Bravo Amadou et Mariem! Vous faites honneur au Mali serieux dans le travail.

Lacroixfrancis from France, is incredulous with joy:

Pour eux cela doit être irréel, ce retrouver a chanter devant ce phénomène , bravo Monsieur Obama, pour ce choix si judicieux et tellement symbolique, vous au moins ne faites pas dans le BLINGBLING, le Mali peut être fier de ce choix et ce dire que les américains vont peut être enfin savoir ou ce trouve ce petite pays d'Afrique,THANK YOU SO MUCH MISTER PRESIDENT !! and good luck Marianne et Amadou, I HAVE A DREAM!!!!

Julien Michel sees the invitation as a sign of recognition of lesser-known talents from lesser-known nations:

Je tiens à saluer les performances de ce groupe qui au dela de leur talents musicaux ont su transmettre un réel message venu d'afrique, de la population dite “pauvre” (bien qu'elle soit très riche d'un point de vue culturelle et qu'on en parle pas assez).
je tiens aussi à saluer le geste “d'ouverture” du président américain Mr Obama qui à compris les enjeux de demain et qui a su tendre la main à des talents moins dirigés par la course aux bénéfices.

Sometimes, Africa and American politics come together in the most unsuspected place from the most unsuspected band. The long-awaited album from the heavy metal band Guns N' Roses, Chinese Democracy, has one track called Madagascar (see video below).

The song speaks of drifting “so far out from the shore that I can't find my way back, my way anymore” a recurrent theme when it comes to Madagascar. The mention of an African country is already a not-so familiar territory in the heavy metal universe but the more unexpected part is that, as seen on the video, a major portion of the song contains part of Martin Luther King Jr's famed speech, “I have a dream”. And that's how, thanks to Axl Rose, one mixes rock n' roll, civil right movement and Africa.
Almost on cue, Malagasy blogger Vola recently wrote a blog post celebrating the life of Dr. King, 40 years after his passing and invites her readers to attend an exhibition in honor of his memory.

(photo credit to Vola)

Donald Kipkorir in Nairobi, Kenya writes a fictional memo from Obama to his Kenyan supporters:

During the campaigns, I consistently and fondly spoke of my Kenyan roots. I am an American citizen and, on January 20, 2009, I will be America's 44th president. As a son of a Kenyan father, I know that Section 90 of your constitution bestows upon me automatic citizenship. In the fullness of time, who knows, Michelle and I may decide to come and retire in the land of my father. I know that most, if not all, Kenyans expect me to have a magic wand to your problems and aspirations. To avoid future misunderstandings, we need to agree at the outset on my limitations. And I am making candid confessions only because of my paternal heritage and the special place you hold in my life. […] America as the pre-eminent democracy, military and economic power in the world faces unique challenges which we are demanded of to resolve or lead the way. Part of our foreign policy is to ensure the safety and secure borders of Israel, safe routes of our oil supplies and commitment to our bilateral and multi-lateral allies. Kenya has always been our friend, and these ties shall now be strengthened by my heritage. Our relationship could be imperiled should your foreign policy be at odds with ours. We will never dictate your foreign policy as you are a sovereign state, but our relationship is dependent on your choices. Before I forget, there is the issue of visas and immigration to America. I know that most Kenyans, including the hundreds of thousands who live or study in America, are now expecting preferential treatment. The US citizenship and immigration services are an independent federal department that deals with issues of visa, immigration and citizenship.

The topic of visa authorization to the US for Kenyans was also revisited by Wonkie in a humorous cartoon. The article also states that the current domestic challenges facing the future Obama administration are probably too great to address anything else:

He has a lot on his plate and mostly back on home ground - from the dire financial crisis and Iraq to health care - there is no shortage of challenges. Still, surprisingly, Mr Obama has made some foreign policy commitment to Africa - e.g. assistance with funding for ARV for HIV patients. Something for Africans to be optimistic about though it’s not quite the equivalent of visa-free travel to the US that many were secretly hoping for in Kenya.

