 |
|
||
|
|
|
 ‘It’s a Global Election’Posted on Jul 30, 2008By Amy Goodman TALLINN, Estonia—When I arrived in Estonia last week—a former Soviet republic that lies just south of Finland—everyone had an opinion on Barack Obama’s speech in Berlin. The headline of the British Daily Telegraph we picked up in Finland blared “New Walls Must Not Divide Us,” with half-page photos of the American presidential candidate silhouetted against a sea of 200,000 people. One of the first people I met in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, was Abdul Turay, the editor in chief of The Baltic Times, an English-language weekly that covers Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, the three Baltic nations. Granted, he’s not a typical resident for this country of largely fair-haired, light-skinned people: Turay is a black Briton whose parents come from the West African nations of Liberia and Sierra Leone. And he is Muslim. While Estonia has no mosques, he notes with pride that the Quran has just been translated into Estonian, and to the publisher’s surprise, it’s been an instant best-seller here. I asked Turay what Obama’s candidacy means to him. “It’ll open doors for me personally if he becomes president,” he said. “It’s a momentous thing to have a black president, given America’s history. Some people say it’s not a big deal, but it is a very big deal. The U.S. is a model for the world. If people see a black man can be president of the U.S., maybe they will see me differently. If he’s special, I’m special.” As for Obama’s politics, Turay says he doesn’t actually think Obama’s foreign policy will be that different from fellow presidential candidate John McCain’s. He said he was surprised after reading Obama’s first book, “Dreams From My Father”: “He’s almost talking about black nationalism. He’s very liberal. He’s very much a black politician, whereas today he’s a politician who happens to be black.” I asked him to explain. “I think that’s a question for Barack Obama, not me,” he said. Turay marvels at the importance of the U.S. elections here: “There’s more interest in the American election than in the Lithuanian election, which is right next door. It’s a global election.” Advertisement Many feel the Baltic nations’ participation in the occupations was quid pro quo for their membership in NATO. Estonia has paid a price, as its soldiers have lost their lives in both Iraq and Afghanistan—the latter a place where Estonian soldiers have died before, as conscripts of the Soviet army when it invaded Afghanistan in 1979. A decade later, Estonia was the scene of a nonviolent revolution. Singing has long been a national pastime, and song festivals, in which thousands come together to sing, are a tradition. In April 1988, this gathering turned into a vehicle for mass mobilization. In the Estonian capital, with the country’s banned blue, black and white flag unfurled on the back of a motorbike, hundreds of thousands began singing the forbidden national anthem. The movement gained momentum throughout the three Baltic nations. In August 1989, 2 million people joined hands in a Baltic chain spanning hundreds of miles, from Tallinn to Riga to Vilnius, the capitals of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, respectively. Estonia and its Baltic neighbors won their independence in 1991, as the Soviet Union collapsed. Now, Turay observes, “Estonia looks to America.” With Berlin’s wall now gone, Turay hopes other walls will soon fall, too. “If the president of America is a black person, other countries will realize that we have people who look like the president who are doing something important. ... I think it will happen everywhere.” Amy Goodman is the host of “Democracy Now!,” a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on more than 700 stations in North America. © 2008 Amy Goodman Distributed by King Features Syndicate Elsewhere: . CommentsAre you a Truthdig member yet? Login now, or register with Truthdig. Add Your Comment
|
HOME|Digs|Reports|Arts & Culture|Uncovered|Ear to the Ground|A/V Booth|Cartoons
Tags|Bazaar|Podcast|About Us|Contact Us|User Agreement|Privacy Policy|FAQ: Comments and Moderation 
A Progressive Journal of News and Opinion. Editor, Robert Scheer. Publisher, Zuade Kaufman.
Copyright © 2009 Truthdig, L.L.C. All rights reserved. |
Obama’s Job Approval Slips Below 50%
Email
Print
Share
BlinkList
del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Fark
Furl
Google
LinkedIn
Mixx
MySpace
NewsVine
NewsTrust
Propeller
Reddit
SphereIt
StumbleUpon
Technorati
TwitThis
YahooMyWeb
YahooBuzz
By Sepharad, August 6, 2008 at 1:47 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
Bubba, I don’t think Obama’s in much danger of not winning. My big concern is that the Obama who wins will be the one who is back-pedaling on all the positions he took to get people to vote for him in the primaries. I know he has to deal realpolitikishly and all that, but am getting nervous as to what he really believes, who he really is, what (if anything) he stands for five minutes after he’s made his speech. I was a Hillary supporter still am, but am not going to vote Republican unless Obama keeps slip-sliding around. Actually, even if he does, I’d probably vote based on which candidate has the best vp, best advisers, best cabinet appointments.
