Not all of my writing is virtual…

Not all of my writing is virtual...

Some of my (incomplete) work is now in book form, spanning the “Bush to Bush” era that shaped the United States that Barack Obama now leads. A look back, from the hopes of the end of the cold war, the promises of the Clinton years, to the three catastrophies (9/11, the invasion of Iraq and Katrina) that define the fourty-third president’s legacy and set the scene for the most unlikely candidate to emerge as the savior of the American dream.

Find out more here

and yes, by all means, buy the book!

Change has begun

Back in New York, waking up to the fact that it’s finally real… and that the new reality is already taking hold, with the first executive orders reversing the worse of the Bush policies.

Still missing in the Obama cabinet…

… or so do over a of hundred of thousand of us think: a Secretary of the Arts.

It’s never happened in the United States, but it would be a welcome change, and the recognition that arts and culture are a vital necessity to the harmonious development of a nation and the pursuit of happiness.

Barack Obama has spoken eloquently, during the campaign, of arts education as an integral and indispensable part of the growth of all human beings. It’s time to take that thinking a step further and recognize that supporting the arts and creation is not a luxury, but an integral and indispensable part making a more perfect union.
If you agree, here’s a petition. Sign it, spread it… and be creative!

MLK Day, the day before Inauguration…

…is the time to celebrate and create a new collective vision of the United States.

It will be happening in a lot of different ways all around the country, with many volunteers contributing various efforts and talents. In these difficult times, art is one of the essential ways we can get together and move forward. Here are the details of one event, in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, that will be a gathering of creative forces for change.

The invitation:

Freedom’s Ring – Dreams for a New Era

As part of the Special Martin Luther King Day / Inaugural Eve Artist’s Ball at Theater for the New City, Arts for Art is presenting a special conduction, led by Warren Smith and Joe McPhee.

Confirmed members of the Conduction ensemble include:

Alto Sax: Rob Brown Patrick Brennan Avram Fefer Henry Warner Saco Yasuma Flute: Diana Wayburn Tenor Sax: Adrian Cunningham Darryl Foster Seth Meicht Ras Moshe Bass Clarinet: Gunter Hampel Bari Sax: Dave Sewelson Vocals: Mossa Bildner Ellen Christi Jean Carla Rodea Trumpet: Lewis Barnes Jesse Selengut Trombone: Steve Swell Violin Rosi Hertlein Jason Kao Hwang Guitar: Cristian Amigo Bradley Farberman Clifton Hyde Juan Quinonez Cello: Daniel Levin Bass Michael Bisio Hilliard Greene Zak Sherzad Dance: Patricia Nicholson: Dance Conduction Ruomi Lee Hampel Jason Jordan Members of Wendy Osserman Dance Co. Drums: Whit Dickey Andrew Drury Gunter Gruner. Poetry: Eve Packer Steve Dalachinsky Poets from A Gathering of the Tribes Visual Art: Amir Bey There will be more artists coming…

Full schedule:

5 till 7: Dance / Art / Spoken Word, organized by Lower East Side Girls’ Club and LES Power of Peace Anti-Violence Youth Coalition.

7 till 9: Theater / Dance / Music performances, organized by TNC

9 till 10: Vision/RUCMA large ensemble with dance/ spoken word, conduction by Warren Smith and Joe McPhee, organized by Arts for Art

10 till 12: Vision/RUCMA individual or small group musicians, dancers and poets – personal statements of vision, organized by Arts for Art

10 till 1:30: the Artist’s Inaugural Ball, organized by the Action Arts League – Come in Costume to Express Your Dream!

From 5PM on: There will be art installations and impromptu happenings, organized by the Action Arts League – Please Come and Take Part!

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January 19, 2009 is the eve of President Barack Obama’s Inauguration and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Let us join together to express our Vision for the Future. With an artful Inaugural Ball, we will ring in a new era and establish a direct conversation with the Obama Administration on how art and culture can help strengthen the country.

This is part of a national network of events which are an official part of the Inauguration.  The event encourages participants to create music, art or costumes that reflect a “Vision” for a better America. It will include performances and activities early with a dance party breaking out later.

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Practical information:

The event will take place at Theater for the New City, 155 1st Avenue between 9th and 10th streets. The admission for the latter portion of the evening is an affordable $5 or $10. There will also be an inexpensive bar.

Since I last wrote…

…Barack Obama has been elected President of the United States and the explosion of joy in downtown Manhattan felt like a liberation, the end of a long war.

The party was over, for the president-elect, as early as November, 6, when he received his first PDB – “presidential daily brief”, the state of the world as described by intelligence services. (Later, Al Qaeda’s perplexity, faced with a black man named Barack Hussein Obama succeeding George Bush, became perfectly clear).

