August 25th marked the 15th anniversary of the death of my friend and classmate from Stanford, Amy Biehl. In 1993, Amy was finishing up a year in Cape Town, South Africa. She had won a Fulbright Scholarship to study women’s issues in South Africa and was soon to start work on a doctorate at Princeton. On that fateful day, Amy drove a few friends back to their homes in black township outside Cape Town. After dropping them off, Amy came upon an anti-apartheid march that took their frustration out on Amy. She was pulled from the car and beaten to death.

At Stanford, Amy and I took French together for two years. We were more the casual friends than close friends but we share many long chats in both English and French over this and that. She was a also a diver on the women’s swimming and diving team. Always cheerful and with a smile to share, Amy truly was a joy.

Amy’s story did not end with her sensless death. Her parents did not blame the mob that killed Amy, they blamed apartheid regime. In one of the most unbelieveable acts of true forgiveness, the Biehls even hired two of Amy’s killers to work in the foundation they set up in Amy’s memory, Amy Biehl Foundation. The Amy Biehl Foundation draws breath and inspiration from Amy and her example. It is a creation of family and friends who loved her in life, and is now extended by many hundreds of new friends - young and old - who want to make a constructive difference in their world and who enjoy doing this in Amy’s name. Among its many projects are a high school and women’s vocational training centers.

Tonight some of us from those sweet days on The Farm, as Stanford is affectionally called, met to celebrate the life of our friend. She remains deep in our hearts and we remain determined to carry on with her social justice causes.

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I did not see the speech live, I had other commitments. I will watch it and offer my thoughts tomorrow. I’ll note beforehand, McCain isn’t known for giving great speeches. He is much better off the cuff and in a debate format. Senator Obama is the inverse.

The text of Senator McCain’s speech is below the fold: (more…)

Lost in the shuffle of the week was a comment by Senator Biden, Obama’s running mate, in response to a question from a voter in Deerfield Beach, Florida. The question is certainly one that should be raised and debated but I have to wonder why the Democratic party largely abdicated its responsibility to pursue the oversteps of the Bush Administration in the first place. The other part of this story that has me puzzled is why this story and Biden’s comments have largely gone ignored in the US media.

The story from the UK Guardian:

Democratic vice-presidential nominee Joe Biden said earlier this week that he and running mate Barack Obama could pursue criminal charges against the Bush administration if they are elected in November.

Biden’s comments, first reported by ABC news, attracted little notice on a day dominated by the drama surrounding his Republican counterpart, Alaska governor Sarah Palin.

But his statements represent the Democrats’ strongest vow so far this year to investigate alleged misdeeds committed during the Bush years.

When asked during a campaign event in Deerfield Beach, Florida, whether he would “pursue the violations that have been made against our Constitution by the present administration”, Biden answered in the affirmative.

“We will not be stopped from pursuing any criminal offence that’s occurred,” he continued, going on to praise congressional committees for the deliberate pace of their inquiries into alleged Bush administration misdeeds.

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A new poll from Survey USA shows that among independents and moderates that Governor Palin is viewed now as an asset to McCain’s hopes of winning the White House. Before her speech last night only 43% of independents viewed Palin favorably. That number rose 13 percentage points overnight to 56%. Conversely those who viewed Palin as a liability dropped from 44% to 27%. The number who feel that they still don’t enough about her to make an informed decision also went up to 16% from 13%.

My own view is that Palin’s speech resonated among the GOP base and while she made strides among independents, she still has to prove the value of her credentials out on the campaign trail. However, the intriguing nature of her story does seem to be finding currency among the American voting public. There remains a lot of noise out in the media and on the blogs about Sarah Palin yet I have the feeling that these will dissipate as smears are debunked and as her record is more assiduously reviewed. Her biggest challenge, I think, will be to prove that she can handle a foreign policy debate. Her biggest advantage will be to speak on energy issues.

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This was in my moderation queue. It is an email that just goes to show how deep historical illiteracy is in the United States. The author is seemingly unaware that until 1932, African-Americans voted Republican out of gratitude for the Republican party’s role in ending slavery. The Republican Party is not called the Party of Lincoln for nothing. When I read something like the following, I just want to cry. How can history be so trashed?

