A Long and Winding Interstate Highway for the 2008 Agent of CHANGE

Last week… Iowa. Today… New Hampshire. The battle for the country’s bipartisan presidential nomination continues!

Change1 would probably be the most overused word that deserves a place in Guinness World Records for this year’s campaigns. As we all know, the same word has a number of meanings and is very relative in the English vocabulary. Since the real issues are overshadowed by the popularity of the word, allow me to share my reflections on this very important jargon of the times.

I always associated change with activism. No person can claim as an advocate (at the least) of change, if he or she has never lived a life as an activist. Again, there are a number of synonyms associated with the word “activist” but I will settle from its root word “act” and its qualifier “active”. Change always gains popularity during the campaigns in whatever elections at any levels but very few accept to be an activist… and remain as one. The rest develop selective amnesia right after the election or when enjoying the seat of power and temptation. Being an activist is never popular because people don’t want to accept change. Candidates would always talk about change but they are never activists or plan to be activists. This is not a good brand for a politician because again, it is not popular. Change is a sacred word that should never be shrouded with charisma and popularity. The clamor for change should not be popular. If it becomes popular, this means that change has been achieved.

There are some reformists out there trying to hide themselves under the magical cloak of change but then again they have no track record to show their activism… their actions. More treacherously, there are some opportunists out there who are just trying to gauge what what’s hot before launching a momentous speech and thereafter joining the blabberdom of change. Most gravely, there are also trigger-happy and hero-worshiping extremists out there who desperately need a mother to love them and perhaps make them bacon and eggs for breakfast. There is definitely something wrong with reformists, opportunists or extremists standing as activists while blasphemously claiming and advocating for change if they have no credentials to support it. Deal with the issues and show the voters your records of actions and explain your inactions. The US presidency is the most powerful position in the world. There should be no room for bogus actions and for raw plan of action. Enough of castles in the sky! I suggest that every candidate must take a break (Use your carried over (unused) PTO’s2 from 2007 or lose it!) and reflect about this question – Am I sincerely an authentic activist?

I am neither a political scientist nor a Dr. Phil (It would be nice to stop over at BritBrit’s but let’s leave her alone and enough of exploiting other people’s emotions and misery for the sake glamorized profit while leaving the writers starving in the picket lines. Hello?). I am a citizen of the world. I listen. I think. I feel. And to the last wave of carbon dioxide-oxygen exchange in my lungs, I will try to do my best and change for the better for the sake of my children’s children. But this is not about me. This is about the Hillary’s, the Rudolph’s and the Pedro’s in the course of history. Come election day, I pray that the voters would think about the ailing healthcare system, the displaced families in the war zones and the monkeys learning the laptop while there are children in the far-flung villages who haven’t even seen what book looks like. Forget about the popular jargons! Forget about global warming! Maybe when the emperor penguins rule Japan, countries will be more committed to the Kyoto Protocol.

To my beloved readers, here are some of my pun moments (I tried!) for the frontrunners’ campaign banner:

Hillary Clinton – Why settle for change if she has a Bill.
Barack Obama – The name with a small letter c (for change) and a capital letter O (for O, you know).
John Edwards – Change is sweeter the second time around.
Rudy Giuliani – Changing ring tone to silent mode with speed dial 911.
Mike Huckabee – The 3 G’s – God, Glory and Gold Change
Mitt Romney – Investing some loose change wisely.
John McCain – A choice of change. (No further comments. Smiles!)
Mike Bloomberg – It’s not to late to change mind.

At the end of the day, there’s nothing wrong with a change of mind (a.k.a., “flip-flop”). A change of opinion simply means that the brain is functional (but may not always be sound).

Vote with your conscience my friends! Vote for the genuine activist!

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1 Change - (ch ā nj) pronunciation
2 PTO – paid time-off