Obama’s Mistake

For a President who has been given the mandate to implement change in his first term and as early as possible, Obama has performed admirably. He has summoned to the table the best problem solvers he could find, and even his opponents. His successes are for history to record. Even under the pressure of enormous problems like world peace, global warming, and widespread economic meltdown, Obama has kept his level head and practical demeanor throughout the first year of his term. He has gained the respect of world nations, their leaders, and those who think for themselves, wherever they may be.

His mistakes on the other hand have become a matter of political leverage for his detractors. His overt critics include the likes of  Rush Limbaugh, Charles Krauthammer, and Glen Beck, of Fox News. He also has covert critics, who have to appear as his allies in the public eye while privately maintaining an anti-American, anti-Obama stance. These are the leaders of those nations that are in the eye of the anti-American storm of our time, including Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Hammid Karzai, Nouri al-Maliki, and Asif Ali Zardari.

For reasons that are unfathomable for many, Obama and his political machine publically takes on some of these false prophets of the Murdoch news empire and the false leaders of autocratic nations of the Middle East. There is a sense of naiveté in the zeal with which these attacks are organized by the Obama machine and indeed the attention devoted to them at all. A President of any stature has to learn to stay above the fray. Otherwise there will be a price to pay.

…ooOoo…

According to an old fable,  in a far far away fiefdom, one bright morning, the king was enjoying his morning tea. The tranquility of the moment was pierced by the shriek sound of a young, brash bird.

“kock-a-doodle-do, kock-a-doodle-do

I found a penny

I am a wealthy henny

kock-a-ddodle-do.”

After some hours of this unwelcome song, the King ordered his minions to go over to the nearest neighborhood garbage dump, where the bird seemed to be ruminating and take away his damn penny so he would shut up. Before the Kings’ men could come back to inform him that the mission was a success, much to the King’s chagrin, he became the unwilling audience to another serenade.

“kock-a-doodle-do, kock-a-doodle-do

The king is miserly

The king is poorer than me

kock-a-ddodle-do.”

This was adding insult to injury. Now the King had to worry, besides his peace and quiet, about his reputation. Just as soon as they arrived, he ordered his men to return to the cock and give back his “damn penny.” Listening from afar he was delighted with the immediate effect his new strategy had on the sing-song-cock, but the brief silence of the morning was once again interrupted by a familiar tune and new lyrics.

“kock-a-doodle-do, kock-a-doodle-do

The king is cowardly

The king is afraid of me

kock-a-ddodle-do.”

By this time the King had had it. He did not even wait for the news to be delivered by his men. He sent out a new posse to catch this Florence-Jenkins-wan ‘a-be and cook it for dinner.  His order was carried out with haste.  That evening he enjoyed a tasty meal enhanced by the after effects of the quiet day he enjoyed due to his final move and the satisfaction of devouring his nemesis, the garbage-dump-bird. It was a long night and by the time he went to bed the King was feeling over stuffed and lethargic. After a few restless hours  in his royal bed, he felt an excruciating pain in his belly. The cock had managed one last heroic effort and extending his neck out of the King’s behind and started on a familiar croon.

“kock-a-doodle-do, kock-a-doodle-do

The king’s behind has ruptured

Thank heavens, my life has been recaptured

kock-a-ddodle-do.”

…ooOoo…

By taking on Rush and Fox News head on, Obama has already experienced the annoyance and insults that have been added to his injury. Without a doubt, these characters are the brash cocks of their own neighborhood’s garbage piles. Similarly, Obama has suffered through his on-again-off-again public skirmishes with Ahmadinejad, al-Maliki, Zardari, and Karzai.

If he is not careful, one early morning in the White House, he will wake up with excoriating pains.

(c) all rights reserved by Sail Anon

Talking Man

“Kick the habit and join the unhooked generation!” is one decade-old slogan that took a lot of concerted effort on the part of individuals, researchers, politicians, and health care officials to realize. But in the end, it helped wean most Americans from their smoke sucking habit beyond anyone’s expectations. Today, the only way you can see smokers, as if they are members of an endangered species, is by going to a special viewing spot: the designated smoking area. Most buildings are smoke free. Even restaurants and bars are “clean” zones. Unless you smoke in your home, there are precious few options for regular smokers to consume in comfort.

