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Sunday, May 22, 2011

Election Day



Election Day -Spanish Style

Today, the twenty-second day of May, 2011, is election day across Spain when voters are going to the polls to vote in Municipal elections. The cynical will say that on this day those who have been busy robbing the public are asking for forgiveness, and to be given the chance to continue their activities that they so much enjoy.

I have never liked political parties. As a young man, when I first became aware of politics, in my country we voted for individuals from our neighbourhood who wanted to be sent to parliament to represent our interests. They discussed matters with their constituents and they voted according to how the majority felt.

If a member from some other district came up with an idea that was clearly in the interests of the island, it was debated and approval would be given, based simply on its merits.

Then came party politics and all that changed. Everything is in the interest of party domination and party re-election. So what if the other side has an award-winning idea, the party in power would argue it into the ground lest the electorate saw value in the opposition.

I also don’t like politics in general because cash tempts the most honest and moral person. Everybody seems to have an agenda, and when you are the person in the middle the pressure must be awesome. Added to that is the general impression of the public who believe that all politicians are corrupt.

I have known persons who entered politics full of courage and moral rage against corruption. They were slowly worn down by the weight of public opinion, and the expectation of the public that ultimately some fell in line and fed happily at the public trough together with their colleagues, or they quit politics altogether.

Here in Spain the attitude to corruption is really quite amazing. If you are a politician and you are not putting money in your own pocket, why not? Some of those at the very top are in the courts charged with doing this or that, but they are also hoping to be re-elected today. I am outraged that these bastards have so little regard for my intelligence that they expect me to vote for them, or at least for sections of their party.

People have taken to the street to protest the behaviour of such scum but they are so arrogant that they take no notice. We people will vote anyway, and we really don’t have much in the way of choice between either major party, so who cares?

Well, I wasn’t going to vote at all, so disgusted am I, but then I thought what if I cast my vote for the lone Independent candidate? What if all the people who feel like me did the same thing, and what if this became a trend in future elections, might we go back to the future?

That is what I shall do. I shall go now and vote “Independentista!” Boy, will he be surprised.

Copyright © 2011 Eugene Carmichael

Sunday, May 15, 2011

The Perfect First Black US President



The Perfect First Black US President: President Barak Obama

Much has been written about President Obama since he authorised the take down of Osama bin Laden, but trust me, this essay will be the most unusual angle you have ever seen.

First, a little something about me: I am a black man, but I am neither a Democrat nor a Republican. I‘m not even an American, but I have a lot in common with President Obama.

I was born in Bermuda, a close neighbour of Washington D.C. and as such what happened there was reflected where I grew up. I am in my seventy-second year, so in my lifetime I have seen a whole lot of things, and there have been even more things that have changed. During my early to middle years I have lived through legalised discrimination in a country that practised apartheid as much as though we were in South Africa. Of course, my ancestors came to the west as chattel where they were bought and sold in the fashion of animals.

From such humble beginnings, through the help of white men who laid down their lives partly over the principle of whether it was right or not to treat human beings as black people were treated, creeping gains have been made over many years. I relished every improvement, and no life adjustment went unnoticed, but “America will still have a very long way to go after I die,” or so went my thinking. “There will probably never be an elected US black president, or for that mater, a woman president in that country.”

When Shirley Chisholm, a black woman ran for president, I thought: Wow! Now wouldn’t that be something if somehow she got elected. Jesse Jackson made a grand run, and he gave one of the very best speeches at the Democratic National Convention that I have ever heard, but somehow, in my mind Jessie wasn’t quite the right candidate. He was carrying a little too much baggage.

Then, a Republican black member, Colin Powell, was thought to be thinking about making a run for the Oval Office, and this was something that caught all of America off guard. For so many years we had talked about a black president in the United States. Hollywood had treated the fantasy with Morgan Freeman, and the black actor who played the president in the series “24”. With Colin Powell, all he had to do was say the word and I am sure that he would have been assured of election with the pride and confidence of his Republican party, because very seldom there comes someone so obviously presidential material.

Of course, we all know that he went on to be George W. Bush’s Foreign Secretary and dispatched his duties with more of a presidential air than George Bush himself. It is a mark of the man’s intelligence that he had the great sense to say no to the opportunity, if it was an opportunity. Frankly, the position is so fraught with stress and challenge that I wonder at the mentality of all those who actually want to hold the office.

Black people have been told for so long that we were incapable of doing anything significant. We knew better, and in many ways where we got the opportunity we have been proving our capability, so we knew that we could do as well or make as much of a mess as any white man.
With that in mind it gave every black person in the world a great sense of satisfaction when the Democratic Party confirmed Barak Obama as its Nominee. Many of us might have been wanting for Hilary Clinton to get the selection as she would have made history as well as the first woman president, and she may still do so, but Barak Obama was the choice, and history was made. Finally, in America, black people were being taken seriously, but more important America had grown up and the paradigm shifted.

Previously, in order to occupy the Oval Office you had to be a white male. Anytime artificial criteria are set, that automatically means that real talent possibly will be overlooked. America had finally decided to choose on the basis on who they thought might be best for the job without regard to sex or colour, and that was a sea change.

