happy days are here again

I was catching up with a friend of mine who immigrated from China in her early twenties. She had been back for the Olympics this summer and found it particularly hard to return to the US this time around. The reason was that in China she felt a certain spirit in the air - an enthusiasm about the future and its possibilities that she doesn't find here anymore. This comment was quite similar to one my cousin had made a year ago. He is a businessman who has had dealings in France, Canada, the US and China over the years.

How have we lost our American brand of optimism? I think 9/11 is still a wound that wasn't healed properly. But I also think the way we conduct our politics is to blame. It leads to a pessimism that things can not change, much less change for the better.

Seppuku

is the Japanese word for ritual suicide by disembowelment. It comes from the Samurai code, with its fixation on honor. I was thinking about this when I read Steve Pearlstein's column in the Business section of the Washington Post the other day. I don't always agree with him, but I think he hit the bulls eye with his insight that none of the Wall Street executives invovled in the current crisis have even apologized yet. There are many executives in Japan who have killed themselves out of shame over far less serious mistakes. I'm not advocating a mass suicide on Wall Street. But I don't feel we can move forward until we hear that they are sorry and show us some contrition. Instead they are just making demands and threatening the end of the world unless they are helped. If they haven't realized the error of their ways, how do we know it won't happen again?

$5583.43

No, that number doesn't relate to the current fiscal crisis. I'm still trying to better understand it before commenting. It's the August bill of Tifanie White, makeup artist to the stars, for services rendered to the McCain campaign for that month.

In fairness, I have no idea what Obama's makeup bill is.

Human Resources

On the list of the career paths I can't imagine myself being able to navigate very well is 'human resources". I believe I could handle the administrative part without too much trouble. It's having to judge a person's suitability for a job that seems very difficult. It has to be a very special and rare skill. Otherwise, why do we meet so many incompotent people in this world of ours?

Yet every 4 years it becmoes our duty to take on this most difficult job. We are asked to evaluate each candidate's qualifications for arguably the most important job in the world and "hire" them or send them the thin little letter of rejection.  We have to ask ourselves - what is the required personality and skill set necessary to lead this country? In the case of Sarah Palin, we seem to also asking ourselves - what isn't relevant to this question?

I choose to stay home to raise the kids, manage the household and make the movie. It has been much harder than anything I ever did "professionally" and has given me many more skills and much more maturity as well. Yet I know this is a tough thing to explain to potential employers and I may have done great damage to my future career prospects.

In some ways I am very frustarted by this fact. I do believe it is deeply unfair that this experience isn't regarded in the same light as paid work by most people. Yet, when I imagine myself at the other end of the table I can emphasize with the person doing the hiring. Not only having children but having made them a priority in my life for so long could be an indication of my ability to commit to the job. I can't blame them for wondering about this.

I keep hearing that it's "sexist" to question whether a woman with children can be effective in a challenging full time job when you would never ask the same question of a man.   On the surface this does seem unfair.   Yet numerous surveys have said that in the majority of households where both partners have full time careers, a dispropriate amount of the housework and childcare still falls on the mom.   Of course it's not all cases, but it is still a likely scenario.  

If you knew that a man you were interviewing were training for the Olympics, president of a non-profit, or heavily involved in other time consuming activities that he wasn't going to give up, wouldn't this raise some legitimate questions in your mind?  As governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin seems to have worked something out.  As my sister pointed out - when you are governor you can make everybody adjust to your schedule.   As Vice President or President, perhaps you can too.  She might already be awake for the famous "3 am phone call", but will she be clear headed enough given everything else on her plate?  

   

the roller coast ride continues

We got a really nice, insightful article from Richard's hometown paper The Somerset Daily American

http://www.dailyamerican.com/articles/2008/09/13/news/news/news587.txt

And the Amazon subsidary messed up and got our title accidentally pulled from Amazon. I've set up the website so you can buy it directly from us until the problem is fixed.

Street Fight

In the HBO film "Recount" about the 2000 election fiasco in Florida, there is a beautiful written scene that sums up so much. The actor who plays Warren Christopher (who was coordinating Gore's efforts) makes an eloquent speech about how the eyes of the world are watching and their behavior must be an example to all. Then we cut to the actor playing James Baker who was heading Bush's efforts in the Florida recount. To paraphase his words "Gentlemen, this is a street fight".