Soon enough, Barack Obama was holding regular press conferences, announcing his cabinet and the priorities. Rahm Emanuel was the first major figure to be designated, soon followed by Obama and Clinton loyalists, and of course Hillary herself at the State Department.The economy quickly became the top priority, with record job losses and the debate about a bailout for Detroit’s “Big 3″.

In line with the new approach of the campaign, the transition team put itself on-line. “Chicago” and the less than stellar tradition of Illinois politics came back with a vengeance, though, with the arrest of Gov. Rod Blagojevich, accused by the FBI of a “pay to play” scheme involving the appointment of Barack Obama’s successor in the Senate (but not involving the president-elect or his team, the prosecutor quickly pointed out).

And yes, there was a new song - and speaking of songs, one of the reasons this blog was once again lost in the shuffle is that, besides preparing a book (in French, and no, I have no intention to translate-blog it!) and trying to keep up the French-language “Americana” blog, I volunteer for a cause I believe in: the creation of an Innovative Arts Center in downtown Manhattan. Yes, we need it – creation and imagination is more crucial than ever in tough times – and yes, we can! And yes, there is a Gala Fundraiser this Monday, at the Orensanz Center. Good cause, good art, good party…

Erica Jong, not lost in translation

Note to celebs: sensational there will be sensational here. Latest case in point: Erica Jong’s pronouncement that “blood will run in the streets” if Barack Obama loses the election. She was talking to the Italian Corriere della Serra. For good measure, she talks of a “second civil war” and explains that “President Bush has recalled soldiers from Iraq for Dick Cheney to lead against American citizens in the streets”. She adds that “voting machines are rigged”. For gossip value, she informs the Italian public that Jane Fonda “cried all night” from stress and that “Ken Follett and Susan Cheever are extremely worried”.

Would she have spoken in the same manner to an American media? Probably not.

It’s the pain and joy of writing for the foreign press.

The pain is, if there are no American interests at stake (a product or a treaty to sell to the overseas audience), most Americans have no interest in talking to the foreign media. There is one notable exception: the British press, often used as a conduit for material that would not be first printed in the US. Latest example: Barack Obama’s aunt Zeituni’s story. Otherwise the operating rule is, in the memorable words of an American elected official: “Why should I speak to you, your readers don’t vote for me”.

On the other hand, when they do accept to talk, there is always the latent impression that foreigners don’t know much, and thus need to be properly impressed with simplified or exaggerated statements. There is also the assumption that nobody at home will hear of those declarations, thus the liberating experience of expressing oneself in an unguarded manner. That’s the joy of it: occasionally, people will actually speak their minds without mental reservations. For better or worse.

… and then because we’re in an increasingly Internet-ed world, someone will read it, and translate it, and it will be picked up by the bloggers or the “main stream media”, and word will spread back in English, back to the sender.

The label week

The week started with a record – Barack Obama collected 150 million dollars in September – and a new tune from the McCain/Palin campaign: their democrat rival is really a “socialist”.

VP candidates caused problems on both tickets. Joe Biden had a “Joe the senator” moment on Tuesday, when he spoke with what the democrats decided to call “flourish” about the international test the new president would be put through within six months of entering the White House.

Sarah Palin showed that her “maverick” temperament could occasionally mean she’d publicly disagree with the decisions of the top of the ticket. It appeared she is the main reason republicans and independents are deserting John McCain. She gave those worriers more to worry about when it became clear she had no idea what the job description of the vice-president is. It also turned out that the reformer had had Alaskans taxpayer foot the bill for her children’s travels, and that the RNC had spent 150 000 dollars making her look good.

On Wednesday night, the “Daily Show” did the journalists work, and unearthed a clip of John McCain, in 2000, arguing about the value and the fairness of a progressive income tax, and explaining to a student that it had nothing to do with socialism. At the time, he was campaigning against George Bush’s tax cut proposals.

In the midst of this week when Barack Obama seemed to firm his lead, John McCain and Sarah Palin gave a duet interview to NBC. Little news was made, except for the fact that the candidates looked awkward together, and that Sarah Palin changed her mind: she’s not a feminist, after all. She does not like labels, she says (except of course when it comes to labeling Barack Obama a “socialist”, or his “pal” Billy Ayers a “terrorist”).

On Friday, hours before her deposition in the administrative inquiry regarding the “troopergate”, Sarah Palin gave her first (and last?) policy speech – about children with special needs. Barack Obama had taken time off to visit his ailing grandmother, the woman who help raise him when he came back to Hawaï at age 10, and his last living relative. What was very obviously an hoax (except for those inclined to believe in big black bogeyman attacking defenseless little white McCain volunteers and carving backward letters in their face) was confirmed to be so.

