Showing posts with label French Revolution. Show all posts
Showing posts with label French Revolution. Show all posts

Friday, August 20, 2010

An Empire State Of Mind: The Final Countdown



During April 2006 I was holed up. I went to hang out with some friends from Nepal one evening, but other than that I was just holed up. I was zoned out. I was in a very different state of mind. I wanted no human contact. I felt detached from basic bodily functions like eating and sleeping. By the time I emerged, I had lost weight for someone who did not need to lose weight, I needed glasses.

What Reshma is doing now is much bigger in its long term implications than what I did in April 2006. But I can relate to her state of mind. This is the final stretch. This is the final countdown. This is it. It is a state of mind.

I don't think she will get less busy after her victory party on September 14 - I can totally see her going national right after; so chances are she will get even more busy - but these final weeks before September 14 are special. They are to be savored.

Barack Obama Just Endorsed Reshma Saujani
Sep 15 - Oct 31: Obama-Reshma Should Crisscross The Country

There are two kinds of people, people who will have known Reshma - either in person or by name - before September 14, and people who will get to know her after September 14. Which kind are you?

I relate to Reshma's current state of mind from my personal experience in April 2006 when Nepal went through a French Revolution.



April 2006: Nepal

Dismantle The Two Armies
To: The Kathmandu Media
Chitralekha Yadav: Speaker
Zimpundit: Zimbabwe
Undercurrents Of A Counter-Revolution
Maoist Posturing
Madhav Nepal
डा. कटक मल्ल: सुन्दर, शान्त र शिष्ट नेपालको निर्माणका लागि
The Revolution Is Very Much On
Victory
Reciprocate The Maoist Ceasefire Immediately
Army Under Parliament, Now
Mero Sansar Video Clips 7
Declare Constituent Assembly On First Day Of Parliament
Maoist Reaction To Democratic Victory: Not Right
Madhesi Rights: Total Equality
ितमीले देखाइ िदयौ
18 Days Of April Revolution: Victory
Kiran Nepal
Cobb To Leahy
Protests
Kiran Nepal, Dinesh Wagle
Brian Cobb: Savagery On The Roof Of The World
Nepal Has Hit The World Headlines
Home Minister: Bamdev Gautam
King Of India
My Most Controversial Blog Post To Date: On Madhesi Issue
Protests
King's Address: Old Wine, Old Bottle
Dinesh Wagle, Kiran Nepal In Town
House Revival Through Supreme Court Decision
कर्फ्यु तोड्न आह्वान गर्नेले
Could Girija Be President?
Sanjaya Parajuli In Brooklyn
Checkmate
Protests
Madhav Nepal Out In Open
Solidarity Rally DC
Smugglers, Sadists, Sycophants Have Infiltrated This Regime
Why The International Community Needs To Get Behind This Revolution
April 20: March Onto The Palace, End The Monarchy
Constituent Assembly: Still The Meeting Point
जाउलो खाएर क्रान्ित गर
Chand, Marich Man, Pashupati, Thapa, All Panches
Protests
The Art Of War, Bruce Lee
Mero Sansar Video Clips 6
End Of Ceausescu
30 Minutes With Amrit Bohra
Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, Irrelevant
जनआन्दोलनको कार्यक्रम
Monarchy's End: A Few Scenarios
Video Blogging
Aire Gaire Natthu Khaire Pahadis
क्रान्ितलाई नबुझ्नु, बुझ पचाउनु
Protests
Henry Shepherd: Open Source
Baburam Bhattarai: Lokatantric Ganatantra Ko Prasab Bedana
Gongabu Massacre
Get The Police On Our Side
Brian Cobb, Brave Man
Hamro Nepal, Latest
Interim President: Madhav Nepal
UN Rally
First ANTA NYC Event, Times Square Marriott
No Room For Monarchy In The 21st Century: King
Protests
Zero Tolerance Policy Towards Monarchy
Nepali Congress Or Praja Parishad
Protests
Friday Rally
INSEC Report
Malaria, Polio, Monarchy
Hamro Nepal: Draft Constitution
Alliance Is Mad At You
Mike Veer: Has Nepal's Orange Revolution Begun?
The King Set To Declare Date For Elections
Protests
Nepali Mandir
ये तो क्रान्ित है
Mero Sansar Video Clips 5
Happy New Year 2063
Interim Constitution, Revolutionary Parliament
Shoot At Sight Order: Dead End For The King
Protests
Constituent Assembly: 300 Seats Of Roughly Equal Population
Crime, Organized Crime, Terrorism, State Terrorism
The Police, The Army Need To Stop Following Illegitimate Orders
April 8: New Year
BBC Calls
NYC Rally Photos: Arnico Panday
April 9
April Revolution: Document Every Atrocity
Protests
The Fascists In Kathmandu
Final Act: Disobey The Curfew
Himal Survey
April 6,7,8,9, April 16,17,18,19, April 26,27,28,29
Even If The Worst Fears About The Maoists Are True
Write To Bush, Condi Before Possible Clampdown
Leahy Amendment Says No Arms To Nepal
यो सडक ितम्र्ो हो
Kamal Thapa Is A Nazi
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Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Extrapolations To Reshma 2016

South façade of the White House, the executive...Image via Wikipedia
Nepal

In January of 2006 I predicted a "French Revolution" in Nepal with an organization that was the first organization I landed on after moving to the city, having been a Deaniac from 2004. (The French Revolution And DFNYC) These people had been driving me impatient. I was asking them to do small things like maybe raise a thousand dollars - one fucking thousand dollars! - and get some elected officials to write letters of support to the democracy movement in Nepal, and they would not budge! It was a we-simply-don't-care-one-way-or-the-other attitude. "Stuff happened in Rwanda, and I was not bothered" was one comment.

