photo courtesy of Gary Shrewsbury

I had the opportunity to attend last week’s State of the State address as the guest of Rep. Mark Meadows (D-East Lansing.) There was much speculation prior to the speech on how Governor Granholm would use her last address to the people of Michigan. Little did I know her speech would be so focused on the very things that make up the strategies of NEI.

Her speech was titled “A State in Transition: Crossing to the New Michigan Economy.” The speech touched on a number of topics like governmental reform, balancing the budget and outlining the past seven years of her agenda but the bulk of the speech focused on transforming the State’s economy to a knowledge-based economy. The speech tackled all three areas of NEI’s work—building the entrepreneurism eco-system, strengthening the workforce development system and building off of the region’s assets.

She spoke about expanding services and resources to entrepreneurs and small business owners. She even highlighted the work of the NEI funded FastTrac trainings that are taking place through Wayne State University’s TechTown. After entrepreneurism, she focused on workforce development and helping businesses make the transition from the auto industry to emerging sectors like alternative energy, defense and homeland security.

From my perspective the speech was on target and made a convincing argument for what many of us in the field have been working on for the past few years. However, I was disappointed that the Governor didn’t spend more time talking about specific details on how to balance the state’s budget which has another projected deficit of more than $1.6 billion. I guess everyone will have to wait for the Governor’s budget message to answer the important question of revenue increases and budget cuts.

If you are interested in reading the speech, you can find it here.

Kalamazoo Surprise

It was my first take at being a political talking head.  The result?  I still need to keep my day job.  I was able to guess many races correctly but a few took me by surprise. The biggest surprise for me was the Kalamazoo Human Rights ordinance.  I thought the last minute barrage of misleading ads would tip the scales.  Kalamazoo voters proved me wrong and beat back the lies 2-1 with a resounding victory.  Congrats  K-Zoo!

Lansing

It wasn’t a surprise that Virg won but the end result was much bigger than most pundits had thought.  Well played, my friend.  I had made the statement yesterday that the Mayor would not have coattails in the city council races and I was somewhat right.   He was only able to pick up one of the two seats he targeted by helping Tina Houghton defeat incumbent Sandy Allen.

Detroit City Council

Overall, I was able to correctly guess the mayoral election and eight of the nine finalists for the Detroit City Council.  My biggest surprise was that Charles Pugh still ended up the top vote-getter and now President-elect of the Council after the press coverage of his recent home foreclosure issue.  I had thought that issue would have catapulted Gary Brown and Ken Cockrel, Jr. above him in the standings.

National Politics

Just like I said yesterday, the national media and the political parties will pontificate on the results of the Governor’s races in NJ and VA and the Congressional NY-23 seat.  The bottom line, in my opinion, voters were not voting on health care or Obama.  They voted their pocketbooks and the economy.  If anything that should send a signal to local and state politicians that the voters will be voting the economy in the next election.  You better have a good message or candidate that can tackle that issue or you are toast in 2010.

My goal is to blog about three to four times a week.  I am hoping to have a revised website by the end of the year that will represent the new stage in my life while at the same time keeping the core of my incredible journey intact.  I hope you will enjoy it!

2009 Local Elections (Let me pretend I am a political talking head)

East Lansing

The election is pretty boring with two popular incumbents, Kevin Beard and Vic Loomis, seeking re-election against two one-issue candidates, Hans Larsen and Phil Belfy.  It is safe to say that both Kevin and Vic will get easily re-elected.  Normally, a political talking head would use some grand analogy to things that get trounced such as grapes, the French military and the Detroit Lions but I will try to stay away from such conforming rhetoric.

To give myself a challenge for this election, I have devised two questions to test my political radar. 

Question 1.  Will the challengers get more than 200 votes each? 

Though the challengers scraped some money together and put out a mailing over the weekend, I still don’t think they will get more than 200 votes with the distinct possibility that the write-in candidate doesn’t break the century mark.

Question 2.  Will Vic Loomis or Kevin Beard get more votes this Tuesday?

This question is more difficult.  Vic Loomis is the Mayor so he does get more media attention and probably has better name recognition. On the other hand, it seemed that Kevin did a little bit more on the campaigning side.   Flip a coin.  It is probably going to be within a hundred votes but let me go out on a limb and say that more campaigning will get Kevin a handful more votes in the end. 

Lansing

Here is another take it to the bank prediction. Mayor Virg Benero will easily win re-election.  Virg has outspent and out-campaigned his challenger City Councilmember, Carol Woods.  Please enter your own trouncing metaphor now!   My guess would be at least 10 points depending on voter turn-out with a larger turn-out creating a larger gap. 

The real question will be whether or not my friend, Virg, will have any coat-tails for his candidates for the Lansing City Council.  History has shown that his support doesn’t always equate into victory.  His endorsements of Mary Lindemann and Jerry Hollister in their respective State Representative races didn’t carry them over the finish line in 2006.  More shocking was the loss of two incumbents, Harold Leeman and Bill Matt, who he had supported for the Lansing City Council in 2007.  My prediction will be no substantial coat-tails this election cycle.

At-Large- Brian Jeffries and Kathie Dunbar easily win their re-election.

Ward 2- Sandy Allen ekes out a win against the Benero supported Tina Houghton.

