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Just plain tricked! >(
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10133425-38.html?tag=newsEditorsPicksArea.0
Change my vampire!
Ok, this just really pisses me off! A former assistant state attorney has filed a law suit alleging that Obama is not qualified to become President because he is not a natural born citizen. Alan Keyes filed a related suit in California.
Really, people? The country overwhelming selects this guy to be our next President and you're so bitter about it that this is how you decide to try to fight it? Apparently, the suit alleges that Obama was born in Kenya, not Hawaii. All the stuff I've seen says Hawaii, but then, I haven't seen any birth certificates. I think it's extremely unfair that this is all coming up after Obama's grandmother passed away, especially since on of the "arguments" in the suit is that there aren't any witnesses alive to verify where he was born.
According to many news specials and Obama's books, Obama's parents met in Hawaii when his father was studying there. I find it difficult to believe that a young American woman would choose to travel to Africa to have a baby, especially in the 1960s. Additionally, all accounts I've heard say that Obama only saw his father for a few months when he was 10, nothing about him being around when Obama was born. If Obama was born in Kenya, his father would have been around. How about talking to his relatives in Kenya, and asking them if he was born there?
Most of the arguments outlined in the brief report about the suit seem very nit-picky. They also seem to attack his international upbringing, which many see as one of his best attributes going into the Presidency.
I'm so angry about this, but I refuse to believe this can succeed. Not after everything the country's been through. God would not let all our hopes and dreams be taken away like that. So that means in the grand scheme of things this suit must really have a different purpose. Maybe it will cause Congress to amend the Constitution and open the door for Arnold to run someday. ;) Hey, gotta stay positive.
There is one thing I certainly won't miss about Nigeria. In fact, sometimes it makes me want to leave right now. You cannot question your superiors. And 'superior' doesn't just mean your boss at work. It means anyone who is older than you, has more degrees than you, has more titles than you, or even just has more money than you. (I think that last one is usually correlated to the first three.) You must at all times show them absolute respect, and never ever even suggest to them that they are wrong.
Uncle said a few weeks ago that Obama wasn't born in the US. Even if I didn't know where Obama was born, I at least know that you cannot be president unless you are born in United States territory. But I know Obama was born in Hawaii. I know Hawaii is part of the US, and it was when he was born. But can I say this, or even go to the computer and pull up any of the millions of on-line sites that could verify this? No. Why? Uncle is older; he's wealthy, and he has a master's degree. He can't be wrong.
Same sort of stuff happens at work. We have a new girl whose degree is in English Education. The boss says that makes her the office expert in English, and we should all go to her for anything relating to English, proof-reading, etc. Now, we all make mistakes when writing: typos, mind getting ahead of our fingers, spell-check fixing something to the wrong word, etc. But, there's a difference between that and just plain old bad English. This girl asked me to look over something that she had done. The English was so bad, I could hardly understand what she was trying to say. Tenses all over the place, wrong words, fragmented sentences, no organization of ideas. It was a mess. (And yes, I know my blogs often have run-ons and fragments. This is usually done for a certain effect, a stylistic decision. It's a blog, not a proposal for my supervisor.)
In both these cases, the stuff that was wrong was factual, something that could be checked with reference material, with dictionaries, encyclopedias or grammar books. But that's not allowed. You take the word of the 'expert'. If it's this bad with things that are fact-based, imagine if you disagree with someone's opinion!
Now, I agree you should show your superiors respect. I think you should show respect to every human being. But if someone around you is wrong, or is going to do something that will reflect poorly on your organization, say something. If the circumstances permit, do it discretely, make a suggestion, present your point of view with a few reasons or some sources to back up what you're saying. But, I cannot understand how it is beneficial to insist that someone is right just because they're supposedly bigger and better than you. It's obnoxious, and seems like a good way to produce a nation of idiots.
In fact, the respect thing goes so far that not only do you have to show superiors respect, you can't show respect to people who aren't superior. This really frustrates me. I can't respect the maid because she's just a maid? Yeah, that's what they say. They tell me if I show her respect she won't know her place and will be out of control. Now, I've had a lot of jobs in my life, at various positions on the ladder. I may never have been on the top, but from what I've seen, employees who feel respected by their boss give more, do better work, and generally are respectful in return.
Things weren't like this in Zambia, but then, I was living in a village, not in the center of a bureaucracy. We respected everyone. If we were talking to or about an adult, we put the respect title "Ba" before their name. If there was someone who was really high up in the village hierarchy, such as a chief or headman, we bowed a little lower when greeting them. But, we did not stop showing others respect just to give the chief more respect. That's ludicrous.