John McCain concluded the week with an appearance at “Meet the Press”, on the 41st anniversary of his capture in Hanoï. He tried to demonstrate that he is not a prisoner to George Bush’s policies, but the republican rebel he once had been. The papers, at the same time, have already started dissecting the failures of his campaign, while conservative bicker amongst themselves.

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In the French media:

Dominique Nora, who blogs for the NouvelObs, got a dose of guilt-by-marketing that she took in stride – an email campaign to make sure to “get out the vote”: here.

In the midst of the current crisis, Le Figaro talks to the French ex wonder boy Jean-Marie Messier, nicknamed “J6M” (a riff on his “J2M”, turned into “Jean-Marie Messier moi-même maître du monde”, Jean-Marie Messier myself master of the world) who, after his downfall at Vivendi Universal was given a second chance in New York – where else? He does not say much except to preach “moderation”: here.

Why the GOP is not keen on those “new voters”

Could this explain the GOP obsession with new voter registrations?

An ABC/Washington Post poll shows that Americans who will vote for the first time this year favor Barack Obama by a huge margin (73% – as opposed to 26% for John McCain). By contrast, 50% of those who have voted in previous elections favor Barack Obama; 47%, John McCain.

John McCain ahead in three countries… none of them the US

Today’s polls show John McCain trailing Barak Obama by ten points (NBC/Wall Street Journal, as well as Gallup)…. but  all is not lost.

John McCain is ahead by eight points in Georgia.

No, not the Atlanta Georgia – the Tbilissi Georgia, the one he was ready to fight for this summer. He could get elected in the Philippines as well. Or, just barely, in Lao.

And the rest of the world, as represented by this poll? It’s voting for Barack Obama who enjoys a popularity not seen since the Clinton era. He has George Bush to thank for that.

Plumbing the week

This was the week of the last debate, when John McCain asserted that “the very fabric of democracy” was put in danger by ACORN’s less than perfect efforts to register new voters and hoisted “Joe the Plumber” to national fame.

On Monday, Barack Obama started the week with a 10 point advantage in the polls. “Right where we want him“, said John McCain. Oh, really?

On Tuesday, John McCain retooled his economic message, and introduced the country to Joe the Plumber and attacked Barack Obama for talking of “spreading the wealth”. The republican candidate also gave new emphasis to his guilt-by-associations attacks on Barack Obama, and insisted that a massive electoral fraud was about to be perpetrated by ACORN.

On Wednesday, John McCain had his best debate performance ever, but that was still not enough to close the gap. Reluctant to give the victory to Barack Obama as the polls had, he declared: “Joe the Plumber is the winner”.

The next day, of course, we learned that Joe the Plumber was neither a Joe nor a plumber, and that he was a republican voter. We also learned that his last name was misspelled on his electoral registration – which added a dose of irony to the Ohio republican party’s legal proceedings regarding the 200 000 names of local voters that did not seem to match the public database.

On Friday, the Supreme Court sided with the Ohio secretary of State in charge of elections, a democrat. The federal appeals court was not competent in the matter; its order was void. However, that same day, the information was leaked that the FBI had followed up on the request by several republican member of Congress to open an investigation on ACORN.

On Saturday, a lawyer for the Obama campaign also wrote Attorney General Mukasey – this time to ask that these maneuvers by the RNC be examined, and added to the task of the independent prosecutor currently looking into possible indictments after the firing of US prosecutors by the Bush administration.

On Sunday, Colin Powell made the most complete case for his choice to vote for Barack Obama… and a total indictment of John McCain: “unsure” on the economical crisis, with questionable judgment as he selected Sarah Palin “incompetent to be President” as his running mate. The centrist republican hits every note that might resonate with independent undecided voters: his anxiety regarding appointments to the Supreme Court, the tone and the divisiveness of the republican campaign. He denounced in particular the vitriolic “robocalls” that the McCain/Palin campaign had launched in swing States.

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READ THIS WEEK (a little extra from the French viewpoints):

President Sarkozy’s visit to Camp David (with the president of the European commission) gets more play in the French press, obviously, than it does in the US. The financial summit to be organized in November, after the American presidential election, will be the ultimate lame-duck experience for President Bush, a fact not entirely lost on the vocal Europeans.

The internal investigation of Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s conduct at the IMF (revealed by the always zealous Wall Street Journal, when it comes to such matters) also gets a different play – if only because the notion of private and public life are markedly different in each country… or should I write “were different”, considering the increased “pipolisation” – as in “people-ization” of French politics by Ségolène Royal and Nicolas Sarkozy? In this case, DSK’s wife is famous in her own right. She’s a well-known journalist; she writes a blog on which she thanked those who sent her sympathetic messages and assured them that, as far as she and her husband is concerned, this brief incident is already in the past. She hopes for swift conclusions from the investigation, a desire that can only be shared by the many that think that, in the midst of the most consequential economical crisis in recent history, the IMF has more pressing issues to consider.