Ward 4- Jessica Yorko wins because everyone loves her including her challenger who gave up running against her many weeks ago.

Detroit

I predict Dave Bing will win his re-election campaign though it won’t be as large of a margin as most would have thought after the primary.  His realistic but tough budget decisions have made many enemies but not enough of them to vote him out of office. 

The Detroit City Council is a tough one because there are nine seats that are open but here are my predictions in order of those who I think will get the most votes. 

• Ken Cockrel
• Gary Brown
• Charles Pugh
• Brenda Jones
• Kwame Kenyatta
• Saunteel Jenkins
• JoAnne Watson
• Alberta-Tinsley-Talabi
• Andre Spivey

Other Election Stuff

National Politics-  I will not be making any predictions on the national races that are being highlighted on the news.  I am sure that will reduce my marketability as a babbling talking head.  I just can’t believe that the Governor’s race in Virginia or a Congressional seat in up-state New York have any correlation to anything other than a Governor’s race in Virgina and a congressional seat in New York.  If you watch the news you would think these races will actually mean something for elections in 2010 or 2012.  Trust me these races are not about President Obama or the viability of a Palin presidential run.

Kalamazoo Human Rights ordinance will fail.  (I hope I am wrong!)  I hate the fact that the anti-gay rhetoric, lies and deceptive ads could be rewarded but it is possible.  Kalamazoo show me that I am wrong!

I am not going to quit my day job at least not until the results come in Tuesday night! 

Don’t foget to vote!

I was asked by the publisher of the weekly newspaper in the Lansing/East Lansing area to write about my journey.  It came out this week.  This is what I had submitted to them. 

Singh Around the World- A Journey of a Lifetime
 
“Nothing has changed, but everything has changed.”  It was one of the first things I said to myself when I returned from my self-funded sabbatical.  I traveled to forty-six countries across seven continents in a seventeen-month period and in many ways it felt like nothing had changed.  Sure, we had elected a new president but the Michigan economy still struggled, our state legislature continued to ineptly deal with budget issues and local government still talked more than acted on regional cooperation.  And while things at home stayed the same, the way the world viewed our country had changed radically.   
 
This journey had been a long time in the making. When I was twelve years old I started to keep a “worldlist” of the places and events I wanted to experience.  As I grew I thought I would see many items on my “worldlist” by taking a long-term travel trip as soon as I graduated from Michigan State University.  As it is with many dreams, I set this one aside for more practical pursuits, but I never let it die.   
 
After serving twelve years in elected office and ten years as the President and CEO of the Michigan Nonprofit Association I began looking for the next challenge.  I had saved enough money to pursue an executive MBA or graduate degree in public policy, which would be the logical next step.  But a few years earlier a friend and I discussed taking a mid-career sabbatical to explore the world if we were ever at a point that we could manage it. I contemplated my options and my childhood dream became more vivid and intriguing.  Ultimately I decided to put my career on hold and not run for re-election as mayor of East Lansing:  I was going to pursue a “Masters of the World.” On December 28, 2007 my journey began. 
 
Ticking items off my “worldlist” was incredible:  hiking to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro and Everest Base Camp; exploring the lost city of Machu Picchu; seeing the pyramids; running a half marathon on Antarctica… Amazing.  But somewhere along the way the places themselves became less important and the experience of connecting to people and seeing America through their eyes became more meaningful.  The human dynamic became the central theme in my “Masters of the World.” 
 
The 2008 Presidential Election was a Worldwide Affair  
 
Though I have incredible photographs of monuments like the Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China and the Temples of Angkor Wat, the most lasting memories came from watching the US presidential elections through the eyes of world citizens.  It didn’t matter what country I was in or how isolated the village I was visiting, everyone wanted to talk about the election. 
 
During most of the primary season I was in Central and South America.  I was surprised how quickly people in these countries were drawn to Barack Obama.  I had assumed since President Clinton had significant international popularity that people would have been more supportive of Hillary Clinton.  People were drawn to Obama’s words, his eloquence and his personal story. 
 
Our primary system was very confusing.  I spent many hours explaining to people the multi-state process and the differences between primaries and caucuses.  Since the Republican nomination was wrapped up quickly the international media only focused on the contest between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.  In turn, many people thought they were competing for the Presidency rather than the Democratic Party nomination.  
 
The flaws of our electoral process were apparent to people as they questioned why some states voted before others or what the role of a super delegate was.  A man in Argentina challenged me one night when he said, “For a country that is a champion for democracy, your country has the most undemocratic way of choosing candidates.” 
 
As the election drew to a close, the support of the international community for Barack Obama intensified. I was volunteering with a team of Americans with Habitat for Humanity in Bangalore, India on Election Day.  As the results were announced for Barack Obama, local citizens would congratulate us on the election as if we had won it ourselves. 
 
The most illustrative example of how closely the world follows our elections occurred when my father and I went to visit the small rural farming village where he grew up.  As we sat with a group of my relatives and community elders the conversation shifted to the appointments that then President-elect Obama was making.  They were very critical of his renomination of Robert Gates to the Secretary of Defense since he was aligned to former President Bush.  They argued that a new Indian leader would never keep leaders from the other party in their administration.  I sat back and watched the conversation unfold, surprised that this conversation was happening in such a small village in India when most Americans would likely struggle to name the current Secretary of Defense if asked.  
 