Report thisBy Bubba, August 4, 2008 at 4:51 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
Yes, Barack Obama will truly serve as a global president. He will ignite cooperation, if not friendship, among ALL the peoples of the world. He will restore the United States to its rightful role as a partner and colleague, rather than a bully and and emperor. “A President For The Rest Of Us.”
Only the formality of an election stands between us and the future we crave, the future which President Obama will carve from the virgin marble of history.
And that’s what worries me. There is a chance, albeit a VERY small one, that Obama will not win the November election. Our future is simply too important to permit any risk of such a disaster.
We must - Absolutely MUST - Find a way to install Obama in the Oval Office without relying on the vagaries and randomness of an election. The alternative is simply too ... Well, I can’t think of any word to describe that scenario.
A Constitutional amendment? We have only four months folks! I don’t know the answer, but somehow, some way, we need to take the matter into our own hands. If we fail to act decisively now, our children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren will rightfully blame us for the horror and misery of their lives.
Report thisBy Sepharad, August 3, 2008 at 4:23 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
Fadel Abdallah, I’m a huge admirer and student of Al Andalus’ golden Islamic age, but Abu Al-Misk Kafur was, regrettably, an exception rather than the rule. Arab Moslems were for the most part racist in their treatment of the dark-skinned Berbers and other men of the Maghreb even though the Islamic invasion of Spain, though led by an Arab, was accomplisted by black North Africans. The blacks would conquer territory, then Arabs would drive them out of it, usually to farther and less desirable northern territories. This ongoing pattern was just one aspect of the infighting factor that eventually led to the slow, rolling fall of the Moslems of Al Andalus before the Reconquista, which ended when Boabdil knelt before the Spanish monarchs and surrendered Granada. Worth noting is that among the many consequences of the Arabs’ barbarous behavior to the Berbers was one of the greatest tragedies of Al Andalus: Cordoba, the seat of great culture and learning that defined the best of Al Andalus, was conquered by the fanatically religious North African Almoravids. Perhaps if their brethren had been better treated by the Arabs, their fanaticism would have been less destructive. One of the greatest Arab scholars, Ib’n Rush’d, whose grandfather had been the founding imam of the great mosque of Cordoba, fleeing the city where fires were consuming the many libraries of Cordoba, looked back and remarked “There is no tyranny like the tyranny of priests.” That is a truth that Arab Moslems would do well to keep in mind today. What persists, unfortunately, is not just the religious fanaticism but also the bigotry—look at Darfur, where Arab Moslems still murder black African Moslems.
I am no friend of the Reconquistadors—who were no different than the Spanish Inquisitors, who were no different than the Crusaders, no different than the Islamist fanatics then or now, and no different than the most fanatically religious among Israel’s Jews who seek to impose their minority supersticion on the 90% of Israelis who oppose them. As a Zionist, I promise you that these Jewish religious fanatics are as dangerous to peace among Arabs and Jews in the Middle East as are the murdering fascists of Hezbollah, Hamas, Al Quaeda and all the rest. Once rid of “the tyranny of the priests” maybe those of us who still have worldly differences can work them out despite fears and resentments on all sides, unhampered by fiery waves of religious violence. We need more men like Ib’n Rush’d, Moses Maimonides, Salah-ah-Din, Cyrus of Persia instead of the Iranian ayatollahs, Anwar Sadats and Menachem Begins who can make peace, and the first king of Jordan, Faisal Hussein, who welcomed the Zionists and was murdered by Arab fanatics as he walked into a mosque.
Of course the world has its murderous non-believers as well—Saddam Hussein, Adolf Hitler, Idi Amin—but they are truly the minority.
Like many Americans I am pleased that we have a Presidential candidate who is racially mixed—although I supported Hillary Clinton and would have been happier if she had been the candidate because we have never had a woman President (or a Jewish one for that matter) and there are many parts of the world, with which I’m sure you’re famililar, where women are not even close to being treated as equal to men.
Report thisBy Peter Miller, August 3, 2008 at 1:05 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
>>Juan is doing a fine job while you are away<<
Yes, and he’s even managed to get his shirt collar under control!
