Uptown Conjecture

I meant to write this blog A LONG TIME AGO but I never got around to it. And since Bush has left office...I don't know.

I often hear on the news how America is "safer", as we have had no attacks since the tragedies of September 11th. Along with that statement is often a claim that Bush doesn't get enough credit for that and his other blunders are too heavily focused on.

Then I would wonder, can we really attribute that to Bush? What did Bush do specifically in policy and diplomatic efforts that made it more difficult to attack the US? I texted 3 politically aware and opinionated friends over winter break asking if they thought that things were "safer" and can it be attributed to Bush or is it just a function of chance?

My first friend said that no one can be sure of that but he thinks that the war on terrorism is an epic failure and listed the attacks in London, Glasgow, Madrid, and Mumbai. I thought that was interesting because here I am (and the media too) considering the war on terrorism as the US versus "them". But terrorism is a worldwide concern and terrorists can attack anywhere. So if some are not safe, none are safe, right?

My second friend said "Well being that [Bush's] administration orchestrated 9/11, I'd have to say its a function of chance." I love that girl. I'm not gonna lie, the conspiracy theory of 9/11 being an "inside job" is quite compelling.

My last friend said that the "Bush administration is actually intimidating, believe it or not." So maybe Bush's hasty decision to bomb Afghanistan after the attacks and hastier decision to commence a war in Iraq made America seem like a force to be reckoned with. Therefore terrorists have thought twice about committing acts of violence against this nation. As much as I respect this last friend's intelligence and opinion, this, I cannot buy.

1) Terrorism is a global concern and just because the US hasn't suffered any attacks doesn't mean the "war on terrorism" is going well. 2) It was an "inside job" and we really didn't need to worry about terrorism any more than we have had to in the past. 3) Bush's administration, however one may disagree with policy and action, has put a hamper on terrorist activities with their strong military response.

I wonder what you think. I must say that I subscribe to number 1. Why even evaluate "our" safety if the rest of the world remains vulnerable?

Valēre

Over winter loafing, one of my favorite activities was going to the movies. I saw 7 Pounds, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and Valkyrie, all of which broke my heart to pieces in their different ways.

However, Valkyrie struck me in a very different way than the other aforementioned movies because: 1) I love history and it interesting to learn how civilization changes and remains the same, and 2) it is a movie about a momentous historical and sociological moment in time (1944), as the US (and consequently the rest of the world) enters into a moment of similar magnitude, although far more positive in nature.

It was an effulgent film. And, for me, I do not know if it was the acting or costumes or the dialogue that made it great. And maybe it was. Possibly because I am already an avid student of history, an emotional, empathetic, pacifist who still can't believe the Holocaust happened (that such evil exists is nightmarish), and because I cannot easily separate fantasy from reality and am easily convinced that I, too, am in the film, the movie carried me away.

First of all, can you imagine living in a place where the government could round you up and murder you with no questions asked and no one to stop them? And this government is highly efficient and organized, soulless, convincing, charming, and considered as omniscient as God Himself.

I shall not recount the movie here because it is far to exquisite for my lame synopsis, but it made me think quite interesting things about Israel, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, government, politics, and God.

For one, the Operation Valkyrie (Unternehmen Walküre), for which the movie is named was a plan of action approved by Adolf Hitler to restore law and order in Germany in the event of his death. These plans, if followed correctly, would restore Adolf Hitler's government within 6 hours.

Dead or alive, Hitler was going to get all of the Jews he could.

For the duration of the movie, with the nauseating stench or murder and evil slapping me around in my head, I understood why Israel came to be created. Not only were the Jews being systematically exterminated, the world (Allied Forces) did not intervene for quite some time. Adolf Hitler and his regime managed to kill six million Jews before it was all over and further defer the dream of world peace so as to push it farther into the depths of rottinghood.

I will say it, cautiously but honestly: I do not support Israel. I do not think it should have been created but especially not in the manner that it was.

But if you know the history of Israel's creation, it does leave a strange taste in one's mouth. Anyone with a soul appreciates the atrocities of the Holocaust (and the atrocity that was the Holocaust) and the shocking lethargy of the rest of the world to act but, it provokes a question. Of all the atrocities that have occured since men discovered weapons, what makes the Holocaust so much more atrocious so as to create a brand new country?

And why did not anyone think to sit down and meet with Palestinian leaders and have a discourse to reach compromise if they wanted this state so badly?

And who the hell is Great Britain to assure support of a Jewish state? Should they not have encouraged them to consult their potential neighbors?

I have no question for the United States as it sort of proved to be a lackadaisical in its foreign policy.

The Palestinian-Israeli conflict makes me think that government is feckless and its efficacy is a function of chance. While children of both sides die in the streets everyday, governments all around the world, in over 50 years, have yet to make peace between the two sides. Maybe they should let all the Palestinian mothers and the Israeli mothers meet and share the stories of their dead children, who died for reasons they were not born yet to contribute to, not old enough to understand, and died before they could have possibly contributed to steps toward peace.