International Volunteering: America’s Invisible Ambassadors 
 
A major component of my travels was working with nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations throughout the world.  I was hoping to have a better understanding of the issues facing the international community through travel, conversation, conferences and volunteering.  “Voluntouring” has become a big trend in the international travel market.  More people are taking vacations and adding the component of volunteering to allow them to better understand the communities they are visiting while giving back at the same time.  
 
One of the organizations that I spent my time with was Habitat for Humanity International.  I had the opportunity to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity in three different countries: Costa Rica, Romania and India.  Working side-by-side with nonprofit professionals and local volunteers allowed me to connect with the community in so many different ways.  Since my journey had me moving from country to country, I often felt disconnected with the communities I stayed in.  My volunteer stints allowed me to feel grounded in the place I was living, learning things I would never get out of a travel guide. 
 
The most tangible benefit for international volunteering is that the volunteer becomes an unofficial ambassador for their country.  So many times people in other countries have a stereotypical view of Americans as self-absorbed travelers.  Volunteering gives people the opportunity to see a different perspective of Americans and our culture.  While I was volunteering in India, a community member commented that there were many issues between their neighbors because of the outdated caste system that kept people separated by social status; because we were volunteering with people of all castes it challenged the system. 
 
My hope is that we harness the potential of American volunteers throughout the world.  Retirees and study abroad students could be a great corps of volunteers that help support global community efforts.  As we try to repair the image of America through the new administration in Washington, DC, individual citizens can become a great force in changing public opinion. While our President is making strides in repairing our image in the global community, there is no more powerful symbol than an American giving of their time and talent to support another community in another country.
 
It’s a Small World After All 
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After traveling throughout the world I realized that the Disney song is correct: it IS a small world after all!  I provided travel updates through my blog www.singharoundtheworld.comand my Facebook page.  I was impressed with the international network of friends and colleagues as I would frequently get e-mails or Facebook posts suggesting that I should look up one person or another in major cities around the globe. At times I would randomly bump into people that I knew or were from East Lansing and/or Michigan State University.
 
I took a ship to Antarctica, departing from Argentina’s southern tip. I wasn’t on the boat more than ten minutes when a woman from the boat’s catering department came up to me and said, “Mayor Singh, is that you?”  My first reaction was that one of my fellow runners had put this young woman up to asking as a practical joke.
 
As we talked she mentioned that she recently graduated from Michigan State University and took a job on the ship because her fiance was the ship’s ornithologist.  Then it slowly came back to me: we met the previous spring.  She and her friend had organized a campus rally called Step It Up to bring awareness to global warming issues and serve as an educational tool on what citizens can do to limit their carbon footprint.  I was so impressed by her and her co-organizer that I invited them to speak at the press conference where I signed East Lansing’s commitment to the Kyoto Protocols.  And now we were on our way to Antarctica.
 
Another small world experience occurred to me during a volunteer initiative that I did with Habitat for Humanity in Romania.  One of the participants saw in my volunteering biography that I was from East Lansing.  As we talked, we found out that I live exactly one block from where he grew up and that his father still lives there. As he described his father, I realized that I had a met him during door-to door canvassing for one of my first campaigns.   I was surprised how often things like this happened during my journey.
 
A Primer: The Middle East Peace Process  
 
My last few months of travel happened to be the most educational.  The final six weeks had me visiting Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Israel.  It was an incredible time to be in the region with the renewed focus on the Middle East peace process and the historic meetings that occurred while I was there. During my travels Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had his initial meetings with President Obama and with the leaders of Jordan and Egypt.  Along with watching the political meetings and getting the local perspective, I was in Jerusalem during Pope Benedict XVI’s initial visit to Israel.  There could never be a political science course that taught me as much about the region and the current state of affairs than my personal travels.  
 
Having the opportunity to talk with people in these countries about the issues facing a “two-state” solution in Israel really helped me shape my worldview regarding peace in the Middle East.  I will admit that I originally held a simplistic view of how the problem should be solved but now I understand more fully the complications the peace process will face.  Though I am hopeful that President Obama will be able to help broker a peace deal, I left Israel more pessimistic; the challenges will be more difficult to overcome than the American media leads us to believe.  
 
There is No Place Like Home
 
During the journey, many people mentioned that I would struggle when I moved back to Michigan and that I should consider relocating to a more global city like New York or Washington DC but I can’t leave because Michigan is my home.  Though many in the international and national media have written off Michigan, I know that we will be able turn the corner and reemerge as a new state poised to take advantage of the global economy.  I am willing to push all my chips in and take a bet on the place that gave my immigrant parents a home, financial freedom and endless opportunities.
 
The journey has ended and I have been home for three weeks with the integration being somewhat seamless.  I am taking my experiences and learning and incorporating them into my consulting work that I have started doing with the Lansing-based firm, Public Policy Associates, Inc. My focus will be working with nonprofit organizations and helping communities transition to a knowledge-based global economy.
 
I don’t know what my future will hold but I do know that the past seventeen months have been transformative.   There hasn’t been a moment that I questioned my decision to pursue this dream.  The learning and experiences of my “Masters of the World” is stronger and more meaningful than anything I could have learned in the classroom.  I have been fortunate to take this journey and now I need to give that back to my community.  The world famous traveler, Dorothy Gale, was on target when she said at the end of the Wizard of Oz, “There is no place like home.”  She is right–it is good to be back.