Rajiosy, a Malagasy blogger, also wants everyone to calm down from the messianic rhetoric about Obama (fr):

Ne nous emballons pas. Obama a gagné avec environ 53% des voix. Ca laisse quand même 47% de non-croyants aux Etats-Unis. Quant au reste du monde, je crois que dans les campagnes du monde, il y a un certain nombre de gens qui s’en foutent complètement. Allons, allons, l’Amérique n’est pas le nombril du monde. Arrogance (inconsciente) quand tu nous tiens…
La terre a tourné avant Obama. Elle tourne pendant Obama. Elle tournera après Obama. Cette vénération est vraiment stupide. Rappelons-nous, la foule grégaire aime bien brûler ce qu’elle a adoré.

Jentilisa writes in depth about the fascination with the American Dream. As a case in point, he points towards a popular TV show opening with the spangled banner and a cartoon where a farmer goes to the voting booth asking if he can vote for Obama. He asks where is the drive to show that much interest in our own flag and our nation(mg):

eharehan'ny Amerikana ery ny sainany fa ny sainam-pirenenao mpamaky io moa mba ankafizinao va? Sa tahaka ny ahoana no atao mba hitiavanao azy?

Everywhere in the USA, you will see people displaying their flags with pride but how about your flag dear reader ? What would it take for you to cherish it as much ?

He adds:

Ny Amerikana Amerikana foana na iza mitondra eo na iza! Mirehareha amin'ny mahaizy azy izy. Manandratra ny kolontsainy izy, miaro ny tombotsoany amin'ny fomba rehetra izy fa ny anao kosa manao ahoana? Toa manao fitan-droa… sadasada ihany fa sady te-ho mpitarika na olona mpitantana ambony eto Madagasikara no mizaka ny zom-pirenena heverina fa miaro ny tombotsoany manokana.

The USA will always be the USA, whoever wins this thing ! They will carry their identity with pride. They will hurt the environment* they promote their culture and protect their interest but how about your own interest? It seems that it’s a bit fishy…they want to be the leader of the world and at the time support the development of Madagascar, yet also look out for their particular interest in the region.

 As the results of the election became official, many Facebook users reacted. Alain Rasendra offers his take (fr):

Grant Park m'a mis la larme à l'oeil. C'est l'Amérique que nous aimons tous, avec son leadership rassembleur et mobilisateur. Bravo à tous les Américains d'offrir au monde ce wind of change.

Grant Park got me all teared up. This is the America that we all like, a mobilizing and uniting force. Congratulations to all americans for offering this wind of change.

Sandy Rarivoson observes (fr):

voici venu l'ère des métis

The era of racial mixes is here

Thierry Andriamirado says not the case in Madagascar though (fr):

Si je ne me trompe les métis n'ont clairement pas le droit de se présenter aux élections présidentieles à Madagascar, d'après la Constitution en vigueur.. bah au moins je suis tranquile, mes enfants ne se lanceront donc pas dedans.

If I am not mistaken, according to Madagascar, biracials are not allowed to run in the presidential election in Madagascar. At least, I am at peace, my kids will not get into all that.

Other Malagasy netizens explained why they have followed the election so closely and what an Obama administration would mean to them:
Hasina Noel posts on his Facebook profile:

This proves to the world that the U.S is still one of the greatest country in the world. Something like this will be almost impossible in any other countries.

Lalaina Ramarivelo adds:

I would say that I hope that the whole world would have a new vision of our race, black people.

(*correction: translation corrected by reader Rado)

Although it's too soon to determine the blogosphere's reaction, the Twittersphere was fast to jump on the story, sharing news articles and offering condolences to Barack and the rest of his family. Many Twitterati were at first shocked.

doshdosh was among those taken by surprise:

Canadian

Upon hearing the news, Canadian resident _romi was disappointed for Obama:

Malagasy lrakoto was also sad for Obama:

_romi responded:

Kenyan afromusing offers her condolences as well:

Few Twitterati have expressed anything but sympathy, however, Canadian michelleblanc suspects this may have an effect on voters:

Translation:

Sad to say but the death of Obama's grandmother could bring more than sympathy votes

Spanish iescolar also suspects an Obama sweep:

Translation:

Obama's grandmother just passed away. He's going to sweep the board!

A final offer of condolences comes from lrakoto, in Malagasy:

Or in other words, “condolences and farewell to ‘Toot!'”

