Cartoon of the Week #4: How democrats view republicans.

The above post by Bill Day contains a big, fat, ugly hick with a T-Shirt that says Bigotry and a small American flag. The man talks about beating African Americans before and now have a much larger base of people to beat such as occupiers and Muslims. This combined with his bigotry displayed by his T-Shirt shows just how racist the man is. Next, Bill Day has the man talk about joining in on many different Republican debates and groups as though he is their hero. By doing so Bill Day implies that republicans romanticize discrimination and unequal opportunity and turn racist, bigoted red necks into heroes. Finally by attaching the nation’s symbol, the American Flag, as well as the all American phrase, "God bless America land of opportunity," Bill satirizes Republicans. The man, representing Bill Day's view of republicans, not only is racist; he also celebrates the racism practiced by Republicans by using the phrase "Land of opportunity" which is clearly the opposite of his vision of America. The Artist uses overshadowing to make the man look more rustic and hard to look at discouraging people from associating with him. Next he uses the over exaggerated smile to display just how overjoyed the man is that he is viewed as a hero for being a racist. Thus, the cartoon is merely Bill Day expressing his disdain of the republicans in America.

Favorite Holliday Memory

I think it is a fair statement to say that the holidays are some of the most memorable times of years. We remember the joy we have of waking up with butterflies in our stomachs as children and creeping downstairs-- trying hard not to wake up the parents. But, upon seeing a tree flooded with brightly packaged gifts, are overflowed with such joy as to forget our former consideration and rush upstairs to tell mom and dad that Santa had come. I remember the sounds of winter-time classics, the smells and warmth shed by the kitchen which was being operated by my mother-- as hard at work as she'd be on any other day. Every room is brightly lit and filled with such happiness that the house feels at least a million times warmer than it had been the day before. Almost too hot... almost. Yet, when I come to think about it, I have almost no specific memories of Christmas or the holidays.

Christmas is warm on the inside with the cool and crisp outer shell of the winter breeze. Everyone emphasizes both giving and receiving gratefully. Yet I suppose that Christmas is so good that every Christmas has melded together in my memory. When I think of Christmas I am flooded with so many images of past Christmas’s that I can't differentiate between any of them. That is, except for one Christmas.

Most of the Christmas is just as any other one. I wake up and a clear note resounds in my head as I realize the importance of the day. I waste no time pondering whether to or not to stay in bed as I normally do and begin the slow and deliberate descent down the steps. I reach the bottom floor and-- upon seeing a tree flooded with brightly packaged gifts, am overflowed with such joy as to forget my former consideration and rush upstairs to tell mom and dad that Santa had come-- time flashes by two hours and I can smell the breakfast cooking and feel the steadily growing flame of Christmas all throughout the house. My mom and dad finally give the word. We're off to the races to look inside our stockings and soon afterwards begin opening our presents. I use "the best gifts ever" for several hours before guests arrive at our house. After eating from a table containing enough food to last a few weeks the guests leave. But this is all just as it would be any other Christmas...

The truly remarkable and special moment came after the guests left. Most Christmases we'd go about our own business after the guests left. However, this time we all sat together in the living room. Rather than playing with the "best gift ever," which I'd surely forget about or lose with a month, my family and I sat down by the father and watched various Christmas specials that normally were reserved for the days after Christmas-- and by that I mean me and my brother would watch them. My parents decided they didn't have to continue to work all night long as usual this Christmas and we all sat by a fire and watched Charlie Brown learn the meaning of Christmas. When Charlie Brown was learning about Christmas, I learned what Christmas is for me: Being with and cherishing the "best gift ever," my family.

Happy Holidays everybody.

Comic Strip of the Week: Santa's late Mail

The above cartoon by Rick McKee is obviously meant solely to show disapproval towards the postal service's cuts. As a personal note anybody that actually knows anything about the postal service knows that these cuts are long overdue. If they didn't make them then pretty soon the corporation would collapse and probably send the United States into a Depression or a deeper Recession.
The major objects include Santa, the U.S. Postal Service Mail man and his bag of letters. By using the Mailman to express his regret at the tardiness of the mail's arrival way after Santa needed the letters (in fact when Santa is delivering toys) the cartoonist shows us that the postal service is just a big disappointment that revealed itself as such a disappointment right in time for Christmas. This begs us to wonder what Santa put in his sack, a bunch of random toys?
Additionally the elf in the lower right is blushing to show his embarrassment at the Post's tardiness.
The Cartoonist obviously doesn't agree with the majority of Americans who say that they don't mind a single extra day late (not the month or so late as depicted in the cartoon. Thus, he used hyperbole to express his discontent.

