Post-Election

By the time my class met yesterday afternoon (English for Academic Purposes), the election results had come in and the outcome announced. I turned the class over to a discussion of the election results. Students were most interested in the transition period. What happens to Bush? Does he get a salary after he leaves? When does Obama start? What about all the people who work for the government--do they lose their jobs? And the question that floored me--Why aren't there military coups in America?

I had never thought about that before. Why don't we have military coups?How is having a president as commander-in-chief different from having a commander-in-chief as president? Why does Thailand have them? Pakistan? Indonesia? A thousand other places? These weren't easy questions to ask, or to discuss, here in Fairyland, a country ruled by a general, a country in which the military, economic, and civil structures are completely intertwined, and work together to feed and maintain a kleptocracy. But discuss it we did. And at the end of the discussion, I felt grateful to live in a country that has a tradition and a culture of military non-involvement in civilian affairs, and was aware that it is these traditions and cultures, as much as any law, that determine the shape of civic life in the US.

This morning, I received an e-mail from an adult student in his sixties:

"Thanks for the nice talk we had together at class this afternoon. I had watched the election with my old father ( he is 90 come this February ) from 5: 30 am to 1:00 pm at home on Aljazeera channel. As Senator McCain said this was the historic moment and I think both have made history by waking up not only the Americans but also people around the world from the sleep of despair and desolation to the new day of hope and happiness. I wanted to talk and share my views about the today's event and I found that the EAP class was the place where I could release my pent-up feelings at last."