The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Thursday, December 3, 2009 - 3B
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Thursday, December 3, 2DD9 - 3B
Speaking like
grown-ups
ear Reader,
I know my given title
inThe Michigan Daily
is "Political Satire Columnist,"
but this week,
we've gone
through the
looking glass.
I'm afraid the
bizarro right-
wing me usu-
ally found in
these margins ZACH
and the real me SMILOVMTZ
actually agree.
More unfortunately, we're not
alone.
A few months ago, I began
writing this column and started
off with a few pot-shots at a
pretty easy target: former Alaska
governor Sarah Palin. At the
time, though I don't doubt you
recall, the Thrilla from Wasilla
was oddly auctioning off a dinner
with herself and Todd on eBay.
This, I thought, would be a pretty
good place to start. If you had any
affection for or agreed with Sarah
Palin on pretty much any issue,
this column wasn't going to be
for you.
So in researching this week's
piece, which I knew would be
about President Barack Obama
and his announcement of a new
Afghan war strategy, I went about
trying to form an opinion on the
matter. I made all the usual news
and opinion rounds, hearing from
eggheads like Thomas Friedman
and George Will and watching as
much cable news as is currently
legal in the state. One source
for information, and oftentimes
comic gold, is the much-anticipat-
ed Sarah Palin Facebook posts.
Following the president's speech
Tuesday night announcing the
troop escalation, former governor
Palin let her feelings on the mat-
ter be known.
Unfortunately, I pretty much
agreed with her at every turn.
"President Obama decided to
give his military commanders
much of what they need to accom-
plish their mission in Afghani-
stan. In the end, he decided to
endorse a'surge' for Afghanistan,
applying the counterinsurgency
principles of'clear, hold and
build' that worked so well in Iraq.
Given that he opposed the surge
in Iraq, it is even more welcome
that he now supports a surge in
Afghanistan," Palin wrote.
It can't be. Not a semester ago
I thought her the GOP's equiva-
lent of Michael Scott and now,
aside from a few pot-shots of her
own against Obama, her think-
ing couldn't be more in line with
mine. What's going on?
It's rare to see the political
stars align as uniquely as they
have since Obama's address to
the nation from West Point. In
announcing his Afghan troop
increase, the president was able
to complete a remarkable cross-
party Mibius strip, uniting both
the anti-any-war left and pro-
any-war right in a celebration of
themselves and condemnation of
the president. Like some kind of
bi-partisan key party, the likes of
Michael Moore and Bill O'Reilly
found common ground in their
own self-righteousness. I guess
it's true: politics often make
strange, and physically unappeal-
ing, bedfellows.
Naturally, each side of the
political divide had its own grum-
blings about the president's order
for 30,000 more soldiers on the
ground starting at the end of this
year. Some on the right faulted
the president for not speak-
ing forcefully for victory while
those against the troop surge
wished they had heard a quicker
proposed rate of American with-
drawal. Moore and others believe
resolutely that more blood spilled
and treasure spent in Afghani-
stan is done in vain. Without a
reliable or legitimate partner in
Kabul, or the wide support of the
Afghan people, those against the
surge see flashes of the Vietnam
war and the Soviet experience
in a land that sent Alexander the
Great home in shame. They tell
the president the best course is
one of retreat and consolation
with the attackers and enablers of
the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11.
I just can't bring myself to agree
with them.
It isn't my habit or pleasure to
find common ground with Palin
or Henry Kissinger, whom, in an
earlier column, I inferred was a
war criminal. But after listening
to President Obama's mature and
reasoned argument for greater
American involvement, ol' HK
and I were on the same side.
"(The surge) is important for
the reasons President Obama
mentioned: the danger that oth-
erwise Afghanistan becomes
another headquarters for al-Qae-
da operations. Also, it's important
for the stability of Pakistan, cru-
cial for the stability of Pakistan
I think the policy that was
announced today deserves sup-
port and the reasons given for it
deserve support," the one-time
war criminal said on Fox News.
For me, this is not nation-
building; it's fighting the real
danger of a resurgent Taliban
and its al-Qaeda allies. Yeah, it's
a bitter pill to swallow, but that's
governing. You think Obama
wants to fight a two-ocean public
opinion war on both health care
and an escalation in Afghanistan?
or does he have the solemn job of
seeing problems this country has
to face immediately and facing
them. I don't think the president
is gauche enough to choose to
tackle both a 100-year American
health care problem and finish-
ing the war President George W.
Bush chose to forget just for his
ego.
In many points during the
Obama's speech, he turned the
thoughts oflistening Americans
to the voice of our country's his-
tory. He cited the promise that
has been made and the example
that is set by a government of the
people, for the people, and by the
people. He turned our thoughts
to our country as it entered the
Second World War, a war my
grandparents, who survived Hit-
ler's Final Solution, are grateful to
the United States for entering. He
turned our minds to Sept. 11, 2001
as the first point in the historical
moment in which we find our-
selves. He spoke of the great reli-
gion of Islam and its perversion
by al-Qaeda and like-minded sup-
porters. He spoke to the Afghan
people. He spoke to the American
people. He spoke to the world.
America's track record as a
global superpower in the last 50
years has not always been spot-
less but it has created the greatest
opportunities the human race has
ever had for peace and prosper-
ity. Obama is deserving of every
ounce of our scrutiny and testing,
but those like Dick Cheney who
chose to attack the commander-
in-chief on the eve of sending our
troops into battle, an attack made
merely for political gain, deserve
neither our respect nor consider-
ation.
It's yet to be seen whether
Obama will be able to weather
the rough seas he has chosen to
try to conquer in his first term.
Sarah Palin and
I seem to be on
the same page.