OBama's Reelection bid

http://www.gallup.com/poll/151007/Obama-Approval-Remains-Thanksgiving-Week.aspx
Obama's Job Approval rating seems to have steadied at 43%. According to Gallup polls he will probably remain at this percentage in upcoming weeks. He is receiving little approval from the independents that he relied upon heavily last presidential election. Before analyzing Obama's upcoming reelection bid it is important to first analyze what was good about his previous election.
One of the major victories in that race for Obama was winning the electorate in Virginia, a state that has been a battleground recently but more often than not leans Republican.
Now, taking this knowledge alongside his low approval rating and lack of support from his independent supports from last term we can begin to predict the outcome of this election. Because republican's now have control in the Senate and the executive of Virginia, Obama's chances there seem to be next to none. Additionally, without this key state and his independent vote the election will come more so down to whether or not the republican candidate is disliked more by the independents than Obama is. Both Gingrich and Romney could potentially become good presidential candidates. However, Gingrich does have issues in his past that would provide a taint to him as a candidate. If he becomes the nominee he may be disliked more by independents than Obama. After the Iowa caucus Gingrich will probably gain the momentum to seal the nomination allowing Obama to have a chance with the independents. However, he will still have to find those independents in a new major electorate state because of Virginia's new republican tendency.

Political Cartoon of the Week #2.

This week's political cartoon of the week is by Michael Ramirez. The cartoon contains a picture of a representative of American Airlines declaring that they were broke and then another picture of the American Government calling him an amateur. The artist made both of them look ridiculous but especially made the American Government look so with his elongated ears and pretentious look. By doing so the cartoonist further satirizes the government by implying that American Airlines is an amateur at being broke when compared to the American Government's skill with it. The cartoon can be seen, thereby, as dealing with not just AA's bankruptcy, but also America's Debt. The Cartoonist makes the American Government actually seem as though it tries to gather debt and go broke: obviously mad with the American Financial Situation and the government's inability to come up with a resolution.

Mitt Romney: A Safe Pick

Mitt Romney has steadily held either 1st or second most votes in the polls thus far and hasn't even spent a cent of his own money yet. He hasn't made many decisions that have been risky or that even stood out among republican candidates. He has a hefty pocketbook that has remained untouched and has the businessman background to hopefully aid him in bolstering the economy. Some of the few potential downsides to Romney include his Mormon faith, which held him back the last time he ran for nomination, and supporting a health care system similar to Obama's (however he has begun to lean more and more right as the nomination comes closer and closer.) At the same time, his wealth in addition to the fact the he does have some sympathy towards liberal ideologies could allow him to gain some more support from the independents. He seems to also be the only candidate that really hasn't been involved in various affairs/ scandals. Overall he doesn't really have a lot of standout features and more of just a safe pick.

The Perry Ferry: A Hunk of Junk?

            Perry was the second candidate to make a run towards passing Romney for the GOP nomination. The public liked Perry for a few reasons. One Perry seemed to be an energetic republican, and two he was able to point to Texas' phenomenal increase in jobs. A lot of people began to jump on Perry's ferry when they heard that he was tackling unemployment, one of the biggest issues on the public's mind.

            However, this shining image was quickly and easily scraped away to show that it was merely gilded, nice on the outside but ugly on the inside. The main think that brought out the first leak in the boat was his proposed legislation a while back to force young women to take a vaccine to prevent sexually transmitted diseases. Recently that same drug has been found to cure a few other things as well, however because he had said that he was committed to keeping the government from controlling the lives of his citizens his enemies easily pointed this out to the general public. Coming off of this bad tasting fact Perry shows just how bad he is in the GOP debates which served to widen the ferry's leak. This series of events inevitably led to his latest blunder when he forgot the name of the final department he was going to cut as president. This hurricane turned out to be the final straw that forced everybody but Perry and a few people that don't understand his mental slowness to go down with the ship.

