Because I have been blogging for over twelve years so I need to remind myself that many of my readers are young or have not yet been exposed to some very fine films and books.

If you have not yet seen the documentary about Robert McNamara — or don’t know who McNamara is — then you need to sit down your smart phones, take your laptop off your lap, and focus on screening The Fog of War – Eleven Lessons from the life of Robert S. McNamara, directed by Errol Morris with a touching score by Philip Glass.

This movie is a masterwork. Get it from Amazon as a DVD (like I did in 2008) or as a instant digital download or getting it from Netflix like I did (I left my DVD in DC).

Watch it right now.  Do it.

One of our country’s greatest-of-all-time minds was tasked with masterminding the master-strategies of World War II through the Vietnam War.

Some of his admissions, from the horse’s mouth, are incredible. In response to fire-bombing Tokyo, General Curtis LeMay and Robert McNamara had the following back and forth that I quote from DiText:

LeMay said that “If we’d lost the war, we’d all have been prosecuted as war criminals.” “And I think he’s right. He, and I’d say I, were behaving as war criminals . . . LeMay recognized that what he was doing would be thought immoral if his side has lost. But what makes it immoral if you lose and not immoral if you win?

That’s a pretty amazing admission. And I believe that in many wars, the coup de grâce is often a criminal act — an act so brutal and devastating that the enemy says uncle.  Such violent profanity is so common that the French dismiss it with a phrase:

C’est la guerre

Quite a lot of the world has crimes against humanity warrants out for President George W Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney and I guarantee there will be warrants out for President Barack Obama over Libya, that’s for certain. Additionally, if not for raining Hellfire missiles on Pakistan then for rampant civilian casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Only time will tell, but one will easily see, after watching the movie, that so many souls — hundreds of thousands — are sacrificed gladly with the understanding that others, our military men and women, are spared.

This documentary is surely an end-of-live, 11th hour, mea maxima culpa confession. He may well be an “IBM machine with legs” as he’s been described; however he’s also a sentimental man, a passionate man, a devoted man, a man who considers his actions as service to his country and to his president, and also not the result of avarice or glory — to me, anyway.

At the end of the movie, I respect Robert Strange McNamara quite a lot.  And to think that we have minds and hearts such as his in the White House and Pentagon make me feel much safer.

Do we really want to know how the sausage is made?  Do we really want to consider the breaking of the eggs?

Here are lessons of war that Robert S McNamara puts forward in the film (via Wikipedia):

R.S. McNamara’s eleven lessons of war

1. Empathize with your enemy
2. Rationality will not save us
3. There’s something beyond one’s self
4. Maximize efficiency
5. Proportionality should be a guideline in war
6. Get the data
7. Belief and seeing are often both wrong
8. Be prepared to re-examine your reasoning
9. In order to do good, you may have to engage in evil
10. Never say never
11. You can’t change human nature

Ten additional lessons from R.S. McNamara

(These supplement the documentary; they are in the DVD’s special features.)

1. The human race will not eliminate war in this century, but we can reduce the brutality of war—the level of killing—by adhering to the principles of a “Just War,” in particular to the principle of “proportionality.”
2. The indefinite combinations of human fallibility and nuclear weapons will lead to the destruction of nations.
3. We [the U.S.A.] are the most powerful nation in the world—economically, politically, and militarily—and we are likely to remain so for decades ahead. But we are not omniscient. If we cannot persuade other nations with similar interests and similar values of the merits of the proposed use of that power, we should not proceed unilaterally except in the unlikely requirement to defend directly the continental U.S., Alaska and Hawaii.
4. Moral principles are often ambiguous guides to foreign policy and defense policy, but surely we can agree that we should establish as a major goal of U.S. foreign policy and, indeed, of foreign policy across the globe: the avoidance, in this century of the carnage—160 million dead—caused by conflict in the 20th century.
5. We, the richest nation in the world, have failed in our responsibility to our own poor and to the disadvantaged across the world to help them advance their welfare in the most fundamental terms of nutrition, literacy, health and employment.
6. Corporate executives must recognize there is no contradiction between a soft heart and a hard head. Of course, they have responsibilities to stockholders, but they also have responsibilities to their employees, their customers and to society as a whole.
7. President Kennedy believed a primary responsibility of a president—indeed the primary responsibility of a president—is to keep the nation out of war, if at all possible.
8. War is a blunt instrument by which to settle disputes between or within nations, and economic sanctions are rarely effective. Therefore, we should build a system of jurisprudence based on the International Court—that the U.S. has refused to support—which would hold individuals responsible for crimes against humanity.
9. If we are to deal effectively with terrorists across the globe, we must develop a sense of empathy—I don’t mean “sympathy,” but rather “understanding”—to counter their attacks on us and the Western World.
10. One of the greatest dangers we face today is the risk that terrorists will obtain access to weapons of mass destruction as a result of the breakdown of the Non-Proliferation Regime. We in the U.S. are contributing to that breakdown.

Eleven lessons from the Vietnam War

The documentary’s lessons-learned concept is McNamara’s eleven-lesson list of In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam (1995).

1. We misjudged then — and we have since — the geopolitical intentions of our adversaries … and we exaggerated the dangers to the United States of their actions.
2. We viewed the people and leaders of South Vietnam in terms of our own experience … We totally misjudged the political forces within the country.
3. We underestimated the power of nationalism to motivate a people to fight and die for their beliefs and values.
4. Our misjudgments of friend and foe, alike, reflected our profound ignorance of the history, culture, and politics of the people in the area, and the personalities and habits of their leaders.
5. We failed then — and have since — to recognize the limitations of modern, high-technology military equipment, forces, and doctrine. We failed, as well, to adapt our military tactics to the task of winning the hearts and minds of people from a totally different culture.
6. We failed to draw Congress and the American people into a full and frank discussion and debate of the pros and cons of a large-scale military involvement … before we initiated the action.
7. After the action got under way, and unanticipated events forced us off our planned course … we did not fully explain what was happening, and why we were doing what we did.
8. We did not recognize that neither our people nor our leaders are omniscient. Our judgment of what is in another people’s or country’s best interest should be put to the test of open discussion in international forums. We do not have the God-given right to shape every nation in our image or as we choose.
9. We did not hold to the principle that U.S. military action … should be carried out only in conjunction with multinational forces supported fully (and not merely cosmetically) by the international community.
10. We failed to recognize that in international affairs, as in other aspects of life, there may be problems for which there are no immediate solutions … At times, we may have to live with an imperfect, untidy world.
11. Underlying many of these errors lay our failure to organize the top echelons of the executive branch to deal effectively with the extraordinarily complex range of political and military issues.

