Kashmir's Shak:

Here we go again. The US media swings full scale into yet another overdose of sensationalism.

It is not enough to come to terms with the fact that an African-American man might possibily be intelligent and eloquent. Having not had enough of the buzz over Hillary Clinton's "historical" race for the Democratic nomination, we are now knee deep in Sarah Palin overdrive. We are meant to be consumed by her qualifications (through the dualistic lens of right or wrong, right or left). We are to sit by and watch people pick apart at her personal and private family affairs in the name of political clarity, as if any of this nonsense matters.

All of this crazy media hype about 'history being made' is more hysterical than historical. History is made in every moment, the rest is so much excess labelling.

Lest we forget, here is a brief tribute to the many nations, media groups and the women around the world who have carved the pathway for the "greatest democracy in the world" to follow. Here are some timely lessons in how democratic elections can be fought and won with dignity, integrity and respect.

We are not talking here about the many women who ran for the office of the Vice President. Nor are we talking about the hundreds of women who ran for national party nomination and were narrowly defeated. We are talking about the 62 women who have stood for the highest political office in their land and won on their own merits.

We are talking about the women who became the Presidents, Prime Ministers and Heads of State of soverign nations. These elections occured without any of the hoopla of the U.S. media circus agast at the fact "Oh my god, she's a she!". Where were the "historical" pundits then?

The Irish electorate voted for two women in succession as their President. Just as the United States of America braces itself for a "possible" female Vice President, just across 'the pond' women have been running the highest office of the land in Ireland for the past 18 years!

Do you recall the headlines in 1997 when Mary AcAlleese succeeded Mary Robinson as President of Ireland? The big question of the day was not that she was a woman but that the largely male dominated para-military group Sinn Fien were strongly advocating her victory. Some in the press wondered if this would hurt Mary AcAlleese's chances at the polls? The point is that this issue was gender neutral.

If you are not aware, then check out Mary Robinson's credentials, her track record as President and the legacy she left behind. In each of these case and so many more around the world, women have risen to power in a male dominated system because they were the best fit for the job.

Here are the 62 pioneers who lead their nations and have nourished the world over the past 48 years. The stories of these women can now nourish the American political media and its electorate as they discover their own path towards a new historical future.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike, prime minister of Sri Lanka - 1960, 1970, 1994
Indira Gandhi, prime minister of India - 1966, 1980
Golda Meir, prime minister of Israel - 1969
Isabel Peron, president of Argentina - 1974
Elisabeth Domitien, prime minister of Central African Republic - 1975
Margaret Thatcher, prime minister of Great Britain - 1979
Maria da Lourdes Pintasilgo, prime minister of Portugal - 1979
Lidia Gueiler Tejada, prime minister of Bolivia - 1979
Dame Eugenia Charles, prime minister of Dominica - 1980
Vigdis Finnbogadottir, president of Iceland - 1980
Gro Harlem Brundtland, prime minister of Norway - 1981, 1986, 1990
Milka Planinc, federal prime minister of Yugoslavia - 1982
Agatha Barbara, president of Malta - 1982
Maria Liberia-Peters, prime minister of Netherlands Antilles - 1984, 1988
Carmen Pereira, acting president of Guinea Bissau - 1984
Corazon Aquino, president of Philippines - 1986
Benazir Bhutto, prime minister of Pakistan - 1988, 1993
Kazimiera Danuta Prunskiene, prime minister of Lithuania - 1990
Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, prime minister of Nicaragua - 1990
Mary Robinson, president of Ireland - 1990
Ertha Pascal Trouillot, interim president of Haiti - 1990
Sabine Bergmann-Pohl, president of German Democratic Republic - 1990
Khaleda Zia, prime minister of Bangladesh - 1991, 2001
Edith Cresson, prime minister of France - 1991
Hanna Suchocka, prime minister of Poland - 1992
Kim Campbell, prime minister of Canada - 1993
Sylvie Kinigi, prime minister of Burundi - 1993
Agathe Uwilingiyimana, prime minister of Rwanda - 1993
Susanne Camelia-Romer, prime minister of Netherlands Antilles - 1993, 1998
Tansu Ciller, prime minister of Turkey - 1993
Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, president of Sri Lanka - 1994
Reneta Indzhova, interim prime minister of Bulgaria - 1994
Claudette Werleigh, prime minister of Haiti - 1995
Sheikh Hasina Wajed, prime minister of Bangladesh - 1996
Mary McAleese, president of Ireland - 1997
Pamela Gordon, premier of Bermuda - 1997
Janet Jagan, prime minister of Guyana - 1997
Jenny Shipley, prime minister of New Zealand - 1997
Ruth Dreifuss, president of Switzerland - 1999
Jennifer M. Smith, prime minister of Bermuda - 1998
Nyam-Osoriyn Tuyaa, acting prime minister of Mongolia - 1999
Helen Clark, prime minister of New Zealand - 1999
Mireya Moscoso, president of Panama - 1999
Vaira Vike-Freiberga, president of Latvia - 1999
Tarja Halonen, president of Finland - 2000
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, president of the Philippines - 2001
Mame Madior Boye, prime minister of Senegal - 2001
Megawati Sukarnoputri, president of Indonesia - 2001
Maria das Neves, Prime Minster of Sao Tome and Principe - 2002
Beatriz Merino, prime minister of Peru - 2003
Luisa Diogo, prime minister of Mozambique - 2004
Angela Merkel, chancellor of Germany - 2005
Yulia Tymoshenko, prime minister of Ukraine - 2005
Michelle Bachelet, president of Chile - 2006
Micheline Calmy-Rey, president of Switzerland - 2006
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, president of Liberia - 2006
Han Myung-sook, prime minister of South Korea - 2006
Portia Simpson Miller, prime minister of Jamaica - 2006
Pratibha Devisingh Patil, president of India - 2007
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, president of Argentina - 2007
Borjana Kristo, president of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzogovina - 2007
Zinaida Greceanii - prime minister of Moldova, 2007

"From women's eyes this doctrine I derive:
They sparkle still the right Promethean fire;
They are the books, the arts, the academes,
That show, contain and nourish all the world:
Else none at all in ought proves excellent"

Love's Labour's Lost
Act IV, Scene iii