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Chinese whispers and American foreign policy

By Elsabe Smit

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Published: 30Oct2008
Word count: 742
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Sometimes I am astonished at real things that happen - even if you dream up the most absurd scenario, you can always find something that actually happened that is more absurd.

What I have found most amusing is the foreign policy credentials of Sarah Palin. This unknown woman - unknown in the sense that she was a well-known achiever in Alaska with a reasonably normal life until John McCain and the press discovered her - has not had many trips outside of the US. This made people question her ability to deal with issues such as the war in Iraq and the recent Russian invasion of Georgia.

Then somebody said on a major news program that Sarah Palin has knowledge of international politics because she lives in Alaska, which is next to Russia. It was meant as a joke, but the person said it with a straight face. If you believed this statement, you are probably one of those people who go on holiday to "Africa" or plan to "do Europe". If you are, I suggest you occasionally leave your house and buy an atlas.

Anyway, some people understood the joke and had a good laugh and repeated it. Cindy McCain apparently did not understand the joke, because she repeated that Sarah Palin understood national security issues because Alaska is the closest part of North America to Russia.

Then Michael Barone confirmed Sarah's foreign policy experience with the same statement about Russia and Alaska.

Then some well-known American writer said Sarah Palin has learned foreign policy by some kind of osmosis because of Alaska's physical location.

And finally John McCain, the presidential candidate for the United States of America, one who may in future have a massive impact on world peace or the lack of it because of his actions, said that Sarah Palin understands the energy issues that are a key part of the national security issues, because Alaska is right next to Russia.

This is how rumour became fact in America, but nowhere else in the world.

If you are following my email series on interfaith holidays, you may have noticed similar trends in religion. Interesting and sometimes far-fetched statements originate from prominent people. At some point it becomes difficult to distinguish fact from fiction, and over time these statements become doctrine which other people are willing to kill for.

I read recently that Humpty Dumpty was not an egg. It was in fact a famous cannon that was used in used in the Siege of Colchester during the English Civil War. At some stage an egg-shaped character in a children's story was given the same name and the nursery rhyme (and the myth) started.

I am sure you have also received some of these emails that have been doing the rounds or years about parents collecting money for children that are dying from some terminal illness, or Microsoft and AOL dishing out money simply because you use your computer. I have found this website (link on my blog) a good place to check before passing the email on. I have even replied to some of these emails by providing the link, and still received other emails from the same sources - proving how gullible people can be.

We can have a good laugh about these absurdities, but I would like to point out the danger of it as well.

We sometimes say things about people and we mean them as a joke. Others hear the statements and do not understand the joke. They repeat the statements and over time people start to believe what they hear. Or people hear a malicious rumour and repeat it because it is so juicy, even though they know it is not true.

We know that what we think becomes. By the time we say something about people, we had already formed a strong enough thought to put it into words. So when I say watch your tongue, it is actually too late. We should watch our thoughts as well.

Yes, I know our thoughts are not always whiter than white, and that is OK, because there is balance in the Universe. But an awareness of how our thoughts are the origin of what we say and do will help us to move from thinking more negative thoughts to thinking more positive thoughts. Now I am off to send some loving thoughts to Sarah Palin - and to John McCain as well.

Elsabe Smit is the author of the soul-touching collection of short stories, A Tapestry of Life and of the blog http://www.mypurpleblog.com , Spiritual interpretations of everyday life.

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