And, then, I was Al Gore's Official Representative in India

Back in Delhi, one of my interviewees, learning that I was planning to travel to Shillong, invited me to attend the 2nd People's Parliament of Meghalaya. It was billed as a sort of grassroots , alternative to partisan democracy, khum-bye-yah sort of event. To protest official corruption, deplore party divisions, and celebrate the wisdom of the people.

And, of course, I jumped at the chance. I mean, this is comparative political science bread'n'butter - the kind of firsthand political observation (and blurred, not terribly informative pictures) that I can trot out for years to come in order to demonstrate that I have the kind of deep cultural insight that can only be gained in The Field. (I mean, the internet cafe I am currently sitting in has a sign reading "No Porn Sites Please or Else" and featuring a clip art picture of someone pointing a gun at a kitten with its paws in the air. You just can't get that kind of "WTF?" moment out of a book.)

And, in fact, the People's Parliament was a huge success for gleaning comparativist cred, and I will devote a whole post to describing it later. But it also served as a chance for me to venture once again into the realm of American public diplomacy.

You see, the People's Parliament had bestowed this session's International Award on ex-Vice President of the United States, Al Gore for his work on climate change. They invited Al Gore to come and collect the award but, apparently, his schedule did not allow for it. They also invited the US Consulate to send a representative to receive the honor on his behalf. Not such a far-fetched request, since someone from the Calcutta office attended the first People's Parliament. (By the way, no other embassy sent an actual person instead of just a little message, so one point in the State Department's favor, anyhow.) But, here's the thing: the woman from the consulate arrives on the morning of the Parliament, and she will not accept the award!!

Does anyone who studies American politics know if this is normal? Is it expected that a Republican administration wouldn't accept an honor bestowed on a Democrat? Or was the snub specific to Al Gore, what with the continued bad feelings around the popular vote, Florida, chads, and the whole works? Or was it because the award was about combating climate change, a trend the present administration is hell-bent on accelerating?

That final hypothesis, in my mind, is supported by the consulate's message to the Parliament (read aloud during the ceremonies) which congratulated the people of Meghalaya on their success in preserving 79 sacred forests in their state but failed to mention the rally's statements on climate change. No doubt, the consulate's enthusiasm for conserving the sacred forests would have been damped if someone had mentioned that you aren't allowed to hunt or even ride your ATV in those hallowed woods.

So, again, I'm giving the US thoroughly middling marks for public diplomacy. Seems like a pretty shameful slight of the organizers. Although, it occurs to me that I would not accept an award on George W's behalf. But the mere thought of him makes the tears of rage well in my eyes. No one could hate Al Gore that way. His turn on Saturday Night Live was just too lovable.

Be that as it may, they had to give the award to someone. And that someone was... me. My qualification for that job being that I am a US citizen. In fact, I have even been to Tennessee. And so I was photographed receiving Mr. Gore's award from a Khasi syiem and will appear in the local papers as emissary of Al Gore in India. (Although, I highly doubt my name will be spelled correctly, so perhaps that will minimize any potential legal ramifications associated with impersonating a major public figure). The inconvenient truth in all of this being that I have never even seen Al Gore in person nor is my existence known to him. In fact, I wasn't even that enthusiastic about my vote for him in 2000. But nonetheless, I was Al Gore for the day.

I hope I will run into Rumsfeld sometime next year at Stanford, so that I can look at him with the haughty disdain of one who outranked him in the Presidential succession.