Category Archives: politics
Cautious Optimism about Obama-2012 – Finally!
I actually wrote this post a few months ago when things were not so fine and dandy for Obama, thank you very much. 🙂
At that time, this post was titled “Nail-biting Anxiety about Obama-2012”. Â It’s nice to be able to change this title to something more positive, that actually reflects the ground reality today.
It’s amazing how much the race has changed in just a matter of 2-3 months! Today, I read articles with titles such as “Why Obama is Winning” and “How Mitt stumbled” (and has he ever!). While cautiously optimistic, I am not ready to declare Obama the winner and neither should any of his supporters. There’s also that article that says “Romney RIP – Not So Fast“.
After the two conventions,  this is what the NY Times was saying, Sept 8: Conventions May Put Obama in Front-Runner’s Position and they were right. And this op-ed piece called “A Sugar High?” is one I got great joy out of reading. Positive for Obama but still…
The fact is anything can still happen in the remaining six weeks. Yes, it can! So, I just remain with crossed fingers, devouring everything I can read about the political scene at home. Â
The fact that things change so rapidly is reflected on what I wrote earlier:
Nail-biting Anxiety about Obama-2012
The last trip home in early summer was everything I expected. And more. On a personal level, it was all been about catching up with friends, cherishing new times with family, relishing home time and generally feeling very good about life. In a nutshell, it was a great time to make fresh, new, joyful memories.
But going home in mid-2012 also brought to the forefront something that has got me very worried indeed: the Presidential election of 2012 that will be here sooner than we think.
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama walk with former President George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush in the Cross Hall towards the East Room of the White House, May 31, 2012. The President and First Lady hosted a ceremony presenting the Bush’s official portraits, which will be displayed in the White House. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)
Given that I am from the South, it’s totally unsurprising that I am concerned about Obama getting a chance for a second term. None of the states in the deep South – Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi are even in the running for Obama. They are red, red, RED! So, the messages that I kept seeing and hearing in my friendly neighborhood were decidedly anti-Obama.
Interestingly, the majority of my Indian-American friends are either vociferously for Obama or are maintaining their silence – as if they feel like they cannot be vocal if in fact they are not for Obama (or maybe it’s just me that they’re silent with…now, there’s something unsurprising to think about). The pro-Obama desis are overwhelmingly in the majority and loud about it so I can’t name a single Patel, Rao, Sharma, Shah, Reddy, Singh, etc.… who claims to be backing Romney (yet).
Not so my American friends in the South. In this case, it’s quite the opposite – so hard for me to find anyone who is FOR Obama. 😦
These Americans are dear friends or respected colleagues of mine but many of them think that Obama is bad for the country – either he is a socialist (new myth), or fiscally irresponsible (wow…compared to W?) or they just have an innate dislike for him that they cannot or will not explain. (At least not to me).
Of course, I am pretty passionate(!) about who I think needs to be President for the next four years. So perhaps I just make it difficult for people who don’t support my opinion to come clean with me. Yes, I can certainly see that happening. So, I tried to be prudent by avoiding talk of politics among these circles. What’s the use? It’s not like I can get them to change their mind. And it’s not like their different political view changes my friendship or regard.Â
What’s also interesting to me is the fact that I have yet to run into anyone who has not already made up their mind. Where are all those large numbers of undecideds and independent/swing voters lurking anyway? Not in the South!
President Barack Obama gets ready as the G8 leaders line up outside of Aspen Cabin before the family photo at Camp David, Md., May 19, 2012. Standing with the President, from left, are: José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev of Russia, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda of Japan, Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada, President François Hollande of France, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Mario Monti of Italy, and Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
What is so unsettling to me is that something that I and many others think should be a slam dunk for Obama simply isn’t.
Mitt Romney, his supporters and Republicans in general will be out-spending Obama almost 2 to 1 during the months and days leading up to D-day. That’s scary. Because we all know that marketing campaigns and promotion – especially negative (vicious!) advertising works so well in America.
I was only in the country for a couple of weeks and in spite of the personal joy and satisfaction that I got from being at home, this worry simply won’t go away.
I expect to return to the US to stay put sooner or later and I cannot imagine returning to a country where Obama has been a one-term president. I just can’t!  😦
But hey, who ever said life was fair, right? History has only one chance of getting written and whatever will be, will be. So, why waste time worrying?
Instead, best to simply celebrate all the things that Obama has done to make the country a better one for its people during his first term (while remembering the 2008 alternative: McCain/Palin). And be so glad that he had at least four years to do it. [Here is an impressive list of his achievements. And here’s another one]. As a BIG bonus, the Supreme Court (and Chief Justice John Roberts!) in a surprise ruling to everyone, upheld the affordable health care act that was a key accomplishment of the Obama administration.
Not that I’m giving up on 2012 or anything like that. Far from it! I’m just working on stifling that worry disease I seem to have on this topic.
The other thing for me to do is to turn that worry into something productive and useful – by doing whatever (little) is in my control that I can put to work to fight for his second term.  I also turn to things like this fabulous electoral map and cartogram to keep the hope alive (hey, so what if it’s from huffpost?).  There’s also an earlier less positive view from NY Times that’s worth looking at which allows you to see various scenarios that could unfold. Great graphs and charts, all in all!
So, as I sit here writing this, I am telling myself more than once – don’t worry, be happy. At the end of the day, what will be will be. And if (god forbid!) what we are handed to us is indeed a lemon, we’ve got to figure out a way to make lemonade from it. It’s what makes life (and politics) so…interesting.
