Welcome to the WHS AP Government blog. This site has been set up to encourage discussion by my students of events and issues that relate to concepts studied in AP US Government and Politics. Students are encouraged to join the discussion, using it as a way to explore the views of others. This will require that each of us move beyond just stating what we believe to be true to actually considering the opinions of someone else in an atmosphere characterized by mutual respect and intellectual curiosity.
Catagories are listed on the right-hand side of the blog.
Our group found this ad interesting because it makes McCain and Palin look like reform candidates. It brings up the fact that they both battled republicans, so they will change something if it’s wrong. It also highlights their accomplishments as far as changing and reforming their own spheres of influence in the government. It calls them “the original mavericks” as if they have always been promoting change, implying that Obama’s “change” is not as original as many people think.
This is a campaign video introducing Rick Noriega as a candidate. We found it interesting that his choices of speakers were very personal, not political. Most of his campaign seems to be focused on presenting him as a “everyday Joe” instead of a serious politician. His 3rd grade teacher seemed to think that Noriega was a natural leader, and his family praised his personality. He draws support from interest groups such as the NAACP and the army. This video is divided into sections that compliment separate qualities. Since this is an introduction to Noriega, it has a lighter and less negative feel and doesn’t focus on opponents. “Rick’s your man. He’s got your back.”
Our group saw this video and liked it because it is a good video that gives a lot of information about Sarah Palin. The beginning of the video is very informative in that it gives some of Palin’s views on many controversial issues and it helps the audience get a feel for what Palin is about. Also, this video helps some one who does not know anything about Sarah Palin to learn about why McCain chose Palin for his vice presidential candidate.
In the link to the website posted above is Obama’s Biography video that was played before he gave his acceptance speech at the Democratic Convention. It gives an insightful backround of his life and clearly states issues of importance to him. He feels that it is important that he strongly includes his family in this video so he can be known as a family man which is one of his campaign stratagies. He leaves out all of his “non-american” traits. He fails to mention his time he spent in Indonesia or his Muslim father. This video does an excellent job in showing Obama as a person and in the light of how an American citizen would want their American President to be.
The Obama presidential TV ad titled “Carry” centers around Obama’s uniting power at a time of deep divisions between political parties. Our group found it interesting because it shows both Republican and Democratic senators praising Obama’s work in the Senate. Not only does this convince viewers that Obama will be a consolidating force blind to divisions for our country but also helps resist popular arguments that Obama is unexperienced or underqualified because his acclaim is coming from older senators who worked alongside him in the Illinois State Senate. It also shows him as a very productive politician and reaffirms his experience by spelling out accomplishments including “tougher ethics laws,” “welfare reform,” “health coverage,” and “tax relief for low income workers,” all of which are issues in our presidential election.
We found this article interesting because it is about how Palin has helped sway moderates who were previously leaning toward Obama back toward McCain. Women are also being affected by Palin: according to one poll Obama was leading white women’s vote by eight points in early September but was losing by twelve points in less than a weeks time. This sudden shift con only be explained by Palin’s joining to campaign. Another thing the article mentioned was that these voters were probably swayed not by her political views but by her personal appeal. Whatever the reasons, Palin is definitely changing the election.
Read the Article: http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/stumper/archive/2008/09/09/palin-s-moderate-appeal.aspx
Jagroop Dhillon, Eddie Maururi, Mason Gossett, Adrie Roth
Phelps, 4th
This article from CNN was quite interesting to our group, because we thought it reflected a paradigm shift in the American political system. To summarize, the article highlighted that a lot of the media coverage that originally accompanied Joe Biden wherever he went (immediately prior to Obama’s vice presidential announcement), seemed to just vanish after his counterpart, Palin, was nominated to the McCain ticket. Now, because we know that the media, CNN included, exists to serve themselves ($), we can garner that they choose to cover Palin over Biden because they got the impression that it would please their viewers. Therefore, we can assume that the viewers may be more interested in Palin, at least for the past few weeks. We as a group decided that this probably results from the fact that Palin represents an enigma, an unknown to the White House (which we thought was McCain’s primary reason to choose her), which appeals to people who are tired of “the politics in Washington”, which, unfortunately, some people align Biden with. We think that it’ll be interesting to see how Obama’s choice in Biden plays out, for although he does represent someone “of experience” ( I personally hate that term), he also does come from the static and stagnant “Washingtonian Politics”, which people are less keen to trust. One thing’s for certain though, because of this imbalance of media coverage (due to the heavily candidate centered politics, where the issues matter less than pure demographics and superficial qualities: sex, race etc.), Biden hasn’t got his fair share of time to define himself, and present the issues important to him, which only may be rectified in a situation like the Vice Presidential debates, where no amount of Press coverage can necessarily sway the viewers as much as the issues will.