            Perry never really had a chance. He had a background that was easily picked on by his opponents and he pressed on the gas to soon to really have any effect on the nomination's results. He now resides right around 4th place in the race ahead of Ron Paul and behind Herman Cain. If he, like Newt Gingrich, had waited to push the gas AND had he not been cursed with his past from the start he could have had a chance of defeating Romney. However, I believe right now the only position Perry has a chance of obtaining now is the one he currently holds in Texas. So, ultimately Perry's "ferry" was just a hunk of junk clunker that he'd bought from a shady dealer in a political backstreet: good for nothing.

Political Cartoon of the Week: Political Horse Race Dart Board

The political cartoon above is from http://www.politicalcartoons.com/cartoon/ad984424-80c9-49ed-977d-f13bae05e02a.html .

            This cartoon by Paresh Nath is a good wrap up of the current political situation in the republican nomination race and the presidential race. The first part of the picture that the eye is drawn to is the Elephant which, as labeled, represents the republicans. The artist used a yellow glow around the caricature to highlight the sweat falling off the elephant and the worried look on his face. Next the eye is drawn to the biggest object in the picture, the dartboard. The first thing that anyone that has ever shot or thrown anything at a target should see is that not a single dart has hit the bulls-eye. This is an indication that no one in the game has actually nailed the shot to seal away the game.

            Next the eye is drawn to each of the darts on the board and the respective names and spots each dart holds. The most obvious use of satire the artist shows then becomes apparent when spotting the crooked dart with Bachmann's name on it. This shows that the author really sees Bachmann as the worst dart in the bunch. Next, upon looking at the other darts you can see that the closer to the center the darts get the straighter and nicer looking they are. This precision of darts is no surprise given Perry forgot the last institution he was going to cut and Romney has basically been the constant holding a low lead throughout the game. The last dart spotted after briefly glancing at the close cluster of darts on the right side is the one dart out of that general group. This dart, representing Herman Cain, is the farthest, more so than Bachmann, from the center. However, it is the straightest dart of the bunch and is centered but low. This could symbolize that Herman Cain was on target, perhaps the candidate the artists saw as the straightest and truest, until some drama weighed him down to be the worst of the bunch. As a final throughout on target, you'll notice that Gingrich is not even on the target. This probably represents the fact that Gingrich hasn't finished throwing his dart as the other candidates have.

            Finally, you'll notice the poster displaying the rules of the game. The poster shows us various things. One, it confirms that this dart board is played for the nomination race. Two, it establishes two goals: hit the dart board and replace Obama. The elephant obviously isn't worried about hitting the board. So, he must be worried about replacing Obama. Because none of the candidates have hit the bulls-eye, none of them have gathered enough support from republican voters to really be a threat to Obama after the nomination.

            Obviously the cartoonist wanted us to see that he is worried because the Republicans don't seem to have a good chance of combating Obama yet. The cartoonist is using the nomination dart board to foretell the presidential vote. The artist is waiting for Gingrich to throw his dart or for one of the other candidates, probably Mitt Romney, to fudge the dart placement a little more towards the middle. 

Virginia's Biggest Political Issue

At the moment Virginia has a small democratic majority in its senate. However, the republicans are fighting hard in the current election to gain at least 2 more seats which we create an even number between the two parties. If the republicans can get just two seat then they will won the Virginia Senate because a Republican oversees the Virginia Senate at the moment. If the republicans can take over Obama's chances in Virginia may dwindle a little. However, while common sense would tell us that this would give Republicans a better chance in gaining Virginia's presidential electors it isn't necessarily so. Often times people will split the ballots so that there is a balance of power so democrats losing the Virginia senate MAY actually help Obama. However due to the political apathy of American's I'd say very few Virginians will pay much attention to these finer details. Especially since Virginia will probably become a presidential battleground next year. I think that paying attention to smaller elections such as these in the bigger electoral bodies should be a concern of the presidential candidates especially since they can influence the community more one way or the other depending on the outcome. IF Obama gets any sort of political challenge in Virginia any time soon and IF that challenge does a good job of beating Obama at his own game, persuading the swing voters, then Obama might lose Virginia. The way I see things the DP needs to get proactive in these bigger states while the republicans are really unable to.

