Election 2008, From the Mouths of Babes

February 21, 2008 – 10:20 pm

Shockingly, my 15-year old son has recently become interested in politics. We’re not ready to take off the ski hat, cut our hair, pull up our pants, and don a coat and tie like Michael J. Fox in the 1980s sitcom “Family Ties,” but it’s a start.

Indeed, this emerging interest had me channeling Kenneth Branaugh in the remake of the movie Frankenstein, when said creature stirred for the first time and Branagh looked to the heavens and wailed, “It’s A-liiiiivvvvveeeeee!” Productive intellectual inquisitiveness in the teen male must always be encouraged, no matter how flickering the flame. Words must be chosen carefully so as to gently fan that flame, rather than put it out.

On primary nights, the lad has asked me to turn the television onto CNN “so we can watch the scores.” It’s not a logical leap from ESPN, I guess, and politics is the biggest spectator sport in this country, so I do nothing to disabuse him of the notion.

His comments with respect to Mrs. Clinton would sit well with her adversaries. He’s dumbstruck at how she can conceivably be trying to change the rules with respect to Michigan and Florida. “That sucks,” he says, “isn’t that cheating?”

Our discussion about Barack Obama struck me, however. Read More »

By Feature Writer | Posted in Current Affairs, election 08, family, humor, north america | Comments (1)

Hearting Huckabee: A Story of Woe

January 6, 2008 – 9:27 am

Election 2008 is bound to be somewhat of a disappointment, regardless of the possible outcome. This isn’t meant as an insult toward the candidates, many of whom are interesting people, but toward our so-called democratic process in general.

Let’s see here: The two-party system stifles diversity of thought in one of the most diverse countries in the world. The Electoral College is undemocratic and an insult to every single one of my fellow American citizens. And the soundbite-driven media provides us with a 24-hour sideshow circus wherein deep, provocative issues such as “OMIGOD Hillary showed cleavage” are somberly discussed. Despite some much-needed new blood (*cough* Obama *cough*), this is still a popularity contest in a dingy school lunchroom, not an election.

If I were to pick one element of Popularity Contest 2008 that, above all else, makes me want to despair, it would be former Arkansas governor and Iowa Caucus golden boy Mike Huckabee.

I know, I know, you’re all waiting for the standard screed of “OMIGOD he’s a religious nut-job, burn him!” Yet, I believe things to be more complicated than that. For me, Mike Huckabee represents the ultimate flaw in the way that political identity is shaped in America: the false dichotomy between religion and secularism, the immaturity of the discourse on what it means to be an American politician in the first place.

Let’s get one thing out of the way first: I do, in fact, heart Huckabee, or would like to heart him, as the case may be. I am a woman protective of my right to choose an abortion, a liberal Christian bewildered by conservative Protestantism, and an immigrant horrified by the dehumanizing language used against illegals, and yet I find this particular presidential candidate to be weirdly likeable. Huckabee was not propelled into politics as the result of being born into a wealthy family. He’s a gifted, charismatic speaker. He is straightforward; he eschews all slickness. He isn’t self-aggrandizing (*cough* Giuliani *cough*), and he strikes me as a genuinely intelligent human being.

It is my belief that the Huckabees of America, talented individuals from comparatively humble backgrounds, are crippled by a simplistic political system that substitutes televangelism (the love-child of Cotton Mather and big media) for faith, and infantilizes officials and electorate alike. Huckabee has stated that his initial involvement in politics stemmed directly from his opposition to abortion. Why? Probably because his community was encouraged to mobilize around an issue whose very nuances make it impossible to effectively discuss it in a group setting without first turning it into a kind of grim joke, an orgy of splattered-fetus imagery that does not begin to address modern anxieties over gender, ethics, and autonomy.

Abortion, and other topics of discussion, have become meaningless rallying points in a society where one’s political identity is shaped by a clutch of buzzwords. “Abortion!” We shout. “Economy! Iraq! Israel! Gay Marriage!” - hardly ever stopping to consider what these words really mean to us. Read More »

By Natalia Antonova | Posted in Columnist, Current Affairs, christianity, election 08 | Comments (10)

Rudy Giuliani: Just How Far Will His Dance Take Him?

August 16, 2007 – 8:30 pm

On August 9th of 1997, a young Haitian immigrant by the name of Abner Louima in the New York City Borough of Brooklyn was brought to a police station after being arrested for his role in a brawl at a popular night club. While he was punched, beaten with a stick, had a plunger brutally inserted into his backside causing severe damage to his colon and bladder, while he agonized in a pool of blood, an officer from the New York Police Department told him: “it’s Giuliani Time.”

Two years later, a West African Muslim immigrant by the name of Amadou Diallo had his turn to experience Giuliani Time. The encounter would be brief, and it would cost him his life. The unarmed man was walking home in his Bronx neighborhood and was approached by the NYPD. When he made a gesture to reach for his wallet the officers fired 41 shots, killing an unarmed, hard-working man with no criminal record in cold blood. This was Giuliani Time in New York, a time when the rules and regulations on the police had been loosened and residents of many African-American, Latino and immigrant neighborhoods lived in fear of mostly white elite units in the department who, under the direction of Giuliani, often cracked down brutally on any perceived threats. Read More »

By Feature Writer | Posted in Society, election 08, north america, politics, racism | Comments (0)

Election 2006

November 25, 2006 – 9:32 pm

As I type these words, President Bush is still lodged firmly in that mystical seat of power somewhere above mere mortals’ heads, but he is not having such a hot time at the moment. In the United States, Election 2006 has been hailed as symbolic – a turning of the tide. This reminds me of Gandalf, coming to rescue Middle Earth against the gathering darkness in a pivotal moment, much like new House speaker Nancy Pelosi ought to rescue America’s soul (or so we hope). Of course, nothing here is as simple as that. Read More »

By Natalia Antonova | Posted in Columnist, Current Affairs, humor, north america, politics | Comments (0)

It’s the Movies, Stupid!

November 8, 2004 – 9:51 pm

George W. Bush won for a simpler reason than all political pundits would like to admit. It has nothing to do with the economy, security, Iraq , gay marriage or moral values – all highly sophisticated issues for the average uninformed and apathetic American voter.

Bush won because Kerry has an emotionless, expressionless face that did not seem to be capable of getting fired up by either anger or jubilation, no matter how hard he tried.

It is as simple as that. Bush won because Kerry is too much of a nice person who does not possess the qualities – nor the looks – of a macho American hero to whom the American people and culture are so incurably addicted. Read More »

By Zaid Nabulsi | Posted in Columnist, Current Affairs, Entertainment | Comments (0)