So will the economic crisis affect Madagascar and how ? Madagascan explains (fr) :

En conclusion, oui, Madagascar sera inévitablement impactée par la crise internationale actuelle. D'une part parce qu'il est prévisible que les Etats resserrent leurs aides aux pays pauvres, d'autre part parce que les grands projets actuels dans le pays auront probablement des problèmes de capacité d'investissement très rapidement, et enfin parce qu'une source importante de richesse du pays, le tourisme, sera fatalement affecté

In conclusion, yes, Madagascar will inevitably be affected by the current global crisis. Firstly, because of the reduced aid to developing countries. Secondly, because many of the current large mining projects will suffer from a shortage of investors and finally because the other source of wealth of the country, tourism, will certainly be affected.

Randy do it, a national Malagasy journalist and blogger, provides a “how the marketplace works for beginners” by using an analogy that involves a fictional rural market place trading monkeys (fr):

Dès lors qu’il a le dos tourné, son assistant rassemble les villageois et leur indique les cages, avec les milliers de singes que leur a achetés son patron “Si vous le voulez, leur dit-il, moi, je vous cède ces singes à 35 dollars l’unité. Ainsi, lorsque mon patron reviendra, vous pourrez les lui revendre à 50 dollars. » Les villageois, aveuglés par la perspective de cet enrichissement facile, sortent toutes leurs économies, vendent leurs biens pour racheter les singes. Le magot encaissé, l’assistant disparaît dans la nuit. On ne le verra plus. Ni lui, ni son patron. Dans le village, rien que des singes, courant dans tous les sens. Et Nadim Kalife de conclure son histoire par un édifiant : « Bienvenue dans le monde de la Bourse ! » Eh, oui ! Il y a quelque chose d’aventureux à vendre un singe à dix dollars, puis à le racheter à 35 dollars, en espérant le vendre une seconde fois à 50 dollars.

As soon as the boss turns his back, his assistant gathers the villagers and points to the cages with the thousands of monkeys his boss just purchased. “If you want,” he tells them, “I will sell those monkeys to you for $35 a piece. When, my boss returns, you can sell them to him for $50.” The villagers, blinded by the prospect of easy money, dive into their savings and sell all their possessions to buy the monkeys back. Once the money was collected, the assistant vanished into the night. He was never seen again. Not him, and not his boss. In the village, there is nothing but monkeys running everywhere. And Nadim Kalife to conclude his story: “welcome to the global marketplace!” Clearly, there is something risky about selling a monkey for $10, buying them back for $35 and trying to resell them at $50.

Finally, Moonlight girl, new blogger from Antanarivo, tells a sobering story of the consequence of extreme poverty and how it affect health care for many in Madagascar. She recalls a recent encounter in a bus in Antananarivo:

She started to cry and tell me that she just gave birth 2 days ago at a famous public hospital. She was poor and didn’t have the money to buy medicine for the baby who suddenly became sick. At this hospital, if you can’t buy the medicines you need, it means you’re waiting for death. They don’t care about the person’s situation. So her baby died, and this woman didn’t have money to take him back home. She lived at Ambatofotsy , which is very far from town. Taking a taxi to those places , will cost a fortune. Now, she’s going to her sister’s house at Ambohipo; to take her child. I was heartbroken and terrified at the same time, thinking about this woman carrying her dead baby around. The driver’s aid, was very angry and started to yell at the woman, and forced her out the bus. He said, that she did something very taboo, about letting a dead be among the living. The poor woman just left the bus, not wanting to cause anymore trouble.

[Cross-posted on Global Voices Online]

Madagascan Lova Rakotomalala, one of the VwV authors, has a  brilliant post today on  malagasy dwarf hippo: about that “if the world could vote” and minority head of state. He turns the tables on the rest of the world:

As most surveys have shown so far, if the world could vote, Obama would win over McCain in landslide. As a consequence, my friends and relatives overseas often say that they cannot understand why the US voters have not clearly made their choice yet when the rest of the world is in agreement on which candidate is the better choice.

Well, here is my advice to my friends, relatives and myself wondering about the judgment of the American voters:

let's all get off our collective high horses and ask ourselves whether it would really be a slam dunk if the same situation were to present itself back home. In other words, would a relatively young candidate from a minority group with a new approach fare that well against an experienced politician labeled as a war hero in your own country?

His answer to this challenge:

Now, in the history of presidential elections worldwide, how many times did a younger, ethnic minority candidate win in a landslide ?