An Open Letter to Senator John McCain and the Republican National Committee:

September 2, 2008

Dear Senator McCain and Mike Duncan, Chairman, Republican National Committee:

“Dear” is all you will get from me. By now you all should be in Minneapolis for your shindig that you call a “convention.”

I am an African-American, and I cannot hold back my anger any longer. It is a documented fact that the Republican Party before and during the Civil War supported and benefited from slavery. As a matter of fact, the Republican Party was started for the express purpose of defending slavery and holding down black people.

It is also a matter of record that the Ku Klux Klan was started by Republicans after the Civil War to terrorize and murder black and white Democrats in the South. Republicans hated the fact that many ex-slaves were serving in state and federal government. They also hated the fact that everyone of the ex-slaves were all members of the Democratic Party. All the white Democrats, before and after the Civil War, were sympathetic to the cause of abolition of slavery and of civil rights for blacks, therefore racist Republicans had no use for them.

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On Motherhood & Politics

On Hillary Clinton & The Perceived Whine

On Sports & Being a Beauty Queen

On Corruption in Alaska

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With anti-government protests in Thailand now in their third month and growing, Al Jazeera’s 101 East looks at the increasing pressure facing Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej. Once again, Thailand’s politics are in turmoil. Samak Sundaravej, the Prime Minister, has declared a state of emergency after vicious clashes between rival gangs of pro and anti-government protestors on the streets on Bangkok. Meanwhile, thousands of protesters remain camped out at Government House, at the office of the Prime Minister. They want him to resign and are calling for the dismantling of the country’s democratic system.

101 East examines if the ruling coalition can weather the storm or will yet another Thai government come crashing down? Thailand’s one saving grace is the monarchy, it is the one thing holding that country together but at the same the King doesn’t wade into politics too often.

Meanwhile, the crisis is affecting Thailand’s all important tourism sector. (more…)

Here are three reviews in the mainstream media covering Governor Sarah Palin’s Vice Presidential nomination speech:

First from the Washington Post:

A Speech in Minnesota, a Mind Changed in Michigan

The response to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in the convention hall was raucous and supportive — and it was only slightly less enthusiastic in the living room of one undecided voter in the Midwest.

Linda Beebe, 59, a voter in Michigan, had been leaning toward Sen. Barack Obama before Palin’s speech on Wednesday night. Before the Alaska governor had even finished speaking, though, Beebe had changed her mind.

“Could we drop off McCain and just have her?” Beebe said in a telephone interview. “She’s talking about the things that concern myself and people I know. I know there’s a big world out there, but if we’re not healthy at home, how can we help outside home? She sounds pretty good.”

Beebe said she did not like the negative attacks on Obama; she also said she did not particularly like McCain. “But I kind of like her,” Beebe said. “She sounds like she wants to help Americans bring home the type of lifestyle we’ve had and help build up America.”

But in the home of another independent voter, Laura Bates, 45, of Madison, Conn., the reaction was more muted. “She gives a good speech, and she’s talking to the people in her audience — but she seems antagonistic, and I’m not impressed,” said Bates, who supported Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the primaries. “I’d say it’s about 100 percent I’d vote for Obama at this point. She hasn’t really said anything constructive . . . and she’s been a little negative and smug.”

Donna Lang, a food services employee in Massachusetts, said before Palin’s speech that she would be supporting the Republican ticket — and did not even need to watch the speech to know it.

After supporting Clinton in the primary, Lang said, she had been undecided until last week.

“Today I’m voting for McCain,” Lang said. “I think it’s a smart move for him to pick a woman, because all of us who have voted for Hillary Clinton have no one to vote for.”

Takeaway
Small sample of three so not statistically significant. On the other hand, the first voter was on the fence but leaning towards Obama and now has swung over over to McCain, the second voter was already in the Obama column and wasn’t swayed and the third voter in the McCain camp to start but it should be noted that she voted for Senator Clinton in the primaries. Those pesky PUMAs just keep on popping up. Very interesting.

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