my own brand of politics

Euphoria in Libya; Saif is Safe

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Looks like months of desperate fighting and daily NATO strikes have finally paid off. The Libyan rebels are largely in control of Tripoli. We’re not sure where Mad Qaddafi is now, as he’s been missing for quite some time. Rumor had it that last week he’d escaped into Tunisia, but I haven’t seen him anywhere around here. Today he sent someone over to blow up an unspecified embassy in Tunis (the would-be terrorist defected instead), so it’s probably much more likely that Qaddafi will be landing in Cuba or Venezuela within the next few days.

However, his son Saif al-Islam has been taken captive by the rag-tag rebel army, and will soon be on his way to the Hague to face trial for crimes against humanity.… Read more

Institutionalized Sadism

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

The Assad regime specializes in torture. After every demonstration, security forces round up hundreds of protesters, suspects, and random passers-by. In some areas, they go from house to house, dragging out every young man they find. Once detained, these people can look forward to savage beatings, restraint in stress positions, filth, humiliation, rape, mutilation, or worse. Although they brave bullets every time they go out on the streets to protest, many are more afraid of being detained than shot.

And the reach of the Syrian government is long. Those the regime cannot get at directly, it targets indirectly via threats or actual violence against friends and family in Syria.… Read more

My Favorite Misquotations

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Just a few days ago as I was writing a certain post on this blog, I thought of a really good quote I wanted to include. It’s the famous one where the French historian Alexis de Toqueville describes his visit to the United States in search of the true source of “her greatness and genius.” He concludes famously:

“America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.”

The whole gamut of American politicians, from Reagan to Clinton, have loved this quote and embellished their speeches with it. It seems to strike a special chord with us as Americans, because it embodies one of our deepest held beliefs about the foundations and strength of our country.… Read more

Liberty and Justice for All

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Thirty-six short words, but what an idea! As Americans, I think all of us have our special reasons for not taking those words for granted. Some serve in the armed forces, defending those very liberties. Others are first-generation immigrants from countries where such civil liberties do not exist. Here is one of my reasons:

Last night I woke myself in the night, weeping for a man I’d never met.… Read more

Faces of Terrorism

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

My thoughts have been mostly with Norway this past weekend. The horrific terrorist attack that left 93 people dead on Friday felt to me like a surreal cross between Columbine and Oklahoma City. Although the wreckage from the bomb was impressive, most of the dead were teenagers at a summer camp miles away, hunted down like animals by a lone gunman. The young people on Utøya had come from all over Norway, so I can imagine that in each community there must be collective shock and sorrow, but private, individual grief as well. I hope they know that the whole world stands with them in this anguished moment.… Read more

Going Anonymous on Google+

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

I’ve had an enjoyable time playing around on Google+ for the past few days, and I think I’m ready to talk about my impressions. First, here’s a little recap of my social(networking) life so far: I never got in on Myspace. I’ve only ever tweeted for work. My Linked-In profile is still only halfway filled out, I think. I don’t do anything more social than watching science videos with my kids on Youtube. Mysterious concepts like Orkut, Foursquare, Hi5, and all the rest, just haven’t even hit my radar. And as you know, I have a “like”-hate relationship with Facebook.

Although I’ve been a loyal Gmail user since early in the Gmail beta days, I only dinked around for about five minutes total with Google Buzz.… Read more

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Captain Khobza!

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

It’s been awhile since I gave you an update on the political and security situation here in Tunisia. Things are getting a bit exciting here again. I just hope they don’t get TOO exciting in the wrong way.

Six months after the revolution, the economy is (understandably) worse than ever. Unemployment is projected to reach 20 percent this year, compared to an already depressing 13 percent last year, pre-revolution. Beji Caid Essebsi, the current Prime Minister, blames the state of the economy on continued strikes and sit-ins, both on the street and at major firms and manufacturing plants.

There’s no doubt that the demonstrations, both in January and since, have affected the economy.… Read more

The Dangerous Art of Diplomacy

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

The Water-wheels in Hama, Syria

The foreign service usually seems like a somewhat safer place than the military. But U.S. pilots flying NATO missions in Libya might be safer than Ambassador Robert Ford in Syria at the moment. Last Thursday, he and his French counterpart, Eric Chevallier, made a symbolic visit to Hama, site of the infamous 1982 Syrian massacre, and recent target of a crackdown by the Syrian government. They stayed into Friday, traditionally the most active day for protests. Demonstrators greeted them with smiles and roses, and they spent the day shaking hands and visiting hospitals in an expression of solidarity with the Syrian uprising.… Read more

On Being American

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

I believe this is my fifth Independence Day outside the United States. I always miss the fireworks when I’m away. And even though I haven’t lived at home in years and years, I still remember fondly the 4th of July breakfast my church always hosted early on Independence Day morning. We would raise the flag, sing the National Anthem, listen to some inspirational speeches (they seemed kind of long when you were a kid and hadn’t had breakfast yet), and then eat pancakes! One year I came home from college for the summer and was asked to give one of those speeches.… Read more

A Lament for Greece

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Greece has been weighing heavily on my mind these days. Despite desperately passionate protests by the Greek people, this week the Greek government passed a package of austerity measures and structural reforms demanded by the EU and IMF if they are to give the beleaguered country a bailout that will prevent the government from defaulting on its debt in less than two weeks. This is in spite of the fact that the UN’s independent expert on foreign debt and human rights has said that the measures will likely violate basic human rights for the most vulnerable sectors of the population.

Much of the worldwide media has spent the past few weeks shaking a self-righteous finger at naughty Greece, which they accuse of not living within its means.… Read more