Politics, Smolitics!

So unlike mainstream America where political, local, and international news are hurled at you through a slingshot on a nearly 24hr updated basis, news comes in short stuttered bursts here. I check MSNBC, BBC, and the New York Times on my cell phone when I can, allowing for phone credit and time.

The one thing that caught my attention today was the demonizing of politicians. While this may be largely in part due to what the networks deem acceptable and relevant for my phone feed, it seems almost every article I read about any politician is negative. Whether it's Clinton, Palin, Obama, Sotomayor...

I'm wondering about the nature we view politicians. We elect them into great positions of power and stature, hoping they change the fabric of our society. Fixing the wrongs and curing the ills they so often campaign about. Sure, you campaign in poetry and govern in prose - but have we become so cynical and impatient as to never view a politician positively?

The majority of news I'm receiving is regarding House and Senate Democrats trying to slip off stage regarding Health Care reform. Talks of Obama "moving too quickly" or hastily. Talks of Democrats moving away from Obama because he is either "too liberal" or that their constituencies are finding out that his plans for success are slow-acting. I'm only 24, with no major background or interest in economics, but even I know that an entire economy (a global one at that,) doesn't possess the power to change overnight.

I figured that out of any politican, Obama would have been the one to galvanize the country together. And yes, he seems to have succeeded past his election date. But here we are, 7 months after the fact with doubts and fears having crept into our culture, with the rats already beginning to jump off the ship before the leaking starts.

I keep finding myself wondering whether or not it's our fault. Have we become so cynical and thirsty for blood we'll just jump towards any negative act for the sake of drama? Can we ever have a politician that we can tolerate for more than the length of our attention spans?

Probably not. It's interesting living a lifestyle that doesn't really give me an opportunity to associate myself with drama that tends to encompass college, family, and high school. Please, if its me and my phone feed, let me know. Let me know what exactly it is I'm missing.

I will just say, regarding the health care debate - I'm confused as to what the argument behind the anti-universal stance really is. Either universal health care will be too good and not give private insurance companies a chance to compete in a capitalist market, or that the quality will too low and we'll have to wait 9 months for doctors and adequate care. Are they really arguing that universal health care will be both better and worse than the system we have now?

This is the Title of My Post

Ok, so this is officially the longest I’ve gone without posting. My apologies. For those of you that haven’t heard from my parents, or my public relations officer, I lost the access to the high speed internet here for quite some time. We’re going back all the way to dial-up, anyone remember those times? We’re talking like, 3kb/sc speed. I could physically draw the screen in the meantime. But anyway…

So I just returned to Africa after three weeks in America. The first week was spent gallivanting around the Maryland/Pennsylvania area. Highlights include the wedding of Nancy and Andrew, which was the original reason I returned home in the first place, the stand-up routine of Steve Gimbel, crashing at Katie’s, and the visitation of Karen’s family and friends. So a word on each.

The wedding was beautiful, with the wonderful bride having designed and made her own dress. Nancy, you looked gorgeous. The service was short and sweet and for the first time ever, I’ve actually enjoyed the priest giving the service. The wedding was the primary reason for my return to America, formulated by a wager with the groom. Originally, no one thought I would actually return for the wedding, so it was agreed that if I were to return home for their wedding, the “Imperial March” from Star Wars would be played as they entered the reception. Unfortunately, they chickened out and ended up using the theme from Boondock Saints. Don’t get me wrong – it’s a fantastic song, one I may end up stealing for me wedding, but its no Imperial March. I think they felt guilty, since I ended up with a dedicated song from the Bride herself, which of course was “Toto’s Africa.” The highlight of my night was probably the DJ announcing, “This next song is from the bride Nancy to a dear friend Nick, who came all the way from Africa to be here, from the country of Na….Nam….Nammmii..” and then had everyone in the room yell “Namibia!!!!” Thanks Nancy. All my love – hope you enjoyed Hawaii.

The next thing was visiting a favorite former professor do standup comedy in Maryland, which was awesome. It’s great to hear “smart people” jokes. I’m debating about writing a short stand-up for my return. ‘Cause hell – the crap here is funnier than fiction. This followed a great night and dinner with friends in Baltimore’s inner harbor, where Karen got me a Guinness and Katie pretended to be a pirate wench. Argghh!!! And prior to all this was visiting Karen’s family and Karine, all of which are wonderful. Karine, you look great. Really. Sorry I didn’t get to see you more. Maybe more next time huh? Maybe I’ll follow you to Lebanon. (*hint)

Ok, so I’ll write up more later, promise. I’m just so very close to lunch, and so very hungry too.

Never a good combination.