hell no. I'm sure Obama can find himself a decent VP.
John Edwards, maybe? It would be nice to have two very handsome guys in the White House. Or find a woman, just not that one.

Bitter, True.

What Obama said is true. So if the other contenders take candid, honest, smart comments and turn them into a political slugfest, as always, simplistic and stupid, all the more reason I'm voting for Obama come November. What's wrong with bitter? He didn't say they were stupid.

"It's not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

Why is there such a brouhaha over a comment like this? Because politicians like Hillary Clinton demean language by distorting it into sheer sophistry. I find it refreshing that Obama would talk like that. I've had it with this freaking circus. Get someone nominated already, for the love of God.

Likability Contest Winner:

Barack Obama, by miles.
I do not watch debates. They make me feel embarrassed for all of us. But I did watch the golden nuggets that CNN showed this morning (as I was happily sauntering on the treadmill). And boy, let me tell you, Obama may or may not have enough experience, but he seems more mature and so much more cool than Hills.
She chose to go for low blows and got booed by the audience in response. That Xerox comment comes from a sore loser, not a person who should be poised to be a dignified head of state. Meanwhile, he knew exactly what to say and how to say it. Her comment about the Iraq wounded may have come from the heart, but it did not sound so. It sounded like a sound bite that her staff told her to say. And that is the problem. She really cannot communicate in a sincere manner, at least to me.
When asked about Cuba, again, as far as I'm concerned, wrong answer. Pandering to the Cubans in Miami, answering the musty politics-as-usual bullshit, she said she would not speak with the new Cuban leader until there was evidence of change. Meanwhile, Obama, smartly, as far as I'm concerned, said, I would speak to them because not speaking is that classic thing in which we always appear to be imposing our standards on other nations, always the superior attitude (I'm wildly paraphrasing, but something to that effect). I think he trounced her. He seemed to sound like he is above petty politics (silly season, he called it) and she sounded petty and desperate.
Please do not give me that "if she wasn't a woman you wouldn't be saying that" routine.
Yesterday she did not help her own cause. Period.
I have never understood the strategy of personal attacks in American politics. They are in general, petty, embarrassing and childish and I would suggest, as Obama did, they concentrate on the issues. Nobody wants a pissing contest at this point. For that we can watch Jerry Springer reruns.
She may win Texas, I doubt she will win Ohio, and again, given the choice between her and McCain, I will vote for her. But my choice is Obama.

Primary confusion

Can we all agree that this system is absurd?

From the BBC: US election - who's ahead?

(Answer: Obama, but not by much).

How close are the would-be US presidential candidates to securing their party's nomination?

Candidate	States won	Total delegates won
Barack Obama	Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, Washington state, Wisconsin	1,351 delegates
Hillary Clinton	Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee	1,262 delegates

Delegate figures are AP projections, as of 1336 GMT Monday 18 February. They include pledged and unpledged delegates (superdelegates).

What is a superdelegate? Rhetorical question here, I don't really want to know. Just somebody win already and let's move on!

The Hillary Debacle

Are there any more states left that need to vote yet? Can we call it a day already?
I'm sure the pundits will be squeezing their collective heads like a zit, trying to decode for us what it means that white people voted for Barack Obama before they voted for Hills.
I am almost certain that it has very little do to with the fact that she is "a woman" and more to do with the fact of the woman that she is. Those who never liked her were not about to start liking her now. Those who were on the fence, like me, were very turned off with the allegations of trying to rig the elections to her favor and some nasty racial comments, that inexcusable town hall meeting with planted questions, and Bill Clinton's undignified performance as cheerleader. That is not counting her stance on the war and her spineless record as a politician.
Also, we all know "change" is a a cliché, especially when used by a politician, but even without the conscious participation of the candidates in question, the gut feeling is that Hills represents politics as usual and Obama doesn't. (whether this is true or not we'll find out soon enough). So it's not that we are not ready for a woman (and please spare me the tearing of garments over this), it's that we simply do not trust this particular woman. And the reason for our distrust in this case, may lie more on her side than ours.
Now, does this mean that John McCain will be the next president of the US? It's quite likely. But the Democratic party should take note. The people have spoken and they are tired of the same old, same old.

Gone Mitt the Wind

So that guy is out. All I know about him is he is rich, handsome, a Mormon and as from today, a has been.
So I'm afraid that this means it's gonna be McCain v Hillary. In which case I can almost predict 4 more years of a Republican presidency, Lord have mercy on us. If it is McCain v Obama, I think it would be more of a toss up. But anyway, McCain has always been the only viable (read this as not totally lunatic) Republican candidate and a guy who appeals to those who are not mentally insane, which I surmise is the majority of Republicans. I think that the crazy ass Republicans (the ultra right wing nutjobs) are like the Jews: everybody thinks there is more of them than is actually true. Huckabee is going to give McCain a good fight in the crazy ass states, but I think (read this as I pray and hope, teeth chattering and knees trembling) that sanity and moderation will prevail. If the general apathy and indifference of this country are any indication, it will be a white male protestant once again.
Question: Will the fact that there will be a horrible recession and people will be really pissed off about the economy make people vote Democrat or Republican come November?