We all know how that story ended. The curiously timed barrage from McCain's campaign (the day before September 11th) reminds me of the "street fight" comment. Like Obama, I too have a Chicago connection - my grandfather was a politician from the 5th District. Chicago is an excellent place to learn how to conduct a political "street fight". It will be interesting to see whether this is one of the lessons that Chicago has taught Obama.

other foot

One thing that amuses me is how the partisans view certain traits when they are held by their candidate versus the opposition. I'm old enough to remember how Ronald Reagan's oratory either made him "The Great Communicator" or an ignorant actor just mouthing dangerous ideas. Nowadays Obama "articulateness" is either high praise, or indication that he is a frivolous celebrity.

Both politicians rightly should be envied for their extraordinary gifts. They shouldn't be easily dismissed either - even with a raw talent such a gift needs hard work and practice to refine. But both deserve a much higher level of regard for actually having written their own speeches. (this may have been less true once Reagan was in the White House). Sarah Palin's acceptance speech was written by a speechwriter before she was even chosen. A beauty pageant rival said "on the stage, we know how to turn it on". She deserves some credit for having the skill to "turn it on" in her delivery of the speech, but nowhere near as much as if she'd written it herself.

A girl can have it all

She just can't have it all at the same time. This is one problem I have with Sarah Palin.

Let me backtrack a bit. The so called "Mommy wars" where stay at home moms are supposed to be at the throats of "working" moms and vice versa is in my experience a fabrication of the press. At least it's nothing I've ever witnessed in all my years mothering. Most women understand that there are as many ways to be a good mother as there are mothers. They also understand the enormous commitment of time and energy that it takes to do even a mediocre job of parenting. Some have the support of spouses who pitch in and help and others don't. Some have grandmothers, sisters, aunts etc. who will do the same and others don't. Some have a set of job skills that allow them to afford the best help. Others have the temprament to stay at home all the time with their kids and be happy doing it. Some moms would become so depressed and anxious if they did so their kids would suffer much more than from their absence. There is no one formula for being a good mother. Many kids are raised in conditions far less than "ideal" and turn out to be fine contributing citizens. Others are raised by 2 parents in an affluent community and turn out less than great by most standards.

So I don't think anybody should judge Sarah Palin's choice to have 5 kids and a career. She has obviously worked out a way to manage everything. And yet, I'm troubled by the "supermom" image that is being projected here. Perhaps she has double my IQ, triple my energy level and needs half as much sleep as I do. Yet when a woman has that much on her plate something has got to give. There are only so many hours in a day after all. She simply has to be getting a ton of help from family, friends and/or hired help and also letting a bunch of other stuff fall by the wayside. This is more than fine if it works for them. I don't begrudge her success. I just think these women who are glorified as doing it all by themselves are leaving a false and discouraging image to the rest of us to either try to keep up with, or feel inadequate for not meeting.

This brings me to the daughter's pregnancy. Having your own children is the best cure for being judgemental about parents (in particular your own). Having one teenager, and another on the way I know very well how they often don't seem to hear what you've told them a hundred times. Sometimes they make their own dumb choices in spite of your best efforts. Because I know this, I also know that one particular bit of parenting advice is true. You have to be nearby frequently to be able to take advantage of the rare times when they do want to talk and are open to hearing what you have to say. It's very possible Bristol Palin would have become pregnant if her mom was full time "stay at home". Yet I can't help but wonder if a mom who had fewer distractions would have been able to see some warning sign about Bristol and this boyfriend and said a few words that would have made her daughter a little more cautious. It's a question impossible to answer, as complicated as motherhood these days.

haters

I've been meaning for awhile to write about the shooting in an Unitarian Church in Tennesse by a trucker who "hated the liberal movement". I never figured out what I wanted to say about it until now.

In the past couple of days I've been exploring the world of blogs and social networks. Part of it has been curiosity, part of it an attempt to get the world out about our film. It's hardly news that there are alot of extreme voices out there. Still, it doesn't really sink in until you see it up close and personal. The simplistic generalizations about the "enemy", the level of venom on some sites and groups are shocking.

And yet I still don't believe they represent anything more than a small minority. The vast majority don't have the time or energy to be that angry. And those angry enough to kill are mentally ill. The flames of their illness may have been stoked by angry rhetoric. But I can' believe they are symbolic of the country as a whole. Unfortunately, "if it bleeds it leads", and those drawing blood get the attention.

commentary

I've been trying to get the word out about our film by doing a bit of "social networking" - posting our clips on sites like myspace, facebook and wis.dm in an effort to generate discussion.

Here's one that came up on wis.dm, I'll be commenting a bit more on it later . ..


"I had a very "liberal" professor in college. I was surprised how closed minded he was to new ideas. I found out that liberal ideals are not necessarily "progressive" ideals. I consider myself a very conservative progressive with a hint of libertarianism. I am not sure where that fits into the classic conservative mold. I am a conservative that wants change. A change for more freedom. I feel both parties taking freedoms away.