I'm a bit nervous going to work today, a little afraid of how many people might drop by to say something. I've decided to keep a running account throughout the day. As there is currently no internet at work, I'll post them all together at the end of the day.
8:15am - I arrived at work and was greeted, as usual, by the guards at the parking lot gate.
Guard: My sister, good morning!
Me: Good morning.
Guard: Your brother, he is President of America. He go do and watch for us?
I just smiled and went to work; I have no idea what that means, but the guard was obviously happy.
9:31am - My supervisor called to see if the office clerk was around to help her carry something.
Me: Nope, I'm the only one here. Would you like me to come help you carry it?
Dr. Y: You're the only one there?!
Me: Yes.
Dr. Y: They must be out celebrating Obama. I'll carry it myself.
12:21pm - The office secretary finally arrived at work and was asking me where I was yesterday; he wanted to celebrate.
Secretary: I was even wanting to celebrate with you but you were not here.
Me: I was sleeping.
Secretary (turning to another person in our office): My brother has won!
At about 2pm, I went to a meeting at the National Assembly. During the next several hours Obama came up many times. But that's pretty much been the norm anyway. So maybe things are back to normal, just a bit ;)
The internet went off right after Obama's speech. I have no idea why. I wished they (the Obama ppl) would stop playing the Patriot music. That just added to the tears. But then, I suppose that's the point.
I'm sure some of the my tears yesterday and today were out of sheer joy, but some of them were out of sadness, too. I'm not there, in America. I had thought about flying to Oakland for the election night, and I would have loved to have been dancing in the streets with my friends there. But, I decided not to go. And while I did miss the dancing, I didn't miss the election. I'm just experiencing it in a different way. A different way that I can share with you.
I walked down to a newspaper stand this evening to get some of the day's papers. They were all printed before the results were announced at 5am here, so the headlines just proclaimed that Obama had an early lead. One paper had an article about lots of errors causing long lines. I hadn't heard that, mostly just that the high turnout caused long lines. No offense to The Punch, but I think CNN and BBC are more respectable sources.
There were also a lot of articles trying to make McCain look bad. One paper's front page read "McCain breaks rule, campaigns on election day." This pissed me off. First, there is no rule like that. Second, Obama was campaigning on election day, too.
One of my favorite articles was an "interview" with a judge on duty at a polling station. (I don't know what that means, but that's what it says. Sounds like she might be a poll watcher.) The Nigerian paper, The Vanguard, printed the entire exchange with this judge. It's basically her just repeatedly telling them that she can't do interviews and they can't talk to the voters until after the voters have voted. I don't think the "interview" is actually verbatim though because it has the American saying "I hope you would not disrupt the queue out there." We don't say "queue;" we say "line."
Nigerian papers also comment on things that American papers wouldn't mention, either because they aren't important or aren't proper. For example, that same Vanguard article: "Andrew Strike, a white, who is the Chief Press Officer, from the State Department said he was...." Hello! What he's saying matters because he's the Chief Press Officer. The color of his skin is irrelevant. These elections have provided plenty of opportunities for comments where the speakers skin color might be relevant; this is not one of them. On top of that, 'a white'?!?
Oh, and apparently the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission says the "US has a lot to learn from Nigeria" about elections. Right..... I wonder how the guys at the Embassy would feel about that statement. The The Chairman's reasoning for why we should learn from Nigeria shows a great ignorance about America. First, he says we need a national voting registry. Feel free to leave comments on why this is ridiculous. Second, he says we need to learn how to have elections all in one day, with none of this silly early voting stuff. So that then he can criticize our long lines? I happen to think the early voting worked very well. Anyone have another opinion? (Article in the Daily Sun.)
We apparently also have one paper with a prophetic writer. The Daily Independent on November 4th had an article "U.S. on the Verge of History." The first sentence says "By 5 a.m. local time on Wednesday, history would have been made and the face of world politics and racial relations changed in magnitude more groundbreaking than the fall of the Berlin Wall." CNN declared Obama the winner at 4:59 a.m. local time. (The sentence sounds funny to us. Nigerians use "would" where we use "will." I have no idea why.
They're crying, too. Dara and Feyi told me they all got up early this morning, about when the results came in, and watched the news. Auntie and Uncle were crying tears of joy. Feyi's been running around the house singing "Obama, Obama, Obama." And Dara told Hammed, one of the family's gate-men, that Obama looks like him. Hammed laughed, but his face lit up with this huge smile. But that's part of the magic of all this, isn't it? That a poor gate-man in Africa can look like the next President of the United States.
