Tahm Peet

*

At lest he had learnt a new Thai word, Tahm Peet, mistake. Maybe that was something. Anything. Everything crashed. Fire streaks falling to the ground. The battle scarred regions. The place where we would never be the same again. Shadows were everywhere. He had repudiated the light; for no particular reason except it wasn't him. Perhaps he just wasn't designed for happiness. Stupid things to say. Everything came falling down. Those cheap hotels in decaying parts of Bangkok, my God they were sleazy. Short time. Short time indeed. Well that was the mood he woke up in. Nothing worked, nothing came. In a nice house with a nice boy; and all he could wonder... Johnny Cash droned in the background. Before my time... before my time. If there was any blessed way to escape. Any way to make any bigger mistakes. Any way to encompass change. Things which should have been so easy never were. A time which should of been of peace and joy, haunted by doubt. He could smell his own foreign smell on his shirt even after a few short hours. The Thais didn't seem to smell at all, and if they did he delighted in that sniff that passed as a kiss. Gary lay down on the cool tiled floor, causing great uncomfortability to the boy who had grown up trying to keep his head below every superior person. But there wasn't any way you could get below someone lying on the floor.

To be sure, there were other ways of doing things. He had experienced them in brief interludes for years now; the sunshine streaking through the window, making the laptop hard to see. The quiet peace that was their lot. The days that were both triumphant and decimated. The mistakes that crowded in. The bottle of duty free vodka his friend had left and which they put in the kitchen as if it was some sort of sauce. And which he kept staring at, wondering. Sometimes he would take the lid off and smell it, like petrol. The squirrels jumped from tree to tree. All around the working class suburbs stretched out into a foreign world. He could never make his way. There were other things that would answer through the ether. Brown sugar. The Happy Hippy. Hey mister, you want something. The Aqua Pan Club virtually next door. Massage boys. Promised delight. If only he could be contained in a simple physical body. Already time was mustered. Their random coughs. Their collapsing lungs. The way things were going to end. The recovery process. The partitioned fence. Tahm Peet, mistake, that's all it was. Everything.

He should have gone and lived in the hills. He should have gone and done the typical tourist thing and lived down on the islands. He could see everything come swirling down. He was mad, mad with it. The stupid regret. One day it wouldn't seem so bad, but that wasn't today. Right now he was full of regret and self recrimination. It wasn't very useful. Everyone made mistakes. Particularly here. They're masters, he had been warned, at getting your money out of your pocket; why, why had he paid no attention. It was a silly thing. The regret went on for days. Everything was wrong. At least the previous boy was going to the islands to see his family, and therefore wouldn't be calling him all the time. Suggesting one thing or another. It wasn't the new boy's fault. Boys do what boys do. He'd always liked it himself when some old queen bought him a car; and he flashed around Sydney in one of the smartest little sports cars of the era. It just seemed his destiny. He never thought it odd. It was his role, his place, his due. Of course. Let them pay a high price to touch him. It was only right. And then he'd jump in the sports car and drive a thousand kilometres a week because he could never sit still; up and down the coast, from friend to friend. Manipulative little thing, some suggested. So damn what. Bye bye. There was always another on the pile; fawning, desperate if not desperately sad. Let them pay. If they're that stupid that's their problem.

THE BIGGER STORY:

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6A35MR20101104

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama seems to be in denial about the full meaning of congressional elections in which Republicans made big gains, Republican leader John Boehner said on Thursday.

Boehner is likely to become speaker of the House of Representatives after Republicans routed Democrats in Tuesday's elections and picked up at least 60 seats, the biggest shift in power in decades.

"There seems to be some denial on the part of the president and other Democratic leaders of the message that was sent by the American people," Boehner told ABC News.

"When you have the most historic election in over 60, 70 years, you would think the other party would understand that the American people have clearly repudiated the policies they've put forward in the last few years," he said.

Obama said on Wednesday that the election results were a reflection of frustration by Americans at the sour economy and an appeal for the two parties to work together.

Boehner appeared to take issue with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who has said Republicans' top goal should be ensuring Obama is a one-term president.

"That's Senator McConnell's statement and his opinion," Boehner said. "I think the American people want us to focus on their message during the election: stop the spending, get rid of the uncertainty. Let's get around to creating jobs again and staying focused on what the American people want us to focus on is my number one priority."

ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer asked Boehner if he would agree to what Obama has jokingly called a "Slurpee summit."

A Slurpee is a flavored ice drink that Obama famously referred to on the campaign trail by saying Republicans were standing by idly sipping them while Democrats struggled to get the economy going.

"I don't know about a Slurpee. How about a glass of merlot?" Boehner replied.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Foreign-Policy/2010/1104/After-shellacking-can-foreign-policy-be-a-bright-spot-for-Obama

The midterm elections this week were far and away about domestic economic concerns, but President Obama is likely to feel the impact of Tuesday’s Republican tide on a number of foreign-policy issues, ranging from trade to Afghanistan.

On Asia trip, Obama to get an earful about China
Obama calls midterm elections a 'shellacking' for Democrats
But foreign policy may also present a wounded president with a silver lining, some presidential analysts say.

Mr. Obama is going to have to present the American people with a standout success as he makes a case for reelection in 2012, they argue – and his room to maneuver such a feather into his cap is going to be wider on the international than on the domestic front.

“Presidents always have more leeway in foreign policy than they do on the domestic agenda,” says Brent Scowcroft, who was national security adviser to the first President Bush and President Ford and who remains a leading expert on international affairs. “This president may find his opportunities largely in the field of foreign policy because of his difficulties with the new Congress.”

An Obama who could present the American electorate with a breakthrough deal with Iran, or better yet a done Middle East peace deal that guarantees both Israel’s peace and security and a viable Palestinian state, could restore his stature with the US public.

But in the short term, Obama’s foreign-policy agenda may present almost as many pitfalls and opportunities for setbacks as does the domestic front, some foreign-policy analysts contend.

Picture: Peter Newman.