For what it's worth:

I am a citizen.
I am NOT my government.

I reserve the right to stand at a distance, as best I can, and comment within the bounds of my knowledge and ability to think logically and objectively.

To that end, I also welcome the opportunity to expand my perspective...

I meant to lay out my best take for an (admittedly hard to achieve) aspirational profile for a woman candidate who would be a shoe-in, not base-level requirements.

Not sure exactly your point exactly.

But RE "deserving more than being minimized as a 'merely good start'. This immediate skepticism is a pattern rarely applied with the same rigor to Global North governments"

Bias here seems worth investigating, as does the manner in which the drop was achieved.

* With a life story that confers a degree of trust & street cred

* High empathy & emotional intelligence

* And whose arsenal includes a classy sense of humor deployable, for example, to deconstruct BS & defuse those who trade in hypocrisy, unethical behavior, or merit-less personal attacks.
3/

That in mind, the ideal woman candidate today might be the type of person who is:
* Self-assured, thoughtful, quick-thinking, big-minded, grounded but aspirational, tech-savvy

* Unafraid to stick to her guns and stand by her values, unfazed, with a smile in the face of vociferous opposition
2/

Yes.. an achievement, but the corrupt entanglement of political elites with criminal organizations is the core challenge — which *rhymes* with what Zelenskyy faces as he tries to satisfy the requirements for EU membership while slogging his way through arduous defense of Ukrainian sovereignty.

"Q. The question is how to transform hatred into constructive energy.

A. Yes, that’s why I say that the religious and political elite, writers, and artists will have a lot of work."
6/

RE political prisoners:

The West did a lot for them, but only through diplomacy.

In contrast, Trump has started buying them off, and as far as I know, Lukashenko seized on this.

'The money upfront.' And in return, he received parts for Belarusian planes that were no longer flying."
5/

"Many things have converged on us...

People often tell me they talk to artificial intelligence because they have no one else to talk to. Damn it."
4/

"In the first two years [of the war], Ukrainians hoped that America would help them win, and we hoped that Lukashenko would fall so we could return to our country and do what we couldn’t do in the 20th century.

But it didn’t happen that way. Now, Ukrainians and Belarusians are desperate."
3/

"I feel a lot of hatred toward Lukashenko and his associates but I believe everything must be done according to the law and that they must be tried in the Hague tribunal."
2/

"A secure Mexico matters for its own people, for North American integration and prosperity"
4/

Still "most difficult of all, Sheinbaum must confront Mexico’s rotten politics

She has yet to investigate powerful politicians—many of them in her own party—who are credibly accused of links to criminal groups

Unless the political-criminal nexus is broken, any reduction in violence cannot last"
3/

"[T]he good news. Since taking office in October 2024 Ms Sheinbaum’s government claims to have cut murders by 32%.

That figure overstates the improvement, but our analysis suggests that the underlying trend is real."
2/

CRISPR technology could also be used for 'designer babies'...

Controversy comes with the territory in groundbreaking scientific research!

(Bigotry like that exhibited by Watson, however, is wholly unnecessary...)
3/

Meanwhile take pride in the work of Berkeley scientist
"Jennifer Doudna.. [who] helped developed CRISPR, the genetic-engineering method that could allow for .. the eradication or treatment of sickle cell anemia, cystic fibrosis, Huntington's disease, and HIV"
2/
www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/1...