Uganda Be Kiddin' Me

A genuinely disturbing story out of Uganda, evidently there is significant pressure among the legislation in that country to go beyond making Homosexuality merely punishable by life imprisonment, and actually make it a crime punishable by death. This on its own is disturbing, but where it gets really twisted is the connection to a semi-secret society in America known as "The Family", which is essentially a Christian sect dedicated to keeping themselves in power and spreading their agenda throughout the world.

How this relates to the subjects in the class is that sometimes, some politicians have no aims beyond keeping themselves in office, and have no intention of representing the people they are elected to represent.

Also, it shows that often there are deep, deep connections among politicians that can have further reaching influence than merely domestic issues.

Biden campaigns for Dodd

Vice President Joe Biden visited Connecticut today to help campaign for Senator Chris Dodd who is up for re-election in 2010. We discussed the importance of supporters during the campaign process and I think this article/event hits a major perspective on politics. If the elections held earlier this year are any indicator for support, it shows that Obama doesn't have the power to successfully stump for other candidates. While Obama certainly drove in an immense amount of support (and voters) for the 2008 election, the elections held earlier this year proved that he can't bring in the same support for other candidates. So apparently the party decided to send the Vice President instead to see if his pull was any stronger. Unfortunately while the Vice President was in attendance, Senator Dodd was a no show to his own fund raiser/event. At $500 a plate you'd think that Senate business could be put on hold in order to attend. Its not like they forgo breaking session in order to get business done but I guess its better when everyone else does it along side you.

Will Biden's support be enough to get Dodd re-elected? We'll find out in 2010 but I have a feeling, if it does work, we'll be seeing a lot more of Biden stumping rather than Obama himself. I guess you can't win them all.

http://www.necn.com/Boston/Politics/2009/12/11/Biden-campaigns-for-Dodd/1260572202.html

Audit the Federal Reserve?

Ron Paul and Alan Grayson's amendment to audit the federal reserve, which they claim is an act of well overdue transparency, passed in the House as part of a larger finance reform package. As Grayson states, “Exposing how the Federal Reserve operates is a crucial component to any meaningful reform. We need to find out what they’ve done and then we can figure out how to respond,”

I feel like in these tough times, and with so much bailout money going in various directions and sometimes underaccounted for, more transparency cannot be a bad thing. Incidentally, the more wall street executives are against something, the better it sounds just by default.

It will be interesting to see if this amendment survives the Senate or not.

What happens to political losers?

I found this article very interesting because we really didn't discuss much outside the political campaign world. So what do political figures do when they lose a campaign? Apparently they go back to their day jobs and completely shrug off any lose (while charging upwards of $5 for a bottled water at their losing parties). Something that seems to lag behind most political figures is that a great deal of them actually do something else for a living. This doesn't seem to get as much exposure because the President generally just runs the country rather than keeping his previous job as the Texas Ranger owner or community organizer. When we think of politicians we think of figures that used to do something else (even it that something is politics itself) but now are Gov., Senators, Representatives, etc... But after they leave office they become professional speakers, writers, and have libraries with their names on them.

So I guess the saying "Don't quit your day job" applies to politicians as well. Hint, hint Lou Dobbs and Sarah Palin...

Obama & Nobel Prize

We spent quite some time in class talking about political speeches. I thought this was a great example of an effective acceptance speech. Obama's Nobel Prize acceptance speech is, like all of his other speeches, encouraging, hopeful and optimistic. He repeatedly, presents himself well, and continues to impress America with all that he is doing. In addition to this story, there are numerous other stories on cnn.com about other politician's opinions about Obama's acceptance speech. The consensus is that it rocked. (Even Sara Palin liked it). As we discussed in class, the performance of a political speech and either help, or hurt your career. This speech by Obama, as his other speeches have, will only help his career, and add to his credibility.

Tiger & His Image

As we discussed in class, the media can either make or break a politician. I have to argue that the same goes for celebrities. Take Tiger Woods for instance. One of the best golf players, ever. He had an amazing career, and tons of fans. He cheats on his wife and all of that is gone. A week or two after the media broke the news about his scandal, he is now taking an "indefinate break from golf". Relating to the media, this also is a fine example of how important image is.  In the matter of a couple of weeks, all of the years of hard work Tiger put into hig career, was ruined by a sex scandal. Image in the media is extremely important. However, things always get worse before they get better. The fact that Wood's used the word, "break" tells me that he isn't actually planning on quitting golf over this. This is merely a move for the media to help repair his image. If Bill Clinton can bounce back, there is no doubt in my mind Tiger can, too. Once this all blows over (likely because of a new sex scandal from someone else deemed "important"), he will be back in action, picking up on this career where he left off.

Jolie fights for Sudanese

In class we discussed what defined a person or music group as being political and the argument that everything can be seen as political. This article would be what I define as an individual becoming political. Now don't get me wrong, Angelina Jolie was political before asking Obama to do more for the Sudanese people by promoting peace. However, by taking that step towards involving yourself in world events (political events by nature) you become seen a political individual from that moment forward. Being a public figure already it is hard to maintain any form of private life and keep away from representing an issue (ask Tiger Woods or Rihanna) but as soon as you inject your public self into an political issue, you become a representative for that issue for life. It becomes a part of your public image and, for good or bad, you become part of the issue.

I do agree with the argument that everything can be seen as political but for the non rhetorical scholars thinkers, I do believe that a public figure can retain some form of privacy as long as they avoid injecting themselves into political/social issues.

Is this necessary?

I went to cnn.com today to read the news. I clicked on the link for Barack Obama, and this is the first story that came up: A story about his dog Bo getting a stocking on Christmas, just as his kids do. I must say I think Obama is a neat person and all, but do we really need a story about this? If you look aroud on the website, this story is mixed in with the more "important" stories with headlines such as, "Lowering deficit more important than boosting economy". 

