It arrived in my inbox -- an invitation to participate in a Town Hall forum with President Barack Obama in Washington, D.C. I excitedly sent in the requisite information for the security clearance, together with my question. A few days later, I was informed that I was to show up at 9 a.m. for a forum that would start at noon with the president.
The day of the event, I awoke, miserable, with a nasty sore throat. But I dragged myself up at the crack of dawn, telling myself this could be my chance to finally get the president's attention drawn to a solution to what many experts consider a far more serious and challenging problem than just about any other, including terrorism: global climate change. I had my question prepared. To address the climate crisis, was Obama considering alternatives to cap and trade now that this approach had been postponed indefinitely bv Congress, such as a carbon fee and dividend, or simply applying existing U.S. environmental laws, in order to act on climate change before it was too late? I had studied how I would respond if President Obama were to ask for more details.
Coughing, sniffing, I waited in line at the Newseum for two hours, along with over 200 other invitees, before we were searched as though we were boarding an international flight. No bottled liquids were allowed inside.
They brought us in to a fishbowl room. Rock & Roll was blaring, and the CNBC hostess, a red-headed, stiletto-heeled woman named Mary, greeted us each with a, "Hi, how are ya? Glad you could come. David will take you to your seat."
With every seat occupied, and the crowd in their Sunday best, we passed the hour until Obama would arrive taking pictures of each other, with Mary coaching us on how to clap on command, and giving us tips on how to be bold when asking our questions, and not too deferential.
"Any questions?" she asked. I raised my hand, "How will it be decided who will be allowed to ask questions?" We have ten people who have questions prepared, she said, and if we have time, we might get to yours. Crestfallen, but mustering a small amount of hope I could ask my question, I stayed in my seat.
Exactly at noon, after applying makeup, the POTUS arrived, introduced by the same voice we've all come accustomed to in movie previews. "The leader of the free world" -- dramatic pause -- "is losing the confidence of free markets" -- dramatic pause. "Millions remain out of work," -- dramatic pause -- "and fear their American dreams are slipping out of reach.
"Now, our chief executive comes face to face with his shareholders to prove he means business, answer tough questions and to try to restore faith in his plan for prosperity. Live from the nation's Capitol." And out strode Obama. We all did as we were told, rising to our feet, clapping and cheering loudly.
After some pleasantries between the host and the president, exactly four people in the audience -- and two who were pre-taped -- were allowed to ask the president questions.
And their questions? Well, it was, as Jon Stewart put it, like "meet the depressed." A bit of staged self-pitying, with even the Wall Street hedge fund manager whining that he felt "like a pinata."
Obama handled all of the complaints like a father encouraging his children to cheer up and remember that Santa Claus was on his way. But he did so with grace, intelligence, and his usual charm. His answers were long-winded and a bit of stump-speechifying. But clearly, the man knows his stuff.
However, I was shocked to note that, despite record floods in Pakistan, record temperatures globally, forest fires and crop failure in Russia, and despite a rapidly shrinking Arctic ice cap, not once did the words "climate change" cross the president's lips. Though I appeared on national TV, applauding along with the rest of them, I couldn't help but feel sad and a bit used.
Later, watching the TV coverage of the event, I imagined Obama felt the same way. His reasoned, careful answers -- short on soundbites and lacking the emotional appeal that makes for good TV -- were cut away, while the complainers' words were aired repeatedly.
Though Obama may not feel the same urgency I do about climate change, I can't help but feel sympathy for a man whose intelligence and thoughtfulness in this age of "info-tainment" seems out of step with the times.
We're running out of time. The problems are complicated, with lives -- indeed, our own future -- hanging in the balance. But the American public's only concern -- at least, according to CNBC -- is whether or not they can claim their piece of the American dream, the rest of the world be damned.
Follow Daphne Wysham on Twitter: www.twitter.com/daphnewysham
9/22/2010
Daphne Wysham: Coming Face to Face with Obama and the Vanishing American Dream
Cameraman swallowed by giant cloud of sand [video] - Holy Kaw!
Fantastic experience of a dust storm! Thanks Guy!
