The Politics of Invisibility

It seems completely counterintuitive, to campaign for political office by staying at home and keeping your name secret... However...

These two quotes reveal the enormous -- though frequently underestimated and / or understated -- difficulties that attend current attempts at free elections and democratic rule in Iraq and Afghanistan, respectively. The flip side is that the elections are in fact being held, though, and that many in both Afghanistan and Iraq find that in itself a matter for keen celebration.

Read each article as a whole to glimpse of the light within the shade…

Jack Fairweather, Stay indoors and don't tell anyone your name
Kathy Sheridan, Women, Democracy and Hope

Tsunami and Tamil Tigers

I hope you will read in full the two articles on which this DoubleQuotes is based, and accept them as my greeting in this season of peace.

The first quote captures my (internet) friend Thomas Brinson's cautious excitement as he witnesses the tsunami's impact on Tamil Tigers and Sri Lankan Government officials alike. Thomas works in Sri Lanka for the St. Paul, Minnesota based Nonviolent Peaceforce, and you can find more background on him in this Newsday article.

It was a distinct pleasure (and something of a surprise) to come from reading this account by a friend in the field, to the New York Times piece from which my second quote is taken. On this occasion, the quotes I have juxtaposed are in harmony with one another, telling a story of cautious hope in a dark time… and I am posting them here not as two data points in tension, but as a warm New Year's greeting to my readers, and with love and admiration to my friends in Sri Lanka, Julian and Thomas.

Sources:

Brinson's blog: http://ltbrin.typepad.com/various_journeys/2005/01/a_new_year_a_ne_1.html

New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/04/international/worldspecial4/04lanka.html