Greetings to all returning, new, and prospective members! This year is shaping up to be one of the best in a long time (especially for a non-election year), but for that to happen we need you to join us and become as active as possible! If you would like to post on the blog, for the time being you are welcome to do so as a guest writer – just contact one of the board members and send them your piece, or even your ideas for pieces. We will probably be looking for a few more regular contributors as well, so let us know if you are interested. Comments are welcome from everyone (Republican readers included) and have in the past spawned some productive and interesting dialogues.
Welcome!
Bush’s Dog Days
The “V” word –
For instance, just this Sunday, Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, a Republican, said "We're past that stage now because now we are locked into a bogged-down problem not unsimilar, dissimilar to where we were in
With the number of American military deaths approaching 70 this month and Cindy Sheehan offering the first true rally point for a growing anti-war movement, the images of President Bush joyriding around his ranch with Lance Armstrong and the administration’s insistence that things are improving seem increasingly disconnected from reality. The public is catching on, and this is becoming more and more apparent in the polls; 54% now believe we “made a mistake” by sending troops to Iraq, 58% think things are going “moderately badly” or “very badly,” 56% believe we should withdraw some or all of our troops, and 57% believe the war in Iraq made the US “less safe” from terrorism. Moreover, President Bush’s approval rating, at 45%, is as low or lower than Johnson’s at the height of the
Make no mistake about it, no one wants us to fail in
President Bush needs to come down from his cloud and face reality. He needs to be honest with the American people. He needs to make a call for sacrifice, a sacrifice shared by all Americans, not just military families like the Sheehans, and the tens of thousands of others with killed or wounded soldiers, the hundreds of thousands with military personnel overseas. And, perhaps most of all, he needs to say something new. “Stay the course” just won’t do. As Bill O’Riley said on Wednesday (yes, that’s right, THAT Bill O’Riley), “All of us must demand victory. Things aren't going well, improve. Sure, war is hell, but wars are won by those who are smart and tough…the president would be wise to replace Donald Rumsfeld [!] with a wartime military commander. The secretary is a patriot, but he's exhausted. New blood is needed at Defense… American blood and treasure is giving [the Iraqi] people the chance at freedom, but we can only do so much. President Bush must know that only real progress will keep the American people from turning against him.”
Progress, new ideas, change…these things were lacking in the
Senator Releases the Dogs on College & High School Students
Talk about a quite controverisal figure already - but Santorum cannot be happy with just pissing off gays and women, what about Delaware and Pennsylvania students?
Mix in a shot of curious honor students and a handful of giddy police officers...
(From the Delaware News Journal)
...Understandably, people who disagree would like to tell him [Santorum] so. But, as several teenagers and some of their parents found out last week, trying to do that in Delaware could land you in jail. Santorum appeared at the Barnes & Noble bookstore adjacent to Concord Mall on U.S. 202 Wednesday night for what was billed as a book signing and discussion. College students Stacey Galperin and Miriam Rocek of Newark decided to attend to hear what he had to say.
"I knew about him from his promotion of the federal marriage amendment," said Rocek, 19. "I thought I would go and just talk to him during the book signing, tell him I disagreed with a lot of his policies, just engage him in dialogue."
Hannah Shaffer, an 18-year-old from Glen Mills, Pa., who graduated in June from Garnet Valley High School, and several friends had the same idea.
"When I got there about 6 o'clock, a group of young people had congregated," Shaffer said. The handful of Garnet Valley students and the girls from Newark started talking about the event, and someone joked about having Santorum sign a book by a gay author.
That drew the attention of someone on Santorum's advance team.
According to Shaffer, the woman "called them shameful and said she was disgusted by the reasons they were there, that they should be there to support [Santorum]."
"Rick Santorum's security team felt they were going to be a security threat and asked them to leave," said Amanda Winnington, the community relations manager for the Barnes & Noble store.
The security, however, wasn't provided by a private guard, but by off-duty Delaware State Police Sgt. Michael DiJiacomo, who was hired for the occasion through a private security service. No official report of the incident was filed because no arrests were made, but state police spokesman Lt. Joe Aviola said, "As I understand it, they actually were being disorderly within the store. Someone overheard them saying they were going to cause a disruption."
That's not quite the version the teens related. "I heard [DiJiacomo] ask the woman, 'Do you want me to get rid of them,?' " Galperin said. "I went to tell the kids the cop was going to kick them out, and he was very pushy. He came up to us and said, 'If you don't leave you'll be arrested, and if you can't post bail you'll be put in prison.' He said it was private property and we would be arrested for trespassing."
When the girls protested that they hadn't done anything, DiJiacomo told them they were under arrest. After taking them from the store, Galperin said, "He told Miriam to put her hands on the car and kept telling us, 'You're going to embarrass your family, you won't get into college with this on your record.' "
After checking their identification, though, DiJiacomo let the two college students leave.
The younger teens, meanwhile, had gone to Concord Mall to call their parents to pick them up. When Hannah's mother, Heidi Shaffer, arrived, DiJiacomo had told the teens they were banned indefinitely not only from the bookstore but the entire mall next door.
