Inauguration Day

I can't say that Obama moves me. He is too professorial. I like it when he smiles or tells a subtle joke. What moved me the day of the inauguration was the whole thing - that fact that the US could finally show (not just say) that we are no longer a racist nation (or at least in its majority). The image of the Rosa Park bus riding behind the motorcade was particularly moving to me. That first reverend saying the Our Father was inappropriate... Why would an American do that on such an occasion. It's called petulance. Fuckin' idiot. The last reverend on the other hand summed up the hopes for American diversity wonderfully and with humor: Black, don't step back. Brown, stick around. White, get it right. Yellow, stay mellow, Red, get ahead. We can finally truly smile about race. Wish I was there with my brother and cousin.

So here we are with a new president in the US. Will it make a difference? So much of the tension between the west and Islam exists because of the unresolved Palestinian-Israeli conflict. And I can't say I'm too confident in Hillary as Secretary of State. After all, it was under Bill Clinton that Israel (Netanhayu) got away with murder in doing nothing about the constant squatting of Arab land by Jewish settlers. James Rubin (the jackass) did nothing. Clinton did nothing as well. After all those accords, all the negotiations, they let Israeli squatters set the tone for decades to come. I don't doubt that Hillary will do and say the right things in Africa, the UN and elswhere... It's about Israel/Palestine. I have my doubts that Hillary Clinton will be anything new under the sun.