This "new generation" of minds who may end this conflict is slowly diminishing everyday, with their graves outnumbering their toys.

The Revolution Will Be Televised

"Lift Every Voice and Sing"

...God of our weary years, god of our silent tears, thou, who has brought us thus far along the way, thou, who has by thy might led us into the light, keep us forever in the path we pray, lest our feet stray from the places, our god, where we met thee, lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee.
Shadowed beneath thy hand, may we forever stand true to thee, oh God, and true to our native land...

At 12:01pm this afternoon, Barack Hussein Obama became the president of the United States of America. Although the program was running a little late and he had not been officially sworn in yet, the Constitution reads that the new president assumes his title at 12:01pm on Inauguration Day.

The benediction was provided by Reverend Joseph Lowery, the founding memeber of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). He began with some beautiful lines from "Life Every Voice and Sing," a song written by James Weldon Johnson and proudly referred to as the Black National Anthem. You betta do that.

It was a brilliant and exciting ceremony as members of Congress, former presidents, their wives, children, and more were introduced. When President Obama was finally introduced, there was an electricity that I'm sure swept through the crowd and shocked us watching at home. Congratulations President Obama and Vice President Biden.

President Obama gave a wonderful speech, as he always does. This speech, however, was especially exceptional because of the manner in which the President reached out to the international community. He demonstrated the kind of global concern I think the Bush administration forgot about.

President Obama informed us that his administration would take a new course in negotiating with the Muslim world. He has not given up on peace in the Middle East. He promised the nations living in abject poverty that the United States would assist in agricultural efforts that will sustain the people and provide clean water for every man, woman, and child.

He told the US and other Western nations that enjoy relative wealth that they can no longer "afford indifference to suffering" around the world or consume the world's resources while irreverent to the global consequence. He condemned leaders who continue to destroy, deceive, take advantage of, silence, and murder their own people. They are on "the wrong side of history".

Some complained that President Barack Obama's speech was a superfluous display of word art and outlined no real policy on how his administration plans to do all that he spoke of. Maybe that is true. But was it the time for policy talk? On this day of great sociological and historical importance, do we really want him to stand up there in front of people who have been outside in the DC winter cold since 4am and talk about policy?

As the first Black president, standing on the platform of a building built by slaves, cleaned and repaired by slaves, all the while counting them as only 3/5 of a person in the Constitution that we depend on to define and maintain our democracy, can we please excuse him for not including policy in his speech? He is trying to unify a country ragged and battered by racial conflict, religious disagreement, bitter history, political fighting, etc. in order to more positively contribute to the improvement of the world. He has four years to deal with policy.

The backdrop (for me) of this historic day was the departure of Former President George Bush. President Obama was very gracious in thanking Former President Bush for his service to our country, but the speech he delivered also did not lightly rebuke the irresponsible actions of America under the Bush administration. The Bush administration was a disastrous and devastating one for many in a personal way, not in a removed, political ideological manner. I was excited to see him go.

As CNN juxtaposed Bush's departure with Obama's arrival, a correspondent commented that this is the purest day of American democracy. And it is. This outstanding peaceful transition of power is something to be admired. No matter how vehemently some may disagree with President Obama's election or any president's election, we enthusiastically and ritualistically change our head of state with little to no trouble. God bless America. And God, make it possible for other countries around the world to enjoy the nourishing meal of peace.

The Revolution has been televised.

Square Business

"God is Trying to Tell You Something"

...Speak Lord / Speak to me...

Tomorrow, the world will watch Barack Obama be sworn into the office of the President of the United States. He is the first Black president in the history of US democracy.

The coverage of Obama, his family, his campaign, his impending inauguration, his everything, is ridiculous. He is such a huge celebrity the world over.

Although I am young, I accurately assume that no inauguration or president has stirred this kind of buzz, media coverage, or excitement.

It isn't arbitrary and I understand the media hype: this is a Black man becoming president of a country with a heinous history of slavery, Jim Crow laws, Ku Klux Klan terrorism, and more. It is amazing.

To add to the majesty of the event, we are observing Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday (b. January 15, 1929) this Monday, this day before this historic inauguration. It seems so poetic. This man who spoke on behalf of the ideas of equality and justice, unity and acceptance for us was a part of a movement that tilled the soil of our culture with a seed of progress and open mindedness.

Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream has not totally been realized. However, there is something to be said for the enormity of this occassion and how Obama's election serves as a barometer for how far we have come. We are almost free at last.

We are free of some of the institutional hindrances. We are free from some of our own cultural poisons. We are free from the glass ceiling. What a sensational time.

I don't have any children yet, but I can't wait to tell them, especially my boys, that God is trying to tell us something.