Category Archives: blog

blog, news, politics

Iran out of balance: how the vote and the ensuing protests play out

The protests of what looks to be a rigged election in Iran harken back to the ’80s and the Chinese Pro-Democracy movement on the Mainland, and the People Power of the Philippines.  The outrage is heartening for fans of democracy in action.  Even in Iran’s religious culture, people reach a threshold, and then they take to the streets. An ayatollah’s repression is one thing, but the perception of a stolen election? No one wants a dictator in the 21st century.

Iran is out of balance. What happens next?

The crowds can pressure change, but only to a point. The Philippines overthrow of Marcos remains the gold standard of people power, giving hope that change can happen. But in the Philippines, the dictator was merely replaced by less ego-driven oligarchs. In the absence of real leadership, the country still struggles.

China, didn’t rid itself of the CP, but it did loosen up and evolve into a capitalistic hybrid. Look at how the 20th anniversary of Tienenman was remembered there and here.  Enriching the people and instilling in them a healthy economic self-interest has calmed down the fire for absolute democracy. It’s enabled China to find a balance that stifles protest and perpetuates the CP’s vision.

The crowds in Iran will produce a result in-between the Philippines and China. Iran’s religious leaders still hold the upper hand, but they remain beholden to  the current dictator, I mean president.  So it’s unlikely we will see change that makes a difference. We may see significant bloodshed before it’s calm again.

In the end, the answer for those who thirst democracy will be the same as for freedom loving Filipinos and Chinese.

They come to America.

They may continue their protests here. Or they may  just live their lives in quiet liberty.

But the destination doesn’t change.

The lucky are here, homesick, but free.

blog, journalism, news, politics

Laura Ling and Euna Lee, the new face of U.S./North Korean Impasse

Forget about Kim Jong Il’s bad hair days, and images of the dictator as an Asian Dr. Strangelove.

Today, my heart goes out to fellow Asian American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee.

They are now the human face of  the North Korea/U.S. impasse.

The U.S. and North Korea have no diplomatic relations. Apparently, someone in Pyongyang thinks Ling and Lee may help force the issue.

North Korea has sentenced the two women to 12 years of hard labor, according to KCNA, the North’s official news agency.

The two were arrested in March while doing stories for Current TV about North Korean families desperate migration for food along the Chinese border.

Yesterday, in a closed session, the Central Court, the highest in North Korea, convicted the journalists for “committing hostilities against the Korean nation and illegal entry.”

Their exact crime is irrelevant. Ling and Lee were simply too good and too convenient for the North Koreans to pass up. They’re now in place as the perfect tools to help solve the non-diplomatic “diplomacy that exists between the U.S. and North Korea.

Everything in this story is tea-leaf reading, with Ling and Lee up to their eyeballs in the muck.

It’s all rather surreal, where things aren’t always what they appear.

The State Department and Hillary Clinton have issued public statements condemning the convictions and say all that can be done is being done. Whatever that means.

Meanwhile, North Korea has been banging a loud drum, firing off nuclear tests in the past two months. The country wants to be accepted as a nuclear power and doesn’t mind alienating friends and foes alike. The U.S. response to the testing has been predictable. Beyond a perfunctory public condemnation, the world has been waiting to see a more forceful response from the U.S. to punish North Korea.

Pyongyang complicates matters by dangling Ling and Lee.

Pyongyang has put bait on the hook. Does the U.S. send an envoy? Does it lead to at least the beginning of the end of the long diplomatic impasse?

These issues take time, unfortunately. But the harsh sentence to Ling and Lee indicate the North Koreans mean business.

blog, news, politics

Obama’s affirmative action for Muslims, Harvard Class Day, my day

Barack Obama couldn’t be Harvard Class Day speaker yesterday for obvious reasons. He was too busy preparing to reach out to his Muslim brothers and sisters.

Outreach to Muslims? This is affirmative action the U.S. can really use.

Policy-wise, Obama’s address  could have been a speech George W. Bush would have given. The end goal of Obama’s comments essentially is a two-state solution exactly what Bush was pushing in the end.

But what a difference the messenger makes.

Would you say that Bush had a credibility problem? He only helped perpetuate the white stereotype that Obama referred to in his speech. Of course, it’s no different from the way Bin Laden feeds the Muslim stereotypes Americans know and love.

They all get in the way of communication.

But with a new messenger before them, the Muslim audience saw a new global leader in whom they could see a bit of a  reflection of themselves. It was worth another look at the New America.

“I’ve come here to Cairo to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world,” said Obama. “One based on mutual interest and mutual respect.”

With Obama’s background in Indonesia, his parentage, his cultural connection comes a new kind of diplomatic tone that may prove to be a more productive path to a lasting peace.

It’s a personal touch, the kind that comes with a new messenger. Denigrate Obama’s Muslim outreach  as just a pretty speech. We are in a phase, amid war and terror, where one cannot make light of pretty speech.

Obama was plenty tough on both Israel and Hamas.  Masked in pretty speech, it may help all sides see and value their common interests.

CLASS DAY

So Obama was at a university in Cairo and not Cambridge. Not at Harvard. But Matt Lauer was.

On the “The Today” show, Lauer  talked about being the Harvard Class Day speaker: “Giving a speech to Harvard students and their parents and the faculty is just nerve-wracking and I admit it was intimidating.”

I can relate. I gave the student speech before the Class Day speaker in 1977 (George Plimpton that year). And it was intimidating. And exhilarating. It was a funny speech making fun of Harvard. So, of course, it got laughs. And one big one, I’ll never forget.

As I look back, I have given many speeches, but because of the setting the students, the parents, and  the faculty that Lauer talked about, it was special.

I look to replicate that feeling every time I step to a podium.