Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize

AOG, Madrid

I truly admire President Obama. But I think this is premature. He has yet to do anything like bring about peace somewhere.

If he can stop the Israelis and the Palestinians from killing each other, then yes. If he can bring peace to war-torn countries in Africa, of course. If he ends the nuclear threat or bans nuclear weapons, without a doubt. But...as of today, he has done very little to deserve this.

I'm sure in time he will deserve it. No doubt.

But I think the best he can do right now is decline the honor and leave it for the future.

Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Obama Shoe Photo Seen As "Insult" By Some Israelis

AOG, Madrid

From the sublime to the ridiculous. Is the sole of Obama's shoe such a major event that Israel can no longer go ahead with the peace plan?

Will Palestine no longer be a state because of this photograph?

I think this is all about trying to distract from the main issues. Fine. Whatever. Get a grip and get on with things. Peace awaits. Sole or no sole.

About Israel
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Bush Torture Memos Released By Obama: See The Complete Documents

AOG, Madrid

Why did this happen? Is this how a democracy should behave? After reading some of these documents I am no longer surprised, and in fact understand, why many people refer to the US as a terrorist state. To think that this went on under the guise of a democracy makes me sick.

I hope I never live to see the day when this happens again. This is no way to defend anything. It is obvious we lost the moral ground long ago. Longer than I had in fact anticipated, but for the reasons obvious to many outside America's border.

I trust that the people responsible for this are made accountable. Not out of any desire for revenge, but rather so that this does not set some sort of wicked precedent whereby it is ok to flaunt legality and human rights so long as you are defending your country following your own definition of defense.

I would like to say shame on them, but really, shame on us. This is what we voted into power. Twice. Shame on us indeed.

About Obama's First 100 Days
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

US Iran To Have Direct Group Talks Over Nuke Program

AOG, London




I have always thought that the best way to deal with proto-nuclear powers is through engagement. True, Iran is not just that. Having left the Western sphere of influence after the Islamic revolution, it is a country intent on carrying out a very proactive foreign policy. As of late, it has done well playing off the US and Russia against each other.

It is perhaps too early to tell if this has actually helped Iran's cause any, but it is obvious that it has bought the regime time, and it has shown it to be a very independent player in the world stage.

It is also true that in foreign policy matters, Iran is preaching to the converted. Nowhere outside the Islamic world (with the odd exception of Venezuela, and possibly Russia) is Iran seen as a serious player. Too dependent on religion to be taken seriously by most secular powers, nevertheless it is a country intent on undermining, when not outright demanding, the destruction of Israel.

I think the Obama administration is doing well in bringing Iran to the negotiating table. I am not sure that it will stop the Ayatollahs from creating a nuclear power in the region, but it is a start.

About Barack Obama
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

OBAMA

AOG, Madrid

Last night I was talking to my mother in London on the phone. We discussed the election in the US and we both hoped Obama would win. We talked about the long road to the White House and all sorts of realpolitik topics, like will the US really vote for a black candidate? And also the fact that Mr. Obama lost his Grandmother the day before voting started. My mother, a true romantic at heart, said nonchalantly that “Well, now she can help him win from Heaven”.

This afternoon I walked into my office to find my colleagues excited about the night’s events. I work for a Financial paper in Madrid. My co-workers are Spanish.

“His speech was like something from a movie!”, said one.

“I loved how McCain spoke about supporting the new President”, said another.

“That would never happen here”, said a third.

I looked at her and said that it was up to us to make sure something like that did happen here.

All three looked bemusedly at me and retorted that that would never happen in Spain.

“We don’t have that kind of politician” was the general summary.

I was saddened that my co-workers, many in their late 20s or early 30s, think that they deserve, or should put up with endlessly, with bad politicians.

But then I was raised in the US, not Spain, and I was instilled with the knowledge that if you want change, you make change. Unfortunately I think most Europeans wait for change to arrive at their doorstep.

No, I don’t think the American way is better, or that the European way is worse. They are merely different and have a plus side and a minus side.

Over the course of the afternoon my sister and I emailed each other after celebrating Mr. Obama's victory on Facebook. We were happy that the Bush era is well and truly over.

I spoke with my mother this morning. She was elated. We both were. Then reality struck our conversation.

“We must hope they don’t shoot him”, she said. I had to acquiesce. This is what the Guardian has to say about it.

They said the exact same thing at work.

Sarah Palin

AOG, Madrid

In the battle for the hearts and minds of Americans this coming November, both the Republicans and the Democrats are keen on finding the best candidate. It's always said that the most important decision a presidential candidate makes is their pick for Vice President. It shows their thinking and judgment.

This 2008, events in the Caucus region between Russia and Georgia have, according to some, pushed/forced/cleared up the way for Obama’s choice as a running mate in the form of Joe Biden, a man earmarked for his expertise in foreign affairs, something which the general media in the US is adamant Mr. Obama lacks. Biden, a Delaware senator, is known as a skilled and tactful debater, and is a foreign policy expert, chairing the Senate foreign relations committee.