More of the same yet to come

Although it was great to see such high voter turnout, I wish the Democrats had emerged with a clear candidate so we could move on from this particular bit of crazy.
I have to say, I have been unnerved by the way people here proselytize for their favorite candidate.
If I were Emily Post and talked about voting etiquette, I would say that it is fine to encourage people to get out and vote on what their conscience dictates and that the vote is secret and universal. Nobody can demonize you for voting for whom you damn well please. If you want to vote for Mike Huckabee because you like the way his furniture happens to look just like a cross, by all means.
This is a very strong feeling I have: the nature of democracy is precisely to respect the individual vote of conscience. That is why the endless barrage of attacks between candidates is absurd to me. And even more absurd is the coaxing of friends and acquaintances to go one way or the other. I have a natural knee jerk reaction against that. I would not dream of telling anyone who to vote for or against. Am I nuts?
Yesterday I heard it all, and sadly, unfortunately, it was mostly between Democrats, for crying out loud: that Obama conceals the fact that he is a Muslim and we can't have one of those at the White House (maybe it would actually help, no?), that he snorted coke (Good. Then he knows what it's like: experience!).
Guys, chill the fuck out.
I got sent corny videos from Obama supporters and got shrill, way too long for an email, hysterical letters (more than once) from Hillary supporters, and I found both very off-putting. Actually, the shrill, Hillary-supporting rant that made the internet rounds was too much to bear. I didn't have the time, the inclination or the liver to read it all the way to the end because 1. it was waaaaay toooo looooong. 2. the tone was so angry and full of tired feminist clichés that couldn't possibly help the cause of women anywhere (gynocide?). It was also horribly written, even if a lot of what it said is true.
I too, have had it with the insidious misogyny in this country and I don't for a second doubt that women have it rougher than men each and every time, (but so do, actually, black people and gays and you name it). But I don't for a second doubt either that women are wholly complicit in this, many times by choice. The women as victims rhetoric does not sway me. If you really want to help Hillary Clinton get elected you have to be eloquent and moderately rational, not downright borderline having a feminist nervous breakdown. Don't do her any favors.
I am totally willing to vote for Hills when she runs for President. I don't think I have ever been on the fence for anything as I was this time around. Truth is, I don't believe either one of them, man or woman, black or white. I take my politicians with a giant grain of salt. Particularly in this wholly unpleasant circus.
However, even though I agree that Obama mainly sounds like a progressive Hallmark card, there is a part of my heart that believed in making a statement for fundamental change, the kind that would bring a black man, for instance, to the presidency of the US. Not that a woman would not be equally deserved, but that is the quandary in which we find ourselves right now. And as smart and capable as she is, she comes with a lot of baggage that has nothing to do with the fact that she is a woman. He, on the other hand, is fresher.
I had a very enlightening talk with a cab driver about the primaries. He had a thick accent and a Muslim sounding name but he told me he was a democrat and was going to vote for either Barack or Hillary at the end of his shift. Isn't this what makes this fucking country great? I say it is.
However, he was convinced that John McCain was going to win the general election, no matter who he faces, because this country is not ready yet for a woman or a black man at the helm. I think he may be right, unfortunately. To judge from the disgustingly unseemly infighting from the Democrats and their supporters, the only thing preventing a McCain victory is the mess the Republican party has left this country in. I pray that ordinary Americans everywhere think of this and not of ideology, when they pick next.
I wonder what would happen in the event that Hills and Barack decide to run together. That would be so rich.

To Hillary or not to Hillary? That is the question

I know that in a fit of pique caused by Britney Spears and her media troubles, I declared that I was voting for Hillary Clinton and that every woman should do so as well. It seems like a tenuous connection but it isn't. Women simply have it tougher than men in the public arena. And I'm sick of it.
But I'm still torn, and even more so after reading this enlightening, yet not very helpful article by the wonderful George Packer in the New Yorker. It's a tough choice between someone who inspires (Obama) and who claims change (whatever that means) and who is fresh, and someone who is perhaps more experienced, but maybe also unfortunately more vulnerable to attack, like Hillary.
The portrait that emerges from Packer's article tries to be even handed, but in essence he is saying her major Achilles heel is she comes across as more duplicitous that she actually is, more hungry for power, less candid and charming and human than she is in person. Her tendency towards personal paranoia and control has not helped her in the past. I certainly hope her aides read the article and tinker accordingly.
This is what I wonder: will the Republicans hold their punches in either case, because one is a Black man and the other one is a woman? Or does it not matter to them one way or another? With her it seems they have not only not been holding their punches, but quite the contrary. She seems to bring out the worst in them. They loathe her. (And they loathe her husband).
Will it be harder to try to destroy Obama? Not only for the obvious reason of his race, let's face it, but because he has young children, he is young, and he seems undestroyable right now.
I think Obama is great presidential material, but my dilemma is, will he be a great president now? Perhaps now is the best time, after the worst presidency in the history of this country, someone like him could be just what we need to pick our beleaguered souls off the floor. But he needs to come up with the goods. Great oratorial prowess and fantastic rhetoric and endless charisma are very helpful, but they can only go so far. This country is in deep shit. We need someone who will clean it up a bit.
In short: I don't know what to do. Eeny meeny miny mo...