Equal Opportunity to Govern

I think that this amendment is perfectly reasonable. I see nothing wrong with it. For all we know, and by we I mean my cynical self, some other country could send in someone who becomes a citizen who could then run for president and destroy the country. Making the law so that you have to be a natural born citizen, just makes sense for safety if nothing else. I think this amendment is better for national security than the freakin' USA PATRIOT Act.

Policy

The no child left behind program has not been successful. Instead of being taught things that the students will enjoy and succeed at, they are being taught things that may be completely worthless to them in the long run. They are merely learning how to take a standardized test. How is that going to help them in the real world? How often does a boss say to their employee, "find the trigonometric function that goes with the following equation:"? Never! The only thing we have to show for this program is higher numbers on standardized tests. That is ridiculous. What needs to be shown are things like less fortunate students having the resources to learn how to fix a car, and then actually doing it. Students being able to aid in constructing a house, and actually doing it. The goal should not be to make them ready to pass their SAT's in the first grade. They should be taking classes that will allow them to do what they want in life, and see if they like it, before they pay tens of thousands of dollars to go to a college based purely on merit, only to get there and realize they don't want to do anything the college offers, or even be in college at all.

Most Important Aid

I think that the most important aid depends on the circumstances of the presidency. During war-time I would say the defense advisor, and military advisors. During times like these, i.e. economic problems and the green revolution, I'd say key economic advisors as well as advisors on behalf of the EPA.

If I Had the Power of Pardon

Well, I would have started with pardoning myself for my driving infraction, and then I would have thought about other people. Strictly because my case was not complicated, and it would be a good diving board for the more complicated stuff. Then, because I am against the death penalty I would reduce the sentence of all those who are on death row, to a life sentence in a maximum security prison (giving a chance to prove their innocence). Then, I would take the liberty of pardoning those who had committed crimes against Microsoft, like embezzlement and such, and then, I would look at random cases of people who had sent me letters, and sort out which people I would let go because of a lack of evidence supporting the accusations. Of course I would wait until the end of my presidency to pardon the Microsoft people, because I wouldn't want people to think it was legal, just as a pat on the back to those who had already done it. :)

BARACK OBAMA IS THE PRESIDENT ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Fantastic. I have thought from the start that the only way the nations economy would be able to stabilize is to have Barack Obama's policies put into action. Now, we have that chance. I am thrilled. I cannot even express the emotions and feelings of relief when I heard from the man himself that he would be the next president of the United States. I really haven't got that much else to say other than: SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!

Voting Age

The only reason I believe the voting age should be changed, is because I think that if teens have the possibility of being drafted into the military, they should have the choice of electing the person that will initiate that draft. Other than that, there really is no need to lower the voting age, because it would mean absolute chaos for younger voters, who would have no interest in voting, and probably wouldn't bother which is probably why the voting age is what it is now. I think the system works as it is now, and if given the chance, I probably wouldn't change it.

Electoral College Reformation

I believe there is nothing wrong with the electoral college, I think it makes perfect sense, to have candidates battle in one state and when the candidate wins the state, he wins the electoral votes of the state. It is still controlled by popular vote. The difference is, the popular vote is divided into smaller groups based on geography and population, and the winner of these divisions wins the electoral vote. I see nothing wrong with that, and frankly, just having a popular vote would be chaotic, because there would be so much more room for error.

Palin Rally

I have to admit, I wasn't too impressed. When Palin spoke, I expected to hear some truly serious issues come out, and figured she count be constrained enough to act like an adult and not spend her time on the podium bashing her opponent. I do not appreciate being talked to like a baby, or worse, an idiot. I felt like the entire time she was speaking that she was dumbing-down serious issues with a big, dopey smile on her face. I have an immense amount of respect for the woman, but I do not see that reflected back when I hear her speak. I have to admit, I share the same thoughts as others in the fact that I'm still waiting for someone to jump out from behind a podium somewhere and say, “Hey, it's a joke!”

Should the government regulate interest groups?

Absolutely not. There is not too much else to say. My reasoning is that these groups act purely on one of the primary bases of our government which is freedom of speech. I think that interest groups do just as much bad as good, and if I could, I would definitely regulate them, merely so that the government could run a little more smoothly with a little less hassle. The fact of the matter is though, the reason this interest groups are formed in the first place, is because in this country we have the right to say what we want, where we want, and when we want. It should not be up to our government to limit this, as it would be a direct violation of our freedom of speech as Americans.

If I could vote......... which I can't.......

I have to say, this is probably the second worst nominee decision since George Bush and John Kerry. Oh, wait, that was just last election wasn't it..... Well, to be completely honest, I would have to vote for Barack Obama. I have to say I see him as the lesser of two evils, as I find it very difficult to agree with even more than half of each candidate's stance. I have learned a lot more about Senator Obama then I did before, but I still think he is the better choice. I think that Senator Obama has better insights into the life of the common American, and I think he would do a better job stabilizing the environment for everyone. I would have to say John McCain as overstepped his boundaries, and if it isn't obvious, the man cannot make decisions for the good of his own campaign, as indicated by his VP choice, Sarah Palin, so how is he going to make decisions for the greater good of the nation. I'm not saying that I could single-handedly if at all, fix any of the problems this nation is facing, but at this point, John McCain has a blind shot over water, and at least Obama has a target, be it in the water or not.

