I am rather saddened by the level of fanboyism that still courses through the blood of many Americans when we discuss Barack Obama. While I understand why the American public would be excited that Obama won the election nearly a year ago, I am honestly surprised that same blind excitement is still present in our media and in the words of our citizens. I’m also surprised less people are shocked that our president has won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Read the rest of this entry »
October 18th, 2009 by Crystal Steltenpohl
April 29th, 2009 by Crystal Steltenpohl
If you haven’t noticed, Mandi and I haven’t been updating lately. This is because it’s going to be finals and then summer break soon, and though we expected to have more time, we don’t. I am going to be going to Germany doing a lot of traveling and Mandi is doing a lot of working and probably throwing some traveling in there too. We may or may not have entries during the summer, but if all else fails we should be back in the fall! Keep reading!
February 16th, 2009 by Mandi Luttrell
Referendums are one of the most interesting forces of nature in politics. Especially in the most recent years in the United States, they have gained a large amount of momentum. Why referendums are becoming popular though requires close examination. Referendums seem like a good thing at face value. However, I can tell you that after giving them a meticulous look myself, they are not what they seem.
January 25th, 2009 by Mandi Luttrell
After every presidential election, it seems that there is always somebody complaining about the Electoral College. People exclaiming that it is an unjust system that does not represent what the public truly wants. Or, that the Electoral College is simply an archaic system that should be done away with entirely. This was abundant after the 2000 election of George Bush, and with good reason. In this case, the Electoral College failed. I am of the opinion though, that the Electoral College was instated by our founding fathers for very good reasons.
December 26th, 2008 by Crystal Steltenpohl
Hundreds of people are crowded together in front of a music store, holding large signs. “Stop the bigotry! Stop the hate!” they exclaim. These people are referring to an album recently released, one which jokes about homosexuality and rape, among other things. On paper and in the news they’re fighting for equal protection, but in reality they are protesting to silence a man, to take his works off the shelves and prevent him from making a living based on entertainment. Eminem has been known for his extremely controversial lyrics, and many argue his music needs to be banned. “Protect the children,” they say, “Protect them from the horrors of Eminem and other controversial artists.” While their argument is certainly valid and noble, that we need to protect children from harmful ideology, there are two things wrong with the idea of banning an artist’s work (i.e. writing, music, etc.): one is that free speech is protected under the First Amendment, and the other is that parents, not society, are responsible for children’s ideological development.
November 5th, 2008 by Crystal Steltenpohl
Gay marriage has become a heated topic of discussion in America in recent years. Opponents of gay marriage often use the culture of fear to persuade the masses that allowing homosexuals to do as they please is inconceivably horrendous, especially when ridiculous assertions are brought to the table, such as a Virginia state law stating marriages between gay couples are “abominable” and would “pollute” American society (Wolfson 58), or the Westboro Baptist Church’s claim that the war in Iraq is God’s punishment for allowing gays in the military. Nevertheless, we are not here to discuss whether homosexuality is moral or not. We will examine the arguments people make against gay marriage; then we will explore why people are really afraid of gay marriage.
October 27th, 2008 by Crystal Steltenpohl
One of the main problems with today’s society is that they do not understand what a democracy is. The word is thrown around as a goal for the world to achieve, but not many people actually understand what a democracy is and why it may or may not work in a given society. In this article I will explain the basic premises of a democracy and reasons why democracy succeeds or fails in different situations.
October 20th, 2008 by Mandi Luttrell
For my first article, I wanted to tackle the biggest issue of government: why do we need it and why is it important? Before I begin writing articles on all of the different aspects of government and politics I thought it would be necessary to explain and outline exactly why we have and need government and the important role that it plays in everyone’s life. We need government for numerous reasons, but before we get into that, I want to outline the arguments that people make against government.