New Era Dawns with Japanese Election Landslide

Sometimes even huge stories get pushed down the news page as a result of a different ongoing media event. While much of the United States was focused on the high-profile laying to rest of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy this weekend, there was a political change of potentially gigantic proportions over in Japan. After more than five decades of almost uninterrupted rule by the conservative Liberal Democratic Party, yesterday the Democratic Party of Japan won a landslide victory in Japanese elections, beating the LDP by a margin of 3-1 and capturing an outright majority in the lower house of that nation's parliament (it already controlled the upper house, albeit with the help of smaller parties allied to it).

There has been much talk in the media about what this could mean for Japan's relationship with the United States, as well as how the DPJ will carry out its promises to increase assistance to consumers, increase welfare, and end the cozy relationship between the government bureaucracy and big business.

But long-time Japan-watchers in the United States will likely also be looking into what this means for Japanese society and whether it is changing. On October 17, 2006, Michael Zielenziger, author of Shutting Out the Sun: How Japan Created Its Own Lost Generation, spoke to The Commonwealth Club that "Japan is an unhappy county going through a form of rebellion." He suggested that the country's rigid social and educational establishment had led to a group of lost young people who didn't fit in and who were ostracized by peers and the society at large.

It is a pity that Zielenziger's blog hasn't been updated since 2008. He's most likely very engrossed in the developments in Japan this week. But in the meantime, you can listen to the streaming audio of his Commonwealth Club program and see if it influences the way you see this week's big news from Japan.

Iran Back in the Headlines

In the video above, the UK's Channel 4 News reports on the past couple days' developments in the fascinating struggle going on in Iran over its recent presidential election. As you can see from the video, news is getting out of that country, despite strict controls the government there placed on foreign journalists after the election (such as forbidding them from leaving their office to report or photograph demonstrations).

It is obviously far too early to know where this will all head. While people hope for a peaceful outcome, the power lies in the hands of ideological religious militias and an unelected clerical leadership. Still, the reports are interesting to watch.

While you await more complete reports on the goings-on in Iran, after (one hopes) the journalistic restrictions are rescinded, you might want to view some of these videos of Commonwealth Club speakers who talk about Iran, its people, culture, politics, military, and more.

First, author and journalist Azadeh Moaveni has lived and reported in Tehran since 1999, and she spoke February 25, 2009, about private life in Iran.



Author and former CIA agent Robert Baer (the man on whom George Clooney's character was based in the movie Siriana) spoke about "Iran's Grip on America's Future" in a November 5, 2008, speech to The Club:



Iranian-born author Firoozeh Dumas talked about her life as an Iranian-American during a May 8, 2008, Club appearance:



And there are many more. Watch travel writer Rick Steves discuss his recent trip to meet the people of Iran. Abbas Milani and Barbara Slavin peeked inside Iran.

The Global Election?

The front cover of the new issue of the British libertarian news magazine, The Economist, features a stark shot of Barack Obama under the words, "It's time." Inside is an endorsement.

It's only the latest in an avalanche of endorsements of both major candidates; it is, after all, the waning days of the seemingly never-ending presidential election. But this election and the endorsements reflect something new, in terms of a global interest in the U.S. presidential election that experts say is far higher than normal levels of interest.

Our friends over at CBS 5 have posted an interesting new report on this global election, and it's worth checking out. Columinist Frank Viviano (photo above) writes about this extraordinary interest, and notes that international polls "confirm an astounding level of overseas support – exceeding 70 percent in most nations – invested in Barack Obama, crossing all lines of race, ethnicity, history, religion and ideology."

Read more here.

Commonwealth Club members recently got a taste of international opinion about the United States when Steven Kull, director of the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland, spoke at The Club. Despite all of the talk lately about how America's reputation has suffered in the world, he found that majorities in every country surveyed did not see the United States as an enemy and did not expect a confrontation with it.

Will Americans agree with the international verdict in this election or will they go their own way? Find out on Tuesday ...

Christopher Buckley Won't Back Down

Christopher Buckley, the Republican apostate and conservative scion of the late William F. Buckley, is harboring little remorse after endorsing Sen. Barack Obama earlier this month.

In a humorous attempt to write Sen. John McCain’s concession speech in today’s Financial Times, Buckley continues to not back down from conservative critics who believed he shattered, as Ronald Reagan once said, the eleventh commandment, “Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republicans.”

Buckley, who spoke at the Commonwealth Club, Sept. 18, uses the satirical essay to illustrate the possible talking points Republicans might use for why McCain lost the election.

Among them, his early decision to cozy up to the religious right, the role of the media, and concerns about his health

On age, Buckley writes: “Looking on the bright side, it looks like I’ll get to go to bed a little earlier than I’d hoped to tonight.”

Choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate: “So let me thank Governor Palin for ... all that she did to me. For me, I mean. Little Freudian thing, there.”

On the same day of his appearance at the Commonwealth Club last month, Buckley seemed to telegraph his intention to vote for Obama at the Hoover Institute at Stanford three weeks before his infamous column in The Daily Beast, wishing him good luck, while adding, “give me a call if I can help.”