People were so excited about the election that massive crowds besieged the satellite dish companies to pay past-due bills. The company buildings couldn't hold all the people. There was nearly a riot.
Work sent me an email:
This is to congratulate you on the election of Barak [sic] Obama as the 44th US President of the United States. This gives a new lease of hope for the majority of the human race who are impacted by the events in the world's leading democracy. I commend your compatriots for again showing the dynamics of democracy at this defining moment of your country's history.
And they offered me a celebration on the Commission, which of course I would not accept. The day off to sleep was all I needed.
Other workers asked for similar arrangements:
Oh! Barack Obama won sir - the black race has made history. Can i have the day
off to celebrate sir.
One comment that made me really happy came from the maid. She had seen McCain's speech. "He is a very good man," she said. She talked about how she really liked his speech, how happy she was that he was now supporting Obama. She kept telling Dara and Feyi how good McCain is. She's very excited that Obama won. She was clapping and dancing when telling me about it. But, she also appreciates and respects McCain. I like that, a lot. I think it shows a lot for how perceptions of the US are changing, not just because of Obama, but because of McCain and many other Americans.
[a Repost to add a photo.]
But they are Obamacans.
at 4:59am, CNN announced that they project Obama to have won the Presidential Election. And the crowd is still cheering. Waving American Flags. Dancing with Obama. Picking up anything red, white and blue that they can find.
[I still can't get the video uploaded, maybe in December.]
5:18 am local time - it finally quieted down a bit to hear Tracy Chapman on BBC. Now it's McCain's speech. I really do feel kinda bad for him. He's a good guy. But that Palin is nuts! McCain just said he congratulated Obama, and the room went nuts again. I think he is being very gracious. The crowd seems to agree, they are cheering him a bit too now, especially when he mentioned African-Americans. He says this election proves that we are no longer the nation of bigetry we once were. I don't know if I can agree, yet. Let him serve 4 years, and then maybe I'll believe it.
But I do like McCain's speech and I think it regains a lot of the dignity his campaign people cost him. And I don't think he should feel like he failed. I can't tell what the McCain supporters are chanting.
And for those that are curious, I told work I'm not coming in tomorrow.
5:57am local time - Ever seen a room give a standing ovation to someone on tv? That's what just happened here when Obama came out to speak in Chicago. And standing the tallest, the Obama cut-out being hoisted high in the air by that guy that looks like a Vandy professor.
Someone pinch me. If it weren't for the searing pain in my side (I have no idea why), I'd think I'm dreaming.
Every channel is showing the same speech, but BBC doesn't line up with the other two. Of course, the other two are exactly the same, so I don't know which is delayed. They all say live. Ok, I don't understand why all the Nigerian's cheered so loudly when Obama said "and we always will be the United States of America."
He is right; McCain was very gracious, and I like that Obama is paying McCain the regard he is due. Aww... the puppy thing is cute. It is really sad that Obama's grandma came so close to seeing this and then just missed it. I was surprised when I picked up the paper today and saw on the front page that she had passed away.
I agree, "the best political campaign in the history of the United States of America." And now, it can stop emailing me 3x a day for donations. My magnet better be at home when I get there in December!
I wish I could look at Obama without seeing JFK, could look at Malia and Sasha without seeing John Jr. saluting in his little blue pea coat. I'm just as nervous and shake-y as I was this morning. And I knew I would be. I knew no matter the outcome, I'd still be scared, but for different reasons.
I find it very funny that people in this corrupt-vampire country can cheer so loudly for American ideals when Obama shouts them. Wow, 106 years old. I wish they'd stop showing people in the audience crying. It makes it harder for me not to cry. ... or impossible.
The speech is over, another standing ovation here in Nigeria.
4:31am local time - It bothers me that 150 years later, we're still talking about Confederate and Union States. Yet, we're doing it because there's a reason. As ICP says, "stood for slavery; stood for war; stood for hatred; but go ahead and hang your d*** flag up some more!"
There's some fat white guy in a red tie on CNN that keeps saying "I hope he keeps us safe" about Obama. Apparently, he doesn't realize that the reason we weren't (aren't?) safe is because people hate us, or at the very least, don't respect us. If we get a leader people respect, that will do 100x more than any tanks and weapons of mass destruction.
One of my friend's im status has a great saying on it:
Rosa Parks sat so Martin could walk. Martin walked so Obama could run. Obama is running so we can FLY!!!!