Current Event: Obama Appeals to Students

Recently Obama announced that he would be making school loans cheaper and would make them significantly easier to repay. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-unveils-student-loan-relief-plan-in-denver-campus-appearance/2011/10/26/gIQAOcDNJM_story.html?hpid=z2)

Obama was known for his ability to sway the swing voter last election. Isn't this an example of just that? The youth of America is the second lowest voting group (by percentage it is just above the unemployed.) However, Obama is giving them a reason to vote. Not only that, youth has been correlated to a high number of swing voters so Obama is not only drawing in new voters, he is also seducing the swing voter just as he did before. Additionally, parents sympathetic to their children’s livelihoods (the majority of them) will support this change. Overall I believe Obama has begun to move into a full on political assault whereas the Republicans are still forced to bicker among one another and fight for nomination.

Response to: The Death Penalty's Unlikely Opponents

(The article can be found at CNN.com: http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/23/justice/death-penalty-opponents/ )

If even the families of murder victims are against the Death penalty how can we possibly support capital punishment? If the families don't want "retribution" for the crime then how can we go against those that lost family member? The wish of these families is to be better than these criminals, not on their level. So, if everyone else in America is normally for capital punishment then they are being unsympathetic to these families. Recently support for the death penalty has been dropping drastically from an all time high of 80% to a recent all time low of 61%.



 Americans have begun to show sympathy towards the wishes of these families. I myself side similarly with the 50% of Americans that favor a life sentence over capital punishment.

All Americans do have a right to life. If they begin to take this right from other people then the government should not sponsor taking this right away from yet another person. A life sentence removes them from society and puts them in institutions that often have them work for a certain amount of time each week thereby aiding everyday Americans. However, a good portion of the time prisoners on life sentences are let out of jail. This fact is a result of reducing taxes. When they are in jail people are taxed to keep the institutions running so they have to let some people go to make room for more prisoners and reduce the tax load. So, on the other side of the argument, life sentences result in a bigger tax load while capital punishment results in a bigger moral burden. Considering 48% Americans would rather have many of prisoners die in exchange for perhaps one dollar of extra cash in their pockets each year, I sadly don't see an opening for the removal of capital punishment anytime soon. Perhaps if those 48% did know they were selling lives for a couple of bucks they might not think the same way.

The Presidential Report Card

Even when you're at the top of the ladder you still need a report card to know how you're doing. don't you? Well, I'm creating one for president Obama to show just how well he is doing in terms of his current major issues.

In terms of Health Care I believe Obama deserves a B borderline of a B-. With the drop of the CLASS Act recently Obama gave Republicans the ability to attack the health care package however the act was an optional portion originally which, upon deeming inefficient, the Obama administration purged from the package. So, there isn't much meat on the bone for the Republicans to gnaw on here. However, overall I am partially against the plan because I believe that in the end the Health Care of those that already have it may be impacted and people come to the United States because of how good the care is. Additionally the government is in a major deficit which, unless the "Obamacare" package can make tens of thousands of jobs, the package won’t do well in terms of the budget. But, I believe that the package won't substantially affect the majority of Americans in a measurably negative way. So, at least it isn't overtly radical.

I'm willing to give Obama a C+ in dealing with the Economic Downturn. He simply did nothing in address to the economic downturn in the first half of his presidency so now, when he actually is trying to do things which should and would be able to turn around the downturn, the republicans have taken over the house and are blocking any form of relief or recovery measure Obama passes. However, because he is making an honest try now and if he can get some more support he may be able to do something substantial in turning the economy around.

In the War on Terror I believe Obama has done a good job at minimizing involvement and slowly but surely pulling out the majority of our troops. He has continued to show terrorists that if they want to attack us then they will get hammered, but without the huge deployment of troops and resources. We haven't had any substantial terrorist threat under his guidance and have avoided involvement in several world conflicts involving terrorism in other countries. I'm going to give him and A on this one.

Obama's reelection bid has not been as substantial as his previous one was. Whereas his last one was more of an A in my opinion this one is more around a B+. He hasn't gotten around to swaying the swing voter's minds like he had and he has the pressure of a declining economy on his back. These pushes are countered by being the incumbent president, being such a great orator, and continuing to prove his political mind. He has cleaned out the old plans and proposed new ones. The republicans mainly haven't presented a decent opposition yet Obama still goes about playing cards like the "Underdog" which have allowed him to continue gaining political support. The election will be close but I believe Obama has the best chance to win the reelection bid, especially with the republicans so close to one another in the nomination.