I have really sad news to share. I just found out that San Carlos Mayor Omar Ahmad passed away.  I only knew Omar as a friend. Yes, he was obviously a very successful man and the mayor of a California city with a population of 27,424. Yes, we spoke about the state of the city under the stress of a collapsed economy. But not really.

The last time we met was when I was rolling through Los Angeles on a crazy around-the-country business trip in my car.

He reached out to me last February from San Carlos to let me know he was coming to LA to see one of his favorite singer-songwriters,Vinx, at Molly Malones on the 10th.

It was only an evening together but with his friend, like always, it wasn’t just about seeing a show, it wasn’t just about listening to music, and it wasn’t just going out on a school night.

Like every other magic experience with Omar, I met the band, I met Vinx, and I even met Vinx’s lovely manager, Jennifer Lambert.

Of course, we have been to many conferences together all around the country for years and year, and all of those conferences have been especially welcoming and interesting because of Mayor Ahmad — both because of his personal contributions but also because his professional, intellectual, spiritual, and political contributions as well.

I mourn this loss. I feel for his family and friends. I wanted more time. I wanted to Omar to show my his city. I wanted to see him in that context.  To see what his home way like, his office, his neighborhood.  I put it off because there was always plenty of time.  Well, there wasn’t and I regret that.  One thing I won’t regret, however, is only knowing the man, Omar, and not ever letting the successes, the titles, or the politics get in the way of that, never coloring it.  I got to know the man and for that I am grateful.

Godspeed my friend Omar. I am certain you will be as magnetic, joyful, generous, curious, and popular in the afterlife as you were in these, your beautiful forty-six years.

• San Jose Mercury News: San Carlos Mayor Omar Ahmad dies from heart attack
• City of San Carlos: Mayor Omar Ahmad Passes Away After Heart Attack
• City of San Carlos: City Statement – Mayor Omar Ahmad Passes Away
• City of San Carlos: Transit Board Member Omar Ahmad Remembered
• Religion Dispatches: Omar Ahmad: Muslim, American, Cowboy Boot Aficianado (1965-2011)

Image by wstera2 via Flickr

Since there’s so much going on online, post Osama bin Laden‘s death in Pakistan, in memoriam of the attacks on September 11th, I wanted to add my personal memories as culled from my blog entries from 9/11 and the week or so afterwards. As close to real-time reporting of the moment as I have:

Driving the Jeep Home
Posted Sep 11, 2002 – 09:29 AM

I must have spent some time with Michelle, as she was under the weather, because on my drive back from Michelle’s pad in Dupont, I had the windows rolled down and Morning Edition on the radio. It was then that I heard about the 0850 and 0904 crashes into the World Trade Center. First into the first Twin Tower (as I knew them) and then the second, respectively.

The weather was pristine, in the low 80′s like it is today, and I had the windows down and the radio was on loud. I looked over to other drivers and we shared looks. The looks were not terror, they were not panic, they were not any of those things. They were not even numb, dumb looks. They were looks of incredulousness. Disbelief. Dumfounded.

There were rumors of all sorts of things at that moment. There had been no sort of anything in DC yet, but there were rumors that there was a bomb in the State Depeartment.

At this time, 9:30, I was driving fast down Massachusetts Avenue, returning from a night’s sleepover with my ex-girlfriend, Michelle.

I was staying there because I has double-booked my apartment and as there was a bed for Isabelle and a bed for Kate, I was either sleeping on the love seat (I am 6’3″) or in the bed of a friend. Michelle was my friend. Michelle is my friend. So are Kate and Isa.

Lincoln Park and the Explosion
Posted Sep 11, 2002 – 09:35 AM

I returned to the Hill, and was rounding Lincoln park, on 11th Street, SE, and I heard an enormous, muffled, but distant blast. There were rumors on the radio that there was a bomb at the State Department. Michelle works at the State Department.

I hit the gas and hustled home to Isabelle, to Kate, to the television and to the phone so that I could call Michelle to see if she was okay.

Before the blast, I was in the Jeep, listening to Morning Edition on the radio. I was returning to my home office. I had the windows down and saw everyone in the other cars with looks of disbelief in their faces. My face must have been similar.

When the day began, I woke up in bed with my Ex, Michelle. She had let me spend the night because I had double-booked my pad and needed someplace to crash. She was sick so she didn’t plan on going to work in the Library of the Department of State.

Upon Arrival at the Grotto
Posted Sep 11, 2002 – 12:03 PM

Upon returning to the Grotto, my pad, I joined Kate and Isa on the blue Ikea loveseat. They were hunched over, squinting at the little Sony 19″ TV with all their might. The room was dark. Kate told me my mom had called to tell me what was going on. When she called, Kate and Isa had turned on the TV. Neither of them watches. Only my obsessive NPR-listening kept me informed as returned from Michelle’s.

It was really only then did I recognize what was going on in NYC. It was only then, as they alternated between live news feeds and the looping looping looping footage of the crash crash crash of the two planes into what knew as the twin towers, but now learned were called Tower One and Tower Two of the World Trade Center.

I had been in New York city just about a month previous. I had been staying in Brooklyn in Anne and Ian’s apartment. While they were gone. When they returned, I commuted into the City with Anne. She works for Moody’s. Ian works for the Port Authority. She worked right next to the WTC towers and he, Ian, worked in them.