I do not have the exact answer but as far as I know, only two countries have had an elected ethnic minority national leader at some point in history: Peru (Fujimori) and Fiji (Chaudhry). India (Singh) and Bolivia (Morales) could be considered but I am not sure if either count as a true elected ethnic minority leader, Singh was not elected and is more part of a religious minority. Morales is part of the indigenous population but technically, indigenous groups are the majority even though they are very rarely in power.

Closer to home, a TV blog in Australia, TVtonight, is bemused by John McCain's decision to snub David Letterman's talk show. Nothing worse than a media star scorned:

It was on David Letterman’s own talk show that John McCain announced to America that he was running as a candidate for the presidency, an unusual platform to declare himself.

But last month the unique bond went a little awry when McCain snubbed Dave for an interview with Katie Couric. Bad idea. Dave’s been milking it for gags ever since.

“Do you suspend your campaign? No, because that makes me think, well, you know, maybe there will be other things down the road - if he’s in the White House, he might just suspend being president. I mean, we’ve got a guy like that now!” he said.

Tonight you can see the “kiss and make up” appearance of the man running for president as he makes his apologetic appearance on The Late Show.

Guy Rundle is on the road in the U.S. covering the campaign for Australian online media service Crikey  where his posts usually read like Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail. His sober assessment on the last debate:

The score - McCain was punchier but more scattered, and he commanded the rhetorical field with his Joe the plumber stuff, before Obama started to get it back onto more general. Obama passed up every opportunity to punch hard which yes in this context seemed wise.

Once again Obama won by not losing. McCain lost by getting a draw even a slight win. And I reckon the ‘life of the mother’ air quotes are good for another tranche of female voters moving to Obama, and that thing about teachers not needing training. He’s hitting wrong notes, I suspect, the old navy flyer fighting the last war/campaign but two or three.

Last presidential debate at Hofstra

I recommend Guy's full posts which are steeped in 1970's journalistic tradition. A true disciple of Hunter S. Thompson.

AmiraalHussaini, from Bahrain, balked at Sarah Palin's use of the familiar:

She then questioned how Palin managed to bone up on her public speaking skills so quickly:

She also wondered about Palin's promises regarding Wall Street:

Much of the Twitter commentary was in reference to Palin's gaffes and mispronunciations. Israeli gilgul remarked upon her pronunciation of “nuclear”:

He also remarked upon Palin's “O'Biden” gaffe:

lrakoto, from Madagascar, enjoyed Palin's “O'Biden” remark:

He also eschewed Palin's use of “doggone”:

AmiraalHussaini chose to comment on Palin's repeated mispronunciation of Iraq and Iran:

Many viewers were also appalled at Palin's response to the question on oil and energy. Danish-Puerto Rican Solanasaurus didn't quite agree with Palin:

By the end of the debate, it was clear that this segment of the Twittersphere favored Biden. lrakoto made his preference clear:

On the humorous side of things, eunice007 (Philippines) remarks upon the bipartisan US:

Australian rachelhills is a bit torn on the winner of the debate:

AmiraAlHussaini, from Bahrain, is clearly an Obama supporter:

Twitterers had strong feelings about Iraq. AmiraAlHussaini said:

Fehlauer, from Brazil, also commented on McCain's strategy of “winning” in Iraq:

Much of the debate was centered on Iran, and Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. AmiraAlHussaini is amazed that John McCain cannot pronounce Ahmadinejad:

Brazilian Fehlauer thinks that McCain has it all wrong when it comes to Iran:

lrakoto, from Madagascar, is with Obama in that Ahmadinejad is perhaps not top dog in Iran:

Reacting to John McCain's comments about former Russian President Vladimir Putin, Danish-Puerto Rican Solanasaurus joked:

Just like their television counterparts, this group of Twitter pundits couldn't immediately determine the “winner” of the debates. AmiraalHussaini concluded the tweet session by saying:

As the speech begins, African Twitter users are having fun translating Obama's trademark phrase, “Yes We Can” into different African languages. From Kenya, afromusing starts the trend with Swahili:

dnashong, originally from Ghana, shares more ways to say we can:

kaysha remarks upon Africa's need for a figure like Obama:

dnashong responds:

He then corrects himself to say “you know I should've said Africa's new leaders. I mean US!”

