"More determined, more inspired than ever"

(Screen)captured: This will make you believe in love.

Maybe it's (post)colonial, but to be honest the USA is the country I can most identify with (even though I liked Europe more than LA, haha). We Filipinos grew up watching American TV and movies, sang to many American tunes, and we mostly visit American-manufactured hyper-realities and the other versions of the virtual. Franchises thrive here because of the "American" guarantee, and --- even in this day and age, despite the economic woes and self-identity guilt --- many Filipinos still want to move to the great ole' United States of America and pursue the American dream.

I was interested in US politics because I find it, well, intriguing. I hear a lot about American politicians as opposed to their European counterparts. Heck, I know who Sarah Palin is and I have no idea who the Dutch PM is (I remember Balkenende? from years ago). American politics is almost as good as Hollywood, which all of us can get easily infected with. Didn't President Obama appear in Saturday Night Live or some late talk show?

This care and even concern for the outcome of American politics is not just due to the fact that it has always been the "most powerful country in the world" but also, because, in its current state in which American still hangs on by the thread with that sought-after, say, responsibility of being "most powerful", what happens in America does not stay in America. When 9/11 happened the world somehow rifted apart, recalling this infamous statement by GWBush, aka "either you're with us or against us". It affected our troops as some members of our thin armed forces were shipped to the Middle East. The terrorist networks in many countries somehow got activated. Many of us died, in addition to those who died in their soil, in their war.

And yes, economy-wise, the Philippines has benefitted from the outsourcing which many Americans complain about. We have one of the strongest --- if not the best --- BPO industries in the world. BPO companies here are constantly head-hunting. They want jobs? They're right here. You can stand in a corner and a recruiter from a BPO will approach you. No kidding, I have witnessed interviews in a Tapa King outlet on a narrow street in Makati. Do we want to ship them back? Well, how about these American companies knowing which ones to outsource and which ones to keep home? You can't be competitive if you keep all your eggs in one basket, right? Globalization is a derivative of natural forces, I believe.

Obviously I find myself more aligned with the Democratic agenda. I read The Huffingtost Post, the New Yorker, the New York Times. Even The Economist endorsed Obama for both candidacies. I recently admitted that I am crushing on Nate Silver now, though I read somewhere that he is an "openly gay Democrat" (which I have no problems with and will probably make me love him more). But I believe in corporations as well because capitalism is here. Social capitalism --- is there such thing? Do we really live and believe in -isms? How about doing something about the reality based on a set of basic principles: fair, right, just, equal. Love should be all around and not just for the 1%, right? That's the thing with trickle-down economics --- it only trickles. Trick... trick........ trrrriiiiiicccckkkk.

I did follow the 2008 elections and obviously Obama was a sure winner. This year, it was pretty nail-biting. There were the annoyed, the swayed, the undecided. Whose point would the tip lean towards?

The campaigns were the stuff I found fascination with. Pre-election was insane, it reminded me of "search and destroy". Nobody was supposed to be left alive. The attacks were almost personal. I didn't know which were true, which ones were the lies, which ones were the stuff fairytale villains were made of.

But I know, that the image up there, is real.