Shannon Costello

Maria von Trap - the real one, not Julie Andrews - wrote about her family’s struggle to “make it” as a singing group in the US.  Their somber clothing led to some criticism that Maria did not understand, presumably leading her to march into a bookstore and unintentionally frighten off the clerk with her (completely serious) announcement that she was looking for a book on sex appeal.  

If you are going to be popular, appearance matters.  I’m catching on that this is a factor in the Obama movement.  For many people he looks, sounds, and acts “right”.  That’s why he and his family were on the cover of People and why his recent trip abroad resulted in huge cheering crowds.   

Sometimes I think about Benazir Bhutto and Ingrid Betancourt.   I think of Bhutto visiting her father’s tomb shortly before her assassination, and I wish she had remained in exile.  Videos of Ingrid Betancourt reuniting with her children after six years of captivity in the jungle brought me to tears.  I feel relieved that she is back in France.  Will she run for president of Colombia again?  I bet she does even while I hope she doesn’t.  

I identify with them because they are women, but I can’t relate to their sacrifices as politicians.  Notice that I can’t bring myself to term them sacrifices for the sake of their country.  That’s a difficulty I have:  if they aren’t noble patriots, must they be power-hungry politicians?  Realistically, I suppose the answer for any politician is yes. 

It’s sort of not fair to run down a politician as power-hungry, I end up implying that I’m superior because I do not chase after power.  But of course I do, in my own way.  Since most of us crave power this doesn’t even give us a convenient way to differentiate between candidates.