In a previous post I shared with you the thoughts of my aunt, Shubha Singh.  As a journalist in India, she has a unique perspective on America and our politics.  I thought I would share her recent article discussing her thoughts on the new direction America's foreign policy should be heading. Enjoy.

New Priorities for American Foreign Policy by Shubha Singh

President
Barack Obama’s promise of change not only caught the imagination of
people worldwide but also raised expectations around the world. The
American President’s inaugural speech set the tone for change in US
foreign policy when he spoke of reaching out to adversaries. There is
now great interest in how the Obama Administration plans to reshape
American foreign policy to emphasise cooperation with other countries
as well as rebuild the American image abroad.  

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s first foreign visit was to Asia and not to Europe, the usual destination for new secretaries of state — that was a change in itself which indicated a greater emphasis on Asia. President Obama himself chose Canada for his first foreign visit. 

There are four main areas where new American initiatives are required – Russia, the Middle East, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. India has a deep interest in the wide arc encompassing each of these areas. President Obama has listed Afghanistan as a top priority, and both Russia and Iran have a role to play in Afghanistan. US-Russian relations have been frosty ever since Georgia’s misadventure over Abhkazia and South Ossetia and improved US-Russia relations will be an important factor for global stability.

The
first annunciation of President Obama’s foreign policy came in Vice
President Joe Biden’s speech at the influential Munich Security
Conference. Vice president Biden said that it was “time to press the
reset button and revisit the many areas where we can and should be
working together with Russia.”
Restoring strained relations is not exactly an easy task when there is
years of suspicions fuelled by bitter rivalry, but both sides have an
opportunity to seek a better relationship. With the deteriorating
situation in Afghanistan, the US will require greater cooperation with other nations, including Russia to deal with the Taliban upsurge and to curtail the illicit narcotics trade.

Washington plans to send an additional 17,000 troops to Afghanistan. About 80 per cent of the NATO supplies are routed through Pakistan, but this supply route has been under threat from the Taliban in Pakistan who have been burning down trucks filled with supplies. There is now an urgent need to locate new access routes through Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan President Kurmanbek Bakiyev has already called for the closure of the US military base in Manas, which was being used to fly in supplies to Afghanistan. Russia is well connected to the Central Asian republics through a good rail-road network developed during the Soviet days from Russia through Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan Uzbekistan to Afghanistan. Spain and Germany have already used that route to move supplies to their troops in Afghanistan. Washington
would need Russian cooperation for an access route through the Central
Asian republics even if it decides to move supplies through Georgia instead of Russia.  

Iran has a role in two neighbouring countries, Iraq and Afghanistan. American overtures to Iran have received waspish responses from Iran’s President Ahmedinejad, but there is also a glimmer of an opening under the Iranian leader’s rhetoric. Iran
is to hold presidential elections in June and President Ahmedinejad
would need to take domestic opinion into account in the next few
months. The Washington-Teheran war of words had become a matter of
national dignity in Iran; if the wordy spats are toned down the majority of Iranians would want peaceful relations with America. Cutting out the raw threats that used to emanate from Washington during the Bush era and reaching out to the Iranian government would open the way for a dialogue. Washington has worked together with Iran even while maintaining a distance – during the worst days of the insurgency in Iraq when the US-led occupation forces had sought Iran’s cooperation to reduce the sectarian violence in Iraq.

The situation in the Middle East has become more volatile with the recent election in Israel which brought a more rightwing colour to its Parliament. The Israeli attack on Gaza
had inflamed passions in not just the Muslim world, but had evoked wide
spread outrage and anger around the world at the cruel shelling of
civilian homes in Gaza. It is the US all-embracing support for Israeli actions that has sent waves of anti-Americanism through parts of Asia.
The continuing growth of new Israeli settlements on Palestinian land,
the destruction of the Palestine administration’s European Union funded
infrastructure thereby whittling down the influence of the moderate
Fateh group, the refusal to recognise the result of fair elections
which brought the Hamas to victory have all added to the anti-American
feelings in the region. Even in India,
where the George W Bush presidency was seen in a positive light because
of the Indo-US agreement on civilian nuclear cooperation, the bombing
of Gaza resulted in angry Indian groups holding street demonstrations in protest.   

Special representatives have been appointed for two regions, George Mitchell for the Middle East
and Richard C Holbrooke for Afghanistan-Pakistan. President Obama told
an Arab television channel that Mitchell’s brief was to ‘listen’ while
on his first tour to the Middle East. George Mitchell would do well to listen while the new government is being constituted in Israel, but the push to get the Israelis and the Hamas into a dialogue should not be delayed.

After
months of denial and obfuscation, Pakistan has finally admitted that
the Mumbai attacks were at least partly plotted on its territory and
said that it had arrested most of those it believed were responsible. In compelling Pakistan's response to the Mumbai terrorist attack, Washington
has ensured that the crisis in the subcontinent doesn't escalate. But
the agreement to buy peace with the radical group in Swat to enforce
Sharia law has shown how parts of Pakistan are slowly sliding into the grip of the fundamentalists.