The Second Debate

I think this debate was yet another draw, and I do not believe I am alone in thinking this. I do however believe that Barack Obama has a better stage presence and is a better speaker, and this has not changed at all after this debate. For the most part, issues were focused on, and nothing too drastic occurred. I was only able to catch part of the debate, as it whisked me off to sleep after a short while, but I'd like to see a real debate between these two candidates where one will actually have the ability to win, by not only stating policies, but where policies can be expained so that the common sense behind the policies can be realized, and people can see exactly what the fight incorporates, instead of just being, "Oh, Obama wants to raise taxes..." I think that if people looked at the why and the why not, and the ultimate simplicity and high rate of success for certain policies, we would have a debate that had a winner by a very large margin, and I think it would be Barack Obama.

VP Debate

A little late on this post, but nonetheless... The VP debate between Senator Biden and Governor Palin, was considered to be a draw. I believe the same. I think that many of the questions were far too broad, and left the candidates able to manipulate the question however they wanted. I think that many of the answers were premeditated, and I think that they showed little to nothing about the candidates themselves. Sure, they mirrored the policies of their running mates, because they are to be "second" in the race for the White House, but at the same token, it would have been more beneficial to see how they would help their running mate be a better president as an advisor, instead of "power-pointing" their running mates' policies over and over. The debate was definitely beneficial for Governor Palin, she help up well, and was overall better "behaved" than other press-related statements and interviews. However, she tried to relate too much to the common person, and brought in her experience as the governer of Alaska much more than is due credit for. Senator Biden was honest and forthright, I think he had his mind set on the issues at hand, and not on having to bash the other candidate. Though this may be a necessary evil in this campaign because the ball was already rolling, I think that this debate should have been a little cleaner. I think the Seator gave a better presence and performance, but I give the Governor credit for being better than she has been in the past.

Political Humor

I found this one while I was surfing the web, and I think it really captures how President Bush is going to go down in history as an inspiration to 21st century Americans.... I have to say, this actually made me laugh because of how true it really is. Unfortunately, people are sick and tired of having someone in office doing what any other person on the planet is capable of doing. I think this is a fantastic cartoon though, and I speak for many of my friends when I say we've felt this way at one point or another with this current Presidential Administration.

My Official Stance on the Environment

If it got down to the sole issue of the environment and energy to make my decision between the two candidates, it would be Barack Obama. I think he has had the ideas for a long enough time that he was able to work out the potential thoughts, and would be able to immediately implement his policies when in office. John McCain, though he has more age and experience than Obama, lacks the ability to be able to walk in to congress and say, here's my idea, here's why it works, and here's some potential faults, and still get congress to vote with him. Obama on the other hand has brilliant policies that have so much common sense, it would be ridiculous if they were not immediately put into place. Sure, McCain wants to drill for oil to hold us off for a while, but how long? Obama will have plans put into place by the end of his first term, that will keep 10% of this country's energy coming from renewable resources. That makes so much sense, that even our current president probably couldn't see a problem with it. McCain has some great ideas, but he really doesn't show how or more importantly, when he is going to implement them.

Obama's Speech

Senator Obama's speech was indeed what the media has been calling a "spectacle." He made brilliant, compelling points on major issues, that stand out to me as great ideas. He spoke about the deficit, patriotism, the American family, equal opportunity, and many other things I agree with. To an uninformed spectator, it may not have seemed that he was smashing his opposition, John McCain. However, upon further inspection, the Senator's speech included specific details that have been slightly stretched. Although he spoke of McCain with great respect, he continued to burn John McCain. Now, I agree with much of the contents of Senator Obama's speech, but I cannot stand when candidates do everything in their power to make the other candidate look bad, instead of just making themselves look good. What does that say about a person who cannot say enough about how much potential he/she has as a presidential candidate, that they have to resort to slamming the opposition. I know that this goes both ways in terms of McCain lashing out at Obama, as evidenced by almost every commercial he has ever run, but I just wish that some day in my lifetime, an election can occur in which the candidates have enough good to say about themselves, that they don't have to seriously burn the other candidate just to make themselves look good.

First Post/Mark Warner

Just so that I did not have a completely blank, dotted blog page, I figured I would write in a little bit about Mark Warner's speech tonight at the Democratic National Convention. I found his speech incredibly inspiring, mainly because many of his views reflect my own, such as putting truly passionate, qualified teachers in public schools, preparing for the future instead of living in the past, and especially when he brought up that fact that there should not be labels next to ideas as I referenced in class today, but that there should just be ideas without a "D" or an "R" next to them. I also agree with the fact that the Bush Administration's primary fault was that he did not guide the American people. The Administration has simply taken matters into their own hands, behind sound-proofed, securely locked doors. In reality, the Bush Administration could have asked the American people to step up to the plate to reduce our dependency on foreign oil immediately following 9/11/01, and the people who are at this point ignorant, would not have been at that time, and been able to see the effect that something like that would cause in the grand scheme of things for this country. Mark Warner is the type of politician I would like to see in the oval office some day. He has the required experience to make a difference, evidence to support his plans, and the real ideas that can push this country foreward.