America was at a place in its history that was so bad that the only thing that seemed left to be done was to push the “flush” button. The last thing that we really wanted to happen was that a black person be appointed to such an impossible job. If he fails that would likely set people’s impressions back centuries and confirm what the nay -sayers had been saying all along. We have seen how the American people can trash a president they don’t like, and my friends and I did not want to wish that on Mr. Obama, simply to make the point that America had a black president.

Barak Obama has come to the world stage with a clean background and he has conducted himself with dignity and with confidence. He has made very few mistakes along the way, and he has played the political game with shrewdness and aplomb. He has achieved certain things, in the words of former President John F. Kennedy, not because they were easy, but because they were difficult, such as health care reform.

He is a joy to listen to as a speaker, and now, he has pulled off the ultimate success in taking down Osama bin Laden, America’s most wanted man, dead or alive. He is only a politician, not God, but he acts very much like the ideal President, and whether one agrees with his political views or not, he is a credit to black people and he is setting the stage for other black candidates, and also women candidates. Hilary Clinton could possibly sail into office in 2016, partly on the basis of his continued success, and the stage might be set for a candidate whose name absolutely warms my heart: Condoleezza Rice.

Copyright © 2011 Eugene Carmichael

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Osama Bin Laden



The Late Mr. Osama Bin Laden

The end of Osama Bin Laden is one of those stories that is so juicy that if you are a blogger and you don’t treat it, people will ask what’s wrong with you. I am moved to write because I have long felt that he was not living in a cave, nor was he living a solitary deprived sort of life.

I was fairly certain that he was living in a place with electricity that allowed him acess to a television, and to be able to record his messages. I also thought that he had the comforts of home. However, in my thinking, I was sure that some powerful war lord had put him up in his compound in Afganistan, and that he probably had the comfort of women as well.

The foundation for such thinking was that the hunt for him had gone on far too long, and to envision anybody so committed that they would live like a hermit in a cave, especially as he was a rich man, for all these past years simply goes against the grain of human nature.

Now, he is no more! He may have been directing Al Quedea all these years from his comfortable hideout, although they didn’t seem to place too high a priority on cleanliness, but we have to be amazed by how determined the U.S. was in getting their man. No matter that he was holed up inside another country. Just go right on in an get him. The U.S. might makes it right.

I recall President Obama saying early in his administration that if he had actionable intelligence inside Pakistan he would follow that through. People are slowly coming to realise that although he might be a very moral man, he does mean what he says, most of the time.

America is very indignant about the fact that it was attacked on its own soil. Some people came into the country and carried out some outrageous actions that killed a number of its residents. Presumably those were people who felt that they were morally right to take the actions they did, just as America probably feels the same way when it invades someone else's territory. America always feels that it acts by taking the high road, and that history will judge it to have always have been morally justified.

I’m certain that it does try to be on the side of right, but it’s all in the eye of the beholder whether that’s correct or not. In the case of Bin Laden the SEALS went in to kill him. Period! Two taps to the head and American’s Most Wanted man got an X across his picture. Spare the paperwork.

My, how the world has changed!

Copyright © 2011 Eugene Carmichael

Monday, May 2, 2011

The Royal Wedding



The Royal Wedding of a Happy Couple

Topic “A” this past week has been the wedding of Prince William of the British Royal Family to Catherine (Kate) Middleton, and as weddings go, every wedding is as important to each couple as all others. Consequently, the wedding of William and Kate was just a wedding. However, because of who he is that generated a whole lot of pomp and circumstance, so, I as a man actually watched the event because of the environment in which I was, and because when so much is scripted, there is so much that can go wrong.

I held my breath as people walked alongside of women with long dresses, hoping that they didn’t step on the dresses. I also hoped that both men and especially women didn’t misstep and fall down. I even worried that the weather might spoil the event, but at the end of the day all went well, proving that once again the British are masters of the rehearsed and superbly orchestrated spectacle.

My favourite moment came when the couple left Buckingham Palace in a convertible and drove around the corner to Clarence House with balloons trailing and a sign that said, “Just Wed”, as if anyone in the world was not aware. I’ve decided that I want to write a couple of paragraphs not to add even more redundant information, but to focus on something that I thought quite strange.

The guest list read like a who’s who of people from around the world. There were the couple’s own friends and work mates and former school chums, but then came world leaders, and the rich and famous, basically people who have outrageous egos. Seating was arranged giving family and British royalty select vantage points, but over 1,000 people were considered the general congregation and they were sat in a place where they could not see a thing, except if it was televised, in which case they might just as well have stayed at home.

With people suffering from such inflated egos, to be called “The General Congregation” might have been just too much. To add injury to insult they had to arrive at the church at about 8am and sit there until 11am when the service got underway. What about bathroom breaks? Perhaps that’s what all those trees were for. Even the minor royals were not spared as they arrived at the church in rented mini-buses.

Back at Buckingham Palace, after the service some of the guests had to enter the Palace from a side door. Probably the same side door I used when I visited the Palace as a paying visitor. I just hope that they also didn’t have to leave through the gift shop.

I presume they considered it all worthwhile, but I’m sure we all have one thing in common in that we wish the newlyweds a happy life together.

Now, come on Harry, we need to start planning a future happy event. You’re having far too much fun as a single man.

Copyright © 2011 Eugene Carmichael