Fadin’ Palin and quittin’ CNN

While her local supporters are selling Palin 2012 tee shirts, cooler heads are looking at the damage she did by alienating more liberal minded Republicans and independents.

So while she gazes across the water at neighboring Russia and brushes up her knowledge of foreign affairs, the movers and shakers (particularly the shakers) in the party will be planning for a revival, and a new candidate and Palin’s shelf life may soon expire.

Condoleezza Rice comes to mind, with her near impeccable educational credentials and a truly vast knowledge of foreign affairs. What was McCain thinking of when he was looking for a running mate? For sure Rice’s appearance on the ticket would have carried some of the black vote away from Obama, and would have calmed those who viewed Palin as an amateur cheerleader from the boonies.

But then again, maybe they would have thought her too elitist, the kiss of death with “the base”. I promise not to mention Fadin’ Palin’s name again, unless I find our which charity got her $150,000 wardrobe.

The promise will be easier to keep, as my post election recovery period started with abandoning CNN “cold-turkey”. I will miss some of the talking heads, like Campbell Brown, but will maintain a better equilibrium without the daily rants of Lou Dobbs.

INFORMATION OVERLOAD. As anyone who sits in front of a computer knows, it is a tempting seductress (or seducer). You click in to quickly check your e-mail and hey ho, a few hours disappear, as you read messages from friends, relatives, and all those sites that in rash moments you signed into for daily, or weekly updates on this or that. Information overload indeed.

This hit me forcefully when I stepped away from my CNN fix, and opened my inbox. Messages from S.Africa, Zambia, Uganda, Canada (east, west and central), Japan, from Tokyo to Kyoto and Osaka, the United States, England and Wales, and of course Panama. Most of the messages were about the election of Barack Obama. What else.

HOME TURF. As we survive our withdrawal symptoms from the US campaign, we can resuscitate our political genes by tuning in to the Panamanian election scene. We will shortly begin a series of articles to take you through the battlefields for the presidency, the National Assembly, and the mayoralty seat of Panama. Perhaps here too, change will be in the air, whether for good or bad remains to be see.

With the economic news from the north growing darker by the day, and fears of an inevitable local fall out, attitudes and voting patterns could change dramatically before next May.

The existing power brokers will be praying for the completion of the Costa Cintera before May, with an elaborate official opening, just in time for polling day. But they will also have to cope with the side effects as opposition rows to the tax for homes and businesses in the strip bordering the new development for “all the people.”

JOIN THE TEAM. The Panama Star will shortly be making an announcement about the opportunity for readers to join our team of writers in a section devoted to your contributions. So polish your keyboard fingers. $