There
is an aura of goodwill surrounding President Obama; he has made the
initial moves for setting the agenda for a change in the way America’s foreign policy was conducted during the last eight years.  There
is optimism in many parts of the world that he will make the effort to
bring about a real change that would help to refurbish the American
image around the world.

                           Pictured: Morgan Tsvangirai being sworn in by his rival, Robert Mugabe this past week in Zimbabwe.

"You should listen to all people.  Everyone has a story.  Everyone can teach you something."

The above is a paraphrase of a statement my grandfather told me when I was young.  It is typical grandfatherly advice.  I am sure someone in your family said something similar to you at one point.  Recently, I have been thinking of those words.

I was asked the question by radio host, Walt Sorg, in our recent monthly interview "If travel has changed my worldview?" The simple answer is yes.  There is no way that it cannot help shape your views and perspectives.  The most recent example is occurring as I travel through Southern Africa.  The big issue in the region is the formalization of the unity government in Zimbabwe.  Loyal readers of the blog know that I have been critical of Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe in the past.

Though Mugabe, led his country to freedom over the minority white rule in the late 1970's, his recent years have led his country in an uncontrollable downward spiral.  What was once an economic engine and the food-basket for the region is now a country that is suffering from hyperinflation and a general public on the brink of starvation.  The country's health system has fallen apart and the country is exposed to a growing cholera epidemic. 

In March of 2008, the national election took place and the results were withheld for over a month. The opposition party the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by Morgan Tsvangirai claimed victory of a majority of the votes.  Though the courts, stacked with Mugabe supporters, claimed there was not a majority and that a second run off election needed to occur.  In the lead up to the second election, supporters of the MDC were targeted with widespread attacks.  Weeks before the second election Martin Tsvangirai, withdrew due to escalating violence to his supporters and his belief that there was increasing indication of widespread electoral fraud. Mugabe took the oath of office to much worldwide ridicule after the second vote.  A number of countries including the US increased their level of economic sanctions on the Zimbabwe government claiming that the election was a fraud.

I believe that Robert Mugabe is a tyrant. I believe that he is a murderer.  I believe that Zimbabwe is better off without him in any position of leadership and on trial for human rights abuse. I believed that before this trip and I still believe that fourteen months later. What has changed is how I view the new unity government.

Until I traveled to Southern Africa, I thought that strong economic sanctions should be levied by the world powers until Mugabe relinquished power to Morgan Tsvangirai.  No questions. No exceptions. No compromise. No unity government. It was a principled stance. In addition, I thought South Africa and the SADC (Southern African Development Community) should play the role of the "heavy" in making it happen even helping in a "forceful" form, if necessary.

At the surface, I felt that South African leaders did not put enough pressure on Mugabe because they were fellow comrades in the struggle for freedom.  Robert Mugabe and Zimbabwe played a pivotal role in helping the ANC fight apartheid in South Africa.  Mugabe created a safe haven and funded some of the work of the ANC during the 1980's and most of the current ANC leadership is from that time. 

After spending six weeks in the region, I no longer see things in black and white but rather in shades of gray. Robert Mugabe's control of the military is considerable and he is not likely to be removed by insurgency or coup. After numerous discussion with people, there seems to be three viable solutions. 1. Do nothing and hope the sanctions work. 2. Use external force to remove Mugabe and install Tsvangirai. 3. Support the unity government.

The first solution has been in place for the past eight months and has had little movement in removing Robert Mugabe or creating the atmosphere in the country for rebellion or by the military for a coup.  The people who are being hurt are the common citizen.  The end result is increased poverty, lack of food and increase in health issues like cholera. There has been a constant stream of refugees seeking asylum in South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique and Zambia.  There is mounting pressure in those countries to resolve the situation because they cannot handle the influx of the refugees.

A military solution is off the table for a number of reasons.  The UN Security Council couldn't even agree on tougher sanctions so the hope of an umbrella global response with peacekeepers is unrealistic.  The African Union has called for a "unity government."  South Africa which is now suffering from the large influx of refuges and the Zimbabwe cholera epidemic is coming into its borders has the military force but not the standing to make it happen.  Any military action from the outside does not eliminate the potential for long term insurgency from the loyal Mugabe military.  It would become their Iraq and they know the Rumsfeld Doctrine though we didn't- "You break it-you buy it."

In the end result, the only viable solution is to end the suffering of the people and bring some stability to the region both on a social and economic level through a unity government.  Of course, it is difficult for people to come to this conclusion because it rewards the thuggery and illegal behavior of Robert Mugabe. But others look the other way, because they hope the infusion of the MDC and Morgan Tsvangirai will be the right influence to set the course on track for the country. 

The recent power-sharing arrangement that was reached earlier this month between Mugabe and Tsvangirai has been endorsed by a cadre of leaders that I respect like Archbishop Emeritus Tutu, Nelson Mandela and President Jimmy Carter.  Though it wasn't these leaders that finally tipped me over to supporting the unity government, it was a shoe cobbler from Zimbabwe that fixed my sandals the other day in Gaborone, Botswana. After fixing my sandals, we had a fairly lengthy conversation about the unity government and his hope for his home country.  He had to leave the country in order to provide for his family and he hopes to be able to return when things stabilize.  He supported the unity government and gave me this example.

