Cathy pines for a forgotten era. It is woman who is now celebrated in all walks of life (except homemaker). Women dominate the political scene. They are heads of corporations and institutions. They are policemen, spokesmen, and Secretaries of State.
Every time a new exciting political star pops up, it is a woman - or so it appears. To me it seems contrived and calculated. Personally, I don’t ascribe to the bias that says women are smarter or more effective than men or vice versa. What is troubling is that we as a nation seem to have reached a consensus that gender affirmative action is the way to go. And I am not a supporter of affirmative action on any level.
My most fervent wish is to be proven wrong about everything. I could turn to reading the liberal blogs, but they are despairing as well (though not for the same reasons). We seem to be caught in an eternal twilight of general nausea. It’s as if the sun has decided to rise only barely above the horizon each day, leaving us in darkness for much of the time.
One of the most significant elections will be taking place in Brazil on October 3rd. Their current president (Luiz Inacio Lula) rose to power on the strength of his effectiveness as a union organizer. His rule can be described as having been center-left. It was significant in that he managed to allow market forces just enough space to breathe to vault the country to the stature of a rapidly emerging global player.
There was always a hint of trouble (for the U.S.) on this horizon however. An avowed leftist, he joined hands with the likes of Chavez, Erdogan and Ahmadinejad. The gap between rich and poor, though improving, continues to be enormous. The well-off in his nation live in constant fear of kidnapping and assassination. Should someone blow out a tire on some lonely road, it’s advised to keep moving rather than get out to change it. Reminds of what I’ve been told about stopping for red traffic lights in Philadelphia at night.
Brazil is under intense development. There is construction everywhere. The money for this has come not so much from taxes as from its abundant natural resources. Cronyism and corruption are suspected to be epic. The new capital (Brasilia/DF) is spacious and impressive. The long-term goal was to create a center where the elites make their homes. As such, those who comprise the service sector are in the process of being quietly moved out to satellite cities where poor-on-poor crime continues to be rampant. Brasilia was envisioned as an international oasis - a hub - for global powerbrokers to strike deals.
The person who is expected to win Brazil’s election is a woman (Dilma Rouseff) who has been carefully groomed by the current president. Though initially trailing in the polls, she has suddenly - some say unexpectedly - emerged as the candidate who will win easily. She is said to be an avowed Leftist and flamethrower. Her magic formula has been simply to say over and over again that she will help the poor. Because she is appears matronly, perhaps, people believe her.
Obama has seen the writing on the wall. He’s been doing everything he can to ingratiate himself with these people. They will not accept his overtures no matter how many concessions he is prepared to grant. They will continue to portray the U.S. as an adversary to rally the home folk; to blame things on when things go wrong. The same is true for dictators all over the world. They can rest easy now, knowing that the piñata has been cracked open; that America will no longer defend itself.
This leaves America’s (former) allies in the lurch. They must now scramble to coalesce around some nation, or band together as a group of the like-mind, that will not shirk the responsibility of fighting to maintain Western ideals. Much more likely though, they will find themselves pressured to abandon their principles in favor of protection.
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