Little Advice to my Hooligans

Wow....this summer has been crazy busy. A little advice to my students out there: When y'all are older, I recommend NOT getting married, buying a house that need some fix-me-ups , and having your truck break down all within a month of each other. Otherwise, you'll find yourself neglecting other things...like maintaining your government class blog. Anywho, I hope y'alls summers are going well. Your responses to the Machiavelli questions were great....for the most part. I look forward to getting your Paine responses here soon, and especially to starting the school year in less than a month. Until then, a few tidbits on some major political happenings over the last couple of weeks:

- Elena Kagan, President Obama's Solicitor General, has been sworn in as the newest justice of the Supreme Court. Democrats have praised her previous work as a prosecutor and for adding another female voice to the Court, while Republicans have criticized her for her lack of judicial experience (she's never been a judge) and for some of her rathery cryptic answers during the confirmation hearings. Overall, this doesn't change the make up of the Court, as we still have four conservatives, four liberals, and one independent who has become the Court's swing vote. (5 bonus points for the first person to identify who that independent voice on the Court is!)

- Yesterday, a small plane crashed in Alaska, killing former Senator Ted Stevens. Stevens, 86 years old, was a long time member of the U.S. Senate, and was the longest serving Republican member until he lost re-election in 2008 (after being convicted of concealing several hundreds of thousands of dollars in inappropriate gifts). Stevens was famous for being a stubborn advocate for his state, and funnelling millions of dollars in pork barrel projects toward Alaska (a Little Debbie cake on the first day of class for the first person to identify what a pork barrel project is!). Stevens was also famous for requesting $250 million for a "Bridge to Nowhere" and for once referring to the Internet as a "series of tubes."

- Finally, we come to the issue of gay marriage in California. In summer 2008, the California Supreme Court ordered that homosexuals be allowed to marry in that state. In November of that year, voters approved Proposition 8, which overturned the Court's decision, outlawing same-sex marriage. Now, just last week, a federal judge in California found that Proposition 8 was unconstitutional. So the issue of same-sex marriage in California is currently in a state of chaos. And in a strange twist, many homosexual advocates in California are criticizing President Obama for his opposition to same-sex marriage. Can Obama, already facing an approval rating of only 45%, afford to lose this key support base? Well, can he? Looking for your comments, reactions, questions, rants!

The Year of the Anti-Incumbent?

I've got a news flash for y'all....Americans are mad! Not because of the upcoming remake of "The Karate Kid" (though there are a lot of questions surrounding that, namely "why is a movie about a Japanese martial art taking place in China....with Will Smith's kid?"). No, Americans are mad at their government! Now, I know that's not surprising. Americans have always hated their government. But there's something different this year. Americans actually seem to be acting on that anger. If you've been watching the news, (or the Daily Show), you may have heard reporters talking about "anti-incumbent feeling" or similar ideas. What's this all about?

Well, you may not be aware of it, but we're smack dab in the middle of election season. No, there's no presidential election, but in November we will be electing all 435 members of the House of Representatives, as well as 36 senators and a couple dozen of governors. Now, even though those elections don't happen until November, the political parties are currently scrambling to decide who they want to nominate to be their candidate in November. All across the country, the parties are holding primary elections to choose their candidate. A primary election is like a playoff election. In baseball, the American League and the National League each hold a series of playoffs to determine who will be their representative in the World Series. It's the same thing in politics. The Republican Party will hold a playoff elections (primary) to determine who will be its candidate for the general election in November, and same deal for the Democrats.

Now, normally, nobody gives a flying hoot about these primaries, so usually the current person in office, or the "incumbent", gets the nomination. Not this year. We've already seen several incumbents being told by their party supporters "You're out, someone else is in." In the House, West Virginia Democrat Alan Mollohan was rejected after 27 years, and Alabama Republican Parker Griffith was thrown out after switching from the Democrats last year. Over in the Senate, Utah Republican Bob Bennett was thrown out after 18 years. And in Pennsylvania, in a huge upset, Democrat Arlen Specter (who switched from the Republicans last year) was defeated after having been in the Senate for 30 years. Again folks, keep in mind, these losses came in PRIMARY elections. That means their FELLOW PARTY MEMBERS voted their butts out! An additional primary election in Kentucky saw that state's Republicans reject the "insider" candidate for political newcomer Rand Paul (son of libertarian congressman Ron Paul, who ran for president in 2008). In addition, 13 Senators and 37 Representatives have chosen NOT to run for re-election, rather than face the wrath of the voters.

So why are Americans mad? Why are they voting out all of these incumbent candidates? You may have noticed that the voters' anger is directed at BOTH major parties, but why? Here's Mr. G's take on things: After eight years of Republican George Bush as president, during which the country faced two wars, a blundered response to Hurrican Katrina, the Patriot Act, loss of civil liberties, possible torture of prisoners at Guantanomo Bay, increases in the national debt, a struggling economy, an unpopular and expensive bailout of the banking and auto industries, and the insepid idiocy of "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody," Americans really did "hope" for some "change." So they voted in Democrat Barack Obama, who promised them...hope and change. Perfect! Fast forward 18 months, and what is the country facing? Two wars, a blundered response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, a renewal of the Patriot Act, a continuing loss of civil liberties, prisoners still in Guantanomo Bay, a surge in the national debt, an unpopular and expensive recovery bill (TARP), and the insepid idiocy of "The Suite Life on Deck"...(really? They're on a boat now?). Add an unpopular health care bill to the picture, and you've got the situation we are now facing. Americans were promised change, and so far, the Obama Administration seems to have failed in delivering that change. Or, in the case of the health care bill, it's been change that a sizeable portion of the electorate opposes.

Hence, we now face the Year of the Anti-Incumbent, where anybody who's been in Washington, or even has the image of a career politician, is in danger of losing. And perhaps the next target...Sen. John McCain from Arizona. That's right. Less than two years after running for president, McCain is now fighting for his political life. That primary is still two months away. Will the voters anger calm any by then? Or will the full might of the Tea Party folks come out against him and send him packing? What are your thoughts and predictions are all of this? Questions? Be sure to respond!

Finally Remembered....

So I finally remembered my username and password to this blog, so hooray for that. I'm going to be doing a better job of keeping this site more up to date and interactive this summer, so be sure to keep checking back!