He said, "The best way to scale a mountain is to climb straight to the top from the bottom.  But if you don't have the tools or support from those that have the tools you can only climb the mountain by going around it slowly. Slowly rising with each turn until eventually you are at the top. There is no other way– is there?"  He was right. There was no other way of conquering the mountain.  The rest of the world and the rest of the continent were not giving the tools to the MDC and Morgan Tsvangirai so they had to slowly circle the mountain patiently waiting to get to the top.

I hope there is some lifting of the sanctions and increase of aid from other world countries that can help move this country forward.  I understand why countries like the US are skeptical of this unity government so any changes in sanctions or aid should be done on incremental basis with strong benchmarks showing full implementation of the unity government.

In closing thoughts, I am sure I would have got there on my own. I had seen the refugees in South Africa. I had seen the constant reports of the struggle of those that were left in the country. In the end, it was a simple analogy from a person who is suffering because of the turmoil that made it crystal clear to me.  Neither he or I are sure that the medicine will work but all we know is that the country is sick and we might as well give it a chance because doing nothing is just making it worse.

It is amazing the change that has occurred over the past year in
people's perception of the United States.  When I started the journey
most people would cautiously ask me about President George Bush and what I thought about him.  They didn't want to offend me but they wanted to
let me know their thoughts.  It was surprising the sheer number of
people who had negative opinions about him and our foreign policy. 
They were not shy sharing their thoughts about the Iraq War, Guantanamo
Bay and our use of torture.  Over time the economy was added to their
list of concerns when we talked about America.  I didn't realize until
I was on the road what a strong symbol Guantanamo Bay and torture were
to the world.  So many people look up to America to be the standard
bearer for justice and civil liberties and those two issues were a
stark departure of what America had stood for over the years. 

In all of the countries I visited, people wanted to talk about the
campaign.  They felt that they had a vested interest in the outcome because
of the power the US has in the world.  I was surprised by the number of
times people said that the rest of the world should have a vote in our
elections because of our influence.  I watched one of the Presidential debates huddled around a small TV with the staff of my hotel in Siem
Reap, Cambodia.  Another debate was watched with an international group
of hikers in a tea house in the Himalayas.  They knew the issues and
had strong opinions on what they saw.

Pictured: After watching the inauguration speech in Ficksburg, South Africa, I gave this man my Barack Obama shirt.  He had tears in his eyes as he told me about the hope he had for the US.

With only a handful of exceptions, people thought Barack Obama was best suited to put America back in good standing with the world.  After the election, people in India would thank me as if I had something to do with it.  There was a sense of hope and optimism in their voices. In Indonesia and South Africa, the first thing people say after I tell them I am an American is "Obama" with a smile.  People seek me out and want to talk about him.  My Rwandan cab driver told me he took the evening off to watch the speech and news coverage. You see people in the streets of these countries wearing his shirts and hanging signs in their businesses. 

Last night, I was having drinks with two former national cricket players in Cape Town. One white and one black.  They both said that watching the inauguration speech reminded them of when Nelson Mandela spoke to this country so many years back. I had shivers as they talked about the changes in South Africa and great pride that they felt the same about the election of our President.

I doubt people at home realize know how much this election has meant to the people that I have come across over the past few months.  People from other countries feel that the American voters have validated their concerns. That we voted with the world's interest at heart.  The election of Barack Obama is a symbol for the rest of the world.  It is a symbol of our ideals.  It is a symbol for change.  It is a symbol for tolerance.  It is a symbol for racial reconciliation. There are so many different ways that people people have individually internalized the historic event.

It has been an incredible few months watching the changes in the types of conversations people want to have with me. It has been fun.  Though there is a lot of work to be done by our new President, we are headed in the right direction.  Just ask anyone in the streets of any country. 

Pictured: Our waiter in Indonesia was so excited that we were Americans and told us how much he loved Obama.  We each pitched in two dollars and bought him this Obama shirt which he proudly put on.

I am proud to be an American.  I left Maseru, Lesotho to travel to Durban, South Africa.  My only objective for the day was to get into town to watch the Obama Inauguration.  Since Durban is a large, international town, I figured I could find some Americans to watch the historic speech with.  To commemorate the day, I put on my baby blue Barack Obama shirt.  The shirt was a gift from Kelli Baird, the woman who designed the logo for Singh Around the World.

The trip to Durban would require two taxis vans and about six hours on the road.  The taxi vans usually held 12 passengers and they only leave when they get full.  My first taxi van left from Maseru. It filled up fast and I found myself at the border town of Ficksburg,South Africa at 10 am.  After walking across the border of the two countries, I found the taxi rank for Durban.  There was one person in the van so only ten more to go!  I put my backpack in the van and started the exciting process of waiting.  After a year of travel, I have become very patient.  I needed to be on the road by 2 pm in order to be in Durban in time for the speech.  By noon, we had two more passengers.  Around 1pm, there were no more new passengers and I reluctantly came to terms that I would be watching the speech on youtube.  At 1:30, the taxi driver made the call that there would be no trip to Durban that day.  He needed eight passengers to make it worth his while.  We were only four. I was stuck in Ficksburg, South Africa.

Ficksburg is a sleepy town with one hotel, two pubs and a number of mom and pop shops. I checked into the hotel and the room was only $14 US dollars.  They didn't have a TV so I ventured into town, a thriving five block metropolis!  The pub closest to my hotel was the Bottling Company and the bartender gave me the remote to the TV so I could find the news coverage of the inauguration.  Their CNN and BBC channels were not active so I had to watch the coverage on Al Jezeera News.  I found it to be amusing that I was watching an Arabic news station in South Africa broadcasting the inauguration of the American President.

