With
Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta retiring this year, his post is yet another
Cabinet position which President Obama must refill for his second term. Obama’s choice, former Nebraska senator Chuck
Hagel, a Republican, has begun his confirmation hearing this week and his
statements illustrate a disappointing trend in the President Obama’s leadership
methods and style.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Saturday, January 26, 2013
The Iranian War
It
is becoming increasingly hard to go three days without reading an article or
seeing a news segment concerning Israel, Iran, and the possibility of a new
Middle Eastern war for the United States.
The cause of this conflict is Iran’s burgeoning nuclear program and it
government’s repeated threats and innuendos that Israel has no right to
existence; something the Israeli government is not very agreeable with. It is believed that Israel will attack Iran
in one form or another, with or without American aid. While many decry the possibility of another
American war in the region—fittingly in the nation between the United States’
other two conflict zones—there is reason to believe that such a military
involvement may turn out better than expected.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
National Interest or Self-Determination?
The
history of the United States’ involvement in the political affairs of foreign
nations is not an exceptionally long one.
For the first one hundred thirty years of American history, the nation
largely kept to itself on the international stage; a policy known as
isolationism. The reasons for this
self-induced isolation are multiple. On
one hand, the nation followed George Washington’s advice to avoid foreign
entanglements, while on another the country had a literal ocean between it and
the hotbed of political activity at the time—Europe. Once the United States truly stepped onto the
global stage in the aftermath of World War One, the nation’s outlook on foreign
involvement began to evolve, culminating in the present-day struggle between national
interest and self-determination.
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Guns, the N.R.A. and Domestic Mutually Assured Destruction
As shooting
deaths continue to compile since the Newtown tragedy, the debate over gun
control rages on, nearly encompassing every aspect of American society. While both sides have their points, the
argument of the National Rifle Association’s chief executive officer, Wayne
LaPierre, that “the only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy
with a gun” sounds awfully familiar to a policy employed by the United States
during the Cold War—with success—but is generally looked unfavorably upon.
Friday, January 18, 2013
Instances of Space-Time Compression
The concept
of space-time compression has been of vital importance both to the trend of
globalization and the emergence of what can be considered as global
history. This compression refers to
increase in the spread of information across large areas in a speedy manner. The spread of information—be it news events
or intellectual thought—is a prominent and key factor in the integration of the
modern world, an integration integral to global history. The speed at which this information travels
across borders, both political and geographic, has played a large role in this
integration; this speed has not been constant throughout history, however.
Monday, January 14, 2013
The Buck Stops Somewhere Else
Personal
responsibility is dead. Long live
personal responsibility!
I cannot speak for other nations,
but America suffers from a debilitating lack of ability to take responsibility
for its own failures and faults. Every
time something bad happens, all involved parties shift the blame to the other
parties, yet when something goes right all parties claim the success for
themselves.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
The Worst Acts in Presidential History
The United States of America has had
forty-four presidents over its two hundred twenty-four year history. Some have been great—George Washington,
Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin Roosevelt come to mind—while others have been
very forgettable, such as Millard Fillmore, William Harrison, and Gerald
Ford. Despite having some presidential
duds, America has been blessed the good fortune of never having a truly bad
president. This does not mean, however,
that American presidents have never made bad decisions. This is a listing of some of the worst policy
decisions in the history of the American executive branch, in order from least egregious
to most.
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Assault Weapons Ban and the Second Amendment
Interpreting
the Constitution has long been a hallmark of American society and in the
aftermath of the numerous gun-related tragedies over the past two years, one particular
aspect of the document has found itself under intense scrutiny. The Second Amendment, part of the Bill of
Rights ratified in 1791, protects the right of private citizens to possess
arms, although its language causes confusion and strife in today’s society. While it is tempting to attack the amendment,
one must be careful when scrutinizing any constitutional amendment, taking into
account the language, the original impetus and modern interpretations via court
cases.
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