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Health & Fitness

Big Man In The Little City

A gushing bit of fan mail to Mr. President, as he makes his way to Redwood City. And also a memo to the pres on his popularity (drop) out here in Ethiopia.

So, Obama’s coming to Redwood City. More on that later…

* * * *

Meanwhile back in Ethiopia:

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Lots to do in Addis Ababa today.

Gotta get up early to beat the daily rush.

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I walk outside and somehow the bustling, smog choked, sewage stained streets of Ethiopia’s capital city are silent, empty, and squeaky clean.

I’ve seen this zombie movie before.

I try to appreciate the eeriness of this until I realize that there aren’t even any line taxis running, and I’m all the way across town from where I need to be. Later I would find out that the streets were cleared today because of all the bigwigs in town for the World Economic Forum, but for now the only people on the streets are the riot police standing every twenty yards telling me, at gunpoint, to use the sidewalk!

There is no sidewalk.

This will be nice, though. I don’t usually pay much attention to this part of town. Looking up, I see a billboard I hadn’t noticed before.

Addis Higher Clinic Hospital and underneath is just a large photo of George W Bush holding a baby like Rafiki from the Lion King and a disbelieving smile on his face like he’s saying “This baby is ridiculous! You’re ridiculous, baby!”

I had to laugh, and I’m glad it’s come to this. The lost years of the Bush administration have become a comical marketing tool in developing Africa. It seems that the Obama effect was in fact as swift and broad-sweeping as the street janitors of Addis Ababa.

It would only be a few blocks more before I discovered how wrong I was.

As I approached the center of town the streets started to fill with people once more, and I was plucked by an Ethiopian, as usual, for a little meaningless conversation.

“Is Obama still the president of your country?”

Exaggerated eye roll. “Yep.”

“Oh. When will he be replaced?”

“There is an election in a few months. Perhaps then he will be replaced.”

Please excuse my speak-n-spell English. I have had to affect a slow and deliberate style of speaking to converse in English with most Ethiopians. He continued…

“That is good. I think his foreign policy is very bad,” this wasn’t the usual meaningless conversation I was used to on the streets of Addis. “He attacks other countries for no reason. If he does not stop this there will be many problems for America.”

I had this conversation three more times before I finished writing this piece.

I’m going to break away here to explain where Ethiopia stands on, well… just about everything I’m about to discuss.

Ethiopia is not in Africa. Don’t try to argue it. They are not part of Africa. They are Ethiopia. Full independence, for all times, just like America! (I believe that is a direct quote from the travel pamphlets).

Barack Obama is not or Ethiopian. He’s not even Kenyan. He’s American (shut up, “the Donald”. We’ve seen the birth certificate). Except in Africa. In Africa, he’s African. All the better for everyone to hitch their sense of cultural pride to his wagon. In Africa he’s the African president, the pride of Africa, Africa’s favorite son…

Or anyway, he used to be.

When it comes to Obama, Ethiopia is totally Africa.

Or anyway, they used to be.

That's all changed, and I'm terribly sorry to hear it. Now, before you all go flying off the handle about this war and that war, let me point out that Obama’s policy of going to war with countries for no reason has been the policy of the American president since WWII showed the world how well the homefront can prosper during wartime. And it hasn’t worked as well since WWII, either. Probably that’s because during WWII, we had a reason.

Moving on…

So, Obama’s coming to Redwood City.

Of all the times to be stuck in Ethiopia.

The closest thing we got out here was a visit by Hillary Clinton for some reason or other, and Dubbya himself came out for World AIDS Day.

But we’re talkin’ about Obama, here. The incredible Mr. O. The African president. I mean, the American president.

The little tid bits of news we get out here often make me wonder what kind of a world I’ll be coming home to when my service with Peace Corps is finished, and I’m not saying I’ll grow a mustache, change my name to Rodrigo, and move to Mexico if Romney is the next president, but I may ask Peace Corps to extend my contract for another four to eight years.

Aside from all the crappy news from the States, I have been bolstered by the Occupy movement (and yes, I realize that protesting all day either means that you’re wasting time you could be spending looking for a job, or you are financially solvent enough to spend all day protesting).

Even the Tea Party, despite its unclear demands, and penchant for typos and yelling things without taking the time to fact check them tells me that the American people finally understand once more the power of a unified front.

Like it or not, this is because of Obama.

If you like Obama, this realization is an effect of his “Yes We Can” (patent pending: Cesar Chavez) attitude.

If you hate Obama, this coming together was a result of being so upset up by what Obama means to his supporters that a stand had to be taken.

Obama is a divisive politician.

He has changed so much, but the biggest change he made came simply from his campaigning for, and winning the presidency.

Obama gave us hope that our president might do something besides give demeaning nicknames to the press corps. That our president might be able to think for himself. That when he did think for himself, he was thinking big, not thinking “This baby is ridiculous! You’re ridiculous, baby!”

He gave us hope that the field of candidates to select from could include anyone. He gave us hope that the president of the United States would think about the American people first, not just add them as an afterthought when justifying what exactly it was that he was thinking.

Yeah, Obama’s a politician, and he plays the game like all the rest. And yeah, the rest of the world is starting to realize that. But that doesn’t change what he has done.

I’m not just talking about the intangible hope and change that he gave us. I’m talking about it all:

Cash for clunkers was a great success. He should have renewed the program.

He passed credit reform. He should bring that up more often.

He passed health care reform. Most people just couldn’t be bothered to read the legislation, and instead took Sarah Palin’s word for it.

He dropped federal support for “don’t ask don’t tell”, and the “Defense of Marriage Act”.

He finally got Bin Laden.

He held a freakin’ beer summit!

And while the streets of downtown Redwood City are eerily empty, save for the security forces. While Mr. O speaks to the citizens of my home town, I’ll be here, in Ethiopia. Holding down the fort, and explaining to strangers on the street why I want Obama to win in November.

Sure, more than anything, this was a piece of backhanded fan mail to the president, but that’s because “Obama’s coming to town!” It’s as sweet on the ears of this American citizen as if I was stuck in some North Korean prison and you said “They’re sending Slick Willy.”

Oh to have a beer summit with Obama and Clinton…

And he’s coming to Redwood City!

Of all the times to be stuck in Ethiopia.

 

P.S.- Anyone want to send an Obama autograph my way: Dave Newlands; PO Box 101; Masha, Sheka, Ethiopia. Pretty please!

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