NTA is showing live feed of our Obama cut-out right now. And people sleeping. The crowd rallied a bit to clap for Virginia being projected as Obama's, by FOX?! There's a guy here being interviewed on NTA that looks like one of the professors at Vandy.
I'm shocked the polls in Cali close at.... oh wait, it's about to be 8pm there. It's 5 here, not there.
The BBC is talking to some black people somewhere (I missed where they are) and they are sure that Obama has won. They are talking about what it means for the world and for America. "It's not just one person running things." Because white people are one person.... The white people the newsman talked to next seemed just as excited and sure Obama will win.
The fat guy's back on CNN. He's still going on about great McCain is. I agree. McCain is an amazing man and has done a lot for the country. But, there's something about the way he's saying it that irks me. NTA was just showing live feed of our BBC screen's projected numbers. That's like - oh, they're doing it again. Anyway, it's like when I was little and used to take pictures of the tv, or of my mommy taking pictures of me.
Wow! Obama got Virginia! The South gets another blue! First VA Dem since 1964. People here perked up a bit with this news, but no more clapping and cheering. A lot of bobbing heads.
4:59am local time - CNN just projected Obama the winner. Now the room is full of cheering and clapping again. So loud I can't hear the tv at all. They have him projected with 297. People are dancing with the Obama cut-out. Standing, yelling, pumping fists and hopping in the aisles. I wonder if people will leave.... No one's asleep anymore.
The really funny thing is, the Americans (many of whom are known Obama supporters) are all just sitting quietly, smiling in the back of the room. Me included. Of course, I can't type and hop.
The cheering is still going on. It's been 3 minutes. My friend from the Embassy is taking pictures. That's a good idea! People are making phone calls and yelling into the phone.
We are currently in the middle of a five-day weekend. I'm not even sure, does that still count as a weekend?
Wednesday is Nigeria's Independence Day, 48 years. Today and tomorrow are some sort of Muslim holiday that I know nothing about. So, what do Nigerian's do with their long Independence-day weekend? Why, have a picnic in the park, of course!
A large group of kids and mothers met at Millennium park. Dara and Feyi's dad and Uncle Tubsosu came, too. We had ice cream, potato chips (crisps), sandwiches and juice. There were plenty of games, hoola hoops, bouncy balls and toys. We unrolled our straw mats under the tree, relaxed in the shade, played in the sun, and enjoyed the gorgeous day. Of course, that tree being nearby, you know where I went...
And for those who are curious, yes, I was wearing 5" heels.
One of the first activities of the day was a racing game. 
The group split into teams. I took pictures. One team started doing cheers and then the team leader declared to the other team, "We are Team Obama. We're the smart ones. You can be McCain."
Ah, the Obamacans are out again. But wait, there's more. Later, after a lunch break, the group decided to play a game called "Catchy McCain." Yes, that McCain. It's a copycat game. I'm not sure what this exactly says about McCain, but I know the general feeling is Africa for Obama. My guess is this is a common game with a new name, but I really don't know much about it.
After Catchy McCain, it was time to pack up and head home. This all took much longer than it needed to despite the urgency created by a nearby group of teenagers launching firecrackers. Then a huge construction truck came through the park with 6 grown men in the front seat of the cab. Anytime I almost forget I'm in Africa.... Oh well, it was a very nice day!
2004
Last Presidential election, I was in Africa. The Peace Corps being a good lil' government organization, they had us fill out all the paperwork for absentee ballots when we arrived in country. We received our ballots for the 2004 Presidential Election, however, on Thanksgiving, three weeks after the election. (Gee, I wonder how most of the Peace Corps Volunteers would have voted…)
2008
I don't want to miss voting again, so I've spent the last few weeks attempting to register for overseas voting. In all fairness, the American side of things has done a lot to make this as 
easy as possible. Obama's website has links to help you register, including a link to the Overseas Vote Foundation. That website helps you fill out the forms you need to register, gives you information on when and where to send things, and has an emergency ballot you can print if your ballot doesn't arrive on time. This is all wonderful.
What is not so wonderful, is the Nigerian side of things. Even the "good" internet I have at home is so slow it took several hours to go through the site and download my finished registration form. And since I don't often have several hours in a clump, it wound up taking several days. Then I spent about a week trying to print the form. Finally getting a physical copy, with my signature, in my hands, I sent it with Uncle Tubosu to send express. Whoops - that costs $100, never mind! We found out about the extravagant pricing today; the form needs to be in Cudahy by October 15th. It's Friday at noon in Nigeria. Adventure time!