The End of Obama's CLASS: weekly current event

This past week Obama has decided to end his first major platform: the CLASS act which was a major portion of the "Obamacare" package which would have given the care package more longevity. The following is in regards to the Washington Post Blog (http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/white-house-kills-long-term-care-program/2011/10/14/gIQAVZLYkL_story.html)



Upon canceling this major health care platform Obama gave his opponents the ability to tell American citizens that 'hey, Obama just admitted that we were right and he was wrong,' which could prove to be a substantial political blow at this point in time. So, upon removing CLASS Obama also temporarily has allowed his enemies to strip him of his class. Yet Obama has done this action at a good point in time way before the elections take place so that, by the time elections roll around, nobody will remember nor care that he dropped the CLASS act. At best the republicans will try to overhype the change in direction and gain a couple of percentage points in polls. I predict that any lasting effects will be so minimal that repercussions will be no more that 2 total percentage points in the national election, but more likely it will be 1 or less percent. This move won't have a major effect on the swing voters because it just says that a small, gimmick law meant to gain some political support in the previous election is being dropped. CLASS was an optional portion of the package from the start according to Obama's team and the fact that they dropped the optional package merely shows that such optimism won't take precedence over what they believe will work. Besides all of that, all the republicans can gain is a little bit of "I told you so" statements; they still haven't created, in my opinion, any sort of key plan to sway the swing voters. When you look at the playing field the Obama administration has been playing down many cards as well as removing the ones they see as nonessential. This fact tells me that they are building their power and becoming more efficient whereas the republicans have no major coalition against Obama so far; rather they have several against themselves. With Herman Cain now challenging the lead in the republican party I'd say that most of the major politicians will be more concerned with backing their favored candidate than bashing Obama, because this is the most opportune time to support their nominee, not the most opportune time to attack their opponent. All in all this will be a big deal at the moment because there isn't much going on, but the removal of the CLASS act will not destroy Obama's long term class, only his short term class.

Question of the Week: which of the following movies is the worst?

             The three movie choices are Troll 2, Manos: Hands of Fate, or David the Magician. They are respectively ranked 73rd, 1st, and 4th worst movies of all time on imdb.com. The newest of the three is David the Magician and all three of them have faceless actors.
              While Troll is ranked 73rd the movie is one of the most often referenced films as the worst film ever. So, imdb gave a relatively better review of Troll than almost every other site or person.
               On rottentomatoes.com Manos: Hands of Fate was critiqued as being the definition of how to make a terrible film. Having already seen the first 8 minutes of Manos: Hands of Fate (before Nathan Smith practically ran out of the house due to how terrible it was) the movie definitively deserves the ranking provided on imdb. The movie would have probably immediately gained one more star out of ten had it not played the equivalent of elevator music throughout the ENTIRE movie.
                David only has respectable critic reviews from Germans... however upon watching youtube trailers I was pounding my face on the table about half way through. That is really something considering my ambition to make it all the way through the full version of the movie Manos: Hands of Fate (only an hour length film) tonight.
                 While I haven't seen and don't plan to see the entire length of Troll 2 or David the Magician, I have to say that from the reviews, the availability of technology in David the Magician, the sheer lack in usage of any of the new technology, and not providing any sort of video appeal I have to say that I believe David the Magician is the worst film I have ever heard of and seen clips from. Have fun watching trailers for these movies... I know I did.

Current Event of the Week #2: The Underdog

Chris Matthews summarizes my immediate thought on this article (http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/03/obama-says-hes-the-underdog-in-2012/ ) when he said "The incumbent president is never the underdog" on the Chris Matthews Show this Sunday. Obama had, in a randomly sampled poll, been favored only 45% of the time as having a good chance in the presidential race. Because he was below 50%, a simple majority, he called himself the "underdog." He would be completely correct if it wasn't for the fact that he is facing several other candidates. Those other prominent candidates all have nearly equal shares of the remaining 55%. Thus, he has the highest percentage of all the candidates in terms of favor for winning the election. While the other candidates are republicans there is a good chance that some moderate republicans that ardently follow a specific candidate will side with Obama upon losing out to another republican candidate.