We had walked from their gorgeous walkup apartment in Brooklyn to the Subway. It was only a short ride to the Subway right there at the WTC. I walked Anne to her building, gave her a hug and a kiss, and then headed uptown to the trains back to DC.

I wrote this first weblog entry the week before visiting Anne, Ian, Marlise, Minna, and Mark; I wrote this second weblog entry the week after.

Funny that. It bears no importance that I was at the towers a little over one month before the terrorist events of 9-11, but I hadn’t realized it.

Collecting My Family
Posted Sep 11, 2002 – 12:20 PM

When I realized the import of what was going on, I called Michelle Nolan, my recent Ex, and told her that I was jumping into the Jeep and dashing back over to Dupont so that I could collect her from her 10th floor condo, right up the street from the State Department and relatively close to the Executive Branch. And she lives in a Studio apartment, one wall of which is glass. And she lives with our dog Suzi.

So although she didn’t want to come at first, I sped over there anyway. To collect her. To collect them. Big Little Erz and Little Little Erz.

There was a lot of traffic forming. There were the first signs of the military. I hustled up 13th, and then made it up to Florida and cut around above the city center and after some nasty jams, I made it in to Dupont and there was Miss Michelle and Miss Suzi, all packed up and ready to bail.

I got her in the car. As I said before, she was feeling sick anyway. She was looking kind of out of it; I knew I was kind of out of it. It didn’t matter. When I need to perform, I always do, thank God.

As I recall, there were already Hummers at some of the corners downtown, so I avoided downtown again. I tried my best to do the circuit, but as I recall, I believe I tool Mass Ave mostly.

When we got into the Grotto — Suzi, Kate, Michelle, Isa, and I — I felt better. And by that time, Anita was back home and her crew were starting to drink some beers. Isa had made plans to bail town to the ‘burbs to avoid the inevitable, I was blogging and sending emails on the kitchen table, Michelle and Kate were glued to the TV, and Suzi was just chillin’. She’s good like that.

Of course, the towers fell. The fell and many people didn’t get out. And there is something wrong when the rescuers need rescue.

By noon, Kate and I headed over to Al’s to grab some ‘za.

And, then there was the plane, hijacked, and apparently on its way to the White House. And then there was the report of it going down in a field in Central Pennsylvania.

And the day passed.

Washington (and America) Under Siege.
Posted Sep 11, 2001 – 11:10 AM

This morning at 0850 a jetliner crashed into the World Trade Center. Then another. Then a jetliner crashed into the Pentagon. A car bomb at State. A fire at the Old Executive Office building. I heard an explosion on the way home from Dupont. I guess it was the State Department. The towers collapsed. There is a jetliner on route to DC. It is hijacked. A 747 crashed in Western PA. Part of the Pentagon is collapsed. All federal buildings have been evacuated. F-16s are scrambled. The two towers are collapsed at the World Trade Center. What are you doing right now? Are you okay? What were you doing when the initial terrorist action was perpetrated?

Washington Gridlocked and Panicked.
Posted Sep 11, 2001 – 02:01 PM

Union Station is closed down, for obvious reasons. 395 in Virginia is as well. I was just on the road picking my friend up from Dupont so she would not be alone, so I know that 16th street up to Bethesda is locked, so is New York Avenue, Rhode Island, Mass Ave, and obviously downtown. I have decided not to leave the city, as this probably won’t go NBC, so I am staying put.

People are blowing through red lights and stop signs. Emergency Vehicles are stranded in traffic.

I recommend leaving your windows open so that you can hear sirens and horns

The routes out of the city are mad and gridlocked but most folks who are home are eating lunch right now at the stores and restaurants around the hill.

Don’t panic. Stay at home. Slow and stop for pedestrians. Give blood. Respect the authority of the street cops as they direct you, if you will be on the road.

Be safe.

Friends, Please Check In!
Posted Sep 11, 2001 – 2:33 PM

If you are here, you might know me. First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to offer my condolences to those who are suffering, are injured, or have died, and their friends and family.

Secondly, please click on the “comments?” link below and let me know if you are okay? Or if you want or need to talk about this.

My Experience of Wednesday’s Terrorism in DC
Posted Sep 11, 2001 – 03:42 PM

Egad!

I found out on the way back home this morning from a friend’s house. On NPR. At 0930. Washington was hit by an AA jet — the Pentagon.

I left the windows open when I was driving. I drove across town twice today, once from Dupont at 0930 and once at around 1130.

Each cross street was dangerous because there was a cascade of Emergency vehicles. I left the doors open because of Emergency vehicles as well as cop cars. I kept my windows open because people were blowing through stoplights and stop signs.

Union Station is locked down. When I dropped Isa off there, all trains were ceased and Jersey Barriers. The sky was and is clear, bright blue, and earily quiet.

There is not a plane in the sky.

Southwest of here, there is a waft of dark smoke. I assume it is the Pentagon.

All the roads out of town are gridlocked and I am hoping that there is not a second round.

The entire city is evacuated. There have been many revisions of what had happened: car bomb at the State Dept., Old Executive Office Building on fire. Something going on at the White House.

Right now, the skyline of Manhattan is completely different and Washington a panicked and ornery.

The Pentagon is still partially collapsed and the full extent of the attack — the force of its ripple; the reaction to a definite action — is still to be revealed. Is everyone okay? Is Anne and her fiancé Ian okay? Others in Gov’t and Finance?

Well, I know that Mark, Michelle, Diane, Cheryl, Suzi, and Kate are okay. How about the rest of you. Lots of love and Godspeed!

Chris Abraham

Normalish
Posted Sep 13, 2001 – 06:02 PM

I just drove out to Target on rt 1. The car’s batts were acting funny, so I wanted to get a charge on, so I went to Target so that I could buy a can opener and some laundry detergernt and dishwashing machine liquid.

I didn’t see the damage to the Pentagon. What side was it on? Anyway, aside from the a little more intensity with regards the police presence, all the roads are open and I could even travel up Independence back to the pad.

Its very weird to see it heal at least superficially so darn quickly. There are roads closed off, but I don’t see the National Guard or anything.