Report thisBy Anarcissie, August 2, 2008 at 9:41 am #
Of course there’s a difference between Obama and McCain. It’s the difference between the soft cop and the hard cop. Pick whichever one you like, or refuse to pick either—you’ll still get a cop.
Estonia is one of the many countries whose fear and hatred of one or more of its neighbors is being turned to use by the Empire. This is not some new thing; the Romans practiced it. They called it “divide et impera”—divide and rule. Of course the Estonians are more concerned with the American election than those in Latvia or Lithuania. The Latvians aren’t running the world.
I’m kind of surprised to see Amy Goodman apparently falling for this brand of sucker bait.
Report thisBy Paracelsus, August 2, 2008 at 1:53 am #
I hope that not all Estonians see Obama as some kind of messianic figure. I am sure they have seen many messianic personages come and go, leaving a pile of corpses behind them. To be a Slav is to be educated in the worst that tyranny has to offer. Obama is just another Tartar to be resisted.
Report thisBy yellowbird2525, August 1, 2008 at 5:19 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
the US is held as a ROLE MODEL??????? the REST of the world views the USA as it’s citizens being in slavery & our “Gov” as the true tyrants, bullies, & terrorists of the world; they KNOW the truth, & not the “canned lies” and the propaganda BS that is put into ‘print” and tv “image” for the citizens of the USA; they KNOW the reality of what is going on in Iraq NO AL QUIEDA & the TRUTH about who was behind the twin towers & who killed JFK; kid NOT yourselves that “our” country is a “role” model; it is NOT. THAT is the propaganda crap that the current regime in the USA WANTS you to think; our country is the WORST in the world in how it treats it’s people; for Rice or ANYONE to go to another country & say “the Gov should not abuse it’s citizens” is LAUGHABLE. I’m surprized she was not laughed at to her face!
Report thisBy cann4ing, August 1, 2008 at 1:00 pm #
dihey, while you and I no doubt agree on the ravages of the corporate global project, please spare me your Naderite canard that there is no difference between a Barack Obama and a John McCain, because it just isn’t true.
Report thisBy Kurtwa, August 1, 2008 at 12:36 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
” Try again”.
Listen, please, ‘The Dark Side’
http://www.kuow.org/program.php?id=15482
How’s your non-toothache? I am having trouble finding mine, too.
Trust is hard to come by.
Kurtwa
Report thisBy dihey, August 1, 2008 at 12:14 pm #
cann4ing. Ah, I forgot. Both candidates promise more death and destruction and despair at least in Afghanistan and possibly in Iraq and Iran also. When seen from that perspective it does not make a microgram of difference who our next President is going to be. As I said: try again.
Report thisBy dihey, August 1, 2008 at 12:11 pm #
cann4ing: I know that. I was pooh-poohing the multitude of eternal starry-eyed who still believe in the “beacon on the hill.” Estonia is, of course, the worst country to judge US elections = global elections. The great majority of Estonians, rightly or wrongly, fears Russia and considers us to be their protectors. Ms. Goodman should have gone instead to Norway or Iceland, two countries that have had female prime ministers, and suffer the yawn to her US elections = global elections.
Report thisTry again.
By cann4ing, August 1, 2008 at 10:09 am #
dihey—you missed this one by a global mile. The global importance of the U.S. election flows not from the fact that the U.S. provides the ideal model for others to follow—Reagan’s bogus “shining city on the hill”—but from the fact that whom Americans select can mean life or death for everyone else on the planet who, at a minimum, are exposed to the ravages of global climate change brought on by the power of the U.S. to block fundamental change in ecological policies, and at worst, people who could end up on the receive end of American-made bombs.
Report thisBy dihey, August 1, 2008 at 8:51 am #
US elections = global elections. Only Vladimir Lenin’s contention that his revolution was a “global revolution” desired everywhere else in the world tops this kind of megalomania. Look, we are a good people but we must abandon the nonsensical belief that we are “a shining beacon on the hill.” Women and blacks have regularly been elected to the highest offices of their country all around “the globe.” We are merely trundling behind.
Report thisBy Kurtwa, July 31, 2008 at 1:53 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
Listening to Clark, and others who express, similar points of view, is, I feel, important and critical, to a point.
