#95: wwf and us presidents

From an outsider's perspective, US presidential campaigns are a repackaged World Wrestling Federation bout.

• They are between two parties/players – one in the red corner and the other in the blue. But in reality they could not be any more alike each other.
• They go at each others' throats with all their pettiness and irrelevant campaigns. They could not care any less about the referee either.
• But then they are both elaborate shams – more hype than substance: a made for television theatrical performance of posturing (and rehearsed sound-bites).
• The pundits, the wonks, the spin-masters, and girls in tight bikinis are just ornamental.
• Everyone knows how it will play out, and yet they go to watch the next episode with religious fervour.
• The one with the deeper pockets always wins.

That is a sad advert for "democracy", or the form the Administration is trying to export beyond its shores. Caveat emptor, all potential buyers.

#77: guv'nator v hammer

Schwarzenegger was on PBS' Charlie Rose Show. Despite all the stereotypical lampooning of the Governator that many (including me) have indulged in, I was quite won over by his candour and humility. Plus he answered the questions. What a contrast to Rumsfeld who would "redefine" the questions and then respond to that which bore no resemblance to the original, or to the chief who never admits to a wrong decision, to the possibility of learning from others, or to the merits of an opposing view.

This may be his Hollywood glibness (like the Gipper before him). But at least he has ideas and a vision (making environmentalism "sexy") and is defying the divisiveness of entrenched political forces to serve a purpose and not an ideology. So unlike a person making a living in politics.

Tom Delay was on the same show last night. For him political malaise is just an elaborate left-wing liberal conspiracy bought by the leftist media. One highlight was his suggestion to prevent another Virginia Tech massacre: abolish gun control (aka everyone permitted to possess concealed weapons). That apparently would have deterred the assailant, or someone could have retaliated in self-defense. Just imagine this sight .... a classroom in crossfire, a vigilante society and everyone with means to terminate life at the fingertips. How enlightened!

#74: oscars gone green

An Inconvenient Truth made quite a splash at the Oscars this year. So did Gore and DiCaprio by proudly proclaiming that the show had gone green. Pardon my cynicism but that sounded like another "I invented the internet" claim. I found some clarity through Charles Krauthammer's usual ranting column.

It appears that the Academy neutralised the "carbon footprint" of the gala by buying carbon credits (aka paying a "carbon broker," who promised, after taking his cut, to reduce equivalent carbon emissions somewhere on the planet). And that would typically be a coal-fired power-plant somewhere half-way across the globe.

This appears to be a cost efficient solution, since coal-fired plants in China and India have the greatest potential to reduce carbon emissions. The marginal dollars ought to chase the highest marginal gains. Call it outsourcing or economic mumbo-jumbo, if you want.

But in turn, it creates a moral-hazard problem from an incentive mismatch. What dissuades an operator in China and India from starting up another sooty plant, in anticipation of the day another ex-Veep will trade a few more dollars for more carbon credits? The more he pollutes today the more he can earn from his credits tomorrow. And that beats the whole purpose, doesn't it? Any suggestions?

#70: heading east

Halliburton, the energy giant once headed by a Richard Cheney and the most favoured recipient of US government contracts in the last 6 years, announced that it was moving its headquarters from Texas to Dubai. It's easy to see the fit. From one oil-field to another, from one dry and arid landscape to another – the match is perfect.

Not long ago the US House of Representatives cited national security concerns to block a deal for the Dubai Ports World to manage 6 US ports. But now when the Dubai-based Halliburton wins the next hefty government bid, as it surely will in no time, how will the Capitol react? And that's not even accounting for the loss of tax revenues to the US treasury.

I'm just plain curious.

#69: business as usual

As a political persona-non-grata, I watched from the sidelines the Democrats come to power in last year's Congressional elections. I was made to believe (and I did believe) that such a resounding rebuke of the Republican agenda, policies, and practices would change the way business is done inside the Beltway. I clearly overestimated the power of the ballot and underestimated the inertia of entrenched interests. As WPost reports, the Democrats are doing just as their counterparts did for the last 12 years: pandering to lobbyists to shore up revenues for the next elections. So much for the promise of good governance.

In my profession, this is bribery and a felony. I suppose those who script the rules have legalised it for themselves.

Politics and power everywhere is so brazenly alike. In my favourite TV show and satire, BBC's "Yes Minister/Yes Prime Minister", Sir Humphrey Appleby, the Permanent Secretary to the Minister of Administrative Affairs once observed ....

"Ministers come; ministers go. But the government must go on."

With the subtext .... without any change! Business as usual.

#51: for once ....

I agree with David Brook's op-ed piece in the NY Times titled "Run, Barack, Run". It captures the hope of so many, particularly those who in his words yearn for a person who could restore "conversation, deliberation, and reconciliation" in running the affairs of this country and dictating the fate of our world. If only.