In relation to the textbook, this story could possibly work in Obama's favor to help mantain his political image as a family man. With that in mind, I could understand why cnn would in fact, post this story. It just seems a little out of place to me that it would be placed with the stories on the deeper issues our country is facing.

Where have all the role models gone?

I am writing this next blog not necissarily for the actual info in the article but the basis of the article. I am so tired of hearing about the love life of government officials and all the scandals they have been a part of I mean enough is enough. This particular article focuses in on Montana Senators Max Baucus's latest scandal he has managed to get himself into. According to foxnews.com the senators nomination for U.S. attorney just so happened to be the woman he had been having an affair with and is now the boyfriend of, not so long after his wife left him for the cheating. I am so tired of these people that we are electing to help run our country and their inability to keep it in their pants. I understand this happens all the time and the reason it is such a big deal for these people is because they are public officials or in Tiger's case famous athletes but come one. No matter how you want to sugar coated to are a public figure in the United States and people look up to you so quit fooling around. I am so tired of hearing more scandal stories in the news than stories of how the people of the U.S. are going to start finding jobs, boosting the economy and working on the real issues, if you find a new love and happened to be marriend, let go of the wife and go hang out with that twenty something blonde. I was told i couldnt have my cake and eat it to and I am not a public figure so niether can you. Grow up, learn some respect, try to find some morals and ethics, or get the hell out of the way so someone who has all those things can help bring this country out of our current problems.

Playoff PAC

In class we talked a lot about political action committees which is defined in our book as a pressure group. Basically these PACs are groups who have a single mission and an idea. There job is to inform the public and pressure the government to notice the issue and do something about it. I found a website, http://www.playoffpac.com/Default.aspx, basically this is the home site for a political action committee who is pushing for the removal of the BCS and installment of a playoff system in college football. While learning about PACs in class i always thought of issues like abortion, healthcare, unemployment, etc. Never did i think i would see a PAC that was pushing the issue of the BCS. Not to mention that it is working. It is because of this pressure group that congress is now working on a bill to focus on removal of the BCS and the installment of a playoff system. I found it very interesting to see that a PAC can pretty much stand for anything and that with enough attention they can actually have their issue resolved. I urge you all to look at this website and see what they are all about. It is very interesting.

Congress in College Football

In a story on Espn.com congress is working on bill that would make it illegal to call any game in college football the national championship unless it was the final game of a play off between colleges football teams. Basically this would completely get rid of the idea of the BCS and would force college football to use a playoff system instead of a bowl system. In the article, the BCS executive director is quoted, explaining ""With everything going on in the country, I can't believe that Congress is wasting time and spending taxpayers' money on football,". Now although i am an advocate of college football moving to a playoff system and getting rid of the BCS computer system, I do not think it is something that needs to be resolved by the U.S. government. I think it is amazing that the house is even spending time on this bill when their are so many other, more important problems in the country. For example, the ongoing war in the middle east, growing unemployment, government bailouts, a failing economy just to name a few. It is very disheartening to know that although I may not be able to find a job when I get out of college but I will be able to watch college football in a playoff becuase the congress is wasting its time on trying to govern college sports and not solving our political problems.

Obama looks toward main street

It seems like we have bee hearing about bailouts for wall street for the longest time. Many people have show their disapprovement at the focus on wall street and have expressed their growing interest in seeing a little help for the people working on main street. In this article the people of the United States are starting to see thier interests met. In an effort to communicate with the people Obama is looking towards a plan to allocate some of the bailout money reserved for wall street to be given to small businesses in the U.S. I think this shows a good example of how the white house is trying to communicate with its voters and to try and help with the unemployment problem that is affecting so many Americans today. They are looking to help banks borrow money without any restrictions as long as they it is used to help pay out loans to small businesses. I think this is a good way for Obama to go through with his promise to the people of the United States to help with the growing unemployment rate and takes the focus off of the large wall street companies and focuses in on the some 23 million small business that cater to employees in the U.S.

Modern Media

Being a public figure can be a tough lifestyle. There is constant surveillance of your life. Public figures lives are poked and prodded. A politician’s life has changed over the years. Due to advances in technology, media, and coverage anything a politician does will make headline news. Over the years a number of male politicians have had their careers and images tarnished. The most famous of politicians is probably Bill Clinton. His sex scandal with Monica Lewinski shook up our country. Another famous scandal was Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe. The thing about these two situations is the fact that Bill Clinton messed up in the modern media era. Kennedy’s situation never flourished because years ago information didn’t travel as fast. New York governor Elliot Spitzer was recently caught cheating, John Ensign was another political figure caught. You can see public figures everywhere caught performing unethical acts. This might be because our society is so intrigued by celebrities and their lifestyles.
http://yearinreview.yahoo.com/2009/blog/11

Down but not out

I decided to take a loot at John McCains campaign website for the 2010 U.S. senate election. In class we talked a lot about websites and how the internet works when it comes to political campaigns and many of the things we learned are seen in McCains new website for senate re election. On the front of his site, we see many key components which our book talks about. For instance the first thing you see when you sign on to the page is an area for your email address and zip code, this is most likely used to help get word out and look for volunteers in different areas. And who said John McCain was out of touch with the people of the U.S. there is an entire section of social networking sites in which John McCain is a part of, including facebook. who would of thunk it. The ironic part about this is that I would be willing to bet anyone that John McCain couldnt even tell you how to get to his facebook page and there is probably some twenty somthing volunteer sitting behind a computer right now updating old man McCains facebook page. Another key component of the campaign website seen in McCains and noted in the book is the ease of translating the site. There is a one click button at the top of the hom page showing us all how to see the site in Spanish. Although everyone has their jokes about McCain and he was beat up pretty bad in the Presidential campaign I think his website for senate re election is set up very nicely and he has obviously done a very good job of hiring an educated staff to run his campaign.

