Homo Viator

I am quite liberal, but I think that the idea of being able to sell your vote i simply anti-democratic. The guy either has quite some balls or is incredibly stupid, as he faces up to five years in prison and a big fine now. He is being charged with one count of bribery, treating and soliciting, a felony under an 1893 Minnesota law that makes it a crime to offer to buy or sell a vote.

Sorry folks, the blog had yet another sleepy week. And yes, I will once again promise that this won`t happen anymore. I finally have internet at home, which should make it a little easier to keep my promise.

The Obama girl has done another song, which may hopefully distract a little from Obama`s recent troubles with his Priest of choice.



The First and Original Obama Song



The Lil Bush Song

Guys, this is no joke - just American politics. They do stuff like that over there. I promise you this is a real endorsement video that Jack Nicholson has launched in Texas and Ohio. If you are not American, French or Italian, this kind of political campaigning must seem surreal to you. With Sarkozy and Berlusconi both France and Italy have adopted the practice of choosing a president in a similar way to a consumer choosing a brand. I would love to go on bashing the political cultures of Europe's sunny states, but this post is about American politics and Hollywood. So let me show you the Jack Nicholson endorsement video first.



The Obama response

And the following is the Obamian response. Not sure if that is an official response, a sanctioned one or just a You Tube response by some passionate Obamian.

GREAT AD for OBAMA!



I will have a look at this doc over the weekend....

Oh Yes-oh yes! This is what I have been waiting for, a video blog that is dedicated solely to the presidential campaign. Niiiiice!

One of the last vids you will find on the site is from the Texas Debate between Obama and Clinton. Just watch the facial expression of Clinton when Obama speaks. He is just too good for her!

Well, well. Hillary cries and within 24 hours she grows her share of votes by more than 10% and ends up winning New Hampshire. Whether her tears were real or calculated is up to each and every one to decide. I am sure you can guess my take on it.

Clinton supporters however should actually hope that those tears were fake, because if they were real than the question arises whether Mrs. Clinton is emotionally stable enough to lead the most powerful country in the world. I mean, if the struggles of the Primaries already make her cry, god knows what her reaction will be when another Hurricane like Katrina would hit the nation, or terrorist would attack another city within the USA. Aren`t those incidents more worth some tear drops? How would Mrs. Clinton take it when she has to salute, as Commander in Chief, bodybags of American soldiers who are being carried out of military planes? Will she cry then, too?

Hey, I am not emotionless here! It is very normal that such incidents can evoke these emotions with any person. But would America or any other Nation want a LEADER, who shows those emotions at all times, in public, at the view of the World? Without wanting to question a women`s capability to lead a country effectively, I do question Mrs. Clinton`s capability here. I mean, we are still in the Primaries! Then again, you can`t blame her: Those tears won her New hampshire.

Wanna know more about the person who will dominate the world from next year on? I certainly do, which is why I will present all the top candidates for the presidency of the USA in this blog. Every week this blog will feature one candidate, taking a closer look at his background, his policy declarations and internet exposure. I want to start with John McCain.

Not because I would vote republican, which is not the case, but because John McCain is one of the most fascinating politicians I have ever come across. His lifetime story is that of a true hero and bipartisan politician. He dedicated his whole life to servicing the American people and went through great pain to accomplish that. The video below will tell you his heroic story, but it fails to mention one thing: Since his father was Commander in Chief in the US army, the Vietcong offered a prisoner exchange. He declined this option however, saying that he did not want to leave his comrades alone, just because of his privileges. He ended up staying several years in solitary confinement in Vietnam's toughest prison, the Hanoi Hilton, being severely tortured. Unfortunately McCain may be too old to be voted for president, but I wanted to present him anyway. His story is worth listening to.

Obama launched the first TV ads of this campaign phase. Why does he have this urge to be the first at everything? In most analysts' points of view it has been a disadvantage to have entered the presidential race so early. People get tired of politicians fast. If Al Gore decides to join the race late, he will be the fresh face and may ultimately have the best hand. I still don´t know what to think of Obama. I like his eloquence and attempt to restore and strengthen principle values that have given way to the needs of the modern man. I watched a couple of long speeches by him on CNN Pipeline and was impressed by his personal and touchy style that somehow does not seem affected but genuine.

