My Mother, My President on TIME this week

Time’s cover story REACHING FOR THE CENTER give us a an analysis of what the overwhelming loss suffered by the Republic party in the midterm elections shows about the American sentiment, but does not quibble about the fact that many of the Democrats who won were handpicked for their conservative views to swing mostly conservative enclaves in the political landscape.  Instead of going with traditional Democrats, they fielded candidates whose views did not vary markedly from the incumbent Republicans in order to get the nod of the voting public.  For most Republicans, the loss was simply because they were Republicans.  Even those who chose to stand outside of their party lines on decisive issues lost — with their constituencies seeming to forget that they voted against Bush’s main platform.  (The link provides a summary but you will have to get a hold of this week’s edition to read the full story.)

“SEARCHING FOR AN EXIT STRATEGY” is a very interesting discussion on the current government’s much-awaited move towards finding a way to leave Iraq, from the formation of the Baker commission as created by Bush, to the big question of whether or not the incumbent  President will actually accept the recommendations of Baker and company once everything is threshed out and a strategy is formulated.  (The link gives us the full text of the article.)

There’s also a feature on Film Director Pedro Almodovar and his muse, Penelope Cruz (HOW PEDRO RESCUED PENELOPE) , and the current James Bond (UM, IS THAT YOU BOND?), but the most interesting pieces I read were two articles I read on the way to work this morning:  MY MOTHER, MY PRESIDENT, an essay by ALEXANDRA PELOSSI, daughter of incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who writes about how different and how similar her mother and President Bush are.  I found this essay very refreshing and heartwarming, giving these two larger than life characters a heart that we rarely, if ever, get a glimpse into.  The second is TODAY’S NUN HAS A VEIL — AND A BLOG which discusses the resurgence of an awakening to “the call” to religious life by more and more young women and nesting mothers here in the US.  (All links give the full article — but I cannot guarantee how long these links will be working so go and take a read if you find that any of my recommendations pique your interest.)