A veteran goes on record for stealing Hitler's book

Who said that you cannot steal from Adolf Hitler? When most people think of Hitler, they imagine of a mean dude whose sight alone could make you shake like a leaf on a tree. Infact that sounds very polite. To be precise, if some people heard that Hitler is coming to town next week, they would book planes, go to a far country and stay there 6 months after he leaves, just to make sure his presence could no longer be smelled in town before they return. But that is not the case for John Piston. The U.S veteran who fought in World War II was among a few U.S soldiers who gained access into Hitler's home in the Bavarian Alps. While at the home, the veteran thought of this sweet idea that could serve as a testimony that he was not only among the soldiers who fought and defeated the Nazis but he also gained access into Hitler's very chamber. The idea was to steal Hitler's album that was filled with photographs of paintings. The now 87 year old Piston who happens to be a resident of Ohio later own realized that the album was part of Hitler's compilation for an art museum at his hometown of Linz, Austria.
Piston's act brings out the idea of image. As we know, image and politics go hand in hand. A good politician should make his/her image to look good. But image does not only count in politics but also in other areas of life. Most people will agree with me that the U.S Army has tried the best it could to create an image that it is the most professional and ethical force in the world. But the idea of a veteran "stealing " Hitler's book challenges the good image that the U.S Army tries so hard to create :)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_hitler_s_album

Obama for Peace?

Cnn.com is running an article about President Obamas acceptance of the Nobel Peace prize. This comes just a few weeks after Obama decided to send more troops into Afghanistan to help fight terrorism. I understand that Obama is fighting a war that he did not wage but rather was handed down to him from former President Bush. I just find it hard to believe someone who spoke out against the war so much in his campaign and someone who is speaking about how importance of peace right after he sends more troops into a war. Maybe he deserves the peace prize but maybe now was not the best time. In class we also talked about how a candidate is constantly running for office whether they currently hold an office or they plan to in the future. I think Obama did a good job of using his acceptance speech for the Nobel peace prize as a way to get his ideas out and to reiterate to the people what he stands for and what he strives for.

Bring Back Bush?!!

A recent Gallup poll found that 44% of Americans polled would like George W. Bush back as president. Okay, now look, I know times are tough right now, and we might get nostalgic to a time before the economy nearly collapsed, but I don't think this is quite the answer we're looking for. I think it's interesting that a large number of people would be so nostalgic for Bush's presidency, considering that by the time his second term was over that he was in line for being considered one of the worst presidents of all time. I think that this label will stay with him as his overriding legacy as well, not to say that the Bush presidency was 100% terrible.

But I think that this sort of statistic doesn't necessarily mean anything, as it more than likely literally acts as an expression of dissatisfaction with Obama, and not necessarily a wistful look back at Bush's legacy.

Mad Man McCain

While looking at Politico.com I came across an article about John McCain and how he has become quite the critic after his recent loss to Barack Obama in the 2008 election. In this article cleverly titled McCain, critic in chief, The first thing I thought was interesting about the article was the first paragraph where the author is defending Obama for lending an open hand to John McCain after beating him in the the presidenct, and even after this good willed gesture John McCain is a leading critic of the new President. I mean come on, first of all Obama or not we all know that anyone who has just run for major public office is going to mention his competition and praise them for the work they did, after they win. I do not think this is a reason to feel bad for Obama that McCain is being mean to him now. Obama's speech writers knew exactly wha they were doing when they wrote about McCain and I am not taking away from the fact that Obama mentioned McCain as doing an amazing job during the campaign but, honestly we all know he did not do it just because he is such a great guy, anyone would have done that. Secondly McCain has always been a critic of Obama and for obvious reasons. A. Obama was his competition during the presidential campaign, they were both fighting for the same job, of course they are going to be critics of eachother. B. Obama is a democrat and McCain is a republican, they are both opposing forces, they are always critics of each other, the parties stand for completely different issues, i mean of course McCain is going to criticize Obama's decisions. I think it is outrageous that this author would even use this argument in a comic book let alone the opening paragraphs of a political news article.

Republicans Vs. Democrats...Ding ding ding

In class we have talked a lot about debates and the back and forth that goes on between the republican and democratic parties in the U.S. government. As I was frantically looking for articles on foxnews.com I came across this story of how the republicans are fighting the democrats on raising the national debt limit. The story goes on to explain how the democrats want to raise the national debt limit another $1.8 trillion from its current set limit at $12.1 trillion. This article intrigued me more on the side of the debate between the two parties more than the actual issue at hand. In class we talked a lot about campaign debates and how candidates are constantly trying to put themselves ahead of the competition and i think this article does a good job at showing us how this happens in party terms. It shows how the two main parties are constantly going at it on issues and they are always fighting for an issue to go their way. The article explains that although republicans are fighting to stop the democrats from hiking the national debt limit they know it is probably to late to do anything about this current hike therefore the republicans are putting themselves into a position to fight it the next time the democrats propose to raise it again. It is interesting to see how the two parties are constantly at odds to make sure the other is staying within the boundaries they have set for each other. I also think it shows how debates are not just for political candidates but also for the individuals in the house.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/12/11/republicans-try-freeze-national-debt-limit/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%253A+foxnews%252Fpolitics+%2528FOXNews.com+-+Politics%2529

Possible Strategy for the Lou Dobbs Campaign

I found this website while reading some of the articles on Lou Dobbs possible Presidential run in 2012. By referencing the in class assignment on finding political campaign website I couldn't help notice the similarities found in this website. While the website isn't asking for monetary support (as he hasn't actually formed a political committee) there are still numerous other commonalities found on other political websites. You can follow the updates via twitter, facebook, and myspace. There is a spot for his, supposed, platform and even sections with video and other interactive media.

