One Fine Day

This blog is, just now, emerging from a lengthy vipassana (“Do not spit on the footpaths! – Be Happy!”), full of all that clear-headedness and deep insight that only silence can confer. Or that’s the hope — and the story.

If ever there was a day to shake me from my writing stupor – I mean, meditation – it was yesterday. I attended an address by His Giggliness the Dalai Lama in the afternoon and watched Barack Obama become President of the United States late at night. That’s a pretty heady one-two punch.

America to Receive Adult Supervision at Long-Last

Obama Pulls Knock-Out Punch and Wins Debate in Unanimous TKO

John McCain was able to get a last-minute permission slip from his mom – or President Bush, or whomever – and came to Mississippi. By all accounts, Barack Obama slaughtered him in the first presidential debate – all accounts except mine, that is.

Sure, polls of undecided voters immediately following the tête-à-tête showed Obama winning the day by roughly two-to-one. Sure, Obama was smart, confident, well-mannered, and “presidential” while McCain continued to speak petulant nonsense, displaying the same loose understanding of the concept of a “failed state” as he has of the “fundamentals of the economy”. Sure, the talking heads unanimously called the win for Obama. These were sweet accomplishments for the Illinois Senator, who certainly had the more difficult challenge on the evening. After all, what can be tougher than debating a guy for whom language has no fixed meaning.

Still, Obama failed to do the one thing he absolutely had to do to win this election: assure America that he is not black.

Obama Becomes Elektra

Check-out the awesome new Obama-wear created by Elektra Printz, one of New York’s smartest new fashion designers. Never heard of her? You will.

Michelle Obama Kicks Ass

I have already argued that Barack Obama is the right guy at the right time to lead the redemption of America. Here’s another reason to vote for him: he’s married to a kick-ass women.

Michelle Obama rocks. She’s smart, solid, and (despite being nearly my age), retains a degree of vestigial hipness. She is a well-informed, articulate advocate on a wide range of social issues – and an effective supporter of her husband on the stump – but does not presume to offer America the two-for-one deal the Clintons promised in 1982 and never quite successfully distanced themselves from in 2008. “I’m not here as a senior advisor,” she has said, “I’m here as a wife.” She is, by all accounts, a wonderful mother and a competent professional. And it certainly doesn’t hurt that she is extremely attractive and stylish.

None of this, of course, matters a bit.

Going with McCain?

Is it just me, or does anyone else have the nagging feeling that the Republicans will somehow manage to dump John McCain this summer?

I’ll be the first to admit: I have no idea how they might do it at this point. I went so far as to leaf-through Republican National Committee Rule 15(e), which sets-out the various state committee rules on the extent to which delegates are bound to the candidate to which they are originally pledged. I don’t really see an out, given Mr. McCain’s overwhelming first-ballot majority at the nominating convention.

If I Were Barack Obama…

… I’d give a major speech on gender in America, just as he did on race in his brilliant Philadelphia address.

Of course, this was something that Hillary Clinton should have done, while she was still in the campaign. But she was too busy decrying her victimization – which was, sadly, not invented – and galvanizing her feminist base around the insult. The positive, inspirational route was not in Ms. Clinton’s political playbook.

An Obama address on the evils of persistent sexism would not only have intrinsic value, it would also help to ease Ms. Clinton’s army of wounded feminists into his fold.

The Right Leader at the Right Time

Will Barack Obama be a great president, or even a good one? This is very difficult to predict, and depends largely on the people with whom he surrounds himself, his political acumen, and his ability to balance principle and pragmatism. He is certainly very smart, making him a welcome change from the current leadership. But then, Jimmy Carter was a brilliant man and a horrible president. Ronald Reagan was an intellectual lightweight, but had a hugely successful (if also hugely repugnant) presidency.

Still, I have no hesitation in saying that Mr. Obama is exactly the right person to lead this country at this time.

Obama Fails a “Test of Character”

There is rarely a shortage of things to get depressed about in American politics, but today I feel especially low. Samantha Power, who had been an advisor to Barak Obama on foreign policy issues, resigned from his campaign following a remark to a journalist that Hillary Clinton is “a monster,” referring to the Clinton campaign’s incessant smears of Obama. Professor Power is one of the bright young voices of foreign policy, and her work has focused on the ethical dimension of foreign interventions. Her book, Problem From Hell: America and the Age of Genocide, won a 2003 Pulitzer Prize. To see her depart from the Obama camp, over something so stupid, is disheartening.

When her remark was published, the Clinton campaign immediately called for Professor Power’s head. They were shocked (SHOCKED!) and outraged (OUTRAGED!) at such callous name calling. Ms. Clinton’s surrogates demanded that Mr. Obama sack her. The outcry of Representative Nita Lowey of New York was typical: “We’re here today to ask Senator Obama to ask Samantha Power not to be part of his campaign. It’s really a test for Obama, a test of character.”

It was indeed a test of character; and Mr. Obama failed it. He accepted Professor Power’s resignation, giving credibility to the foolishness of the feigned insult and losing an amazing advisor in the process.