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Ruth Van Reken Quoted in Article on the US Presidential Candidates

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Author:
paulettebethel

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I found the comments from readers of the article interesting…. appeared to me that they did not “get it” with reference to what Ruth offered in the article about the influence of the candidate’s TCK backgrounds. Thoughts?

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080809/OPINION07/808090392/1043/OPINION07


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August 10, 2008 | Filed Under General Forum 

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10 Responses to “Ruth Van Reken Quoted in Article on the US Presidential Candidates”

  1. 1
    IngridGiles
    IngridGiles Says:
    August 10th, 2008 at 4:12 pm

    It was interesting to read that both candidates are TCKs, and how that has affected them in their political lives. As you said, the comments are telling… the people obviously didn’t get it at all.

    That’s frustrating, but I suppose I can’t blame them — I only get it because a) I am a TCK and b) I’m aware of TCK issues and how we are all different. Many people have never heard of the concept and have no experiential hook to hang it on. Still, it is frustrating to see that the commenters kind of missed the point of the article!

    Hey, a bunch of TCKs should log on there and comment!

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  2. 2
    Unregistered
    Kristina J. Adams Says:
    August 11th, 2008 at 6:36 am

    Ok, I didn’t get to the comments yet, but noticed the writer of the article separated cultural from political in the closing paragraph. I’m not an anthropologist, but aren’t culture and politics both heavily influenced by and intertwined with each other?

    If the writer (who is supposed to be the “educator”) doesn’t get it, the readers will sometimes lose their way as well, esp with no previous experience/exposure to the subject (in this case, TCKs).

    Ruth did a wonderful job bringing up the point that people became unsettled when the candidates couldn’t be boxed into assumptions/expectations.

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  3. 3
    Cynthia
    Cynthia Says:
    August 11th, 2008 at 5:11 pm

    The US has always been a culture of identities. You must have one or you’re completely messed up and can’t function as a normal human being.

    I think that’s an insult on Obama’s part, where other people thinks they KNOW Obama when they don’t. They don’t get TCK so they chose to ignore that and hang on to what they KNOW - the American culture.

    And I really haven’t seen anything significant in that article. In fact, I don’t really understand the point of that article.

    The author can’t seem to make a conclusion.

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  4. 4
    Unregistered
    paulettebethel Says:
    August 11th, 2008 at 8:04 pm

    I don’t think that it was the intent of the author to make or draw a conclusion. Perhaps, the only intent was to introduce the topic to his readers.

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  5. 5
    Cynthia
    Cynthia Says:
    August 11th, 2008 at 9:22 pm

    I guess a good thing coming out of it is to introduce the term TCK. It is a step.

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  6. 6
    Ayako
    Ayako Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 1:38 am

    Thanks for posting this article Paulette. It’s great because it addresses the issue of McCain and/or Obama getting unfair coverage in our forums by some of our readers. ;)

    The article shows that TCKs can be achievers and be very charismatic despite the fact that many are less forceful in conveying their convictions than their peers.

    Further to this, as we all know it’s wrong to assume that a TCK belongs to one side of the political spectrum. We are not a group that belongs to a specific political ’side’ unlike many other groups that do, and the example of McCain and Obama make a good case in point.

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  7. 7
    Unregistered
    paulettebethel Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 7:00 am

    Ayako — agreed.

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  8. 8
    mairabay
    mairabay Says:
    August 14th, 2008 at 10:34 am

    The article was quite poor in my opinion. It could have explored and explained better Obama’s and McCain’s TCK-ness and why they don’t fit into the boxes people want them to fit, and many other things about them that can be explained through the light of the TCK concept.

    It could have been a great opportunity to educate people about TCK using both candidates as examples. But maybe that wasn’t the author’s intention.

    But I agree with Ayako. At lest the term was mentioned, so maybe people will get curious and look for the book, or just google it. The more people we can reach the better!

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  9. 9
    MajorTom
    MajorTom Says:
    August 14th, 2008 at 12:05 pm

    Kinda sorta maybe tangentially related to the original article. I heard about this a few days ago, and it made my blood boil.

    “The most bare-knuckled lines of attack came from Clinton’s chief strategist, Mark Penn, who urged Clinton to highlight Obama’s “lack of American roots” due to his upbringing in Indonesia and Hawaii - saying he could only win if he faced Attila the Hun.”

    http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-uscamp135799024aug13,0,3877096.story

    Shocking that a political adviser could be a scumbag, I know, but this is just ridiculous. Lack of American roots? The hell does that even mean? Thankfully, Clinton didn’t go that route, but the fact that it was even suggested is beyond stupid these days.

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  10. 10
    Ayako
    Ayako Says:
    August 16th, 2008 at 2:20 am

    MajorTom: When anyone is in a position of power, they end up getting surrounded by a lot of fools no matter what - so they have to be careful not to listen to them. This is a nice example of a sensible politician not listening to foolish advice. :p

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