The most interesting portion to me is found in the website name. Apparently they are already playing off of the reluctant candidate platform that Fred Thompson ran on in 2008. Assuming that Dobbs is going to run in 2012, does this platform play better for him than it did for Fred Thompson? Dobbs can argue he had to leave his show when he saw the need and request from voters for him to do something about the issues at hand. He can also show that he actually does care about the issues and running which was a problem that Thompson had during the primaries when he was labeled as not actually caring enough to be an effective President. An interesting look at the possible start of a campaign and a possible glimpse into the future.

Symbolic Strategies

We have talked during class many times about how when one is in office, and has the choice to re-run for office, they are technically always campaigning and thinking about re-election. During campaigns, there are many symbolic strategies that one may use during a campaign. The first strategy is "the use of symbolic trappings to transmit the absolute strength and importance of the office. The presidency stands for power, and therefore incumbents take on the persona of the powerful" (Trent, Friedenberg 88). President Obama is currently holding one of the most powerful positions in the US and has the power to spend time and money on the problems he thinks is most important. In the Plain Dealer, there was an article about how many black lawmakers are upset with Obama and his lack of effort to help African Americans getting jobs. With the country in a recession, blacks still make up a huge percent of the unemployeed in this country. With the power that Obama has, these black lawmakers think that Obama should use it to take the time, money and effort to help out these people, instead of spending over a trillion dollars on the war and helping banks and big corporations with the recession.

http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2009/12/black_lawmakers_grow_impatient.html

Rushing Miss America into Politics

During one of the classes this year, I remember discussing how political candidates reach out to different types of people and try to relate to them, showing these people that they are down to earth and have similarities. One example that we talked about during class was how Obama had gone to a NASCAR race, making an appearance to NASCAR fans that he supported the sport and could relate to those people also. Connie Schultz is a columnist for the Plain Dealer, and I love reading her articles every week. Looking through one of her recent articles, I found her talking about something similar of how a political nut (even though not a candidate) is reaching out to yet another group of people. Rush Limbaugh is going to be a judge on the Miss America pagent this year. Limbaugh may not be a candidate running for any office, but everyone knows his views on politics, constantly praising Republican candidates and bashing Democrats any way that he can. By bringing Rush in to become a judge on the show, which has been lacking an audience for the past several years, it is just one more way to broaden politics into another group of people. Although Rush may not be a candidate himself, I'm sure he will be finding any way possible to speak positive about current candidates that he is in support of during the show.

The Need for Tiger to Speak

While Tiger Woods is not a political figure nor does he hold public office, there still seems to be a demand for Tiger to publicly speak about the reported relationships with women outside of marriage. Being in the spotlight does seem to make any celebrity a public figure and with that comes the responsibility to communicate with them. My personal stance is that Tiger should not have to say a word about what he did or didn't do, but I completely understand the need for him to speak out in order to save his image. As we discussed exigence and the rhetorical situation in class, there is a clear demand and need by the public to hear from Tiger himself that what is being reported is either true or false. Without a response from Tiger than the exigence is left unanswered and people either start to lose their image of Tiger or start to assume everything they hear is true (if the exigence isn't answered by the demanded person, then it will be filled by the only available source).

The article compares the Tiger Wood's incident to the 2003 Kobe Bryant infidelity incident. Kobe is today seen in a positive light with the issue almost completely ignored and behind him, but Tiger isn't taking the same route that Kobe did. Kobe was straight forward and held a press conference to answer the exigence that existed at that time. By meeting the exigence head on, Kobe was able to get through the incident (albeit not quickly) and get to where he is today in the public's eye. Will Tiger have this issue put behind him as well? I can't imagine it will be unless he meets the exigence head on and speaks out to save his public image.

http://www.daily49er.com/opinion/tiger-not-out-of-the-woods-until-he-makes-public-disclosure-1.2117759

Jenny Sanford Files for Divorce

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford's wife (soon to be ex) Jenny Sanford has filed for divorce this morning. This comes after it was, very publicly, revealed that Mark Sanford had a mistress in Argentina. So far Gov. Sanford has weathered the news and attempted removal from office from opposition (in his own party) but can he still stay in office without his wife standing by him. In class we discussed how important family is during a campaign process and it seems to also correlate to scandals as well. Generally the scandals involve the wife standing by the politician (Clinton, Edwards, etc...) but Jenny has decided to go her separate way, reportedly, with her children as well. So if Gov. Sanford can survive the attempts to remove him from office, will he be able to successfully run for (if he so chooses) any other political office (he can't run for Gov. of South Carolina in 2010 as this is his second term)? Without his wife standing by him and no family to rally around him, Sanford would likely not be able to relate to voters or escape the publicity surrounding this event as it continually drags out. After all, how many voters were married and flew to Argentina to meet their mistress whom they described as their "soul mate"? That would likely prove to be a very small demographic for voter turn out.