The pub had about 15 patrons in it.  It was a mixed crowd of black and white South Africans.  After I found the news coverage, a group of the pub's regulars invited me to join them for a beer.  We proceeded to have a lengthy conversation on the election and their support of Barack Obama.  I was amazed at their depth of knowledge about the primaries and the general election.  They wanted my opinion on a number of topics including the global recession, the Iraq War, and Guantanamo Bay.  They talked about the speeches that Obama gave that inspired them such as the speech on race relations and the one in Berlin. 

It was an amazing experience to watch the inauguration with this group of South Africans.  The entire bar and wait-staff watched the speech together.  When the crowd in Washington, DC was asked to stand during the administration of the oath, the people in the pub stood to their feet.  At five different points during the speech, the patrons in the bar clapped about something in the speech.  I was in the front of the room but I could hear the comments being made behind me.  One patron said, "America will be a great nation.  It was always a great nation but it will now be greater."  Near the end of the speech a woman said loudly, " May Obama give the world what it needs."  At a few points it felt like church, as people shouted out amen during the speech.

After the speech, I bought the bar a round of drinks.  An older man black man had tears in his eyes.  He gently asked me if he could have my shirt. I proudly switched shirts with him so he could have my Barack Obama shirt. My friends in Lesotho were watching it at the US Embassy. A number of my friends were in Washington, DC.  I was stuck in Ficksburg.  Though I wished I was in DC, I think I have a better appreciation of being an American by watching it with a group of South Africans.  I am proud to be an American.

A week ago, I dropped my computer and now it refuses to recognize the hard drive.  I am hoping that I will be able to get it fixed next week when I go to Cape Town, South Africa.  At the moment, I am in Lesotho and the computers at the internet café are very slow and will not allow me to upload pictures and video so I will have to wait a day or two to post the blogs about Bali. Instead, I am giving you a truncated version of my thoughts about the Bush administration from my written journal.

The Bush Legacy

I watched a portion of Bush's final press conference last week.  After the press conference, the talking heads began to pontificate on the past eight years.  By and large, the group of reporters termed the past eight years as a failure. They focused on the intelligence failure that led to the Iraq war, the failed economic policies that led to a global recession, the turning back of civil liberties, and poor standing that the US now has on the global stage. They tried to be charitable and find positives but you can only mention his strong commitment to aids funding for Africa so many times. 

I thought there were a number of positive things the Bush Administration has done over the past eight years.  I am pretty sure it wasn't on their agenda but their policies and politics have led the way for substantial change on the political front both at home and in the world.

The Rise of Barack Obama

Barack Obama's political rise is in response to the failed rhetoric of George W. Bush.  President Bush came to the office in 2000 with the message of bipartisanship and compassionate conservatism.  He promised a new day in Washington DC but in the end he used the attacks of 9/11 and the Iraq War as a way to divide the country and push a strong conservative agenda that helped the rich and turned its back on the middle and lower class.  Conventional wisdom was the country was not ready for an African American president, but the politics of division and extreme rhetoric of the Bush team turned off so many voters that they craved someone who could bring significant change.  Obama's message of change and inclusion was the tonic that was needed by the American electorate which pushed him through the primaries and the general election with record numbers.  Obama brought a sense confidence and when he talked about his stances on foreign policy or economic change, the average American could tell that he knew the facts and was making common sense decisions.  Though there have been a bump or two during the transition, Obama has seemed more presidential then the sitting president over the past two months.  In the end, Barack Obama would not be being sworn in tomorrow if there wasn't eight years of George W. Bush.

The Rise of Nicolas Sarkozy and the European Union

The Bush team did a masterful job of losing significant clout on the international stage during their two terms.  His disregard for the United Nations and singular focus on the Iraq War, created a void in proactive international relations.  Nicolas Sarkozy in both his role as the head of France and the European Union quickly positioned himself as the person to fill that void.  Sarkozy made a strong statement for the EU in his handling of the Georgia/Russia conflict.  When the worldwide recession hit, Sarkozy called for the economic summit of world leaders.  The Bush administration concurred but it wasn't them calling the shots.  Now with the conflict in Gaza, Sarkozy is making strong overtures calling for a strong peace accord while holding both the Israeli and Palestinian leadership accountable.  I am sure the Republican leadership never thought when they were lambasting the French for their lack of support for the Iraq war and renaming "french fries" that they were going to be paving the way for the French to have significantly more political clout on the international stage.

The Ownership Society is Forever Redefined

Bush rode into Washington, DC on the mantra of the ownership society.  His vision was that his administration was going to change the American political and economic landscape. Reagan created the perception that the government was the enemy and Bush thought he would fulfill that legacy. Big government was not only dead but he was going to bury its body.  If anything, his lack of leadership and political missteps insured that there would be new resources pumped into the federal government to help restructure a new paradigm by the next administration. The general public no longer believes that the free market will take care of all its problems.  It has seen business cutting the edges, breaking the law and bending ethics to make a dollar at the expense of the average citizen.  They demand a new type of government that regulates industry but doesn't stifle its growth.  One that protects consumers and citizens more so than the corporate big shots that can ruin a company and its employees only to be given a big golden parachute.  The mishandling of Katrina and the intelligence that lead to war, opened the eyes to the average citizen that you needed a well funded but competent Federal government to protect the best interest of the country.  I predict that Obama will introduce and have passed within his first 100 days, an economic bailout package that will be the largest in our nation's history.  I thought Bill Clinton told us that "Big Government" is dead but little did I know that George W. Bush would resurrect it and make it bigger then ever before.