On the other side of the spectrum, for reasons known only to himself, McCain has chosen Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska, to be his running mate. She is the first woman to do so under a Republican ticket. So that, and only that, is good news.

The rest is just abysmal, to say the least.

Flip flops over the Ketchikan bridge aside (also known as the Bridge to Nowhere), Ms. Palin is there, I would venture, to appease the party’s right, as well as its extreme right, wings.

Senator John Kerry, presidential candidate in 2004 also thinks this is the case since, according to him, the party is “suspicious” of McCain.

As if that were not bad enough, according to Senator Kerry, "He's chosen somebody who doesn't believe climate change is man-made", as he declared on ABC news.

She also does not believe in abortion, something which will make the McCain camp loose more votes, especially amongst women, but supports expanded drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. According to Wikipedia's much discussed and amended entry for her, she is said to support teaching creationism, alongside sicence.

This is what I find scariest. Whilst the rest of the worl forges forward in scientic research, blowing away the clouds of religion, the potential Vice President of the US believes in Creationism. It is one thing to be an Evangelical Christian, but to believe in Creationsim is just too much for me. But there's more.

Rush Limbaugh, whose radio show attracts millions of rightwing listeners, has enthusiastically welcomed the Governor of Alaska.

"Palin equals guns, babies, Jesus ... Obama just lost blue-collar, white Democratic voters in Pennsylvania and other states," Limbaugh said.

James Dobson, the conservative Christian leader who had been opposed to McCain, said the selection of Palin had won him over.

Amazingly, and catastrophically for the Republicans, by bringing in someone with very little experience, they have, ironically, washed over their main quip at Obama- lack of experience.

When it comes to experience, compared with Ms. Palin, Mr. Obama looks like Winston Churchill.

The Daily News-Miner, an Alaskan paper, wrote in an editorial: “Republicans rightfully have criticised the Democratic nominee, Senator Barack Obama, for his lack of experience but Palin is a neophyte in comparison. Palin is not ready for the top job. It’s clear that McCain picked Palin for reasons of image, not substance.”

A good omen?

After appearing with McCain at a rally in Dayton, Ohio, last Friday, Palin made her second campaign speech on Saturday near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Her stop there showed a vulnerability that could be a worry for McCain: some of the audience left as she was speaking and there was booing when, in an appeal to Democratic voters to switch to McCain, she mentioned Hillary Clinton, something Senator Kerry said was insulting to Hillary Clinton supporters, given her anti-abortion and other socially conservative views.

Palin, 44, is Alaska's first female governor. She was sworn in December 2006, making her one of the least experienced people to run for vice-president in recent memory - she has been governor for just a bit over 18 months. Alaska is one of the smallest states in the US, with only 670,000 residents; this would only make it the 17th most populous city in the United States. Just ahead of Fort Worth. Before becoming governor, Palin served two terms as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, a town of 9,800 people, and was on the city's council before that.

Do you know what the first two "powers and duties" are for the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska? Check their municipal code:

1. Preside at council meetings. The mayor may take part in the discussion of matters before the council, but may not vote, except that the mayor may vote in the case of a tie;

2. Act as ceremonial head of the city;

In the 2006 Alaska gubernatorial race, Palin bested the incumbent Republican governor during the primary election. As for foreign policy experience, she has none, but she was runner-up in the Miss Alaska pageant.

Nonetheless the final outcome in November will give the US one of two new paradigms, either a Black President, or a Woman Vice President for the first time ever.

Given McCain’s advanced age- he just turned 72-, and his not ironclad health, it may even give America its first-ever woman President. But for all the wrong reasons, of course.

Streisand versus Winfrey

AOG, Madrid

What is the Democratic party trying to sell us? A return to a good past or a leap towards a better future?

The jury is still out.

On the "Obamaic" camp, the future is bright and we gotta wear shades. Color Purple shades. Somehow, our Senator from Illinois has managed to get Oprah Winfrey onboard. Ms. Winfrey, probably the best symbol forward-thinking middle America has, has decided, first time ever, to back a (audacious) politician.

Barely a day after Barack Obama's campaign announced Oprah will stump with their candidate next month comes word that Hillary Clinton has snared her own celebrity endorser.

On the "Gin & (Clin)tonic” camp, Hilary has Barbra Streisand by her side. Ms. Streisand, ever the eternal liberal, represents to many a return to a not-too-distant, happier past: the interregnum between the Bushes, shall we say.

The economy was booming, the Cold War was over. The US was not at war with anyone, and it was not about to let something as meaningless as the Ugandan Genocide, or Bosnia, shatter its prosperity.

Nonetheless, life was good, gas was cheap, and the whole Lewinski thing was a hoot.

So which way will the Democratic party turn? Will it audaciously leap forward towards a brighter tomorrow or will it hark back to ancient Clintonian times?

The political calculations will argue that some voters are dumb enough to vote for a celebrity-endorsed politician; after all, Washington is Hollywood for ugly people, as they say.

But, in what appears to be a close race, by listening to Winfrey or Streisand, people will stick around long enough to listen and/or learn about the candidate they endorse.