Chez Michelle
Posted Sep 11, 2002 – 07:30 AM

A year ago this morning at 0719, 11 September 2001, I woke up with Michelle. Michelle had recently moved out of our shared apartment and into her new condo in the Chandra Levy building in deepest, darkest Dupont, Washington, DC, US.

Michelle felt sick. I got up, had some water, used the loo, and then left the little Studio flat with our dog. I walked Suzi up to P Street, grabbed Michelle some food from the convenience store. The kind of care package one collects for a friend who is under the weather. As everyone knows, I always over-buy. She could have camped out in her little apartment, under the covers, for a week on my supplies.

Chris Abraham Online 9-11

On February 17th, in the New York Times, Paul Krugman wrote an op-ed piece that I didn’t read until this morning.  I have been so frustrated by the right as they consistently talk smaller government and deficit-reduction when in fact have a terrible track record for either.  In Willie Sutton Wept, Krugman speaks for me so I am going to except from it shamelessly — these words are my thoughts on the subject, my heart, and my mind, but better — by Paul Krugman — about the subject (emphasis is mine):

There are three things you need to know about the current budget debate. First, it’s essentially fraudulent. Second, most people posing as deficit hawks are faking it. Third, while President Obama hasn’t fully avoided the fraudulence, he’s less bad than his opponents — and he deserves much more credit for fiscal responsibility than he’s getting.

[ . . . ]

Slashing spending while the economy is still deeply depressed is a recipe for slower economic growth, which means lower tax receipts — so any deficit reduction from G.O.P. cuts would be at least partly offset by lower revenue.

[ . . . ]

Anyone who is really serious about the budget should be focusing mainly on health care. And by focusing, I don’t mean writing down a number and expecting someone else to make that number happen — a dodge known in the trade as a “magic asterisk.” I mean getting behind specific actions to rein in costs.

[ . . . ]

What would real action on health look like? Well, it might include things like giving an independent commission the power to ensure that Medicare only pays for procedures with real medical value; rewarding health care providers for delivering quality care rather than simply paying a fixed sum for every procedure; limiting the tax deductibility of private insurance plans; and so on.

And what do these things have in common? They’re all in last year’s health reform bill.

That’s why I say that Mr. Obama gets too little credit. He has done more to rein in long-run deficits than any previous president. And if his opponents were serious about those deficits, they’d be backing his actions and calling for more; instead, they’ve been screaming about death panels.

[ . . . ]

If you’re serious about the deficit, you should be willing to consider closing at least part of this gap with higher taxes. True, higher taxes aren’t popular, but neither are cuts in government programs.

Oh, and even Paul Krugman avoids the third rail issue of military spending, the cost of the war on terrorism, a multi-front war, and a Defense Department budget of almost $550 billion dollars for 2011 — which does not include any of the other Department of Homeland Security agencies, including the CIA, the FBI, the TSA, the NRO — all of the 16 U.S. intelligence agencies. But, since we have men in the field, that’s a dangerous thing to broach — which is odd because wanting to bring our boys home used to be a noble aim; however, when there are no jobs at home, I guess that’s a Catch-22, indeed.

It is only January 4, 2011, and I am seeing articles like this from the Wall Street Journal yesterday, Big Firms Poised to Spend Again,

“We preserved cash” over the past few years, said Jim Flaws, chief financial officer of Corning Inc. “Now we’re turning around and feeling comfortable about our outlook and spending it.”

“Big U.S. companies have cleaned up their balance sheets and, flush with cash, appear open to using it in 2011 on factories, stores and even hiring.

It looks like it will be a race between the Obama administration and the new Republican Congress to prove that the economy started healing and US companies started hiring and spending before the austerity measures and repeals that Congress has queued up start cutting into the very few public services that we have left.

As a communications professional, this will all boil down to messaging.  Will the American public even know that the largest US companies are coming out of their three year hibernation well before the Tea Party and the Republicans start slashing and burning essential public works and public health initiatives?  We’ll see.

To date, the Obama administration an the Democrats in charge has done a terrible job of keeping the passion alive.  What I should be able to say is that this is Obama’s to lose but that’s not the case — the GOP already owns this space and could probably roll through and even begin associating the return of jobs and the market with the Republican win last November.

This is a list of what FOX News viewers believe to be true (via Perez Hilton*):

• 91 percent believe the stimulus legislation lost jobs
• 72 percent believe the health reform law will increase the deficit
• 72 percent believe the economy is getting worse
• 60 percent believe climate change is not occurring
• 49 percent believe income taxes have gone up
• 63 percent believe the stimulus legislation did not include any tax cuts
• 56 percent believe Obama initiated the GM/Chrysler bailout
• 38 percent believe that most Republicans opposed TARP
• 63 percent believe Obama was not born in the U.S. (or that it is unclear)

* Obviously, it must be true

Today, November 2nd, is Election Day!

Make sure to get out and vote. Voting is pretty simple, but if you have any questions, here’s an outline of helpful information. Please share this information widely–forward this email, and post it on Facebook and Twitter.

(Reading this on your mobile phone? You can get voting info here: http://m.google.com/elections)

Where and when do I vote?

• Find your polling place, voting times, and other important information at http://pol.moveon.org/votinginfo2010.html, using an application developed by the Voting Information Project.

• You can also get your polling location by texting “where” to 30644 from your mobile phone.

• These resources are excellent, but not perfect, so to double-check information, you can use the Voting Information Project application to find contact information for your state or local election official.

What do I need to bring?

• Voting ID laws vary from state to state, but if you have ID, bring it. To find out the details, check out your state’s info at http://www.866ourvote.org/state.

• You can also find more information by calling or checking out the website of your state election official. Look up their contact information here: http://pol.moveon.org/votinginfo2010.html

What if something goes wrong?

• Not on the voter list? Make sure you’re at the right polling place, then ask for a provisional ballot.

• Need legal help? Call 1-866-OUR-VOTE or email help@866ourvote.org.

On your ballot

• The League of Young Voters has put together a site where groups and individuals can post do-it-yourself voter guides. Check out your state here: http://theballot.org/

How can I help get out the vote today?