I am sure when the historians write about the legacy of George W. Bush, they will focus on the negative but as my Mom once told me, we should focus on the positive.  A new day is before us with a new President, a new congress and a new sense of hope.  I wish my new president well on a difficult journey that stands before our country.  I know he will be up to the challenge and I hope that, as citizens, we will be up to answer the call that he will lay at our feet tomorrow.  A call to service, a call for renewal and a call for sacrifice.  It is what is needed to restore the dignity and stature of the country we love so dearly.

It is hard to express how I feel about the recent election of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America.  It is an amazing feeling of pride that I feel for my country.   I have been excited for other elections when my candidate has won but somehow this is different.  I believe that this election will have a transformational effect on the US and perhaps the world.

I have been obsessed over the election since the conventions.  It didn’t matter what country I was in during the past three months, I was constantly connected to my laptop.  If I had free time, I was exploring political websites trying to get the latest information.  Huffingtonpost.com, Politico.com, Fivethirthyeight.com, Dailykos.com, CNN.com, Dailyshow.com.  It didn’t matter— if they discussed politics I was on it.

I think to some degree I was making up for the disconnect I felt about this election.  I am so used to be involved in campaigns whether my own or others that acquiring information was a way to fill the void. 

In August 2004, I was at the Harrison Roadhouse Restaurant and watched Barack Obama take the stage during the Democratic National Convention and give his famous speech.  Immediately after the speech, I called my friend Glen Brooks, who does community organizing with the Chicago Police Department, and asked if Obama was the real deal.  He responded that he was and that some day he would be president.  I don’t think either of us thought that night it would be four years later.  I assumed after a few terms in the Senate, Obama would be a formidable candidate.  I was still unsure if America was ready to vote for an African-American for the highest office in the nation but I thought he would be competitive. 

As we went into the 2008 presidential campaign cycle, I was on record as a Hillary Clinton supporter.  Though I liked Obama and found him inspirational, I didn’t think the country was ready to vote for him because of both his race and his experience. I guess I underestimated my fellow countrymen and women.

During my first two months of travels, I found Obama more and more compelling.  On March 1, 2008, a few days before Super Tuesday, I wrote a blog post that explained why I was changing my endorsement from Clinton to Obama.  I am sure neither campaign took any notice of my change but for me to change mid-stream was a difficult decision. The responses from friends ranged from disappointment to understanding. 

Here are a few paragraphs from that post.

I WAS a Clinton supporter.  I believed after 2004 she could get elected.  I did the electoral college math and knew she could win the election.  She could win Ohio-Florida.  I just wanted a Democrat to win.  Our country needed a change.  I still believe she would be a good president.

Last night I changed.  It is hard for a politician to change.  As the former Mayor of East Lansing, I am on the public record supporting Clinton.  I know for some I will be a traitor.  I know for others I will have joined the bandwagon late.  But I have never cared what they thought- I believe in what I believe.

Because of the time difference, I watched some election coverage right as the East coast polls closed before I went to sleep.  I woke up a few hours later and Obama was still leading in the Electoral College tally but hadn’t made it to the magic number of 270.  I knew my friends were at election parties and a few were headed to Grant Park to hear Obama speak win or lose.  I was missing home. 

I was torn because I wanted to watch the results but I needed to join my fellow volunteers on the bus to head to the village where we were building houses for Habitat for Humanity.  Almost all of the volunteers in my group were Obama supporters and though the election hadn’t been called there was a buzz and sense optimism.  Everything was falling into place.

As we drove through the crowded streets of Bangalore, India, a few in the group were trying to get data connections for their I-phones.  We needed information and final confirmation.

Then my phone rang.  My cousin had given me an extra phone so I would have one while I was in India.  My aunt, who lived had in New York for many years before heading back to India, was screaming on the phone.

 “He did it, Sammy, he did it.  He won.  He won.  CNN has called the election.”

Shortly after that call, my uncle a former member of the Indian parliament, called to wish me congratulations.  After that my mom called.  It was the first presidential election she voted since becoming a US citizen in 2005.  He had won.  HE HAD WON!

After that first call from my aunt, I had looked back in the bus and saw my fellow volunteer, Patti, who was wearing a MoveOn.com/Obama t-shirt, raising her hands in victory.  The I-phones were connected and the news had hit.   It is the visual that I will remember when people ask me where I was when I heard Obama make history.

It was at that moment that I realized there was no better place for me to be but on that bus.  Though it would have been great to hear Obama’s acceptance speech live or be with campaign volunteers in East Lansing, I was exactly where I needed to be.  It was fitting that I was in a foreign country heading to a volunteer project.  It is everything that the Obama campaign represents for the future.  A new direction in foreign policy.  A stronger commitment to civic engagement.  I was proud to be on that bus.