Malagasy lrakoto admits his excitement for Obama's reactions:

Although it goes without saying that non-U.S. citizens have a number of reasons for their interest in the U.S. elections, Trinidadian nplaughlin puts it best when he says:

Bahraini amiraalhussaini quips:

Finally, Nigerian kuikihoro seems disappointed that Obama's speech ended so quickly:

Rakoto's Rants (a Malagasy blogger living in the U.S.) draws comparisons between the United States and his home country:

Scandinavian nations are at the top of the list which does not include any African nations.
in Madagascar, traditional beliefs, Christianity (45%) and Islam (7%) account for 99% of the population. A Council regrouping the principal Churches of Madagascar (FFKM) has been historically very involved into the political life of Madagascar.

Yet, there were more openly “secular”presidents in Madagascar's history that in the US history (Thomas Jefferson being the only known atheist American president).

He then ponders the correlation between the open show of faith and electability:

So again, why is openly showing its faith a sine qua non for “electability” ? And how does one correlate the candidates' faiths with the ability to govern a country ?

I imagine there are no quick easy answer to that question although I assume that the history of the founding fathers escaping religious persecution has got to be a factor.

Please understand that those questions are born from the desire to comprehend the decision-making process of the common elector during the elections from an outsider's perspective.

Blogger Bush Out is surprised that the majority of voters would sooner vote for a Jew or a woman than an atheist:

Atrios links to these Gallup results. It's pretty sad that 11% of US voters would not even consider voting for a woman. But the really scary stat is that a majority of US voters would never vote for an atheist.

Also interesting that 92% would vote for a Jew, but the question of voting for a Muslim was not even asked!

A commenter, Bukko_in_Australia, demonstrates one side of U.S. opinion:

One of the things on TV that embarrasses me most about my countrymen, aside from the clowns on Jerry Springer, Dr. Phil and Judge Judy, are their constant references to God and prayer. Makes Yanks sound like a bunch of gibbering superstitious Third-Worlders.

eat lard, in a post entitled “The Atheist Manifesto,” discusses how atheists are regularly relegated to the category of those with no belief structure or morals:

In the great Democrat litmus test recently Senators Obama and Clinton showed that both a Woman and Black was conceivable and realistic as a choice of the people’ Chief Executive. But polling numbers above have ruled out a non-religious President of the United States. It’s not surprising therefore that ‘Shares our Values’ is a consistent and accurate measure of a voter’s personal preference for a candidate.

Despite the popular idea that values must be religious, I ask you, is it hard to imagine that atheists have values and make conscious choices to live by them? That our values should differ, like our belief structures do but that they stem from choice, experience and commonsense is so hard to imagine?

Daniel Cuevas, a Puerto-Rican blogger writing for WeOp-Ed, discusses the Latino vote as it relates to the spectrum of religion:

At the risk of using sweeping generalizations, I don't think that most people would doubt that blacks and Latinos are people of faith. Latinos pray almost as many times a day as Muslims, and blacks are the only people I know whose voice mail greetings are most likely to tell callers to have “a blessed day.” Like the Christian Right and the Republicans who pander to that voting bloc, Latinos and blacks invoke God into their personal lives on a daily basis, and not just when they take the Lord's name into vain, either.

Liberals, on the other hand, are widely regarded as being secular and atheist. Most white college professors are both liberal and secular to the point where they actually look down on people who believe in God. Most white liberals couldn't care less that the right wing segment of American media label them as Godless and blame them for everything from the overblown “war on Christmas” to an alleged opposition to school prayer…but Latinos care.

For more information on atheist voters in the United States, check out this post from an American atheist on which candidate is best, and this post on secular organizations which support Obama.

Parce-qu’il est urgent, pour des millions de jeunes (et moins jeunes) observateurs de l’évolution des rapports de force géopolitiques mondiaux de reprendre espoir. Niais ? Pas tant que ça. Les mouvements de libération des peuples, la fin de l’esclavage, les décolonisations, la démocratisation, l’invention de la pilule, la lutte contre les pratiques traditionnelles néfastes, la signature des traités de libre circulation des personnes, pour ne citer que certains d’entre eux, sont nés de l’espoir nourri à un moment charnière, décisif de l’aventure humaine.