Personally I applaud the choice by Jenny Sanford and can't imagine why other politician wives have not done the same during scandals.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/12/11/jenny-sanford-files-for-divorce/

The Economy Is Falling, We Must Inform The President

In an article written by CNN analyst Paul Steinhauser, we learn about a recent public opinion poll that shows increasing numbers in fear for the economy. The poll was conducted at the start of the month of December and surveyed over 1,000 adults. In the midst of what seems like a possible economic turn-around, the poll shows that 3% fewer Americans feel that the economy is getting better than did last month. While 1,000 people does not seem like an appropriate sample size for the millions in America it is still very interesting to compare the numbers from past months and to see how the public opinion changes. Though experts speculate that the economy is headed for an upturn it will undoubtedly take a little longer before the majority of Americans start to believe this. Many experts state that even when the economy starts to recover, employment rates will lag behind before they start to pick up as well. This could very well be one of the reasons that Americans are still in fear of the current recession. Much like the fact that we didn’t know we had entered a recession until after it happened, we likely won’t know we are out of it until we have been for some time.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/12/08/poll.economy/index.html

Condolences For Our Fallen Soldiers

The Keesling family, like many other American families, has suffered a great loss due to the war the U.S. is currently engaged in. In June of this year chancellor Keesling, serving in Iraq, shot and killed himself. His family has set up a shrine to him in their home and had left space on the shrine for a condolence letter from the president that never came. It is the U.S. government’s policy to not send condolence letters to families of soldiers who kill themselves in the field of duty. Not a lot of things shock me anymore about our government but this article definitely left a lasting impression. It boggles my mind to think that our government would stand to judge the value of a death. What this policy says to me is that any suicide victims that served in Iraq are not true soldiers and should not be afforded the same respect as other soldiers who died on the field of battle.

Coincidently, I read this article after having gone to see the movie “Brothers” last night. I won’t say anything about the movie that you can’t see in the trailer. The movie features a U.S. Marine that has sustained substantial mental damage due to his tour in Afghanistan. This relates to the news article as this damage is in direct relation to the war in which Chancellor Keesling took his own life, and the blood is in part, on U.S. government hands. To think that our president would not offer so much as a simple, “I’m sorry for your loss” to his family is gut-wrenchingly cold-hearted. Thankfully, we learn in this story that the President has taken notice of the policy and intends to change it.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/12/10/condolence.letters/index.html

Obama's Approval Drops Below 50%

For the first time in his Presidency, President Obama's approval rating has dropped below the 50% mark. The change is noted as coming from a drop in the way noncollege-educated white voters view the President's accomplishments (or lack there of). As the economy takes time to rebound, this segment of voters is feeling that, apparently, the President could have done more. And it is hard to blame these voters when the theme of the Obama campaign was "Change we can believe in".

While the theme definitely aided in getting Obama elected, it may prove to backfire when it comes time for the 2012 election. Granted we are barely near a year into the Obama administration and it can be argued that it is not enough time to solve the problems that the administration faces, but this doesn't mean the voting population will give me the benefit of doubt. The health care talks have met a brick wall, the economy is responding slowly, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq aren't scheduled to possibly end until very near the election cycle (and that is IF they find a solution). If Obama doesn't actually change anything by the time the election cycle creeps up, it is likely his original (and very successful) campaign theme will become a rallying cry for the opposition.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/12/04/obama.approval.poll/index.html

Republican Purity Test

Do you have what it takes to be a Republican candidate? That question will be asked of every Republican candidate across the nation as a new "purity test" of 10 conservative principles could become part of being a candidate for the party. Any candidate found in violation of two or more principles on the list of 10 could have their funding pulled and likely leaving them dead in the water for any political campaign. However, doesn't this hurt the party as a whole rather than "purifying" it? In class we learned that part of US politics is to appear towards the middle of the spectrum in political leaning (not too left and not too right). By making the party consist of only right leaning views (by weeding out moderate republicans), will the republican party lose the voting groups that lean slightly right and favor moderate candidates?

As elections go, the independent vote becomes a ever increasing voting population that campaigns must try to secure. By "purifying" the party to contain only conservatives, the party is effectively restricting their party votes and making the independent vote even more important (for republicans that is). The democrats don't seem to be limiting their candidates political leanings and will continue to enjoy their party votes without dwindling them. A bad move, in my opinion, from the republican party and something that will likely cause more trouble than good for the party.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/11/27/gop-purity-test-gets-mixed-grades-conservatives/

The Golden Boy

In honor of President Obama’s Nobel Peace prize the city of Jakarta, Indonesia erected a statue of Obama depicted as a child. Obama had spent a period of four years there when he was growing up and lived with his mother and Indonesian stepfather. The statue cost $10,000 and was donated by a handful of local donors as well as a charity organization dedicated to helping intercity kids. The people there felt it would be nice to have the statue depicting Obama as a child rather than as a president to give hope to the children in the area. This seems a little bit to me like more of a tourist trap than anything else. Some grad students from the area were lined up to take a picture with the statue after the unveiling. I feel like Indonesia is just grabbing onto a celebrity figure that happened to live there for a few years rather than trying to inspire the people. However this is probably not the first or last country to do something like this. Obama is highly praised all around the world and it is no surprise that people want to create a lasting image of him; let’s hope he keeps up the good work and they don’t end up regretting the decision.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/12/10/indonesia.obama.statue/index.html

Um, did they just accidentally defund the entire military industry?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/22/whoops-anti-acorn-bill-ro_n_294949.html

Over the Anti-Acorn fervor sweeping the nation after a few people got rolled by a cartoon pimp, evidently, Republican legislators were quick to draw up a bill that would withdraw federal funding from "any organization" that has been charged with breaking federal or state election laws, lobbying disclosure laws, campaign finance laws or filing fraudulent paperwork with any federal or state agency. The bill passed with strong bipartisan support, without either party realizing that the broad language of this bill could, in essence, kill the entire military industrial complex, as several of the top manufacturers of military equipment have several charges of fraud among them.

This incident details the importance of having more detailed language in legislation. If this law is found to be constitutional, then in their witchhunt of ACORN the Republicans may have found another comically inept way of botching things.