President Barack Obama talks to kids during a stop at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Cleveland on Broadway Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio, June 14, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Celebrating An Honest Politician
More than any other treasure that I have unearthed during my stay in this country, I have found that nothing delights me more than when I unexpectedly discover that rare breed, that elusive subject – an honest-to-goodness honest politician.
A Surprise Element
I found such a surprise last week in the Times of India’s guest write-up in it’s editorial column. The column was called:
Politics can be clean
Neither corruption nor handouts are required to succeed. Â
Naive and noble thought, but not in India, I surmised. Â As I began reading this short opinion piece it kept me enthralled – for the sheer simplicity and credibility of it’s message. Because it was obviously written by someone who had lived through what he was saying. Â How come I didn’t know the name, and didn’t know the man? Perhaps I just haven’t lived here long enough.
Who was this writer? Â I had no earthly idea who “K.J. Alphons” was; it was the first time I had seen the name.
So of course, off it was to my favorite research destination and tool…the web via google, where I found some great information worth sharing.
Meet Mr. Alphons
I felt like anyone would when they discover a real life hero in the midst of a billion people (plus or minus a couple of million). Thrilled! And ready to get on his bandwagon.
Here is one very neat description of this (almost) lone warrior –Â
“Take one portion of courage, one point of integrity, one portion of dynamism and add a pinch of foolhardiness and you have Alphons.” Â Â Â
-The Hindustan Times
A Remarkable Bureaucrat
His background is that of an IAS  (Indian Administration Service) officer  who accomplished much in various posts during his 28 year career in the civil service. Just a couple of these are highlighted here –
- He demolished 14310 illegal buildings in Delhi , and reclaimed land worth Rs. 10000 crores, as Commissioner, Delhi Development Authority (this earned him the moniker Demolition Man) –Â without requesting or requiring any permission from his political bosses.
- He pioneered the literacy movement in India, by making Kottayam Town the first 100% literate town in India in 1989, as District Collector, Kottayam (that’s 100% percent, folks!).
- Further, Kottayam District achieved a quality of health index better than the United States of America, when he was in the same post.
Based on his many accomplishments at the time, in 1994, Time named him to their Global 100 – Time’s roster of young leaders for the new millenium.
A Candid Critique of IAS
Read his opinion piece in Tehelka on his experience with the IAS, The best job I ever quit, where he both praises and admonishes the civil service. It’s a great piece of brave writing! And because, as usual, I know you won’t wander over there, here are a couple of outstanding excerpts:
:
“…The truth is: if you bend they will kick. In a democracy, the political executive is supreme. They are accountable to the people. They are accountable to parliament and the assembly. They have to get re-elected. But the role of the political executive is to take policy decisions. It is the job of the bureaucracy to implement the policy decisions. Why have the bureaucracy allowed the political executive to trespass onto their turf? Simple: lack of a backbone.”
:
“…To be able to stand up, one needs to have personal integrity, both financial and intellectual. What percentage of ias officers are financially honest? Some people believe that over 60% of ias officers are financially corrupt. A good percentage of officers have impeccable financial integrity. How many of this group have intellectual integrity? Possibly one percent. It is not enough to be financially honest; it is equally important that you do not allow others to make money. An ias officer is the chief security guard on behalf of people to guard the nation’s wealth. I don’t loot, but allow others to loot [my edit:does that sound familiar to any of you??]. I don’t know which is a bigger crime.”Â
Aah and Then, Politics!
After almost three decades, he resigned from IAS in 2006 to join politics with the conviction that he could make a bigger difference there. Isn’t that the truth? Â These are precisely the kind of people that India needs as political leaders!
In his first foray, he contested and won an election to be an MLA in Kerala – winning  with one of the highest majorities in the state, while spending less than $5,000 on the entire election campaign! It was a clean election campaign where not a drop of liquor was served (fyi, elections in many parts of the country these days mean gifts of liquor bottles and worse/more to the voting public – in exchange for their vote).
This is why he states so clearly that it is possible to run a clean election and be a clean politician. He’s proved it.
Once he won that election, he vowed to remain clean. As an MLA, during a tenure of less than five years, he was able to get $80 million into his constituency for various development projects that would serve the citizens.
At every step of the way, during his life, he has asked himself the question, “where can I make the most difference?”, and then he’s taken the leap.
His latest leap was taken when he thought that he could be of more service to the country on the national stage if there were any takers. He has since joined the BJP and says he now has a simple agenda –
“I want food on every table. I want every child to go to school. I want every able-bodied man to have a job”. Â
Not a bad agenda for someone who has proved at every stage in his life that he can get things done. With integrity.
[As an interesting aside, in an interview on the occasion of this leap, when Mr.Alphons was asked if there was any state in India where there was model development, guess what his answer was?  He said and I quote: “I have worked in many places. I think by and large governance in India is pathetic. I was in Bihar for the elections. Nitishji (Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar) is doing a good job there. India has to dream bigger”].  🙂
Thrilled with this “Discovery”!
What a thrill it has been to “run into” someone like him in India – a highly effective administrator and an honest politician. In case this is your introduction to the man too, meet Mr.K J Alphons aka Alphons Kannanthanam.
It’s unlikely that I will forget this name now. In fact, I will be watching eagerly for his next achievements in service to the country and its children (in all meanings of that word).
This man has a lot (more) to give this country and he wants to make a big difference. I sincerely hope he gets the chance to do so.  And if any country needed someone like him, heck, it’s India.
As I said before, more than any other treasure in this country, I have found that nothing pleases me more than when I discover that rare and precious individual, an honest politician.
So, celebrate him, I must!
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Photo credits:
Children:Â By http://www.flickr.com/photos/90417577@N00/ [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons
The Yin and Yang of Life Anywhere 