Obama-rama

Good morning world!

I've had a variety of things going on lately. The most interesting at the moment is my meetings and discussions with members of influential government and non-governmental actors involved with HIV/AIDS in Ghana. I've been learning a lot about how the world really works on the ground here and how full of inconsistencies publications and statements made by certain groups are. Unfortunately, because of the nature of the things that I'm trying to get accomplished right now I can't exactly publicly dive into what I'm finding out. But I can tell you its crazy stuff!! And Corey...I hope you appreciate how vague and clandestine I'm making this sound, ha!

In other news, Halloween Africa style was entertaining. I dressed up as Quailman!! It was sweet...although I got some strange reactions from Ghanaians when they saw that I was wearing underpants outside of my pants. But we had a good time. We carved watermelons and hung around ISH until later in the evening when we went to Legon Hall where there is an annual Halloween party thrown by the American students. Its fun for us -- we all get together in our costumes and dance and have a good time. Of course, numerous preying Ghanaian boys turn up hoping to get lucky with a moderately intoxicated foreign girl. It all makes for a pretty interesting evening.

And as you all know...the U.S. presidential election is being held tomorrow. I am about to go fax my ballot in to the State of Nevada and I will state loud and proud that I am voting for Obama. And I can tell you that there is basically a country and world out there that wants you to vote for Obama too.

Its very interesting talking to people about their view of America and this upcoming election. There is such a strong feeling of America losing its moral standing in the world. I can't tell you how many Ghanaians I've talked to that dislike Bush because of his propensity for war-making and who disdain his decisions to "kill, kill, kill." I've talked to Europeans who resent America's policy of going alone in the world, ignoring what everyone else has to say and our general hubris in the face of mounting global challenges. They yearn for Obama because he represents not only America's ability but its desire to change.

The reality of the situation is that we've lived under a president whose purported policies are meant to represent America's "best interests" at home and abroad but that have really been fulfilling a self-serving agenda. Bush's single biggest issue is that he lacks perspective on the world. He lacks the intelligence to realize that there are other view points out there and that's okay and that dropping bombs on everyone and everything isn't necessarily the answer. He's ignored the fact that the fate of the United States is increasingly tied up with the fate of the world and that now we ignore that fact at our peril.

We have to understand that American policies sow seeds of discontent around the world....that our policies actively effect the daily lives of people everywhere. We have to realize that agricultural subsidies in the states deprive millions of the ability to make a living by farming when farming is the only chance they have. We have to realize that giving the equivalent of .2 percent of GDP in the form of aid to countries ravaged by famine, HIV, malaria and tuberculosis won't do it anymore. We have to realize that killing people may not be the most effective method of achieving our goals. We have to realize that we don't necessarily have to save the world and be global policemen but we at least have to give everybody a fair and fighting chance. And I say this living in a place where those realizations would make a world of difference and the fact that haven't happened has a visible impact.

I don't know if Obama will be the man to make anyone realize any of that but I think he deserves a chance. He'll be incredibly successful if he can actually manifest the things that he's been talking about for the past year and a half and I have faith that with Biden in the back court he'll have a fighting chance. Plus, McCain is like 147 years old and I'm not going to risk having that nut case Palin in the White House. I know most of the people who read this have already made up their minds but for those who haven't I can tell you that its no joke that Bush's policies are failed policies, in perception if not in reality all the time. And perception is half the battle.



40 days.

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