#42: politicking again

The BBC reports:

"The UN nuclear watchdog has protested to the US government over a report on Iran's nuclear programme, calling it 'erroneous' and 'misleading'. In a leaked letter, the IAEA said a congressional report contained serious distortions of the agency's own findings on Iran's nuclear activity".

Is it just me with a sense of déjà vu? It's the WMD saga of 2001 all over again. Has the Congress learnt nothing? Or does it genuinely believe that the public is too gullible to question and too detached to care?

#38: local elections

Name recognition clearly isn't an issue in his campaign! Incidentally, this is my new camera in action.

#29: us and them

Why is fitting-in so important? As kids it is a big deal not to be the outsider. But surely as adults we ought to be more mature to accept and possibly embrace diversity. Are we?

Virginia Senator George Allen derided a college student of Indian origin by calling him a "macaca" – the slang for a "monkey" in some languages, to the amusement of his campaign entourage. He went on to mock: "Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia." Ironically it coincides with a census report on "multiculturalism", of how it isn't just a liberal buzzword, but a demographic fact. The DC region now has more than 1 million immigrants.

Newspaper columns were quick to point out that the kid was born in Fairfax (of parents of Indian ethnicity) and was just as American as any other.

But what if he wasn't? What if he really was "fresh-off-the-boat" – just like me? Would that have made it justifiable? Aren't the majority here in this country today descendants of someone who got here someday in a boat? What does it take to be "accepted" (beyond being "tolerated") despite differences?

This isn't an isolated incident. Coloured players in European football leagues are now the new high-profile targets. Monkey-chants in football games in Spain and Italy have become so pronounced and pervasive that FIFA penalised clubs (including the Spanish national coach for using racial slurs to "motivate" his "thoroughbred" players). The Aussie cricket-legend-turned-commentator Dean Jones called a South-African player a terrorist for being a bearded Muslim. Such treatment is meted out to other minorites too: natives, gays .... the list goes on.

Why do some in the majority feel so threatened by someone who does not talk, walk, or look like them? They are the majority – for crying out loud. As kids it was the outsiders who felt threatened; as grown-ups it is these few insiders who feel so vulnerable. How strange.

#28: code infra-red?

I was at Dulles airport tonight. Out of curiosity I ventured to the check-in section. The resigned looks along the serpentine queues reminded me a bit of India!

Eugene Robinson in his op-ed piece for the Washington Post wrote today .... "We will end up boarding our flights barefoot, barehanded and buck naked except for a hospital gown they'll make us put on at the airport". That idea does not seem far-fetched.

The New York Times asked its readers, "Do you think the U.S. is more vulnerable after hearing news of a plot using liquids as bombs?" Two responses caught my eye.

Jason: "No, I don’t .... It’s great that the plot was uncovered, but this doesn’t make us any more or less vulnerable to terrorist attacks. This is akin to asking “does seeing a drunk driver get pulled over by a police officer make you worry more about getting in a car accident”. Of course not. You are glad that the lawbreaker is being dealt with, and you go about your business." (posted on August 11, 2006 at 11:13 am)

Chris Dube: "No. The extremists will always be looking for new ways to do harm, just as they always have. It is not the mode that make us more vulnerable, it is our current foreign policy of unprovoked attack that is making us more vulnerable .... Toothpaste cannot kill me, Neoconservative Fascism can." (posted on August 11, 2006 at 11:19 am)

#20: west wing blues

It was that one hour in a week when a television show had drama, reality, relevance, cerebral stimulation, dialogues that were thoughtful and meaningful – all resonating with each other. Little surprise then that in 7 seasons it won 2 Golden Globes and 24 Emmys. So many in the last few years have wished so often for the real West Wing to be anywhere remotely as thoughtful and purposeful as its dramatised version.

It captivated viewers with its bold, fresh, and yet unglamorous view of life in the centre of world power. It took on real-life, controversial, and topical debates – including those with no clear answers and no obvious winners; it showed the compexity of governance and the tight-rope walk that politics is; it captured the human nature of it all and could relate to the audience in very personal ways.

I really miss the show. It'll be tough to fill that vacuum on my television schedule. No reruns makes it worse. I leave you with one of my favourite quotes:

“This guy is walking down the street when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep he can’t get out. A doctor passes by, and the guy shouts up, “Hey, you, can you help me out?” The doctor writes a prescription, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a priest comes along, and the guy shouts up, “Father, I’m down in this hole. Can you help me out?” The priest writes a prayer, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a friend walks by. “Hey, Joe, it’s me. Can you help me out?” And the friend jumps in the hole. Our guy says, “Are you nuts? Now we’re both down here.” The friend says, “Yeah, but I’ve been down here before, and I know the way out.” – Leo McGarry from the West Wing episode Noel