Nourish all the world

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.

1. Sirimavo Bandaranaike, prime minister of Sri Lanka - 1960, 1970, 1994
2. Indira Gandhi, prime minister of India - 1966, 1980
3. Golda Meir, prime minister of Israel - 1969
4. Isabel Peron, president of Argentina - 1974
5. Elisabeth Domitien, prime minister of Central African Republic - 1975
6. Margaret Thatcher, prime minister of Great Britain - 1979
7. Maria da Lourdes Pintasilgo, prime minister of Portugal - 1979
8. Lidia Gueiler Tejada, prime minister of Bolivia - 1979
9. Dame Eugenia Charles, prime minister of Dominica - 1980
10. Vigdis Finnbogadottir, president of Iceland - 1980
11. Gro Harlem Brundtland, prime minister of Norway - 1981, 1986, 1990
12. Milka Planinc, federal prime minister of Yugoslavia - 1982
13. Agatha Barbara, president of Malta - 1982
14. Maria Liberia-Peters, prime minister of Netherlands Antilles - 1984, 1988
15. Carmen Pereira, acting president of Guinea Bissau - 1984
16. Corazon Aquino, president of Philippines - 1986
17. Benazir Bhutto, prime minister of Pakistan - 1988, 1993
18. Kazimiera Danuta Prunskiene, prime minister of Lithuania - 1990
19. Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, prime minister of Nicaragua - 1990
20. Mary Robinson, president of Ireland - 1990
21. Ertha Pascal Trouillot, interim president of Haiti - 1990
22. Sabine Bergmann-Pohl, president of German Democratic Republic - 1990
23. Khaleda Zia, prime minister of Bangladesh - 1991, 2001
24. Edith Cresson, prime minister of France - 1991
25. Hanna Suchocka, prime minister of Poland - 1992
26. Kim Campbell, prime minister of Canada - 1993
27. Sylvie Kinigi, prime minister of Burundi - 1993
28. Agathe Uwilingiyimana, prime minister of Rwanda - 1993
29. Susanne Camelia-Romer, prime minister of Netherlands Antilles - 1993, 1998
30. Tansu Ciller, prime minister of Turkey - 1993
31. Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, president of Sri Lanka - 1994
32. Reneta Indzhova, interim prime minister of Bulgaria - 1994
33. Claudette Werleigh, prime minister of Haiti - 1995
34. Sheikh Hasina Wajed, prime minister of Bangladesh - 1996
35. Mary McAleese, president of Ireland - 1997
36. Pamela Gordon, premier of Bermuda - 1997
37. Janet Jagan, prime minister of Guyana - 1997
38. Jenny Shipley, prime minister of New Zealand - 1997
39. Ruth Dreifuss, president of Switzerland - 1999
40. Jennifer M. Smith, prime minister of Bermuda - 1998
41. Nyam-Osoriyn Tuyaa, acting prime minister of Mongolia - 1999
42. Helen Clark, prime minister of New Zealand - 1999
43. Mireya Moscoso, president of Panama - 1999
44. Vaira Vike-Freiberga, president of Latvia - 1999
45. Tarja Halonen, president of Finland - 2000
46. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, president of the Philippines - 2001
47. Mame Madior Boye, prime minister of Senegal - 2001
48. Megawati Sukarnoputri, president of Indonesia - 2001
49. Maria das Neves, Prime Minster of Sao Tome and Principe - 2002
50. Beatriz Merino, prime minister of Peru - 2003
51. Luisa Diogo, prime minister of Mozambique - 2004
52. Angela Merkel, chancellor of Germany - 2005
53. Yulia Tymoshenko, prime minister of Ukraine - 2005
54. Michelle Bachelet, president of Chile - 2006
55. Micheline Calmy-Rey, president of Switzerland - 2006
56. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, president of Liberia - 2006
57. Han Myung-sook, prime minister of South Korea - 2006
58. Portia Simpson Miller, prime minister of Jamaica - 2006
59. Pratibha Devisingh Patil, president of India - 2007
60. Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, president of Argentina - 2007
61. Borjana Kristo, president of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzogovina - 2007
62. 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