It is urgent that four million young (and not so young) observers regain hope with respect to evolution of the world power balance. Is that naive? Well, not really. The people's liberation movement, the end of slavery, decolonization, democratization, the invention of the birth control pill, the fight against harmful traditional practices, the signing of the indigenous rights declaration, and the right to travel freely, just to mention a few of those, were born at a crucial time in human history.

She concludes:

Parce qu’il a fait sienne la réflexion d’Edgar Morin « ce n’est pas parce que l’on renonce au meilleur des mondes, que l’on doit renoncer à un monde meilleur », et parce que son discours sur l’unité fait écho à une période difficile de l’histoire récente de mon pays, je porte avec mes concitoyens internautes, Tony Jouaux, Sebastian Chris, Natassia Caffery, Lea Forverskov, Mehmet Uzun, le fanion d’une nation qui est en même temps toutes les autres par la grâce de ce seul trait: son humanité. Madagascar for Obama !

Because he made Edgar Morin's reflection his own: “it is not because we give up on making the best possible world that we should give up on making the world a better place,” and because his discourse on unity echoes a difficult period in my country's history, I vow with my fellow netizens, Tony Jouaux, Sebastian Chris, Natassia Caffery, Lea Forverskov, Mehmet Uzun, to carry the flag of a nation that is unified by a single trait: compassion. Madagascar for Obama!

The upcoming elections in the USA are about whom the American citizens would vote in as their president, not what the rest of the world would wish for America. As you may have noticed, I have followed with a certain interest the proceedings during the campaign. I have attended two political meetings in town, discussed the merits of each candidates with my fellow American co-workers and even created this group (mostly for fun). My co-workers know I cannot vote so they are often wondering why I would even care.

I am not alone here. The elections in the US are not meant for either the Brits , the Egyptians, the French, the Nigerians nor the Swedes ( and many others, about 25 groups by my count) but they all chimed in. You can find more reactions from all over the world at voiceswithoutvotes and submit your thought as well.

The important point here is that all these people are not just voicing their opinions about candidate lambda for the sake of making noise. We all know too well that this does not help by any stretch of the imagination (and in the case of the support from France, one may argue that it has the opposite effect, but more on that later).
It is not that all those folks suddenly suffer from a “Miss Universe pageant syndrome” and believe that World Peace is now within reach.

The point of all this support is that we also have our own fear to express.

It's the same fear that Americans have felt after 9/11. The fear born from the Bombings in Bali, Mumbai, London and Madrid. The fear that the world is being polarized and hold hostage by extremists and mass murderers . The fear that our families living in major metropolitan areas might also be someday swept away but some vicious acts. Terrorism after all, also killed thousands in Nairobi and was potentially active in Madagascar.

We wish for a candidate that would be the most effective in reducing terrorism on global scale.

The most agreed upon reason for 9/11 is that there was a major failure of the US intelligence system. An efficient network needs nations with common goals to come together and share data.
Hillary Clinton said a short time after 9/11, ” You are either with America in our time of need or you are not”.
Well, the rest of the world was with America. However, the way the war on terror was managed so single-handedly, we were not sure whether America really wanted the rest of the world to “be with” them in the first place.

Anti-French sentiment was at an all-time high when French diplomats dare to express reserve about the wisdom of attacking Iraq. After that decision, politicians did not think that they could win an election without weighing in on the darned French.
It was either R. Limbaugh with his “John Kelly is French-looking and has French relatives …” or Mitt Romney saying: ” Unless America changes course, we will become the France of the 21st century”. Even the democrats at ourfuture.org came up with a mocking video saying ” Merci McCain”.

The candidate that is willing to rebuild those burned bridges with many nations will be the most effective in preventing future terrorist acts. Which president would US allies be more willing to share information on budding extremist activities with the bully who says: “with me or against me” or the one willing to listen to all points of view before making an informed decision ? Which method has the most chance to be effective and potentially avoid a catastrophic decision ?

Jeremy Piven, Ari from the HBO show “Entourage”, explained yesterday to Purdue students and staff why he was traveling across the state of Indiana for the Obama campaign. Here is one of the reason why he supports Obama:

“We burned a lot of bridges. I want someone like Barack Obama speaking for us. It's a time when you're afraid to turn on the news. It's rough, it's tough. He was a guy that stood up; that guy, I want to roll with.”

