You’ve probably heard that Barack Obama’s father is from Kenya, so there’s a sort of Obama-mania around here. Here’s how most of my conversations go with the locals:

Local: “Do you think Obama will win?”
Me: “Yes, but I’m not going to vote for him.”
Local: “What? Why not?”
Me: “Why should I vote for him?”
Local: “HE’S KENYAN!!!”
Me: “But that’s not what Democracy is about…”

One teen-aged girl proceeded to ask me if I hate black people.  I told her that I don’t care if the next president of the United States is white, black, green, or a tree.  American politics make it so that any candidate with drastically different ideas has absolutely no chance to get elected.