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.