Ani Kaspar- Pelicans, Coconuts & Butterflies - The Bliss Blog
Ani Kaspar's greatest bliss is "living deeply, wholly and magnificently my true Self, or my authentic Soul, moment to moment, breath to breath. An unbound life of freedom, grace and love is who I am as a blissful embodiment here on precious Gaia. She says: "I feel completely connected to the simple perfection of every event, thought, feeling, action and Being in the world. I am void of judgment or expectation. Accepting, loving life and all of its many manifestations, including death or transition, with loving compassion, is my deepest bliss, my most sacred joy. Moving through the continual creation and re-creation of Self or Soul, without a sense of limitation, is so fulfilling experiential bliss is inevitable. For me bliss is the unbounded cascading of love, moment to moment, breath to breath."
With the diagnosis of cancer, Ani's life shifted radically. She proclaims with gratitude: "I would have to say I am healed. Although modern medical tests continue to confirm a small degree of cancer is detectable, I know this residual dis/ease is more like an echo from a past event, completed in time and space, but still lightly pulsing as it recedes from NOW. Cancer no longer is my daily truth; it is more a chapter of my untruthful past. Cancer was a phenomenal evolutionary tool for my Self, for my Soul, to emerge quickly, powerfully and certainly. Cancer was an amazing call to my essential truth as love. When I peeled away the dead stringencies of non-Soul, of inauthenticity, of non-love, my Soul burst alive. Now I know cancer was also unnecessary for this beautiful journey, but one I chose most probably because it was a timely tool for many of us here on Gaia.
Ani gladly spoke of her book with the whimsical title Pelicans, Coconuts & Butterflies.
"As I was completing 'Pelicans, Coconuts & Butterflies' and searching for a title to best express this amazing journey, I would sit on my front veranda in Porta Del Sol, watching pelicans fly and dive their intimate connection with life. Sunrise and sunset, I would sit listening to the sea whisper and drink the life-affirming waters of coconuts, waters that not only quench the Soul, but also deeply nourish the body. And throughout my day of writing, editing and searching for truth, each time I arrived truth, a butterfly would gently flutter by to taste the sweet nectar of the neighboring passionflower vine. In one moment the title just came to me: 'Pelicans, Coconuts & Butterflies: Conquering Cancer with a Life of Soul.' In that moment I knew: I live a life of pelicans, coconuts and butterflies - a moment of the cycle of ceaseless life, deep soul-quenching love, and joyous, playful truth. I am committed to living that life for the rest of my life here on Gaia".
Compassionate Cure for Cancer ® is what she refers to as her "humanitarian call to action.", which asks cancer patients worldwide "to request the modern medical community investigate and deliver natural, less invasive methods of treating and curing cancer. Options are our natural birthright. We must consider them carefully. Should you elect to pursue conventional medical cancer treatment, alternative cancer treatment protocols, or a combination of both, you will be required to sign a form of consent (or perhaps several). CCC asks that you read and print the following statement and attach it to each one:
"I invite you, the world medical and scientific community, to deliver compassionate care for cancer and to find a compassionate cure for cancer NOW.I invite you to end the suffering of a cancer patient today. I know you will accept this invitation of compassion. I have.Thank you."Simply, Compassionate Cure for Cancer (R) is an opportunity for cancer patients to voice their request for more choice, better options and more freedom in the physical treatment of this dis/ease.Ani's spiritual practice is an essential component of her life. "Love and nature feed my spiritual practice. As long as I love, moment to moment, breath to breath, all that is my Soul, my essential Self is immeasurably replenished. And as long as I am able to be in nature, to be one with Gaia and her infinite gifts, for some time each day, my spirit soars. Whether I am strolling along the shore with a neighbor's dog, gently stroking my cat Gigi, surfing the wondrous waves of the Caribbean sea, or planting vegetables in my garden in Porta Del Sol, I feel blissed, blessed and eternally grateful. To love and to be at one with nature. Loving is my optimal choice, of course. Loving is so easy, so immediately fulfilling. "
Ani embodies this quote:
"And the day came when the risk that it took to remain tight in a bud was greater than the risk it took to blossom." - Anais Nin