Saturday, December 20, 2008

Obama's Asians

Yglesias notes that the Obama Cabinet will consist of no Jews, though several of God's Chosen People are in high-level staff posts. It does, however, have two Asians. While my sense of tribal identification is much more with xkcd-reading, RPG-playing, Buffy-musical-singing geeks than with people of my race, insofar as it's racial it somewhat includes East Asians as well. (Which has odd consequences for my romantic life -- I think of Asian women as too much like me for any serious heat to develop, while white women from small towns in red states are fascinating people from a mysterious and exotic culture.)

But anyway. Eric Shinseki is a bit of an unusual figure as Asian-Americans go --most of us didn't achieve prominence by rising through the military, though I suppose it fits our stereotype that his greatest moment involved doing the math and sticking to the right numbers when everybody else around him was being a macho idiot. Steven Chu, however, is much more of the type that Asian parents are going to be telling their kids to emulate. His role as Energy Secretary makes me feel unusually represented.

8 comments:

corvus said...

while white women from small towns in red states are fascinating people from a mysterious and exotic culture

So, what? You suffer from Country Fever?

couscutg: a traditional polish side-dish often served with sausage and sauerkraut, made from bits of jagged glass

Neil Sinhababu said...

Yeah, that's what I should call it.

Anonymous said...

white women from small towns in red states are fascinating people from a mysterious and exotic culture

You must be very lonely these days.

Neil Sinhababu said...

I've talked with junior faculty about how I need to publish my way out to girls.

Unknown said...

There's Neil, lurking around the Wal-Mart lingerie section again.

By the way, the word verification choices are getting curiouser and curiouser. Right now I'm looking at "anizater." I shudder to think what Corvus might do with that one.

Anonymous said...

batio -- Batio man: what happens when David Brooks's fictitious suburbanite goes CRAZY and starts smashing things.

...I don't actually have anything to say about the post or thread.

Jacob said...

There is a Jew in Obama's cabinet though, Peter Orszag is OMB Director– which is a cabinet level rank.

corvus said...

Chuck asks, and he receives.

Anizater: An type animal from cryptozoology, similar in appearance and size to an aardvark. It's long snout is equipped with hundreds of rows of microscopic teeth; the animal feeds by shoving this snout up its prey's buttocks and eating its organs out through the rectum. Originally from Bolivia.

And my word this time is, honest to God, patio. That's what I get for taking requests.