Expats Against Bush

TIME's Person of the Year

I'm hoping that they're giving this to Bush on a "most talked about person of the year" basis rather than a "most deserving of celebration" basis. Ugh.

Democrats Abroad UK

Like some of our readers, I attended the Dems Abroad-UK annual general meeting in London on Saturday, and gave 5 hours of my day to the glory that is parliamentary procedural debate. There was so much debate, in fact, that even factoring in the late start, we still didn't even cast the first vote (and that was on a proposed amendment to a proposed amendment to the by-laws) until 11AM, by which point people were applauding the fact that something had actually been achieved.

All in all, it could have been worse.

The fact of the matter is that when you have 98 opinionated people in one room, you're going to hear at least 98 opinions on any given topic. If you're lucky.

Things moved on a bit more quickly after the initial hullaballoo over expanding the size of the council and the Executive Committee, and soon we were even able to vote for actual people as opposed to by-laws. I would like to extend a heartfelt congratulations to the new officers, especially Margo Miller as the new Chair, who you may remember worked so hard on the Get Out The Vote effort leading up to the election.

Some of you know I was standing for Executive Committee - it turns out (I only found out last night) that I, along with several other new faces, was elected to the Committee and I would like to extend my congratulations to my fellow Committee members, both the old faces and the new. We have a lot of work to do in advance of the 2006 midterm elections.

I stood for the Committee on the basis of improving the communications side of DA-UK, and possibly of Dems Abroad as a parent organisation, both online and offline (obviously leaning towards the former). In the short term that means an urgent review of the DA-UK website and its strategic strengths and weaknesses.

What, you may ask, is the impact on this website? The short answer is, I don't know yet. Since I am now part of the management of Dems Abroad UK, will the tone of this website change at all? I would venture to say no. However, it is too soon to tell. The bigger issue is, I think, that if we are successful at reengineering the DA-UK and even the DA parent websites, we may come to a point where this website is redundant. I don't think that will be the case for some time yet (if at all) but it's a possibility. Don't start counting those chickens yet :)

In any case, I should be able to offer a fresh perspective on expat political life now that I have re-committed myself to the fight. I hope all of you are similarly inclined to keep up the good work.

Alabama: Leading the way once again

I think this one speaks for itself:

An Alabama lawmaker who sought to ban gay marriages now wants to ban novels with gay characters from public libraries, including university libraries.

A bill by Rep. Gerald Allen, R-Cottondale, would prohibit the use of public funds for "the purchase of textbooks or library materials that recognize or promote homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle." Allen said he filed the bill to protect children from the "homosexual agenda."

"Our culture, how we know it today, is under attack from every angle," Allen said in a press conference Tuesday.

Allen said that if his bill passes, novels with gay protagonists and college textbooks that suggest homosexuality is natural would have to be removed from library shelves and destroyed.

"I guess we dig a big hole and dump them in and bury them," he said.

A spokesman for the Montgomery-based Southern Poverty Law Center called the bill censorship.

"It sounds like Nazi book burning to me," said SPLC spokesman Mark Potok.

Indeed.

If I had my way, I'd ban novels featuring illiterate, knuckle-dragging Alabama state legislators. Because, after all, our culture, as we know it, is under attack from every angle.

Recruiting in schools

Motherjones has a piece up about a Vermont headmaster who received a rude shock when she refused to give over contact details for her students to some Army recruiters:

The recruiters cited the No Child Left Behind Act, President Bush's sweeping new education law passed earlier this year. There, buried deep within the law's 670 pages, is a provision requiring public secondary schools to provide military recruiters not only with access to facilities, but also with contact information for every student -- or face a cutoff of all federal aid.

Huh?

I suppose that's one way to stave off a draft. Still, it concerns me that built into an education bill is a guaranteed right-of-entry to any public school for military personnel - not only that, but a guaranteed right of those same personnel to all of the school's student records.

Howard Dean to the rescue?

There's been a lot of talk recently about Howard Dean taking over the reins at the DNC, and whether or not that's a good thing. This Newsweek web article, although short, does a good job of summation:

Dean gave hope to Democrats around the country with his maverick campaign. It was shock therapy, and Democrats need more of it. Every four years, one or the other party is written off. But stuff happens. President Bush is not immune to the second-term woes that have afflicted other presidents. He’s got a war that isn’t going well and a borrowing binge that could spiral into a recession if our allies decide to cash in the U.S. bonds they’re holding. For all the bravado, the Bush mandate is fragile. If 70,000 votes in Ohio had gone the other way, we’d be talking about the Republican enclave in the Old Confederacy and the Rocky Mountain states, and the resurgence of Blue America.

I would like to believe that Howard Dean could help, but not without a serious bout of hard soul-searching within the DNC to go along with Dean's leadership. There is no magic solution to the groupthink problem that contributed to our defeat this year.

Canadians rib would-be US expats

I was just forwarded this satire email commenting on the oft-supposed impending emigration of America's left to other countries - namely Canada.

The flood of American liberals sneaking across the border into Canada has intensified in the past week, sparking calls for increased patrols to stop the illegal immigration.

The re-election of President Bush is prompting the exodus among left-leaning citizens who fear they'll soon be required to hunt, pray and agree with Bill O'Reilly.