The Adventure
Tubuso took a taxi to bring me the envelope because I know where the regular post office is and he doesn't. I know it closes early on Friday, but I don't know what early is. The post office isn't open on Saturday or Sunday. Next week is Independence Day, which gives everyone a three day holiday. But the government hasn't announced yet which three days that will be. If it's Monday thru Wednesday, the post office won't be open again until Thursday October 3rd. Letters I've sent to the US so far have taken about 2 and a half weeks to get there. This has to go out today.
I met Tubuso at the side gate of work. Luckily, I checked the inside of the envelope before walking too far. He had taken out the address slip and not put it back. I turned around and rushed back towards work. Down the parking ramp, into the building, around the corner, down the hall, up the elevator (thank goodness it was working) and into my office. Address, check, written on envelope, check.
Back down the stairs, down the hall, out the building, "you are welcome," up the ramp, down the block, "hello," across the street, down another block, "yes madam," across another street, through the parking lot, "it fits you," past the first building, past the second building, into the third building, down the hall, and finally into the post office, "oh thank goodness; it's still open."
The regular post office doesn't have any sort of express mail, but the lady said it will leave here today. Wisconsin allows email registration if it is followed with receipt of the mailed, signed, form and the email is sent the same day the form is postmarked. I think I'll be ok. Whew! Job completed. Then, it was back to work. (Just read the previous paragraph in reverse. )
I arrived back in the office with chafed knees and dripping sweat. Really, it hurts, feels like rug burn. Have you ever tried to walk 
really fast while dressed like a mermaid? (or "seafoam"?) It's very hard to get anywhere when you can't move your knees more than two inches apart from each other. There's some stairs here that are just a little too high, I can't step up them; I have to hop. And when I go from the front door to the kitchen door at home, I look like a giant turquoise bunny rabbit, bouncing from stone to stone. But, at least I look nice, or, as the Nigerian's say "it fits me."
And more importantly, I think I'll be able to vote.
Credits
[All images used are licensed under (cc) licenses that allow non-commercial use for free. To search for your own legally free images, go to http://search.creativecommons.org/.
George Bush by-nc-nd The Googly at http://flickr.com/photos/44124427654@N01/65873005/
John Kerry by-sa Economic World Forum at http://flickr.com/photos/worldeconomicforum/374718010/
American Flag by-nd ladybugbkt at http://flickr.com/photos/branditressler/2639804678/
Nigerian Flag by-nc Mad Appler!: (drunken god) Li at http://flickr.com/photos/31663765@N00/356507216
Mermaids (cc) Beans Around the World at http://www.beans-around-the-world.com/mermaid.html]
A follow-up on a previous post.
Today, on the way home from work, I saw a new sign hanging by the roadside. "THE WORLD TOTALLY FOR OBAMA"
When people here in Nigeria find out that I'm from the US, one of the first things they do is try to convince me to vote for Obama. Obama is everywhere. On the way to church, there's a large sign shouting "Obama '08." LawPavillion, a Nigerian legal resources website lists "fundraising for Barack Obama" in its announcements section.
And it's not just Nigeria. Four months ago, my friends in Zambia named their youngest daughter after one of Obama's children. Another Zambian friend proudly proclaims on his chat status message "Obamania for America." In South Africa, in Kenya, in Ghana, across Africa, people are forming fan clubs, praying, doing anything they can. They are excited, and it's because of Barack Obama.
An article in the Saturday Sun written during the primaries in March described this international support:
Our votes do not count. We are not Americans. Even if we are Americans, we are not super delegates. We are not super anything. We belong to no political party. We belong to no party caucus. Yet we will vote for Barack Obama. With our hearts, we will vote. With our prayers, we will vote. With our dreams, we will vote. With the audacity of our hope, we will see him through the White House. Who are we? We are the Obamacans."
- Mike Awoyinta, Saturday Sun, Vol. 5 No. 268, March 2, 2008, p. 21. "Who Will Be on Top: Hillary or Obama?"
Nearly everyday I hear a new song on the radio mentioning Obama, from African and American artists. Obama is inspiring people far beyond anything I've ever seen. Here, they compare him to Martin Luther King, Jr. and John F. Kennedy. At the Nigerian Bar Association Conference, speakers encouraged the crowd to tackle legal reforms saying "a black man is on the verge of becoming President of the most powerful nation on earth; we can do this!"
As Mr. Awoyinta put it, "you look at Obama and you don't see a black man. Instead, you see... an apostle of peace." With the current not-so-flattering world-perceptions of our country, this matters. Maybe even more than experience, more than party affiliations and more than anything anyone can do domestically.