This is not our election, but when you see people like Piven with an acute awareness of what went wrong and the right way to fix it, you forget for a moment that you cannot cast your own vote. You just cheer them on, wish them good luck with their project and hope that the other shoe does not to drop.

It may not be our election but it sure feels like we all ought to be concerned with it. Terror does not live in a vacuum.

Here is a video of Piven talking at Purdue.

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Posted by lova

Here is the key sentence from that speech back in 2004:

” If one candidate is appealing to your fear, and one candidates is appealing to your hope, you'd better vote for the one who wants you to think and hope…”

Yep, let's hope Obama picks up that 3 am phone call.

Some Malagasies are convinced that Obama is able to implement the unity he promised, both in the US and on in the international scene.

Here are a few excerpts from the posts and their reactions:

Sipakv was convinced by Obama, the writer:

“Throughout the book (note: Dreams of my father), I find Obama’s modesty striking and quite an appealing feature it is too. I read somewhere on the Internet a review criticizing the book for not shedding a clue of what a man Obama is. I could not believe it. This book tells it all and gives a measure of what a president Obama would be if he were elected. I believe he would be indeed a unifier, having bridged chasms and divides all his life.”

Ketabloky explains why she joined the Madagascar for Obama chapter (fr):

“Parce qu’il a fait sienne la réflexion d’Edgar Morin « ce n’est pas parce que l’on renonce au meilleur des mondes, que l’on doit renoncer à un monde meilleur », et parce que son discours sur l’unité fait écho à une période difficile de l’histoire récente de mon pays, je porte avec mes concitoyens internautes, Tony Jouaux, Sebastian Chris, Natassia Caffery, Lea Forverskov, Mehmet Uzun, le fanion d’une nation qui est en même temps toutes les autres par la grâce de ce seul trait: son humanité. Madagascar for Obama !”

( translation) Because he (Obama) embodies Edgar Morin's quote: ” it's not because we gave up on making the best world possible that we should give up trying to make the world better” and because his discourse on unity echoes a difficult period in my own country, I readily carry the banner with my fellow bloggers, Tony Jouaux, Sebastian Chris, Natassia Caffery, Lea Forverskov, Mehmet Uzun, the banner that proclaims in unisson with the others its only trait: its humanity. So there you go: Madagascar for Obama”.

However, many others are warning against getting the danger of following a charismatic leader.
Dotmg writes:

“Politics and high politics can change men.
A good soul in a good man that were there 10 years ago may have left.
Sometimes, only the body remains, and the heart has forgotten all the good things that the eyes have seen.
That’s why politicians **always** deceive people.”

Rajiosy adds (fr):

“Comme le charme et l’éloquence du gars, c’est utile pour gagner des élections mais pas pour tenir l’Empire qui nécessite non pas tant d’autres qualités mais surtout d’autres défauts que notre bel ange nous “cache” encore ? et puis aller discuter “sans conditions” avec Ahmadinejad qui nargue et qui ne veut que la destruction de l’amérique relève de la légèreté à mon sens. à mon avis, Condi Rice par exemple, est plus apte à négocier (ou a plus de c…) avec ce genre de lascar qu’un idéaliste comme B. Obama”

(translation) As for the charisma and the eloquence of the man, it's useful to win elections but not to maintain an empire. That necessitates different qualities and more importantly different vices, that our “nice angel” may be hidding from us ? Moreover, in my opinion, agreeing to discuss “without conditions” with Ahmadinejad who defies the US and just wants its destruction is a bit irresponsible. I think, Condi Rice is more apt to negotiate with that kind of lads that an idealist like B. Obama.

Sipakv believes Obama has already transcended the race issue and that it will be good for the the other leaders of the US black community to acknowledge that fact and follow his lead instead of accusing him of being an uncle Tom (fr):

“Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, les vieux loups du mouvement des droits civiques des annees 60 : si un Noir ne se fait pas champion des causes noires, ce n’est pas un leader “NOIR”. Un peche impardonnable pour Obama de vouloir devenir president des Americains tout court, et pas seulement des Americains noirs.”

(translation) Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, the old guards of the civil rights movement in the 60's: if a black is not claiming to be the champion of the black cause, then he is not a “BLACK” leader. An unforgivable sin for Obama to want to be the president of all Americans, and not only of Black Americans.