Yup, yup, yup!

I'm a member of a cultural minority in The Netherlands: the Frisians. I think we could be called an ethnic minority, but after so amny years of being part of The Netherlands I'm not sure about that. We used to be and you can still see physical differences between Frisians and Dutch. We have our own language, our own traditions and our own way of doing things. We're often the laughing stock of The Netherlands, every Frisian can speak Dutch, but our accents and the order in which we put the words in a sentence always give us away. Our region is the poorest region of the country. The first time I was eligible to vote in national elections I was able to vote for a Frisian woman. She became the first Frisian woman to be Speaker of the House of Representatives. I took a lot of pride in that. There was a woman out there, who sounded like me and she was representing me.

That's nothing compared with what the black community of the United States must be feeling now Barack Obama has won the presidential elections, has taken the oath of office and is working in the Oval Office. To feel that for the first time YOU are represented is amazing.

Personally, I just love the fact that there is a decent and intelligent man working on the most important job in the world. I also love the fact that there is a normal family living in the White House. A husband and wife who love eachother deeply, who respect eachother and admire eachother. It's a nice change from the Clinton-years, a marriage that still seems like just a convenient partnership. It's a nice change from the Bush-years, with two young girls completely on the loose.
I like that the President and the First Lady have led a life that I can recognize, they're further along the road, but they started where me and my husband are now. I like it that my father, who works in construction, could listen to a politician speak and could say: "this man knows what my life is about". I hope that he will be able to say that about a Dutch politician too.

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And now for the serious reading material

THE HARDEST VOTE
The disaffection of Ohio’s working class

THE APPALACHIAN PROBLEM
Obama goes to rural Virginia

Save Levi!

On experience and elitism

An excellent assessment from David Brooks.

For a good discussion on the principles of distinction that are at work in representative government this is an excellent book:

Bernard Manin - The Principles of Representative Government

He speaketh the truth

“We will take no lectures from John McCain who is cynically running the sleaziest and least honorable campaign in modern Presidential campaign history. His discredited ads with disgusting lies are running all over the country today. He runs a campaign not worthy of the office he is seeking,” said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton.

link

Media: where to go for unbiased coverage?

I've been trying for a couple of days now to find THE American news-outlet that will give me unbiased coverage of the elections and it's pretty hard to find. Though I think that most newspapers and networks try their best to bring us coverage that can be checked everywhere I go I read about the leftist this and the right-wing that. So, ultimately, it's pretty hard to find that news-outlet that isn't tarnished by partisan accusations. I now know to steer clear from both MSNBC and FOX, to read the Dailykos for my amusement, but with a healthy scepticism and I haven't got a clue as to where CNN stands in the Grand Scheme of things.