• Make calls to voters right from your home: http://pol.moveon.org/2010/call/start.html
And a quote to remind us all how important it is to vote today…

“Because if everyone who fought for change in 2008 shows up to vote in 2010, we will win this election, I’m confident that we will.” –President Barack Obama

My friend Richard Laermer believes that President Obama’s lack of physical and visible anger is the direct result of being from Hawaii.

I am from Hawaii. Richard sees lots of similarity between the behavior of people he knows from Hawaii and the president — including me!

Maybe, however I also think it has a little to do with avoiding the “angry black man” label as well… sort of a hybrid.  The question is, why would growing up in Hawaii result in such behavior?

Well, I tried, below, to brainstorm some reasons, though it’s rough.  The long-story-short is that Hawaii is more influenced by the Asian social and cultural mores that state that one must do anything to save face and prevent shaming your opponent, allowing them an “out”  — and your foe must, as well, work hard to protect you from shame as well.

It is not that Hawaii locals, natives, and kama’ainas (localized haoles) don’t get angry, fight, and so forth — but the issue here is about shame.

It is about saving face and allowing your foe an opportunity to save face, too.

We (generally) don’t like to corner anyone — the mentality states that we allow other people to escape from a terrible situation with their pride intact and also demand that we’re allowed to do the same.

It is a little like this in the South as well, I have discovered.

And really WASPY people sort of play by some of these rules.

It is an Asian interpretation of “what goes around comes around” — by never cornering your enemy, you offer the best of both worlds while doing your best to prevent BBS (burnt bridge syndrome).

However, Asians; Hawaii locals, natives, kama’ainas; and the rest are not suckers or fools — this “lack of anger” is only temporary.

If the face-saver realizes that his foe has no desire to be helped and, worse, has not an open hand but a fist, this could get very messy.

So, we’ll see what President Barack Obama does at the end of the day — and what sort of “behind the back” plan he has…

Because, when the whole saving face thing doesn’t work out, the extension of this strategy is to stab your foe in the back.

And so ends my deep peering into my crystal coconut.

Here are 11 Public Option FACTS via Rant.com:

1. If you like your current health insurance plan, you can keep it.
2. If you like your current doctors, you can keep them.
3. Insurance companies will be prohibited from denying you coverage because of your medical history.
4. Insurance companies will be prohibited from dropping your coverage if you get sick.
5. Insurance companies will be prohibited from reducing your coverage if you get sick.
6. Insurance companies will no longer be allowed to place a cap on the amount of money you may receive from your illness, no yearly cap allowed, no lifetime cap allowed.
7. The government will place a limit on a citizen’s out-of-pocket expenses.
8. Insurance companies will be required to cover all check-ups and preventive care.
9. The government insurance plan will NOT add to the US deficit and will actually save money in the long run.
10. The US is the only large industrialized country left in the world that doesn’t provide its population with a government alternative health care option.
11. The most important thing for you to realize about the Public Option and the Obama health plan? It’s going to save you money. Yes, even if you were to end up getting taxed for it, it is STILL going to cost you LESS than you’re paying now for health insurance!

More info via Rant.com, Whitehouse.gov, and on Senate Finance, and on Facts About Reform.

Via The Big Picture.   I will be spending most of December in Berlin so I will see what they think.  All I know is that Berlin — and the rest of Europe I covered in 2008 — hoped that Barack Obama‘s presidential win might tone down the tragic global perception of America as an Idiocracy.

My friend Mike Signer wrote a book that came out during his run for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. The other night, over chili, he handed me the austere hardcover first printing of Demagogue: The Fight to Save Democracy from Its Worst Enemies. Mike is now tanned and rested and back on the book-promotion trail.  Here’s a review of the book and the standing-room only event that took place recently in Richmond, VA, Signer speaks to Richmond World Affairs Council:

Mike Signer, an author and former Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, tonight discusses “the fight to save democracy” at the World Affairs Council of Greater Richmond.

Signer, an adjunct professor in Virginia Tech‘s master in International Affairs program, is the author of “Demagogue — The Fight to Save Democracy from its Worst Enemies.”

Signer is a supporter of President Barack Obama‘s foreign policy of engagement.

“Instead of a weapon in the hands of a bully, Obama sees democracy as a rallying cry for a natural leader leading a crowd away from a cliff,” Signer wrote last week in an opinion article published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Tonight’s event is at The Jefferson Hotel in Richmond.

Signer, a University of Virginia law graduate, served as deputy counsel to Mark R. Warner during his term as governor. Warner is now one of Virginia’s U.S. senators.

Last year Signer was senior strategist in the campaign of Democrat Tom Perriello, who defeated U.S. Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr., R-5th, in November.

Signer lost in the June 9 Democratic primary to Jody M. Wagner, now the party’s nominee for lieutenant governor. — Andrew Cain

(Guest blog post from local girl, Hawaii resident, belly dancer, model, actress, singer and childhood friend of Chris Abraham, Miss Willow Chang)

Aloha friends.  I write to you at the end of what could have been- an amazing day to mark a milestone in Hawaii’s becoming a state 50 years ago. I certainly don’t want to rankle anyone, and I’m not here to debate the actions of the past. Instead, I wonder to myself: when did it become such a ‘crime’ to be proud of where you live or express interest in celebrating it?

Hawaii has the distinction of being a fun place, a place of mystique, beauty, depth, culture and intrigue. We also have been marketed as a paradise, an oasis, a melting pot, a place that’s kitschy, a place to fall in love, a place to find yourself, a place where the modern and ancient can co-exist.

Would a celebration of our diverse islands be such a bad thing? I’m not suggesting that we be flagrant in what are obvious hard economic times. But really, we’ll never see 50 EVER again. A parade- lord knows we have a lot of them, a ho’olaulea, hula, music, food, dance, prayers, offerings- these are the elements that make hawai’i unique when we celebrate. By celebrating 50, it is a continuum- honoring the past celebrating the now and encouraging the future.

