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Showing posts with label Republican. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Republican. Show all posts

Sunday, January 17, 2016

Indian American political Star : Reverse Swing: Nikki of America

Nikki Haley | http://MikeGhouseforIndia.blogspot.com
Indian American political Star : Reverse Swing: Nikki of America



Nikki Haley is a breath of fresh air; she is a moderate Republican representing the mainstream GOP values, that none of the current front line GOP candidates are able to articulate. I have used the word moderate because the right leaning Republicans do not value any one supporting immigration, religious freedom, liberty and freedom.

They are usually anti-immigrants, anti-gays, bomb-every-country, and anti-anyone-who-is-not-a-Christian. They are war mongers and have destroyed America during the Bush years, the Indians may not have felt the pinch, but nearly 43 Million Americans lost their jobs, businesses were shut down, anti-Indian (job taken away) sentiment grew, homes were foreclosed... divorces were on rise. War is an enterprise of evil men.

I sincerely hope, she gets to be nominated as VP, she will change the course of the dialogue and bring some sense on the campaign trail, to set herself up for 2020. The Hannity's and other conservative talk show hosts like her  - for only one reason - she went against Obama in relocating Boeing to her state. Once they hear "whole" of her, they may not like her as much.  If you recall, Chris Christie was a star, just because, simply because he welcomed Obama to help his state during the devastating floods, he was cursed by the Republicans. Rush Limbaugh calls a good Republican is one who hates Obama.


Way back when she was in Dallas to inaugurate Mahatma Gandhi statue, I wrote, " Nikki Haley must be a moderate Republican like me, even though she is billed as a conservative Republican.  She sounds like Obama with inclusiveness, a trait missing among the conservative Republicans and acutely deficit with regular Republicans." More about it at - http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/2014/05/ground-breaking-ceremony-of-mahatma.html 

Well, I am not a Republican anymore after 30 years of being one, but chose to go independent, because I want to support the candidates who are good for America and my loyalty is to America and American values and not any party.  At one time independents were less than 10%, now it has grown to be a clear third. 

The article says, “Desis have a “Bobby and Nikki problem”, and it goes beyond the peculiar Indian-American rejection of conservatism. Their hatred of Jindal stems largely from his public statements that he is “American”, not “Indian-American”. Thin-skinned Indians misinterpret this as a rejection by Jindal of his Indian-ness, as opposed to seeing it as a pitch for an America that’s free of ethnic pigeonholes.”

Tunku has opened a new window for Indians to consider, that is, “seeing it (Jindal’s approach) as a pitch for an America that’s free of ethnic pigeonholes.”  Most of us did not see it that way, but glad to look at it in that manner.  However, I am still trying to understand Jindal, here we are, proud of him as a fellow Indian and he does not want the Indian in his American descriptor and that is disappointing. He should proudly say, which most of us say, that no one can take the Indian out of me.    

Wonder if the BJP members of Indian Americans are fond of the Republican Party? As both of them have similar attitudes towards society, and those who differ with them. They are conformists and not free thinkers. 
Ms Haley is Indian-American, and Christian, and a political star.

The article concludes, “But let’s remember that Nikki Haley is American and lives in America, and has the right to convert to any faith she fancies. It is no one else’s business but hers. Those who argue otherwise are primitive bigots who need to get a life.”

Yes, every human should be free to believe whatever the hell he or she wants to believe,  and eat, drink and wear what pleases him or her.

Mike Ghouse
www.TheGhouseDiary.com
http://MikeGhouseforIndia.blogspot.com

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Read column at: https://shar.es/16L8yK [ shar.es/16L8yK ]

  


Written by Tunku Varadarajan | Published:January 17, 2016 12:10 am
Nikki Haley


On the night of the State of the Union address last week, when many in America were prepared to swoon over Barack Obama — only to be turned off by a speech that was self-aggrandising — a woman of Indian origin, her tone measured, her teeth as white as a Trump rally, stole the show from the Democratic president.

Nikki Haley, born Nimrata Kaur Randhawa, is the Republican governor of South Carolina, and to her fell the chore of delivering the response to the President, an American tradition in which a hapless opposition politician is picked by his party’s establishment to speak for a handful of minutes after the Big Cheese has finished.

The task is cursed: the nation has had just about enough of politics after the presidential peacock-dance. So it treats what follows either as an opportunity to turn off the TV, or to titter at the short (and usually impotent) speech. The worst in recent memory was the response by Bobby Jindal, governor of Louisiana, to Obama’s first State of the Union in 2009. With the nation on an Obama high, Jindal’s squeaky voice and pedantry made him an object of derision. His decline as a national politician began that very night.

Haley’s response, by contrast, was the finest I’ve heard, and the excited talk after she spoke was all about how she’d make a perfect Republican vice-presidential candidate.
And yet her words didn’t please everyone: Ann Coulter, a conservative pundit who has made a handsome living by being the shrillest woman in America, tweeted that “Trump should deport Nikki Haley.” This was a response to Haley’s measured words on immigration, in which she’d invoked her own immigrant background while lauding America’s tradition of legal immigration. Haley was suitably tough on the subject of illegal entrants to America, but things have come to such a pass on the Republican right wing that support for immigration of any kind is seen as un-American.

The editorial page of The Wall Street Journal came to Haley’s defence, out of a shared belief in the economic and cultural value of immigration. There
was little defence, however, from Indians on Twitter. And their rejection of Haley was, if anything, more ugly than Coulter’s nativist tantrum.