For a while, doorways and building entrances became outdoor smoking dens. These were the easiest to reach spaces outside of the official smoke banned area. And smokers took almost a defiant pleasure to blow smoke, literally, in everyone’s face as they entered and exited buildings. Especially in inclement weather, smokers wrapped themselves inside their trench-coats and clouds of smoke and tried to stay warm for at least five minutes, even though it takes about seven at a leisurely pace, to absorb enough nicotine to last till the next smoke break.  Body heat plus the smoke conditioned microclimates formed in front of every entrance eave or porch. Non-smokers hurried through the plumes and huddling bodies so that they would inhale no more second-hand smoke than they had to. The visual image of a smoker in this context is indelibly ingrained in the minds of all passers-by, whether through the smoke filled entrance or nearby. The human figure with one hand stuck to the mouth became a symbol of regression into habits that looked and felt an awful lot like thumb-sucking. (Surely there must be some Freudian explanation for this.) In any event, this image of man, or woman, satisfying his, or her, most basic desires in broad daylight and under the guise of addiction, has been a most convenient excuse for a most unacceptable behavior: sucking in public.

Rodin’s “thinking man,” on the other hand, has been the uplifting iconic image of humankind that befits out loftiest ambitions.  In this case, the athletic male body made from bronze, resting his manly chin against his masculine fist propped up by his equally muscular and graceful arm  gracefully resting on his knee, is engaged in deep though, presumably responding to his profound urge to think. He is satisfying his deep desire to figure things out, solve the never ending mysteries of human curiosity. It has been a downer if not plain angst to have to think that, in the span of less than a century, we have descended from the pedestal of ‘thinking” to covering under eaves.

Yet, change is ever present. We have a new evolutionary phase emerging. Before, during, and after any event or assembly that requires an attendee’s uninterrupted attention, people take breaks to talk. Now their hand is neither glued to their chin to think, nor their lips to smoke, it is glued to an ear to prop up a cell phone. We demonstrate an incredible desire to talk, to whomever we want, at whatever time or place, about anything at all, with no regard for whomever may be around us, anywhere, anytime, anyhow. When did this desire exhibit itself in our past? Is it the neighborly chats around the fence gate, hanging around the neighborhood drugstore, or gathering around the cooler at work? No, this is a brand new addiction. We have very little interest in what is going on around us when get that all important call from a co-worker, business deal, doctor’s office, or someone in an emergency.

But wait, most cell phone calls are not those types of calls. We want to ask mom if this outfit I found at Macy’s looks good on me. Quick, snap a picture, guess what, I can do it with the cell phone, which has now grown into a multi functional device. I need to remember that ingredient in the recipe which I left on the kitchen table; can someone read it for me? I am too lazy to go upstairs to talk to you, oh I’ll call you. And true story: I am too busy talking to you on the phone, so I cannot stop and chat with you even though I see you walking towards me. Since cell phones took over our lives, say about less than a decade ago – incidentally, a little blimp in the evolutionary scale of humankind — our hands have been glued to our ears and our lips do not stop chirping.

You may wonder what happened to the emergency call which was the primary pretext for people to get these devices in the first place. We are still waiting for that technical glitch to be solved. It turns out most 911 call stations are designed for land lines. “Darlene struggled to speak as she called 911 from her cell phone. She could barely tell the operator her address: 602 Wales Drive. The operator, trying to understand her, sent an ambulance to Wells Street in Atlanta — 28 miles from her apartment in Johns Creek, a suburb north of the city.” If you do not want to suffer Darlene’s predicament, in an emergency, you better find a land phone at least until this technical problem is resolved, which should take another decade or so. As to the business call, it still survives among the plethora of unwanted commercial calls that each cell phone is inundated by and the increasing number of “National Do Not Call Registries” to which you must subscribe. But no sweat, just dial it on your cell.

