Is September 11 still in the US’s memories and fears ? September 26, 2008

I know it was a long time ago, i.e. about two weeks, but I really wanted to talk about September 11, and how it can affects american people.

In fact, if I remember, when I watched television (NBC) on September 11, 2008, journalists were reminding us the brief story of 09/11/01, as if anyone still didn’t know about the tragedy (but we should not be sarcastic, if there is one thing that I learnt arriving in this country, it is that no one judges no one, no matter what happens… anyway totally different from French people, however let’s play the game until the end). Besides, because of a very tense election decision this year, we saw above all McCain and Obama pretending to buddy-buddy in front of the camera, but I’d say that the acting was very successful, we almost believed in a sincere shaking hands and beautiful smiles saddened, to act such as the world was falling upon their head! Come on guys, please, I know you feel very depressed and desolate about what happened seven years ago to the Twin Towers, but thousands of people are killed every day in Darfur (region of Western Sudan) just because they were walking outside in the wrong place at the wrong time…

Mmmmh, doesn’t this sentence remind you something that happened two weeks ago in LAX airport ?

As a matter of fact, if you remember well, after the MTV Video Music Awards in Hollywood on the Sunday before 09/11, the famous rapper artist Kanye West was in LAX, trying to register to take his plane and come back home, or whatever. Unfortunately, journalists, or even paparazzi were there and tried to film him; nevertheless, he didn’t let these introductions into his private life going too far, and that gives this :

Obviously, Kanye wasn’t feeling well today, and I can understand this, even if he shouldn’t have to snap up on a paparazzi, poor guy who only does his work… indeed, physical aggression is not a solution to our issues, and talking might be better, because we don’t need to be injured and have a black eye to try to understand and discuss each other.. anyway, after this little lesson about life, the main problem is not here. I was very shocked when I heard that a NBC reporter who commented this scene revealed us that “Kanye was probably in the wrong place, AT THE WRONG TIME”, just after relating the september 11 events in New York (with also an intervention from the mayor in the same bag). How could he mix this fight with September 11 ? Would american people be so paranoid that they should be afraid of a little fight in LAX, because it happened by coincidence the same day ? Personally, this declaration from TV disappointed me, because I thought America was stronger than that, and wouldn’t let be touched by an event like that, especially from this scale… but it seems to me that seven years after, US people are still scared that a bird falls upon their head…

Sarah Palin : better than John McCain ? September 13, 2008

In Corsair, newspaper of Santa Monica College, I found a cartoon that called upon me immediately :

In fact, this picture astonished me, because I totally approved the message at the moment I saw it.

Since last week, there’s one person that interests us a lot : Sarah Palin, candidate to vice presidency of the United States, and member of the Republican Party. She has got so many incredible experiences, that everyone is curious about her life : how is she going to take care of her future grandchildren, how is she going to take care of her own baby, affected by the Down Syndrome, a disease very rareand very hard to fight against. People are even starting to pay attention on her appearance, comparing her to celebrities, to focus on the place she lives, Alaska…

However, what happened to McCain ? Has he disappeared in a deep hole in the middle of nowhere ? Suddenly, the candidate for presidency of the US in the Republican side isn’t the principal topic of discussion anymore, presently, right now, everybody has eyes only for the beautiful and good-looking Sarah Palin! “Oh my goodness! Is this her? I think I’m gonna evaporate!”

At the beginning, McCain has got the brilliant idea of choosing a hot governor to help him in his road to potential presidency. Unfortunately for him, given the family facts (teenager Palin’s pregnancy) and the pushing forward of Palin by McCain (he wanted so to attract american citizens by the appeal of “nature in all its splendor”), this worked so well that it finished by turn against himself. It’s as if, suddenly, roles had been inversed… what is McCain doing now, facing Palin who is announcing Republican program and making propaganda in favor of her side? 

I am wondering where a candidate for vice presidency has become as important as a candidate for presidency of the US. Before this campaign, I don’t remember any vice president of the US, I don’t know who is actually vice president of the US, in order to support Bush. Concerning about Obama, we don’t know a lot about his delegate, Joe Biden. Some people actually didn’t know about him, even after the Democratic National Convention, program that everyone is supposed to watch on TV at least once in the week. Why unexpectedly so much interest and passion for a candidate for vice presidency ? And especially about this woman in particular ?

In Corsair, the article that  frames the cartoon is named “The American People Overcome Racism to Uphold Sexism”. In a first time, it explains that some people approve that “the unofficial verdict has proven women inferior to men, be they black or white”. We could actually interroge ourselves on why Hillary Clinton lost the primaries facing Barack Obama?

Today, we can wonder if our huge interest for Sarah Palin is due to the fact that she has the power, even upon McCain, or does she make a good figure in order to raise votes in favor of McCain?

 

Link :http://media.www.thecorsaironline.com/media/storage/paper772/news/2008/09/10/Opinion/The-American.People.Overcome.Racism.To.Uphold.Sexism-3424121.shtml