Having said that, the sorts of comments, possibly cloaked behind anti-corporate rhetoric, that effectively suggest that Barack Obama is “hollow” are simply suspect.
I have signed, along with numerous progressive leaders, an open letter to Barack Obama that urges him to stay firm on a core set of policies and principles. You, too, of course, can do this.
Again, suggesting that Barack Obama is “hollow”, is possibly an effort, to undermine the very progress that genuine voters, concerned with extensive abuse of corporate influence, would like to see in the U.S.A.
Report thisBy Paracelsus, July 31, 2008 at 1:52 pm #
@Fadel Abdallah
Too bad Abu-Al-Misk Kafur can’t run for President. He sounds like a better man than Obama.
Report thisBy racetoinfinity, July 31, 2008 at 6:58 am #
The criticism of Obama for saying “I am a world citizen” is old-fashioned reactionary nationalistic chauvinism level consciousness. The more aware people understand that evolution and the times (same thing) demand a planetary co-operative perspective and actions, not defensive competitive fearful walling off of ourselves from the rest of the nations.
Report thisBy Clark, July 31, 2008 at 1:28 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
I agree that the U.S.A. has global influence, but I think that to say “the U.S. is a model for the world” is to live in nostalgia. Surely, Mr. Turay is not arguing in favor of a model which puts weapons and corporate profits before health care and education. So many people seem to think Barack Obama is some sort of Superman, but I live in Illinois and I have tried to pay attention to the actions of this man ( who I helped put in the U.S. Senate in 2004) and it seems to me that the differences between him and John McCain become less with each passing day. I am almost amazed at both of their arrogance and indifference to the suffering inflicted on other people while touting their PRIDE in the U.S.A.
Report thisI believe both of these men put corporate profits before peace and justice. This election is regularly said to be ” a very important election” in the U.S. media, but it seems to me that it is only because of how dreadful the current government is that these two candidates can seem better. I’m sorry to say that Mr. Turay may be excited about something hollow.
By kurtwa, July 30, 2008 at 11:13 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
As Amy Goodman and most of us, probably know, electing a U.S. President is ultimately about electoral votes. Senator Barack Obama’s international appeal will not necessarily be a deterrent with many swing voters or voters, generally?
Obama’s appeal international, as we also know or can imagine, will be a benefit to him as president and likely our nation should he get the necessary number (270) of electoral votes.
Thank you, Amy Goodman, for the informative report from the Baltic States.
Consider checking out, http://www.270towin.com.
Report thisThanks for reading my message.
kurtwa
By Fadel Abdallah, July 30, 2008 at 10:30 pm #
Since this article focuses on Obama as a symbol of a person of color of humble origins as someone that is celebrated globally, let me introduce you to an episode from Medieval Islamic History that will tell how Islam, with its progressive teachings, was ahead of the West by at least 1000 years.
From 966-968 Abu-Al-Misk Kafur held the reins of the government of the Ikhshidid dynasty (935-969). Kafur was originally an Abyssinian slave. He proved to be an able ruler who ruled over Egypt-Syria and defended these two regions against the ambitions of the Hamdanids, another petty dynasty in the north with territorial ambitions on the Ikhshidid dynasty. This able ruler of humble origins was immortalized in the verses of the greatest Arabic poet of the time.
However, the case of this original black slave rising from the humblest origins to a place of power and prominence, was not the first nor the last in the progressive history of Islam; something that puts the bragging Western democracies to shame, especially in light of the “Crusading” mentality these Western Powers are currently exhibiting, in words and action, against the people and lands of Islam.
Report thisBy cann4ing, July 30, 2008 at 10:00 pm #
Of course people in other countries take a direct interest in U.S. elections. Consider how many foreign nationals have lost their lives since the Bush regime took office, or, for that matter, the staggering numbers who have either died, been maimed from weaponry mfg. in the U.S. of A or been tortured over the past sixty years. Consider the impact our nation has had on fundamental issues confronting the planet like global warming and nuclear arms. Consider the nearly 800 military bases the U.S. has installed in other people’s countries—one might say, at the outer realms of the empire. And if there was a foreign nation that did all these things to us, we too would be concerned about whom “they” elect.
Report thisBy Lenny, July 30, 2008 at 7:55 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
Juan is doing a fine job while you are away on vacation, though we all miss you but Estonia? Isn’t that where the screw ups get sent in Dilbert? Enjoy yourself and be careful, you’re too valuable here.
Report this