Planting the seeds for Astroturf in Farmville

Perhaps those of you on Facebook have tired of the countless spam about how someone you sat next to in 10th grade English owns a cow in Farmville now, or they gathered some sticks or other thrilling farm-related adventures. Farmville, for those of you who are unclear, is essentially a farming simulation on Facebook, where users earn virtual currency to buy crops and other objects for their virtual fields. In these games, however, virtual currency is also attainable through completing offers through third-parties, such as trying a trial subscription to NetFlix, or completing surveys online.

Recently, there has appeared as an option a survey for Farmville users to fill out in regards to opposing health care reform, which upon completion sends a form letter to the user's congressional representative stating their opposition to said reform. The user then recieves their Farmville dollars and can go back to picking their strawberries. The implications of this sort of behavior are somewhat troubling. Basically, it generates a sense of false concern by essentially spamming the mailboxes of representatives with misleading letters, making any kind of anti-health care movement seem far larger than it is.

Despite what anyone's view on the health care debate is, this practice is clearly as unethical as if they were being paid real currency to sign their name to a form letter to their Congressperson. Such practices are reprehensible due to the fact that they obfuscate how people genuinely feel, and only hurt the process by furthering the agenda of a well-connected, well-funded group such as the people behind this Farmville exploitation.

Don't Believe in God? Don't Run for Office!

At least in North Carolina that is. According to the North Carolina constitution, politicians who deny the existence of God are barred from public office. Talk about having to demonstrate fitness for office, but the real question is that does this contradict a separation of church and state? By forcing a candidate for office to accept the existence of God is tantamount to forcing the candidate to endorse religion and now the policy is coming to a challenge.

Cecil Bothwell is an atheist who is attempting to run for City Council. Opponents are citing the constitution for rational that he should not be seated due to his religious stance. The state constitution is in direct opposition of the US constitution stating that no religious test may be administered as a qualification for office. While we still keep references to God in many visible parts of our government, the refusal to seat a candidate on the basis they may or may not acknowledge the existence of God is ridiculous.

http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20091208/NEWS01/912080327/Critics-of-Cecil-Bothwell-cite-N.C.-bar-to-atheists

"Fitness for Office"

Arnold Schwarzenegger may show fitness for office as the Governor of California physically but how about technically? Arnold did not have much experience before becoming the governor of Cali but his progress so far have been less that spectacular. Not saying that California didn't have their economic hard times coming and that the state of the current economy is Arnold's fault but some decisions that are being made are questionable. "The state faces deep cuts to education and other core programs to plug a $24.3 billion deficit, while a steep decline in tax revenue has created a looming cash crisis that jeopardizes its ability to pay its day-to-day bills" This article explains that California is making a terrible move by cutting some funding to education which is a heavily weighted priority in any state. But how could this be isn't Cali full of rich people and blonde's with fake knockers? According to the article, "We can only spend what we have. That is the harsh but simple reality," he said in the rare midyear appearance before a joint Legislature session. "Our wallet is empty, our bank is closed and our credit is dried up."Arnold is telling the truth, not only is the USA struggling economically but the beloved California is hurting amongst the worst in the nation. I have no doubts that the state will be back on it's feet within the next couple years but until then, my life plans may change forcing me to stay in the miserable Midwest where the weather is -7 degrees in the beginning of December and the sun will not shine until May.

Republicans Battle Each Other in New York

I found this article to be quite interesting as it isn't something we discussed in class aside from primary battles. In New York's 23rd district election, two republicans and a democrat were facing off for the November 3rd election. Only one of the republicans didn't have support from her own party! Candidate Dede Scozzafava dropped out of the election at the last minute after losing support from her own party. Apparently Scozzafava was too liberal for the republican party and support was thrown completely towards the other republican candidate (who wasn't even a republican candidate before this move).

If there is anything to draw from this it would have to be that money isn't the only thing that is needed as a candidate; you also need the support of a political party in order to run. Without the support from her party, Scozzafava saw no way that running would end up in her favor and dropped out. Of course the republican party was quick to spin the news as a way to secure a win for the party, but it is hard to ignore the details and the action by the party to choosing not to support a candidate from their own party.

http://www.mrc.org/biasalert/2009/20091102090813.aspx

Can Obama earn his Nobel?

Depending on which side you are on, Obama has either already earned his Nobel Peace Prize or still needs to show reason for his award. Regardless of the camp you reside in, the fact is that Obama has already received and accepted his Nobel Prize, and apparently now he will have his chance to "earn" it. An environmental advocacy group is urging Obama to boldy move to stop this catastrophic climate change. I guess the rational is that if Al Gore gets a Nobel for raising awareness for global warming, then Obama can earn his by fighting the climate change.

The only thing that comes to mind, for me, is what did we elect Obama for? It certainly wasn't to win a Nobel so why can't we get past his award? We can't agree on a health care package, regulate wall street, or agree on what to do in the wars in Irag and Afghanistan so it only makes sense to not agree on the Nobel committee decision as well. Obama is clearly not afraid to fill his Presidency with big issues immediately after taking office and now he gets to deal with earning his Nobel. At least in 2012 it'll make for a great political ad.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=ajDav7rcEu3Q

Cnn's Lou Dobbs 2012

For those who don't know of Lou Dobbs you may want to remember his name as 2012 approaches. Lou Dobbs was the host of his own show every evening on CNN. Among his pet issues was illegal immigration and anything else that was on the current conservative agenda (albeit independent conservative). In mid November, Dobbs announced on air that he was leaving CNN (very abruptly) and didn't give a reason. A possible reason? He is apparently looking at a run for the White House in 2012.