I was trying to argue that this was not just about Nepal. This was about the War On Terror. The only way the War On Terror is going to end is when all Arab countries have been turned into democracies. And we can get there the Bush way, a trillion dollars per country, or we can do it my way like in Nepal. This Nepal work boosts the progressive cause in America. All that logic fell on deaf ears. So I bootstrapped. I did what I could. Fundraising never having been one of my core strengths, I struggled.

The French Revolution did happen. In April 2006 over a course of 19 days one third of the country's 27 million people poured into the streets to completely shut the country down until the dictator bowed out. Every single village, town and city poured out.

The First Major Revolution Of The 21st Century Happened In Nepal

I was of course holed up that entire time. I lost weight, I did not need to. I had to get glasses in the aftermath. I was too busy monitoring the situation. It was an intense experience. When it was over, I emerged. I showed up for a DFNYC event in Brooklyn. I was living in Brooklyn at the time. This was my first DFNYC event in Brooklyn. At the time I still had my car that I moved into the city with. I drove over. I had no idea what had happened in Nepal had also taken over the news spectrum in NYC. I had been trained by DFNYC to think people in NYC just did not care about Nepal. Nepal was too far away.

I saw Leila Noor at the event. I said, hey, thanks for that article on Nepal you forwarded to me over email. That was much appreciated. Told me you knew.

What are you talking about, she said. Everyone knew. It was a hit me moment. I then realized Nepal had been on TV, Nepal had been in the New York Times, Nepal had been everywhere.

Subsequently Howard Dean showed up at a DFNYC Mixer and this guy Josh was doing crowd control on me. I was the reason Howard Dean showed up in the first place and this mofo was doing crowd control on me! Mandela calls it "a thousand little indignities" in his book.

Barack

This was a much easier prediction to make. I predicted at the beginning of 2007 that he was going to be president. (Jupiter And Obama) Barack has this messiah quality to him. He even looked like one to me at the Washington Square Park rally with the bright lights in the background. (The Largest Rally In US Presidential Campaign History) When I watch a speech from him, it feels like a cool breeze is brushing against my face. It is a spiritual experience to watch him in action. He is Gandhiesque.

John

I was at John's victory party last year, and the thought first occurred to me. I remember thinking, this guy could be Mayor in four years. I blogged about it. At his inauguration he was still unsure because the smell of Thompson was still in the air, but no more. For now John gets to deliver the labor bosses to me, if possible.

John Liu: Mayor Of NYC: 2013

Reshma

Reshma 2010's victory on September 14 is going to be the biggest political event in New York City since Barack almost won Brooklyn in February of 2008. In many ways bigger because I don't hold that against him but Barack is a Chicago guy. September 14 is the day this country gives birth to The New Woman. The New Woman wants to, is able to, and takes equality for granted. The New Woman does not rest until that same has been achieved for women across the world.

Reshma was a White House intern as a college student at the Harvard of the Midwest, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. I have walked around that campus, by the way. The Quad is so beautiful. Larry Ellison dropped out of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign like Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard. (Larry Ellison, Larry Ellison's Personal Life, Larry Ellison's 1995 Network Computer Vision, Rich People's Kids) It bothers me when people only talk about Harvard and Yale when talking about Reshma. That East Coast bias has to go. She organized for Clinton Gore 96. She organized for Gore 2000. She was one of John Kerry's top 10 fundraisers in the country. She was a big shot with Hillary 08. This woman is not made for the legislative branch. This woman is custom made for the White House. But a run for the White House can not be your first run, and hence Congress. She is going to do the FDR thing of putting a New Yorker in the White House. She is going to do the Lincoln thing of going from the House to the White House. She is going to end the global trafficking of women like Lincoln ended slavery.

But I would like to mess up with her House to White House trajectory. I am going to make a case with Barack.

"Look, I suffered for you, I went on the cross for you. (The First Time I Heard The Obama Name, Obama, Reshma, Charlie Rangel: Motherfucker, Rangel Has Gone Radioactive) I want my woman on the ticket in 2012. Trust me, Joe will understand. He no longer has the foreign policy advantage that he once had if he ever did. You are a seasoned world stage player in your own right. By the way, can I take a look at your Nobel medal? Because I would like one for myself. You did construction work as a student in New York City and you have goat herder heritage. That is as working class as it gets for me. Barack the glass ceiling, I mean break the glass ceiling, put a woman on the ticket. (Barack The Glass Walls, Ceilings, Smash 'Em) It is about time. Putting Malia and Sasha into the White House has not just been about the self esteem of black children, it has also been about the self esteem of young girls across the world."

Reshma 2016 is the biggest rationale for Reshma 2010. If it is about Reshma, she could run in 2016, 2020, 2024 all the way to 2040. But it is not about Reshma. It is about the country and the world. And that makes 2016 her year. 2016 will be time for the first woman President Of The United States, and the top woman to watch in New York City is that woman. (Reshma Saujani: Top 10 Women To Watch In America)

I read the Ted Sorensen book Kennedy when I was in middle school. It is a thick book. I read it cover to cover.


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