But it takes a Kennedy to really implant and reinvigorate moral values among such a diverse population. For those of you who have never watched Kennedy´s inauguration speech, I think it is about time. For the ones who have seen it, just sit back, relax and enjoy those meaningful words over and over again. If you listen closely you will be surprised to find some similarities among his vision and the objectives of the current administration. I am clearly not a Bush friend and his decision to rage war against Iraq, spurred my interest in geo-politics and led me to demonstrate for the first time in my life. But one needs to analyze his steps in the historical context of the US foreign policy. Long before Kennedy the USA had implemented doctrines that aimed at spreading democracy throughout the world. Bush´s wish to democratize the Middle East is not a recently defined objective, but rather fits into the overall historic context of America´s foreign policy.

Similar to Bush's resistance to give a time line as to when the War on Terror could be won, Kennedy also saw the Communist threat to the freedom of the democratized World as one that the USA would have to root out over many years. Kennedy defined visionary goals that could not have an immediate, measurable end: "All this will not be finished in the first 100 days. Nor will it be finished in the first 1,000 days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin."

My favourite part of the speech however is when he highlights the devotion of Young America to change the status quo. When I hear those words I mentally leave my desk, beam myself to the times of my young parents and while sensing the special energy of change that lay in the air I wish that I could have lived then. The 60s must have been extraordinary times, full of ideological progression and excitement. Nowadays societal behavior heavily adapts to technological developments. The internet is the primary driving force of change these days. Since the advent of Web 2.0 we can say that the internet is US, you and me, so it is US who alter society´s way of living. This fascinating medium has tied the world together, we are all just a few clicks away and everyone is invited to take part in shaping the future. That truly is a positive development!

But modern change does not get to the core of our value system. In the 60s on the other hand, the likes of Kennedy, Martin Luther Kind and Bob Dylan managed to alter the society's value system, igniting a fire of change that was fueled by new, liberating ideological thoughts and the necessary lack of intellectual complacency. If Kennedy was still alive I would ask him whether he would stick to his words when he said that he would not like to change with any other generation and I would tell him that I possibly would have liked to change with his generation. Life of the baby boomer turned out to be quite alright. =)

"In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility—I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it—and the glow from that fire can truly light the world."

Kennedy's Inauguration Speech (Part 1)



Kennedy's Inauguration Speech (Part 2)

The race is on and I am getting ready for one of my media-favorite times. Eleanor Roosevelt said that great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events and small minds discuss people. I would agree with that to some extent, unless of course one's discussion of people centers around these peoples' ideas. I guess this is what analyzing and presenting presidential candidates is all about. The coming elections are quite special and unique in many aspects. First of all, this will be the first presidential race since 1928 in which no incumbent President or Vice President will run. Thank god Dick has better things to do than donating his money to media outlets in a wasteful attempt to run himself.

Second, this race has seen the earliest and most numerous amount of applicants entering the battle. These days almost everyone thinks he is capable of becoming the president of the United States. I guess you cant blame them, having seen who inhabited the White House for the last 7 years. Patricia Marx of Time wrote an ironic piece on these early contenders, arguing that everyone joined in so early because of their fear of leading. No one wanted to be the last follower, which could be construed as leading.

And last but definitely not least, this race will be different to all others because it will be the first one where candidates will truly make use of the internet. Although some will make this to their advantage, everyone needs to be fearful not to land a Howard Dean style faux pas on Youtube. The internet is merciless and every small mistake will be exploited by bloggers and video sites. Time argues that the margin for rhetorical errors is quite small in this campaign and that because of that the campaign may suffer from less creativity in talking-and thinking. I guess that a blogger can well do with some entertaining missteps, but let´s hope the latter will not occur.

I started a new category for this race and will concentrate on how the internet will shape or misshape a candidate's campaign. Let´s start with our model examples. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have both announced their candidacy online. I must say that Obama has not only disappointed me with his populist position on Iraq, but also with this weak presentation video.

Barack Obama's Presidential Announcement



Hillary Clinton's Presidential Announcement



So Hillary, are you just starting a conversation with America? (First sentence) Mmmh, I would have hoped for a more international approach. Heard you want to chat!? My msn name: nwoischnik@hotmail.com. But Hillary, I do not want to chat with an adviser of yours, hope i will really be talking to YOU.