"He told me this wasn't the time or place for these kids to protest," Heidi Shaffer said. "He [also] told me if any of the children was arrested I would have to appear in court, and that I could not take any of the kids into the store unless I wanted to be charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor. I said I wanted to talk to the Barnes & Noble management, and he said it's not up to the management, that Barnes & Noble had no authority.
"What he told me was, 'They don't want you there,' that it was all under the direction of Santorum. Maybe he was making it up, because I called Santorum's people and they've denied it to me, but I got the impression they didn't want anyone there who didn't agree with him."
Barnes & Noble's Winnington confirmed that only customers who had a receipt for Santorum's book were allowed near him.
Officials of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute in Greenville, which published Santorum's book, did not return calls for comment.
"These are all honor students," Heidi Shaffer said. "It was unconscionable. I don't know when they passed a law in Delaware that said you can't have a cup of coffee and discuss your opposition to a book."
They haven't yet, but give them time.
-Al Mascitti, Delaware News Journal
Liberty, Security, and the American way of Life
I am no civil-libber myself; I agree that some, even many of their efforts go too far, that to be driven by any singular ideology is radical, destructive, and closed-minded. That said, however, these Conservative attacks are unnecessarily mean-spirited and harsh. The debate of liberty versus security, which is the central question that harsh rhetoric covers up, is not only worthwhile but also essential and age old.
I have no intention of trying to resolve that debate on this blog; however, both sides need to be more reasonable and respectful of the other’s views. In the end, both libertarians (the ideology, not necessarily the party) and authoritarians (not meant in a derogative way – merely those who are more willing to accept a greater government presence to advance security) are arguing over a vision of the American way of life. The ACLU is not out to harm America, but to preserve the liberties they believe are central to the American way of life, liberties that are deeply embedded in our history and our Constitution. Authoritarians who are pushing for greater security measures believe that such steps are necessary to stop terrorism, keeping us free from fear and allowing us to live our lives freely in an uniquely American way. The debate, then, is essentially about two very different polar opposite means to achieve the same end: the preservation of the American way of life.
This debate has not really changed in over 200 years. From the controversial Alien and Sedition Acts during the Presidency of John Adams to the internment of patriotic Japanese-Americans during World War II to the Patriot Act and other measures today, the issues remain essentially the same. Yet never has more been at stake than at present, with terrorists poised to attack on our own soil, terrorists who at the same time gain a victory each time our lifestyle changes and our civil liberties are eroded.
Only history can judge if we are going too far or not far enough. All we can do is seek a balance with the understanding that we will not always agree, keeping the dialogue a true dialogue, void of useless harsh rhetoric. It is crucial that we have, and continue to have, this debate, with the recognition that the ability to do so, in the end, is what this argument is all about in the first place.
W’s Summerschool Report Card
After several months of political stalemate, in the last few weeks President Bush got his agenda rolling, and in a big way. I’ve decided the best way to deal with the major recent issues is through a summary and two “grades”; the first for political sagacity, the second reflecting my opinion of the measure. Just to be clear, this is my brainchild and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the College Democrats as a whole.
Nomination of John Roberts
A / ?
Roberts, with all his ambiguities but strong qualifications, was a genius choice and came just as the heat was up on Rove. Bonus points for timing. The question mark on how he will turn out is reflective of the shrewdness of the choice, but unfortunately for liberals, I fear Bush hit a home run with this one.
Approval of CAFTA by the House and Senate
B/B+
This didn’t really take all that much political effort since the Republicans control Congress, although the close 217-215 vote in the House is reflective of how difficult a sell free trade is in some areas. The B+ as the second score is not a misprint; I’m not a fan of the recent Democratic opposition to free trade, and this was a fairly modest measure. Both the “liberal” New York Times and the Washington Post approved of it on their editorial pages. Of course, they do not need labor support to win any elections. In spite of my pro-free trade tendencies that stem from my economics background, however, this measure would have been better, and would have garnered more support, had it contained provisions providing for labor standards. Moreover, as we continue to integrate into a global market, we need to do what we can to ease the transition for our workers domestically. Though I believe globalization is an inevitable trend, and that
Expansion of Stem Cell Research
D/C
His opposition to this measure is no longer politically helpful. With Bill Frist jumping ship, other Republicans are now free to truly vote their conscience, and there is a slim chance the measure may end up passing over an expected Bush veto and with the support of a vast majority of Americans. Short of the so-called “moral values” voters who will, for the most part, vote Republican anyway, this position isn’t helping Bush (besides, he’s not running for anything, now). Though I wholeheartedly disagree with his position and reasoning, I at least give him credit for being upfront about his stance and following his conscience. However, I still fail to see how saving cells in a dish that will be discarded anyway is promoting a culture of life, while allowing research using those same cells that could help people with serious life-ending illnesses is not.
Recess Appointment of John Bolton
B/D-
An expected and completely Constitutional maneuver, I still think
Overall
B/D
Democrats continue to “misunderestimate” W. He’s a shrewd politician, and has shown he has at least a year before becoming a lame duck. However, just because he is finally getting his policies through does not mean that they are right or proper, and