Leaving your current job in speculation of a 2012 run is not new as Sarah Palin demonstrated earlier this year. But is this really the way to "kick off" a possible run? Part of running for office is your ability to demonstrate that you are actually fit and qualified for the position. Leaving your job doesn't seem like a good way to go about showing your qualifications. Seeing as I can't predict the future, there is no guarantee that Dobbs will run at all in 2012. However, if he does decide to "throw his hat in" he will likely have to battle against his qualification of leaving a previous job, years prior, in order for a possible run. At least Dobbs will have a few years of buffer time on hand for the voting public to hopefully forget it and make it a non-issue.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2009/11/23/2009-11-23_excnn_anchor_lou_dobbs_is_considering_running_for_president_in_2012.html

Europeans Show Some Love For Obama

There is no doubt that hope and optimism for the future were at an all-time high when Obama was elected president. Countries in Europe actually felt the same way as they celebrated the new president as much as we did. Though as the article explains much of this celebration was more in response to Bush leaving office than Obama taking it but Europeans were still hopeful for what Obama could do. As the American public has started to show its first doubts, as far as public opinions polls are concerned, one reporter set out to see how Obama’s rep was holding up in Europe. Turns out he is still a big hit. One of the things that Europeans liked most about Obama was his tendency to talk out negotiations rather than acting out. Though some Europeans are becoming fearful as Obama calls for more troops to fight the war, the majority of Europeans remain hopeful for what is still to come. England specifically has been a long standing ally of the U.S. and I think it is important to keep up relations with them and other European countries. As countries like China and Japan continue to gain power it doesn’t hurt to have a friendly face in the White House that Europeans feel comfortable standing behind.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/12/09/obama.europe/index.html

There is no doubt that hope and optimism for the future were at an all-time high when Obama was elected president. Countries in Europe actually felt the same way as they celebrated the new president as much as we did. Though as the article explains much of this celebration was more in response to Bush leaving office than Obama taking it but Europeans were still hopeful for what Obama could do. As the American public has started to show its first doubts, as far as public opinions polls are concerned, one reporter set out to see how Obama’s rep was holding up in Europe. Turns out he is still a big hit. One of the things that Europeans liked most about Obama was his tendency to talk out negotiations rather than acting out. Though some Europeans are becoming fearful as Obama calls for more troops to fight the war, the majority of Europeans remain hopeful for what is still to come. England specifically has been a long standing ally of the U.S. and I think it is important to keep up relations with them and other European countries. As countries like China and Japan continue to gain power it doesn’t hurt to have a friendly face in the White House that Europeans feel comfortable standing behind.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/12/09/obama.europe/index.html

nObama in 2012??

Apparently now CNN is looking t0 Dick Cheney for advice on Obama? Cheney is now coming out and saying that he believes Republicans will make it big in the 2010 election races for the House and Senate.

He believes that Obama has "implemented 'radical' far left policies even though he campaigned as a conventional Democrat." Isn't that the whole point of being a Democrat...being left-winged in policies that he is supporting and implementing?? Cheney said Obama has been a lot different then "what we've traditionally had in Democratic presidents in years past." Is that not the point of electing a new president into the White House? Wasn't Obama's slogan "Change WE Can Believe In?" What does he expect with someone like Obama coming into the White House...another George Bush?

But yet to make this article even better they ask him who he thinks could win it in 2012 and he goes onto say, "It might hurt them more than it would help them coming from me." That right there coming from his own mouth. I just do not get why Cheney gets to comment when Obama has to go in and clean up after what the wonderful George Bush and himself left for him. What does he expect Obama still has a lot to work on.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/12/09/cheney-makes-big-2010-prediction/

Nobel for Obama

Obama received his Nobel peace prize recently. At the acceptance speech he spoke more than 4,000 words. This is two times the length that he spoke during his inaguration speech. In the speech he stressed the fact that many times war is needed and it cannot be dodged.

Obama refused to renounce war for his nation or under his leadership, saying defiantly that "I face the world as it is" and that he is obliged to protect and defend the United States.

This speech must have been a tough speech to deliver. In the midst of war and the ordering of more troops to Afghanistand Obama surely needed to pick his words wisely. I credit him for standing by his decisions and his movement to use more troops. I just think this would have been a no win speech to deliver. Obama definently has an important few months ahead of him . This was obvious because many people that attended the speech were baffled when he did not stay for the second day of festivities. I don't think they can blame him. He has a lot on his plate and a ton of issues to handle

Man, Tiger Woods is messing up!

I am running out of things to blog about and need them so I want to bring up some of Tiger Woods' current issues and relate them to our class discussions. Ok, first we all Tiger Woods got into an accident last week when pulling out of his driveway at 2:30 am and had considerable facial injuries and foul play was suspected but never proved. You'd think his image would be in jeopardy like a politician that made a mistake and was exploited, and personally I think Tiger is more popular than most politicians. Now yesterday another story came up that he had 11 mistresses that are beginning to come forward! Even more, Gatorade just dropped Tiger's brand of Gatorade and endorsement, but according to Gatorade the loss of sponsorship had NOTHING to do with his current media monstrosities. So there is the back story. First off, Tiger Woods in my opinion needed to address the media and give an apology speech to state he made a mistake and wanted to move on positively. The media and Golf fans would have most likely forgave him but less than a week later after no response from Tiger more allegations come out about him. Any Politician would have handled this situation much better and professionally. Tiger is now claiming that due to all the scandals being exposed about him, he plans to leave the country with his family to one of house million dollar house to escape the drama.

Party Crashers

Tareq and Michaele Salahi are the names of the couple that crashed the white house party back in November. They had no disturbing plans to ruin the night; they just wanted to go to the party. In this article we learn that the correspondent from CNN that was in charge of covering the story when it first broke had actually met the party crashing duo before. Apparently they had been at another party in which the reporter was in attendance about 2 years prior. The reporter said that he remembered thinking the couple was odd when he first met them as they began to converse with him as if they had been old friends. A college psychologist was called to weigh in on the matter and said that this couple was no different than many other attention seeking reality show wannabes that exist today. The psychologist said that this sort of thing is becoming more common place as the media of today needs to find 24 hours of news and will resort to covering obscure stories like balloon boys and party crashers. The article mentioned that three secret service personnel have been put on leave since the incident. It is frightening to think that something like this could happen in a time when our governmental security forces are supposed to be at their highest level. I guess this time we’re just lucky that this couple did not have any devious intentions.


http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/12/09/brush.with.salahis/index.html

Where did the White House napkins go?