When I think of times that Hawai’i felt united and co-heasive, I think of the annual lantern floating festival at magic island…the winning streak of UH football that got everyone jazzed- even non football fans!…Barack Obama’s ascent into the national spotlight (and hello, president! I’m setting politics aside here- cause that still is an achievement, no matter how you slice it.) The amazing Clay winning the decathlon come to mind…how bout the enthusiasm for Michelle Wie? Makana? Iona Dance Company? Our poetry slam team. C & K? Merrie Monarch attendees…Duke Kahanamoku…the Hokuleia…our green mice? There’s Jack Johnson and a million people, Hawaiian, locals and kama’ainas in training who are awesome and stir the soul!!!

Think about this: our state birthed surfing, we live aloha, we have the only palace in America (and that’s an opportunity to educate), our natives navigated by the stars, we are the birthplace of slack key, brah- we have plate lunch! Here, we CELEBRATE HAPA! We live multiculturally and have done so, side by side, for years, we’ve had a Filipino and a woman governor, a Samoan mayor- and one who sings, for heaven’s sake!

EVERYONE is allowed at bon dances!

People save up their money to come to Hawaii. They come and get MARRIED here! They honeymoon here and even renew their vows. Hapas and gays feel welcome here. We offer hula, Hawaiian studies, Peking opera, Noh Theater, Tahitian dance, Korean studies and countless other amazing courses at UH. People compete paddling canoes BETWEEN ISLANDS! We have an awesome astronomy dept- and will have the BEST IN THE WORLD on the big island! We have creatures here nowhere else (Hawaiian birds, Hawaiian monk seals, silvers words etc.) golden plovers fly across the ocean to be here. We have hula dancers on our phonebooks and rainbows on our license plates (and drivers license)! Sitcoms come to Hawaii to be revived, and no other state has a cooler “theme’ than Hawaii 5-0!!! (da-da-dun-da-da-da…da-da-da-dun-daaah)

Why there was no leadership to put an event together makes me sad.

I feel that this is really simply apathy, fear and maybe even laziness. No one wanted to rock the boat and upset some activists. But the reality is, NO MATTER WHAT when you are charged to be against the status quo, there will be nothing you can do to please these factions. The beauty of being a state is that we are ALL protected by our constitution to gather, assemble and express our options, ideas and beliefs…without the fear of being rounded up and thrown in jail. Think of Iran, Myanmar, Egypt, North Korea and countless places without such freedoms! Instead, we cowered in the corner…why?

We could have used the energy to galvanize a momentum of positivity, to celebrate what makes our beautiful state inimitable.

Instead, we when shopping. (Eh brah- I wen da MAC counter at ala moana too… it was PACKED! tried to see a movie tonight and it and 2 others were SOLD OUT!)

Don’t tell me people didn’t need a release, a moment of fun, of diversion.

I hope that in the future, we aren’t simply hijacked by fear. Because today’s absence of celebration felt like it (and no, a symposium at the convention center doesn’t count. sorry.)

Bio of Willow Chang:

Classically trained in voice, Willow Chang is noted for her musicality, bell-like tone and clarity. She is sophisticated, emotive and expressive, singing not only the lyrics, but also the story each song tells.

Willow’s versatility embraces such genres as Broadway show tunes, French Melodie, art songs, madrigals, choral works, R&B, funk and ’80s pop. For example, she has been the lead vocalist for Swingwood Revue (neo and classic Big Band), Plush Nugget (funk and R&B) and Paradise Sisters and Co. (Top 40).

In 2008, Willow was featured with The Hot Club of Hulaville, sharing the best of Django gyspy inspired Jazz and cabaret. With her period perfect flair, on-spot French and undeniable musicality, she helped create the buzz about the band! Since 2003, Willow has been with The Forbidden World of Don Tiki (Hawai‘i Exotica), and is intregal to their theatrical shows as featured vocal soloist and dance artist, selecting her music, and creating both her own unique costumes and choreography.

Together, they’ve played the Hawaii Theater, Hawaiian Hut, The Turtle Bay Jazz festival, the Hilton Hawaiian Village, The Elks Club, The Pacific Beach Hotel, The Honolulu Design Center, the Hawaii State Art Museum, the Hawaii Convention Center, Aloha Tower Marketplace, Night time with Andy Bumatai, Honolulu City 150’s birthday Gala, with the Honolulu Symphony, for countless conventions, the Las Vegas opening of the Hawaiian Tropic Zone Restaurant in the Planet Hollywood Hotel, were featured in Hanahou- Hawaiian Airlines’ inflight magazine, on German television and in Berlin, Germany for the Wassermusik Festival in 2008.

For the past 16 years, Willow has specialized in jazz standards and contemporary cabaret. Audiences find her mesmerizing and memorable through her great song choices, vibrant delivery, engaging rapport and impeccable, elegant stage presence. Willow has been singing for audiences since she was 7 and has been studying voice since she was 13.

Among her early vocal achievements, she was invited into the exclusive Punahou Chorale and select honor choir, which performed in Japan, and was a representative for the Hawai‘i State Honor Choir.

At Sarah Lawrence College, she studied vocal literature, sight singing, composition and music theory.

Willow graduated from the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa with a minor in music. Her excellent pitch translates into ease of singing in numerous languages, including German, Hawaiian, Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Latin, Russian, Spanish, French, Turkish and Arabic, to name a few.

Since her teen years, Willow has studied voice with Julianne Cross, Erik Haines, Eddye Pierce-Young, Jean Wentworth, Vicky Gorman, Annette Johansson, Larry Paxton and Theresa Bomberger. Currently (since 2002), she studies the Bel Canto technique with renowned Maestra Neva Rego, of the famed La Scala Opera.

Willow has sung internationally at the Club Piano Piano, in the Cairo World Trade Center and the Cairo Jazz Club in Mohandessen, Egypt.

In the Islands, she has had steady engagements at Michel’s at the Colony Surf, the Ship’s Tavern at the historic Sheraton Moana Surfrider, O‘ahu Country Club, MidPacific Country Club and Café Che Pasta.

