....and not the world.

I personally cast my vote on November 4, 2008 in favor of Barack Obama as president of the united states. although I appreciate his mass appeal to just about everyone on this planet, i do have to come to the realization that Obama was indeed elected to look out for american interests and the welfare of its various alliances and whatnot.

american presidents have been doing this since the birth of this great union...and we can expect this trend to continue - kenyan-blooded president or not. considering the position of the united states as the rome of its day and its founding principles of committment to justice and equality for all, i have never been totally comfortable with such a self-interested view. i have mentioned this in a previous post american independence day 2008, when I came to the conclusion that in the US the life of one american seems to be far worth the life anyone else.

as i tuned into the comments of newly minted President Barack Obama on the Israeli attacks on the Gaza strip, i find that i now have to amend that previous conclusion. the life of one american and perhaps its allies trumps that of hundreds of other non-american or non-allied people. as much as i love the man, i must be very honest - the position of Barack Obama - and democrats in general - is not terribly different from past administrations such as Bush I and II. i guess Obama does admit that humanitarian assistance is needed in the Gaza strip - but that is about it. i find this very disconcerting.

Since the unrest late December, there have been a total of 13 Israeli deaths (mostly soldiers) while on the Palestinian side, the number is at 1,200, with the majority being innocent civilians. as much as i am for any country defending its borders, i think that common sense would tell us that the punishment did not fit the crime. however, in keeping with the american ideology that americans and their partners lives are worth far more than that of others, a CNN poll found that the majority of americans felt that the israeli use of force was too little or just about right...

of course i found this incredibly troubling especially after watching the account of this young man, a former middlebury college student, who lost two brothers due to this "justified" onslaught of violence against palestinians. as someone who has brothers of my own, i could not help but see myself in him and consider that quite possibly, we all are deserving of the right to life - regardless of nationality or affliation.