So word is out there that napkins went missing in the White House. Did you see this? Check it out man; http://tv.yahoo.com/daytime/video/the-view-ellen-the-early-show/16899468/
If you missed this from Monday's "The View," you are not the only one. As a matter of fact I missed it too. But thank goodness yahoo did not let it go. I got it, and now you have got it. What is the implication?
This might have been one of the jokes on "The View," or it might be real. So Barbara Walters made away with the nakins from the White House afterall. Really? Yeah---the lady of character made fun of it on Monday's The View show, before Nikki Boyer and other viewers that she indeed orchestrated the biggest conspiracy in the national history by "stealing" the aforementioned goodies from the Oval House. But what for? Why should a respectable lady like Miss Walters engage in such demeaning act? Well, may be she was just following the old adage which goes, "If you want to be remembered after death, do things worth writing or write things worth reading.":) Miss Walters definitely did something worth writing.
Like I said earlier, this might have been a joke. But behind every joke their is a meaning, and this too is not exceptional. Miss Walters' incidence illustrates Lloyd Bitzer's article on "The rhetorical Situation." The exigence in the incidence is the "stealing act," which could be changed. The audience are people in the studio, and all the viewers/audience.

Health Care Bill Crushes 3 People... Not Really, But It Could

With everyone debating the new health care plans going into effect, one reporter looks at the logistical issues still facing senators, politicians and people all over America that are concern about the health care plan. This report tells us that the house and senate health care bills add up to being more than 4,000 pages. 4,000 pages! The stat given is that if you took 1 second to flip though 1 page of the plan it would take over an hour just to flip through the pages. How do we expect our congressmen and women to be reading a 4,000 page bill and still take care of their other official duties? Not only is the bill long, it is filled with the difficult to read, legal jargon that makes careful analysis of the bill almost incomprehensible. The article suggests that if you are interested in reading the health care bill there are sites with summaries of important sections of the bill. I realize that this is an important issue but I feel that the language needs to be dumbed down and shortened to lighten the load on our politicians.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/12/04/health.care.explainer/index.html

Obama wants to spend our way out of trouble

On Tuesday Barack Obama outlined a new multibillion dollar plan that calls for us to spend our way out of trouble. He believes that if we continue to spend jobs will increase and be available. Without saying how much it will cost he proposes we spend money on highways, and internal structures of our country. He also stated that we avoided the depression but need more funding to fuel our country. He plans on gaining support by adding incentives to qualified bussinesses. While giving the speech he attacked opponents by accusing them of opposing economic stimulus efforts and his health care overhaul while supporting tax cuts and spending that have ballooned the deficit. I think all of this information is interesting but at the same time I don't understand when this amazing amount of spending will slow down. It seems like every week we are hearing about a need to spend more money and use more stimulus packages. Everyone seems to be blaming one another for all the problems. I just hope that someday all this spending does not catch up to us in a negative way. Hopefully some strong plans are put in place to help aid the spending process.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_obama_jobs

Into the Crevasse, or "Spend our way out of recession"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091208/ap_on_bi_ge/us_obama_jobs;_ylt=AtMIuLRWW1XGau5WRqGF3l.s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNkZ2hoOTJqBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkxMjA4L3VzX29iYW1hX2pvYnMEY2NvZGUDbW9zdHBvcHVsYXIEY3BvcwMzBHBvcwM5BHB0A2hvbWVfY29rZQRzZWMDeW5fdG9wX3N0b3J5BHNsawNuZXdvYmFtYXBsYW4-

In a moment sure to delight proponents of ideals such as "smaller government" and other vaguely defined concepts, Obama today unveiled a new series of job creation programs and other stimulus initiatives. In this speech, Obama also criticizes the Republicans for basically voting against every single piece of legislation and blindly opposing everything he is trying to do. I strongly believe that come 2010 and especially 2012, the main criticism of Obama from the Republicans will be that he hasn't accomplished anything, while at the same time willfully ignoring the fact that they tried their absolute best to make sure that this was the case. In regards to this new plan for Obama to "spend our way out of this downturn", I feel that he should be worrying more about fixing the unemployment rate rather than shoveling money into corporate coffers, especially if he has any hopes of getting re-elected in 2012. The fact that GDP is increasing means absolutely nothing to someone who can't find a job.

The Abortion Debate Continues

The most recent health care proposal to get in front of the congress contains language on that most crucial topic, abortion. The issue of abortion is a touchy subject and there are many different stances on each side of the issue. The issue of abortion is one that is so debated that it often becomes a sticking point in many elections. In general, most democrats tend to vote pro-choice and republicans tend to lean towards pro-life. The language being added to the health care plan proposes more strict guidelines on who can receive assistance from abortion clinics. The amendment to the bill is to tighten the restrictions on federal funding for abortion clinics. The amendment to the bill would prevent any health care plans receiving federal subsidiaries from receiving the assistance of abortion clinics. Exceptions to this would include cases of rape, incest or when there is a danger to the mother. However more conservative members are calling for even more strict regulations saying anyone receiving a federally funded health care plan would be banned from using private money to purchase abortion coverage. This is an issue that most of us feel very strongly about one way or another and I think it is important to pay attention to what happens regarding this legislation.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/12/07/senate.health.care/index.html