It should be humbling to note that since Rodin made his thinking man in 1902, we have experienced two other principal states of evolution: the sucking man and the talking man, both of which has brought out to daylight our innermost addictive tendencies revealed only through new technology: the modern cigarette and the cell phone. It is further sobering to note that the modern cigarette was made popular at the turn of the 20^th century while the cell phone at the turn of the 21^st. It took almost a century for cigarettes to be eliminated from our daily lives. The safety of cell phones is a matter of debate these days. It may take a decade or two for the definitive findings to see the light of day since the phone industry would not relent until they develop the “safer” improved versions before conclusive findings would be available.

Just think about that!

© All rights reserved by Sail Anon, October 18, 2009

Price of Success: NPR and Mr Simon

It is no speculation that NPR has risen to prominence in the annals of American news sources in the last few decades, perhaps at a rate few expected. “In 2008, the cumulative audience for NPR’s daily programs reached a record 20.9 million, a 9 percent increase over the previous year.”[web source: NPR Wikipedia] It is also known to most followers of NPR that its Weekend Edition Host and Peabody Award-winning correspondent Scott Simon’s stock has skyrocketed along with the fortunes of his employer.  He has been praised for his warm, humorous, thoughtful, and down to earth reporting as a signature spot every Saturday morning since early 80s. Some may even see a connection between the two. I remember reports on NPR singing the praises of Mr Simon because he passed up what might have been a more fame-fortune studded career in the TV news-entertainment business. Judging from the direction that TV news has recently taken and Mr. Simon’s self-centered style of reporting, this can now be considered, in retrospect, a missed opportunity for both Mr Simon and NPR.

Mr Simon has had several on-air faux pas’ that are well known and publicized. Whether it is calling for military action at the heels of 9/11, laughing at plots to murder Dick Cheney, or confusing the Chinese identity with that of the Taiwanese [Scott Simon, Tanners of Taiwan: Life Strategies and National Culture, Cambridge MA: Westview Press, 2005, ISBN:0-8133-4193-0 (pbk)] he is not innocent when it comes to making rookie mistakes. His veteran mistake is to count on his reputation and innocent good will to bail him out of these more than embarrassing moments. It is not that fact that he will be tossed out on his behind because of minor incursions here or there, however it is the fact that his self-delusion and self-confidence has reached such a level that he thinks he can get away with anything.

Consider the following.

Mr Simon interviews a UN official about the détente that is in the process of emerging between the Turkish and the Armenian governments on October 10, 2009. He uses the phrase “Armenian Genocide” without any suggestion or invitation to do so by the interviewee, who wisely stays clear of the phrase. It is well known to all interested in the issue, which should include Mr Simon since he has boisterously displayed his bias on NPR and on NBC in several occasions, that this is a hotly contested concept. Not only politician and the lay person, but also the erudite and the historian are conflicted about using the term “genocide.” This is an insult to the intelligence of the NPR listener who likes do her own thinking. Furthermore, according to the Ombudsperson of NPR, NPR refrains from using such terminology in spite of evidence that may seemingly favor one side or the other.

The inclusion of the term Armenian Genocide in our daily language has been instigated by political opportunists, ethnic fanatics, zealots, and forgerers of historical document. Its continued use is welcomed by media darlings like Mr Simon, among others.

Its appeal is split. Some Turks accept it, many do not. Many Armenians accept it, some do not. Historians on both sides defend their position with reason. Most Christians do not question it, most Muslims do. Most importantly, the two governments in question have agreed to open their borders, which is a step towards mutual understanding and agreement. In a delicate climate of negotiation someone makes the premature call that it is genocide. Is this person a historian specialized in Turkish-Armenian relations? Is he a member of the Armenian Diaspora? Is he an individual with deep knowledge of the issue? No. He is a nationally recognized news reporter who is pandering to his biases.

NPR has placed so much stake at Mr Simon’s invulnerability and infallibility that now it will pay the price for its rise to success partially on his back. As an avid supporter and listener to NPR, I caution this venerable institution. I will not listen to Weekend Edition until Mr Simon apologizes for his less than innocent indiscretions, in the matter of the Turkish Armenian political opening. I also invite all listeners who like to do their own thinking, to do the same.

(c) all rights reserved by Sail Anon