Additionally, Obama has been attempting to sway the moderates recently with various commercials featuring emotional appeals from ordinary citizens supporting his legislation. Given his past ability to sway the moderate voters in the past election there is a very good chance that he will have over 50% of the votes in the upcoming election. So, in no sense of the word is Obama an underdog.

However, as expressed in The Caucus (the blog article from the NY Times linked above) Obama is using this disguise just as many politicians before him have in order to provoke his current advocates to be more vocal about their beliefs and to try harder so that he will no longer be this imaginative "underdog." What else can you expect from someone who graduated top of his class at Harvard, led the U.S. for nearly 4 years, and has been noted as one of the greatest presidential orators since Reagan? He is using every single political strategy in the book to gain an even larger early edge in the upcoming election.

Elaboration upon the analysis of the Article

Obama realizes, just as every other candidate has, that every single press appearance can make or break his chances and knowing how to control these appearances will be instrumental in determining his success in the upcoming race. Especially with the possibility of a Supreme Court hearing before the election finishes addressing the constitutionality of "Obama care" (see my past blog on the topic) Obama will need to gain as much approval as possible early on so that, in the event that the Supreme Court denies his medical care plan, he still has a fighting chance in the election. The Supreme Court case is Obama's Risky card he has put into play so that he has a chance to seal the election away. Hiding behind that big card Obama has placed various smaller hands such as the previously discussed commercials; two of which could be seen on two occasions in the Chris Matthews Show today.

Additionally Obama has begun to let his plan in regards to congress unravel. Given that a better and professionalized discussion of this can be found in today's Chris Matthews Show I will limit my discussion of the topic. Basically, Obama has set a multitude of legislation on the table for Congress to look at. All of the legislation is in regards to giving jobs to the people as well as various other altruist and egalitarian acts. He flat out states that if Congress refuses to accept these solutions then they are letting politics get in the way of helping the people. So, either Congress passes his legislation or, as Obama puts it, the people will "run them out" of Congress. Basically, Congress either helps Obama politically or they risk losing the small amount of support they have managed to hold onto (Congress has had an embarrassingly low approval rating.)

All in all, the label of underdog is merely a fourth card Obama has placed and his opponents have not been able to create a meaningful counter attack. I believe that Obama, as of right now, has a good chance at taking this election unless the Republicans can muster a strong warhorse to rally behind and stop using little ponies to attack one another.

Government Censorship of the Media

This past year Wiki leaks leaked a boat load of information, some of which included personal information of U.S. soldiers based upon the idea that the public shouldn't have a government that keeps secrets from them. Let's take a look at this from the point of view of the soldiers. I am now a soldier currently stationed in a hostile foreign country/ near a hostile terrorist regime. At the moment the enemy has no idea who I am. I am after them and they have no way to stop me. They can't harm my family nor my friends and I may be willing to die for my country if need be. However, because Wiki Leaks just put every single bit of information they could possibly want about me they can now attack my family via my street address and mail bombs. My family is now in jeopardy because some guy thought the whole world, even the enemies of our country, should know everything there is to know about me.

Now, let's say that I weren't stationed in a hostile area. Perhaps I am retired. The terrorists can still seek retribution on me if they wish. All they have to do is go on the internet and pull up a couple of files and they can destroy everything I know and love.

I cannot even bring myself to look at this from the point of view of wiki leaks. I find the group's point of view hard to picture. How could they jeopardize the lives of people for no reason other than to spite the government?

When information can possibly endanger the lives of U.S. citizens the government should have the unlimited and expressed authority to censor that information. They should be able to prevent anyone from discovering this information until the information is deemed harmless to the public. In reality the government has been doing this action the entire time. Some concepts and information simply isn't fit for the entire world to know. Couldn't someone that leaks this classified information be deemed a murder for aiding in the killing of several American citizens? They can and should.

The government should be justified to throw someone into a correctional facility for endangering the lives and/or mental stability of U.S. citizens. However, the government does not need to censor the media more than it already is. The government needs to protect us only from what will harm us. They should allow us to know anything else that wouldn't cause hysteria or harm individuals. Thus, I am against changing current government censorship over the media because I believe it is in a good balance.