Willow is frequently booked to sing at the Sheraton Waikiki’s famed Hanohano room. She sings for exclusive events, ranging from wine tastings and art openings to conventions, and is much in demand for gala and fundraising events (Hawaiian Humane Society, Juvenile Diabetes, Diamond Head Theater, Hawai‘i Theater for Youth, Honolulu Academy of Arts and opening celebrations for the Waikiki Tiffany & Co. store) Willow is now producing her own events, including the World dance concert series PUJA, and music concerts at Hawaii Public Radio.

In Decemeber 2008, she made her debut with the Willow Sings Songs of the Season. Willow placed in the top three in the juried 2006 Hapa Haole Song & Dance Contest by performing an original composition.

Her original music was featured on the Discover Recycling soundtrack CD, alongside cuts from Henry Kapono and Jack Johnson. In 2008, she was a finalist in the Hawaii Public Radio Art Song Contest, singing literature by Aaron Copeland.

Willow has written and composed original songs, and recently completed her first demo of jazz standards.

Considering the recent slipping of his approval rating, what should President Barack Obama do to gain favorable support once again from the public via marketing, advertising, social media and PR? Should President Obama make the media and talk show rounds again? Will this help or hurt? Is this just a natural political cycle? What would you do? Well, I received a blogger outreach email pitch from Lauren Bishop over at 5W Public Relations and her boss, 5W CEO, Ronn Torossian, thinks he has the answer:

“Right now the American people are not interested in seeing the president on The Today Show, Jay Leno or YouTube and tweeting. By now they understand he is a “hip” president who is in touch with the public, and it’s time for substance. We are in the midst of a horrible economic recession, and people voted Obama in as the leader of our country to implement effective changes—not to sing and dance. As things heat up with the healthcare plan the administration is looking to pass, it will be critical for Obama to speak to the American people about the topic in a concise and clear manner that addresses any fears,” said Torossian. “Once people see that Obama is someone they can trust to make decisions that will benefit their lives in a positive manner, it is likely his approval rate will increase again.”

Here’s the context, from the mouth of 5w PR:

Love him or hate him…you can’t ignore the numbers. And the numbers right now indicate that people may be jumping off the Obama bandwagon. With the focus right now on an uncertain healthcare plan that the Obama administration is adamant about passing, many have been wondering where the plan will leave them standing in their times of need. According to the Gallop poll on August 12th more Americans disapprove (49 percent) than approve of the bill (43 percent). And if that isn’t a wake-up call for the president who had at one point one of the highest approval rates of presidential history, then the fact that Mr. Obama’s overall approval rate is at its all time low at 47 percent as of August 13th might be.

So with the facts and figures singing a somewhat melancholy tune for the president who simply had to smile to win people over, what is next? How does the President gain favorable support again? Will a media relations tour help the president or do people simply want to see him come through on his promises and not so much on their TVs over and over again?

Ronn Torossian, CEO of 5W Public Relations, one of the largest independent PR firms in the U.S. who has worked extensively with various political figures and programs, believes it is time the president flies a bit under the radar and focuses more on the programs he originally promised.

To me, this is all very strange.  How often does one receive such a thing from the CEO of one of the largest indy PR firms?  Well, you have to admit it, this sort of thing does require a lot of chutzpah. I admire chutzpah because I like to think that it is something I like to foster in myself and in my team at Abraham Harrison.

P073009PS-0451, originally uploaded by The Official White House Photostream.

President Barack Obama, Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Sergeant James Crowley toast at the start of their meeting in the Rose Garden of the White House, July 30, 2009. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Come listen to Stevie Wilson and me talk about the economy, buying, spurring the economy, being gauche, and being economical — especially, when it comes to DC and LA — come listen to us spout and if I piss you off, poke me with a sharp stick, Why Do You Need to Spend Money? Recession-Buster Chris Abraham Chats Up LA-Story.com

Talking to Chris Abraham is always an interesting conversation. It’s part serious, part giggles and part free-falling imagination.

This is part one of a series of podcasts that started out as a series of IM’s about the economy and spending money. It was right after Obama was talking about people should resume spending money because that will help regenerate the economy. (It is a statement of fact. I have done my fair share in the past few weeks— though not always for things I really wanted. Four tires later, she sighs.)

We decided it needed to be a podcast with a loose theme on the economy, recession and about spending money. That’s what it started out to be— and then we segued into other related topics and then into vaguely related topics. About an hour later, we pretty well solved the world problems as well as a fashion dilemma or two.

Now if you find this dreadfully boring — and it’s not— wait for podcast # 2. It’s much better and by # 3 — wow.. It’s popping!

See ya!

Stevie Wilson

Over the last couple days I have been hearing about these Tea Party Talking Points that The Heritage Foundation has put out.  I want you to see it because I have been hearing it quoted verbatim on conservative talk radio, on Fox, and elsewhere.  I hate it when people stick this closely to talking points, but it is an important and interesting study of messaging and the feared and admired ability conservatives have to show one united front.  Check this out:

DON’T BORROW, SPEND, AND TAX AWAY OUR FUTURE

The President’s Plan

• Blames Bush: President Obama correctly points out that he inherited a projected $1.2 trillion deficit in 2009 from President Bush and a Democratic Congress. However, his budget adds an additional $659 billion to that deficit, pushing it above $1.8 trillion. Although Obama has pledged to reduce the budget deficit to approximately $600 billion by 2012, that would still be $150 billion above pre-recession levels. Quadrupling the deficit and then cutting it in half is not “change.”
• Increases Spending, Again: After an $800 billion stimulus bill, the Obama budget increases spending by $1 trillion over 10 years, includes an additional $250 billion placeholder for another bailout, and calls for a Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) law while astonishingly violating that rule by $3.4 trillion.
• Expands Government: The 25% spending increase in the Obama budget represents the largest non-war government expansion since the New Deal.
• Leaves Deficits: The Obama budget leaves permanent deficits averaging $600 billion even after the economy recovers and doubles the publicly held national debt to over $15 trillion ($12.5 trillion in 2009 dollars).
• Cuts Defense: The Obama budget fails to fully fund the core defense needs of the United States. About $30 billion more is needed in the base defense budget.
• Puts Government in Charge: The $634 billion for health care reform in the Obama budget is only a “down payment” on an eventual government-run system. Experts believe the actual cost could reach $1.6 trillion over 10 years. This is in addition to the trillions already spent on health care this year in the stimulus and SCHIP bills.