Canadian border farmers say it's not uncommon to see dozens of sociology professors, animal-rights activists and Unitarians crossing their fields at night.

"I went out to milk the cows the other day, and there was a Hollywood producer huddled in the barn," said Manitoba farmer Red Greenfield, whose acreage borders North Dakota.

The producer was cold, exhausted and hungry.

"He asked me if I could spare a latte and some free-range chicken. When I said I didn't have any, he left. Didn't even get a chance to show him my screenplay, eh?"

10% chance of avoiding economic "Armageddon"

Well, there's an attention grabber.

It seems this guy Stephen Roach, the top finance guy at Morgan Stanley, is not too hot on the economic future of the States. And when I say "not to hot", I mean Arctic:

Roach met select groups of fund managers downtown last week, including a group at Fidelity.

His prediction: America has no better than a 10 percent chance of avoiding economic ``armageddon.''
Press were not allowed into the meetings. But the Herald has obtained a copy of Roach's presentation. A stunned source who was at one meeting said, ``it struck me how extreme he was - much more, it seemed to me, than in public.''
Roach sees a 30 percent chance of a slump soon and a 60 percent chance that ``we'll muddle through for a while and delay the eventual armageddon.''
The chance we'll get through OK: one in 10. Maybe.
In a nutshell, Roach's argument is that America's record trade deficit means the dollar will keep falling. To keep foreigners buying T-bills and prevent a resulting rise in inflation, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan will be forced to raise interest rates further and faster than he wants.
The result: U.S. consumers, who are in debt up to their eyeballs, will get pounded.

Go have a read of the rest of the article. Chilling stuff.

Back in Blighty

I'm back in London now after my long weekend in New York, a quite eventful weekend in the end in which I managed to take in a poetry reading (my mother's) an art gallery opening (over the top), the new Museum of Modern Art (spiffy) and a couple of walks in Central Park (glorious).

Of course, in the social gatherings I attended I was pinned against the wall a few times by sympathetic family and friends and asked how I was dealing with life post-election. I didn't want to dwell on it, but obviously I was disappointed. I am ashamed to say a few times that I said I didn't want to depress myself with it and I changed subjects. And the couple of Republicans in my extended family were remarkably sanguine - there was none of the gloating or joshing I might have expected. I got the sense, overall, that the mood was somber on both sides of the fence.

Then again, that was Upper West Side Manhattan.

Returning to America

Ha. Bet you thought I was moving back. Fat chance. I am, however, going back to New York for the weekend to attend my mother's book launch.

As often happens when I return to America and the warm embrace of family members, conversation will inevitably turn to my level of happiness living abroad and any possible plans I might have for returning. I've always maintained that somewhere down the line I will feel the urge to return home, but that's a nebulous time frame and I must admit that recently that timeframe has been pushed back a bit by events back home- well, not only events, I suppose I should say trends as well. I know I'm not the only expat who feels like his home has been replaced with a slightly creepier copy that he's not entirely happy with; nor am I the only one to feel the urge to return fading a bit.

There are some things happening that have been bugging me lately, and bugging all of you as well, which make me think to myself, This is not the America I left not so long ago. Here is a choice selection of recent developments:

• The House GOP caucus has voted to change the rules so that Tom Delay won't have to step down as their leader despite an imminent indictment from Texas. Note that he championed this same rule 10 years ago. The majority party is taking abuse of power to a new level, and nobody is standing in the way.
• The White House is reshuffling the Cabinet and restocking it with White House staffers - Bush loyalists all - which while not intrinsically unusual is still a categorical shift towards cronyism and unity of message. Look for Condi Rice in particular to become even more odious and two-faced than she was when she was "behind the scenes" in the NSA role. the days of candor have passed into dim memory, welcome to the new world of Up Is Down, Black Is White (New and Improved). The ongoing putsch at CIA is confirmation of this trend; there will be no dissent or variation from the party line.
• Meanwhile the government, in the form of the FCC, have cowed the media into almost total obeisance. Stations and media conglomerates are falling all over themselves not to offend the electorate (witness the recent refusal of several ABC stations to carry the nationally-broadcast Saving Private Ryan on Veteran's Day for fear of censure) - and it seems that every day brings a new case of "outraged" citizenry forcing the FCC to fine broadcasters for "indecent" material - even Fox is not immune to the whims of 3 complainants. And when the public expects, nay demands, this level of governmental control over the content of their media. Where is that going to go, I wonder?

I am doing a lot of frowning when I read the news lately, as I am sure are many of you. My home is an alien nation, and I'm not sure when or if sanity will be restored.

Secretary of State Rice

Oh dear, oh dear. Anyone looking for evidence of Bush softening up his policies now that he doesn't have to face reelection will not have much ammunition to play with now that Bush has replaced the troublemaking Colin Powell with the loyal footsoldier Condi Rice. Assuming Rumsfeld stays on, the entire administration will now be in lock-step, personally tied into Bush, and, more ominously, into Dick Cheney.

Is it just me or does anyone else not place too much stock in Condi's diplomatic skills? She has one part of it downpat - lying through one's teeth - but it's the charm and nuance aspects that may elude her. Presidential staff? Sure. Stateswoman? Hmmm.