Desis have a “Bobby and Nikki problem”, and it goes beyond the peculiar Indian-American rejection of conservatism. Their hatred of Jindal stems largely from his public statements that he is “American”, not “Indian-American”. Thin-skinned Indians misinterpret this as a rejection by Jindal of his Indian-ness, as opposed to seeing it as a pitch for an America that’s free of ethnic pigeonholes.

Although Haley has never been dogmatic about her self-definition, the desi Haley-hatred comes from many of the same bigots who despise Jindal, accusing her (and Jindal) of converting to Christianity for political gain. This crude objection to conversion is very Indian, born of a general Indian inability to accept that religion can be a matter of personal election.
The idea that one is forever of the faith of one’s ancestors is so embedded in the Indian psyche that many can’t imagine that a person’s conversion could have occurred for a reason (or by a process) that isn’t venal. The hysteria that overwhelms the debate on conversion in India is proof of this.

But let’s remember that Nikki Haley is American and lives in America, and has the right to convert to any faith she fancies. It is no one else’s business but hers. Those who argue otherwise are primitive bigots who need to get a life.

The author is the Virginia Hobbs Carpenter Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. @tunkuv
- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/reverse-swing-nikki-of-america/#sthash.oP0s4g1j.cwaKHjzy.dpuf

Saturday, November 28, 2015

Save Bharat -2 | Patriotic Indians should not allow intolerance to take root.

A series of essays will be written about restoring Dharma in our motherland India, intolerance towards different opinions is growing and needs to be checked to save democracy and our individual and collective rights. Since 1999, I have posted about 1600 pieces at my blog http://MikeGhouseforIndia.blogspot.com 

The article, “A Muslim Lady Shows Mirror to All Intolerant Rants (Link appended below)” is a beautiful expression of the Doctor lady's personal experience.  I welcome pieces that share both sides of the issue of seeding intolerance in India. We owe it to the next generation to leave behind a nation where we set the example of learning to respect the otherness of others and accept the God given uniqueness of each one of the 1.25 Billion of us. 

My personal experience is similar – I have never felt any different than other Indians, nor felt any abnormal discrimination against me, I was one of all and will always remain so. However, the evil of discrimination exists; shame on us if we don't speak up. We simply cannot deny that, and we have to tell the truth.  

A few among us are mistaken – India is not an intolerant country, her people reflect her values.  A handful of Indians are intolerant and those attitudes have been let loose since Modi came into power, it may be merely a coincidence but there is a strong correlation.  

Those who care about India, have the patriotic duty to point out such intolerance's, hoping to wake every one up and restore dharma.  Don’t you want India to remain an exemplary nation in the world?  Do you appreciate men and women with blinders who would rather not see the problems?

What Amir Khan, Girish Karnad, Sanjiv Bhatt, Teesta Setalvad, Arundhati Roy and a host of other Patriotic Indians have said was the right thing, to express their concerns about the trends in intolerance; they care about India and want the best for India and not let her go down the spiral of intolerance. If it were not for them and others like them, we will see dictatorships emerging in India and swallowing every one's freedom. 


Look at how much we laugh at nations like Saudi Arabia, that is not our model to emulate,  we don’t need to be like them, they are not a government of the people for the people, but we are.  Even here in the US,  intolerance is taking root, but will go away after the primaries and certainly after the elections.  As Americans we have not elected extremists in the last thirty years, Trump, Carson and Cruz are the bubbles that will burst one of these days or will lose to Clinton or Sanders. I will continue to speak out against men and women who will stain the name of my motherland and my homeland.   

I was in Dallas for Thanksgiving. The minute I landed, Fox News called in to respond to Pastor Jeffress’ ugly comments, in those few minutes; I have condemned the Pastor’s bigotry against Muslims, Hindus and others equally. Mind you, I have not condemned the Pastor, I have followed one of the greatest teachings of the world - condemn the sin and not the sinner, for the sinner is redeemable. One of the Muslim guys asked me, why didn’t I just focus on defending Islam? My response was,  we are all in this together, if you allow or justify bias towards Blacks for instance, you are actually allowing bias towards your own self in the long haul.

I told him, my religion teaches me to be just towards every human being, and the Prophet had said clearly, if you are unjust towards any one, I will stand up against you in their defense.  I hope all of us will stand up for each other for creating a better society for all. He agreed and his next task to become a good human being is to defend Hinduism, if someone comments negatively. I have another Muslim who is defending Judaism as a repentance for his bias against Jews.

Good societies are formed when good people stand up for everyone.  If you are a Hindu, would you defend a Muslim, Christian, Sikh or the other who to whom injustice has been done?  As a Jain, Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh and a Buddhist have you ever defended the innocent other? If you have, please share and keep it up, it is good for the soul. Prejudice, ill-will, bias and hatred harms you more than it harms the other.

We have to encourage inclusiveness and discourage divisiveness. Ultimately, we are responsible for creating a cohesive world, for us and our next generation.  We cannot run from the responsibility because others don’t do it.  


Here are two videos in that reference:

Pastor Jeffress attacks all religions (video included): http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2015/11/dallas-pastor-robert-jeffress.html

Speaking at the Rally on the steps of Lincoln Memorial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3I-cjFMth-E

A Muslim Lady Shows Mirror to All Intolerance Rants https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/DallasIndians/conversations/messages/7846

Dr. Mike Ghouse is a community consultant, social scientist, thinker, writer, news maker and a speaker on PluralismInterfaithIslampoliticshuman rights, India, Israel-Palestine and foreign policy. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. More about him in 63 links at www.MikeGhouse.net and his writings are at www.TheGhousediary.com