Taxes, Taxes, Taxes

• Energy Taxes: The Obama budget proposes a $646 billion cap-and-trade tax that White House officials admit could actually generate $1.9 trillion in tax revenue over eight years. This tax would cost each American household between $650 and $2,000 annually in new energy costs, even though President Obama promised that “electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket” under this cap-and-trade program (January 2008).
• Oil and Gas Taxes: The Obama budget would collect $31 billion in new oil and gas tax revenue. These industries are already taxed above the industrial average, and increasing the burden would be detrimental to increasing or even maintaining domestic supply.
• Excise Taxes: The Obama budget would reinstate unnecessary Superfund excise taxes that expired in 1995.
• Death Taxes: The estate tax is set to expire in 2010, but the Obama budget and liberals in Congress are proposing keeping it between 35 and 45%.
• Tobacco Taxes: The largest tobacco tax in history is three times as likely to affect low-income Americans, who are more likely to smoke, as it is to affect high-income Americans.

There Are Alternatives

• A Path to American Prosperity: There are now two 10-year budget plans being offered in Washington. The Obama budget raises taxes by $1.4 trillion; the conservative Alternative avoids all tax increases and even simplifies the tax code. One budget does nothing to address the unsustainable costs of Social Security and Medicaid; the other begins to reform these programs. One budget permanently raises federal spending to over 22% of GDP; the other lowers it to pre-recession levels.
• Lower Taxes: Senator Jim DeMint’s “American Option” would have reduced business taxes from 35 percent to 25 percent to spur rapid growth in wages, jobs and business incomes. It also would have permanently repealed the Alternative Minimum Tax and reduced the individual tax rate to three levels—10, 15, and 25 percent—giving Americans more of their own money to fuel the economy and increasing disposable income for an average family of four by up to $4,500 by 2013.

I have been seeing lots of articles like Steve Rubel‘s Twitter Is Peaking; Get Ready to Follow The Geeks Onward and Larry Green’s response pot, Dear Twitter: Failure is not an option (for branding). Why am I so accepting of all of these Fail Whale “Twitter is over capacity” pages is because nobody could have anticipated the sudden and overwhelming ubiquity of Twitter in the last 90-days.

I don’t know how much Television you watch, but Twitter is everywhere. The last time Twitter had this sort of challenge, they stood up to the challenge — I didn’t experience one Fail Whale during the Inauguration of Barack Obama, for example.

People were blissed and amazed, if they noticed at all (people never notice success, they only note failure).

I know that new users are going to be turned off by Twitter’s current spate of Fail Whales; however, I am sure that the IT ninjas are in high-alert and maxing out every credit card in sight to acquire more servers and a better long-term architecture.  And, those men and women stepped up to the challenge of the presidential election and the presidential inauguration and

I am sure they are trying to step up to the overwhelming assault.

The real story is that all the morning and daytime TV shows have invested in Twitter: Morning Joe, Good Morning America, Martha Stewart, The View, Today Show, Bonnie Hunt, Live with Regis and Kelly, The Ellen Degeneres Show, and many others.  Now, that’s big news!

While all of Steve Rubel’s Geeks and Techies might be ready to jump, the worst that will happen — the very worst — is that Twitter might turn into MySpace, a property that is still very much a powerful platform for hundreds of millions of people to this very day — and still amazingly profitable for both News Corp and it’s advertisers.

And I guarantee you that the following conversation happened during a board meeting:

Evan Willams and Biz Stone: “We need a quadrillion dollars to buy a bazillion new servers and bandwidth because we’re about to tip into the mainstream, including Morning Joe, Good Morning America, Martha Stewart, The View, Today Show, Bonnie Hunt, Live with Regis and Kelly, and The Ellen Degeneres Show, in the next 90-days.”

The Twitter Board and Investors: “You’ve got to be bloody kidding me! There’s no way that the normal folks at Morning Joe, Good Morning America, Martha Stewart, The View, Today Show, Bonnie Hunt, Live with Regis and Kelly, The Ellen Degeneres Show, and many others would spontaneously decide to join and participate in such a geeky and techie thing such as Twitter.”

Well, guess what? Evan Willams and Biz Stone were right, if they really did make that sincerest of pleas.

Barack Obama wants American students to choose engineering above finance, Obama on Tonight Show urges students to study engineering, not finance:

“We need young people, instead of — a smart kid coming out of school, instead of wanting to be an investment banker, we need them to decide if they want to be an engineer, they want to be a scientist, they want to be a doctor or a teacher,” the president said.

The reason why many so graduates of Yale, Harvard, Columbia, Brown, Cornell, Stanford, and the like beeline it to K Street, Wall Street and Silicon Valley is because the only industries that know the true value of the best and brightest Americans are law, business consulting, finance, and venture capital — these roads can end up making you a millionaire.

When most people think of engineers, they think of someone who might top out at a couple-three hundred-thousand-a-year, twenty-years into the career.

Mind you, this might not be true. Do the Boeings, Lockheed Martins, Airbuses, and CISCOs of the world pay the $180,000+ a junior associate expects to make coming out of an Ivy, post law school?

The reason why our top minds and top talent are not investing in engineering is the same reason why fewer and fewer top minds are choosing medicine: the money isn’t there in the way they were always expected, even now during the bottom of the recession.

I think that Obama is going to need to put his money where his mouth is. Unfortunately for President Obama, engineers and engineering can easily and handily be outsourced abroad to places like India, where engineering is far from either a dying art or a low caste place for nerds.

My friends organized a birthday picnic for me at Lincoln Park on Capitol Hill

Posted via email from Chris Abraham