Now that evangelical folk hero
Mike Huckabee has all but called
himself out of the 2012 presi-
dential race, Palin seems to be
locking down all the Republican
constituencies that would win her
the nomination: the half of the
GOP that doesn't believe in taxes
and the half that doesn't believe
in evolution. I doubt she would be
much of a challenge for Obama in
2012; the same can be said for the
rest of the current slate of Repub-
lican presidential contenders. But
whoever will lead this country for
the next four, eight or 100 years,
I only hope that he or she will be
able to do what Obama did Tues-
day night: make an unpopular
decision that needs to be made, all
the while speaking to the country
like grown-ups.
Smilovitz is having a liberal
identity crisis. Console him
at zachis@umich.edu.
Uwem Akpan is a fully ordained Jesuit Catholic priest from the Nigerian villageof Ikot Akpan Eda.
Writing Africa's story
The newest inductee to
Oprah's book club got his
start in the 'U' MFA program
By ANDREW LAPIN
Daily Arts Writer
Harrowing and unbearable scenarios befall
the young protagonists of Uwem Akpan's "Say
You're One of Them," a 2008
collection of short stories
describing the plights of war- Uwem
and poverty-stricken chil- Akpan book
dren across Africa. But there
is hope amid the struggles, riding
and if the critical raves the Tomrrow
book has earned since its pub- at 4p.m.
lication are any indication, Aihe Hatlan
"Say You're One of Them" Hatchvr Libtaty
should stand as testament
to fiction's ability to broaden
our understanding of different cultures.
Akpan, the newest featured author of Oprah's
Book Club and a 2006 University of Michigan
Master of Fine Arts graduate, is scheduled to
appear tomorrow at 4 p.m. at the Hatcher Grad-
uate Library to talk about his book.
Akpan's own story is almost as fascinating as
his fiction. He's a fully ordained Jesuit Catholic
priest hailing from the small Nigerian village of
Ikot Akpan Eda who still preaches in his home
country when not touring with his book. After
living in Nebraska in the mid '90s, he decided to
apply to Michigan's MFA program because of a
haphazard Google search for creative writing
programs in the Midwest. He entered the pro-
gram with much of "Say You're One of Them"
already written.
"We had a workshop each week for three
hours. It was here that I finally understood how
to create tangible conflict in my work, how to
pace the stories, how to sharpen the dialogue,
how to manage perspectives," Akpan wrote in
an e-mail interview. "Whatever I learnt from
the wo:kshops, I went back and applied to the
stories."
Akpan's semi-finished stories showed he
came to Michigan with the goal of publishing,
and he knew he had a lot of polishing to do.
Eileen Pollack, head of the Creative Writing
department, taughtAkpan in a fiction workshop
and immediately realized his potential.
"He came in with this huge amount of pages
- these very rough, very long manuscripts that
eventually became the stories and novellas that
are in the book," Pollack said.
Among those drafts was an early version of
"An Ex-Mas Feast," a story about a 12-year-old
girl who must work as a prostitute to support
her destitute Kenyan family. This story pro-
pelled Akpan into the upper reaches of the lit-
erary world when it was published in The New
Yorker in June 2005.
In creative writing workshops, Pollack helped
Akpan tighten up his stories by focusing more
on the ordeals of one relatable character than
the turmoil of an entire country. She also helped
him develop his own unique point of view on the
events his stories cover.
"You can't just write from the point of view
that genocide's terrible. I mean, we know that,"
Pollack said. "You have to have a particular
question about what's happening to your char-
acter. And you're writing from that question, not
from something you already know."
The five stories in "Say You're One of Them"
are set in several African countries including
Kenya, Ethiopia, Benin and Rwanda during
the time of the nation's genocides. Akpan had
not traveled to many of these locations before
he started writing, but be performed massive
research to accurately reflect their customs and
dialects.
"Africa has 52 countries and myriads of cul-
tures and ethnic groups. But we Africans do not
necessarily know what is happening in other
parts of Africa," Akpan wrote. "The pidgin
English spoken in Nigeria is decidedly differ-
ent from that spoken in, say, Kenya. The people
of Senegal may not know what is happening in
Sudan and vice versa.
Pollack put it more succinctly: "Just because
somebody is African doesn't mean he knows
every country (and) every region in Africa."
Pollack recalled an early draft of a story set in
Ethiopia in which characters lived in tall build-
ings and flew kites. itwasn't until Akpan visited
Ethiopia that he discovered none of the coun-
try's buildings exceed two stories and it's practi-
cally the only place in Africa where nobody flies
kites.
The main challenge facing Akpan was com-
municating the diverse struggles of Africa to
readers who were not familiar with the conti-
nent.
"I had to write in such a way that whoever
read the book would flow with the spirit of the
stories, without necessarily understanding
every word," he wrote.
But writing stories to address these Afri-
can struggles was an important challenge for
him to meet, and one he was more than ready
to accept. And he's already found immense
success. In addition to the exposure he's got-
ten from Oprah, "Say You're One of Them" has
received numerous other awards and topped
many critics' year-end best lists for 2008.
Akpan is particularly proud to have won the
Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First
Book for the African region.
Recently, Akpan has been surprised by the
astounding accomplishments of his first book,
and slightly exhausted by the busy promotional
schedule.
"I travel lots these days. That is grueling," he
wrote. "But I am thankful to God. It is better
than shopping around with a manuscript."
A good dozen of the stories Akpan showed
Pollack at Michigan didn't make it into the
book, including a long piece about child sol-
diers in Uganda. Since he's currently one of the
hottest names in literature, it's likely these sto-
ries won't stay hidden for long.
i
THE DAILY NEEDS FINE
ARTS WRITERS.
E-mail join.arts@umich.edu for
information on applying.