This entire blog post is an example of the conflict between order and freedom. Obviously wiki links is a freedom extremist. I believe that while we should be entitled to our "unalienable rights" order should take precedence over these rights if the pursuit of those rights endangers the lives and rights of other people.

When something is buried beneath the dirt we should not seek the path of the grave robber.

The Obamacare Plan

       
            What Obama is doing with Obamacare here is brilliant politically. Currently he has asked the Supreme Court to review the ruling that it was unconstitutional.

            The Obamacare plan basically is trying to extend the benefits of health care to all Americans. Some people are opposed to it due to the fact that citizens of other countries come to America to get good health care and now we want to change that. However, on the flip side many liberals favoring the bill see the democratic and egalitarian benefits of the bill.

            Basically Obama is forcing the liberals to side with him on this purely liberal legislation whereas many liberals were starting to move away from him earlier on during his jobs plan. The Supreme Court will convene several months before the end of the election so that if they overturn the ruling that Obamacare is unconstitutional then Obama will have a huge wave of support from the moderates and the undecided moderates. This legislation is forcing everyone to forget the failure of previous domestic policies Obama attempted the pass. By asking the Supreme court to make his medical care plan one of 100 or so cases they chose among several million proposed every year Obama is bringing himself to the forefront of discussion in every political circle.

            Now then, while I am supporting Obama in this election and while this is a brilliant political maneuver, I am both for and against the healthcare package itself. I believe that rather than forcing Medicare down everyone's throats we should instead just make it much more accessible. People don't want something as much when it is forced upon them and you can bet your bottom dollar that Obama will receive major opposition from state's rights followers. Thus, I am against the extent that the Obamacare plan plays; however, I support the plan merely due to its egalitarian aspects as well as its political effect in this race. In the end the political card probably trumps the case against radical change.

            Information gathered for this blog can be found at http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/02/usa-court-idUSS1E78S1LY20111002

Political Alignment

        In general I will side either moderate democrat or moderate republican depending upon the status of the country. When the country is doing well I believe that the moderate republicans should be in power because when things are going well it is best to leave things how they are, yet be open to some progressive changes. During a recession I tend to favor a moderate Democrat ticket because it is obvious that whatever we are currently doing isn't working and that something has to happen to turn the country around. However, I once more side with a more moderate view point because while change is needed we shouldn't have huge governmental upturns because of a minor recession. Overall, I suppose that my ideology is centrally located with a slight republican lean because of my republican upbringing.
      While I may have a slight lean towards the Republican Party I am currently in favor of the Democrat ticket for the presidency. Obama is currently making very good political maneuvers in pursuit of presidential office. For example, Chris Matthew's discussed on the Chris Matthew's Show that Obama's new direction is forcing democrats and republicans to pick their side on the ticket through such actions as the jobs plan. Staunch Republicans will be strictly opposed to it and any self respecting democrat will follow it. I favored Obama in the previous presidential election because of my recognition of the need of change and due to his immense credentials for political office; Obama graduated top of his class in Harvard. Now that he has added a term of the presidency to his relatively limited political experience he should prove to do better than he did this term. However, this statement all relies upon whether or not the staunch republican Congress will allow him to do anything at all. Right now he has a good chance of winning the reelection campaign even though he does have such an expansive unemployment rate and almost no presidents as of late have been able to run for reelection with such a large unemployment rate. Republicans may be interested in lining their pocket books right now and keeping the tax scourge of the Democrats out of the nation, but the reality is that our country is in so much debt that other countries are rapidly losing faith in us. The only way to fix that debt is to raise funds by taxing and/ or cutting spending. I believe that if we do both it will work out for the best, however there is always the problem of what will be cut. In any case I am for the moment favoring Obama in the upcoming election and hope that he can put us back on the right track.

Purpose

       EleKey is a combination of the words "Elephant" and "Donkey" which are the symbols for the Republican and the Democrat parties respectively. These two political factions representent the conservative and then the liberal views of America and I have found that at some points each one as its merits whereas at others they have no meirt. For instance, when the nationa is doing exceptionally well then nothing should be changed and I would tend to look for a republican canidate that is true to his purpose of no change. However, when the nation is in a recession as it is now I find that I side with democrats because we need change in order stabilize the nation. EleKey will look into the opposing political parties and assess where they are without the taint of a radical left or right point of view that characterizes most blogs.