Blian's Brog

National - As the primaries have continued to progress, Obama has gained the backing of John Lewis, one of the primary leaders of the Civil Rights movement during the 1960s. The real kicker to this however is that he is switching from previously supporting Hilary. Lewis is also a Democratic Representative from Georgia, and his support has been highly coveted among the candidates. Senator Byron Durgan from North Dakota has also recently come out in support of Obama.

Opinion – I suppose this is mostly just a sign that Obama is building up momentum and is getting more and more support in his run for the presidency. I really don’t know whether or not Hilary still has a chance or not, but it’s been quite a comeback for Obama when he was down a little after super-Tuesday (however close it may have been).

National - President Bush recently returned from a trip to Africa and in a presentation showed pictures of it in a slideshow. If you look up some video of it, there’s some pretty great video of Bush dancing with the Africans. The trip was a mostly positive one and the people in the countries he visited were extremely grateful to Bush for the American aid they have received (Advances have been made in fights against AIDS and Malaria, and the country has been recovering from frequent conflict). Bush also paid his respects at memorials of genocide in Rwanda. People in Africa had even made shirts with Bush’s face on them.

Opinion – While Bush can’t take credit for all of the progress in Africa (and to be sure there are some countries there where the situation isn’t improving), he certainly seems popular enough there, which contradicts the popular idea that America is now hated all around the world because of Iraq. I suppose one of the reasons Bush took such a trip is because he wants to leave the presidency on something of a good note, but besides this motivation it still says something for the guy’s good intentions.

International - Condoleezza Rice recently visited Japan to make an apology. A U.S. Marine allegedly raped a fourteen-year-old girl on the Japanese Island of Okinawa where U.S. troops are stationed. The marine admitted to making her kiss him, but denied the rape. The Japanese were outraged, and Rice made the trip (already in the general area for the Inauguration of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak) to try to keep our diplomatic relationship with the nation healthy by reassuring the country that justice will be served.

Opinion – what caught my interest about this story is that we still have troops in Japan. I didn’t know that, though I guess it doesn’t surprise me too much. What I’m wondering is, do we only have troops on Okinawa, or do we have any on the Japanese mainland? And they’ve been there since the post WWII occupation right?

International - Interestingly enough, as Americans are debating over whether or not we should support a bilingual nation or push teaching English to American citizens, Hugo Chavez, Venezuela’s “President”, is pushing for the citizens of his country to “say it in Spanish, say it with pride.” He is doing so by sponsoring a media campaign, plus Venezuelan radio and theatre, with the aim of stopping the trend of American words being adopted into the vernacular of his country. However, English is still taught as a second language in the country’s schools, and Chavez himself will sometimes use English in his speeches.

Opinion – I suppose this makes sense considering Chavez’s political standing (completely opposed to what he sees as America’s cultural “Imperialism”), and I think it’s nice he’s supporting the culture of his own country. But otherwise I think the whole things rather dumb and ridiculous. If Bush were to sponsor the slogan “say it in English, say it with pride” that wouldn’t go over too well. But I guess that’s because English is already on top. Anyhow, good for you Hugo – keep doing what you feel is best – even if it’s kind of silly.