Sylvia, a dear friend of mine, has sent me last night this message and i promised her to reply as soon as i wake up, so here it is (bit shortened): “You posted that our choice of President in the US affects  you all, and other countries. So, a question… how? Secondly I’m curious why Obama, and why not Romney. So, if you feel up to either a short answer of food for thought for a blog post that would be great.
I personally am curious as well. ”

I think i wrote before on my educational background, anyway it’s in ‘About me’ section here; i am a schooled diplomat and i have over a decade of related work experience, it’s a piece of cake for me to write a paper on advantages of Euro-Atlantic integrations as the main course of foreign politics of my own country, Montenegro, and the positive impact the foreign politics implemented by the administration of President Obama has on the process; the truth is that with me it is way more personal than that.

Not only diplomats in career, but any socialized human being needs to have at least some  theoretical background so to explain and if needed – justify – their choices; that’s where logic’s fruits kick in and that’s why we still need to know at least some history, but the truth is that most of our choices are still made on subconscious, intuitive level and it’s only later that we come up with perfectly reasonable and sound explanation for it all.

We could focus on the overall advantages of the liberal agenda, on the incalculable value  of the fight against the extreme economic inequality; having grown up behind the iron curtain i could write pages on importance of the civil rights and the rule of law, last but not the least, as a woman, i naturally believe that choices regarding procreation are to remain with me – and not with clergy or administration – as it is i who is giving birth and it is i who is responsible for my children’s well-being, not them.

You see, the world is not divided anymore. When i wake up and go to my bedroom’s balcony to breath in fresh air – i first hear my American neighbor’s kids playing in the backyard, in our street, out of eight buildings , three are inhabited by Americans who live and/or work in Montenegro.

After a stretch and a yawn on a balcony,  i check out daily newspapers –  besides local ones i read The New York Times.

I don’t watch tv that much, but when i do – it’s HBO and HBO comedy, which, of course is mostly American movies and series.

Kabbalah, Tarot and even I Ching – all i am interested in, i study in English – and except couple of schools of thought in Israel and one I Ching scholar in UK, the sources from which i study are US based.

So, it’s not the proverbial ‘butterfly effect’, i and everyone else do feel the shifts across the Atlantic and are affected by those profoundly.

I remember Bush’s presidency well and i do remember how it was reflected here, i hated it. As much as Conservatives like to come across as God fearing Christians, i call it BS and i  don’t believe them, not a single bit, more so – i see them using God’s name in vain.

What does modern feudalism that Romney is pushing have to do with the Bible is beyond me and so is his – as i see it – arrogance to present the interest of the gun industry under the religious agenda.

He is a Mormon, is he not? And yet he is monogamous?! How come? If the polygamy is a base of your religious believes, how can you still be a Mormon – and be married to only one woman? I get the doctrine of the Latter Day Saint Church, but i do not get the hypocrisy to renounce polygamy and still call yourself a Mormon, that’s beyond my comprehension.

And you know, all about Mitt makes the tune from my fav American surrealist –  David Lynch’s Twin Peaks play repeatedly in my head, he simply gives me the creeps:

It’s almost as if i can smell violence, drugs and bondage; all thoroughly tucked in under the clean-cut appearance… overly clean-cut, if you ask me.

You know the moment when i knew i really love Obama? It’s this one:

One can fake almost everything, but not dancing, Obama is cool.

Have you ever seen Mitt dancing? Neither have i, except for that parody clip on Leno of course ( Romney’s head was digitally projected over a dancer’s body, entering the Republican National Convention to ‘Gangnam Style’).

Obama is biracial and having a complex ethnic and religious background myself i do know the rule of thumb is for people who are not  of “ethnically clean” background to be more comprehensive and inclusive of other denominations and ethnicities, it is so by default. Of course that many (most?) of people whose parents are of same ethnicity and religious affiliation are tolerant and accepting as well, but, being a part of majority, it does take a conscious effort to connect to those of us who are in minority – never mind whether religious or sexual.

Romney never knew that kind of anxiety. He never knew lack. He never knew unprivileged childhood. How can he possibly relate to us?

Only several years prior to Ann Dunham’s giving birth to Barack Obama in 1961, biracial  love story was still one of the only two taboo subjects in American literature (the other being pedophilia); can you imagine what guts it took this woman of blessed memory?

Everyone loves watching ‘Modern Family’ nowadays, Dunham’s lived it – an outstandingly progressive way of life – back in 70ies:

I like him because he doesn’t try to come across as holier than though – he is human and is not perfect, he smokes ciggies – albeit not more than five a day and in his memoir “Dreams from My Father’ he openly writes about smoking pot while a teenager.

Last but not the least, i respect Obama because he married a strong woman and not a bimbo.

His spouse, the first lady, has impeccable dressing style and promotes American designers, it’s maybe a detail – but you know, the bigger picture at the end of things is threaded out of the small pieces – she is proud to belong to American nation and doesn’t feel it inferior to any other nation, she expresses that attitude even in her selection of clothes and i applaud to that.

A friend of mine, professor Aleksandra Nikcevic Batricevic PhD, an amazingly stylish lady in her own right, shared on facebook the other day a link to an interview with someone Dubravka Djuric titled ‘We all belong to semi-marginal cultures’. I had the ‘honor’ of attending at the time a workshop of Ms Djuric and i wouldn’t say she considers her native culture (Serbian) to be marginal, not really – that’s how she sees ours, Montenegrin culture, because she doesn’t know it and doesn’t belong to it. Whatever Ms Djuric’s personal issues and inadequacies are – i would ask her NOT to make such sweeping generalizations, and especially NOT on behalf of MY NATION to which she is in no way connected; in the future, please, keep your own inferiority complex for yourself and spare us of your projections that have nothing to do with us and our culture.

There is no center, there is no periphery in culture and art – in politics, yes, there is US, the only remaining super power – and its first lady gives a good example what does it mean to be an individual, a patriot and a liberal cosmopolitan at the same time. And, you know, your 1st guy is married to her, so, among numerous other qualities, he obviously has exquisite taste in women as well.

In full honesty, that’s about it, dear Sylvia.