Not.
Biden vs. Palin was quite an anticipated debate. The result. Bland. Vanilla. Whatever!
Yes Biden was wonderful and relevant and eloquent and proper, but did anyone expect him not to be? Palin did her homework to pass.
The challenging, inspiring rhetoric of America has waned.
The other day over wara2 dawali among Arab Americans and Arab Canadian I said the US and its politics have become a liability on the world in very many ways. The days of America the great are gone. The times of reaching out to America for the possibility of amazing solutions have passed. The ability of America to lead with englightening prose is lost. Even with Obama, America will need some time to fix itself and catch up with other parts of the world to regain it's ability to contribute.
One guy across the table said, 'hey watch it, you're among Americans'. I replied, 'yes, and you should be thankful to have your Jordanian passports as back up'. They of course thought I was being facetious and the convo moved on as my plate was being piled with delicious koosa and cucumber yogurt on a sunny afternoon around a table of love.
But in truth I was very serious.
Time to think Arab. Time to learn Chinese.
10/03/2008
The Great Debate?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
I think America's greatest export is hope, and it has been greatly depleted of late.
Greed and pride may have done us in, but maybe not. As one Swiss friend said: "The difference with you Americans is that when you fail, you don't go into shock and sob in a corner. You get up, dust off, say you blew it and and come up with a new plan".
That is my prayer.
That's very true Kinzi - getting up and asking what's next? is a powerful ability actually. This is a time and chance for America to look/work within for a while. Hope has been a fundamental ingredient for life in the US and yes, an export that has certainly touched the world for decades.
People are focused on disease and destruction, while the pandemic of greed is omni-threatening.
The other day a colleague asked me why the financial crisis in the US is happening, and specifically how did Lehman go down so bad. I simply said greed. He was so dissatisfied. He wanted the mathematical and operational reasons to justify the crisis. I insisted it was simply about being blinded by big.
Being bigger doesn't mean great.
But getting great does require being good. And greed is not good at all.
Ah Nadine, if I didn't appreciate you so much I'd suggest you run for office here.
I believe greed is the root issue of most disease and destruction. Despots create famine and destruction by accumulating arms rather than infrastructure and self-sustaining economies.
Well said on Lehman. The writing has been on the wall for a long time.
A little poverty may help some regain their sense of financial equilibrium, but it looks like there will be those who benefit even in the bailout. Nature of the beast.
'it looks like there will be those who benefit even in the bailout. Nature of the beast'
--Yes, because most of the time someone has to lead. But the choices those who lead make, will make all the difference. A beast can be a good beast ;) .....doesn't necessarily have to be savage!
If I were a bit more spiritual, I would make the argument that this election is a kind of test for the USA. A test for the soul of a nation.
Nations, like people, mature over time, events test the capacity and intellect and strength of nations and its people. America is given a clear choice between an idealistic yet inexperienced Obama, a man who happens to be both black and white running against a man who has served the special interests most of his political life with no fixed position on any issue, a man whose health is dubious with a running mate that is impossible, a man who promises more of the same, who has waged a very nasty campaign indeed.
Is American ready finally to put to bed its racist past and turn the corner on the corruption that has nearly destroyed this country?
I believe the American experiment is worth saving, if only, because it has shown that people can, for the most part, put aside their ethnic differences and work together, and when they do, they can revolutionize a nation.
Post a Comment