We found Noriega’s advertisement to be interesting in the fact that it played up his services in Iraq. This is something that is important for him to play up. First he miss out on valuable campaign time to be there and he needs to make that work towards his advantage. Second he is democratic so associate him with Iraq might help win over voters leaning more republican.
Senator John Cornyn, a political figure perhaps unknown to the majority of students, was the subject of our research. He is running this year for re-election into the U.S. Senate this year. We found this video of this campaign advertisement in that while he tries to portray himself as “Big Bad John” the “tough guy” from Texas, the video comes across as a bit ridiculous. The media responded in like, mocking the video on such shows as the Colbert Report and The Daily Show. Ironically, this actually helped Cornyn gain national attention. Overall the video showed how “out of touch his is with Texas” and even Cornyn himself realized eventually how ridiculous it was.
ANWR (Arctic Natural Wildlife Reserve)
Most voters and many politicians are deeply concerned and opposed to drilling for of shore oil and gas reserves in the ANWR. Sarah Palin believes much of the concern is as a result of a lack of information and understanding of the true facts on ANWR. In this interview, she clearly articulates many facts about ANWR, and discusses why she supports the drilling and why voters and politicians should be more open minded.
America needs to find ways to reduce the price of oil and also our dependence on foreign oil. Based on the facts articulated by Sarah Palin such as that it is only 2,000 acres and that the exploration can take place with minimal wildlife disruption, we believe that drilling in ANWR should be very seriously considered and appropriate studies should be undertaken to see how best to move forward.
Our group found this clip interesting because Palin represents Alaska and explains that the vast majority of residents support drilling in ANWR. Given that Alaska will be impacted more than any other state, we believe that drilling for oil and has reserves in ANWR should be seriously considered as part of Americas drive to achieve energy independence
Our group found this video interesting because Rick Noriega is analyzing John Cornyn and pointing out the fallacies in his video. John Cornyn voted himself a pay raise when he voted against minimum wage increase. The “Big Bad John” video also exploits the cost of the clothing that Cornyn wore in the original video. Noriega points out the inconsistency of the video with Cornyn’s voting record with regards to issues of the war. He is also trying to point out that Cornyn is a fake by dressing up as a cowboy even though he is not one. This video was very effective as a campaign strategy to express Cornyn’s flaws.
McCain’s proposed town hall meetings, we believe, are pivotal to his success in this election. It is here that Palin can be most effective in invigorating the Republican voters and being the charming, energized half to McCain’s at times stale demeanor. Though Obama admittedly has the edge on McCain when it comes to stadium speaking, McCain is a stronger opponent in the smaller, more personal town hall setting, away from Teleprompters and unfortunate backgrounds. He feeds off of the energy of the people and is better able to explain his goals. McCain has also been somewhat effective in using the town hall meetings to cast Obama in an unfavorable light by associating them with strong, traditional, “for the people” values while dually criticizing Obama for not taking up his offer for a series of joint meetings.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDma2Pi77UU
The Neighbor to Neighbor approach is a good idea. It helps the voters get others voter involved in the campaign. When you sign up you are given a list of voters in your area, after that you can use the script and pamphlets they provide you with to help you out. It’s a rather simple process, you can report back with your results. If you have any questions about the process you are given support and training. This idea is based on he idea that we should be able to bring about the change in our country if we stay focused and organized. This is a step in that direction.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDma2Pi77UU
The Neighbor to Neighbor approach is a good idea. It helps the voters get others voter involved in the campaign. When you sign up you are given a list of voters in your area, after that you can use the script and pamphlets they provide you with to help you out. It’s a rather simple process, you can report back with your results. If you have any questions about the process you are given support and training. This idea is based on he idea that we should be able to bring about the change in our country if we stay focused and organized. This is a step in that direction..
During the September 24 EISD board meeting, several topics were talked about that were of interest. The biggest of these, in my opinion, was the fact that they may soon make it a policy to monitor text messaging. The question is: is government right to try and protect society by means like this or is the interference overbearing and inappropriate?
Regarding the presidential debate between Obama and McCain last Friday, I have several things to comment on. One of the biggest things I noticed was how candidates would often manipulate questions to get their strongest points across. Jim Lahrer even pointed out that the candidates didn’t answer the question at times.
Overall, I felt that McCain was more successful in the debate. He was very strong in expressing his views, often going beyond his alloted question-answering minutes. Obama was appeared much less energetic and enthusiastic about the issues.
I watched the Presidential debate, and was quite pleased with how it turned out. In my opinion, the debate was quite well moderated, Jim Lehrer asking a nice balance of both Economic and Foreign Policy issues–the hot topic issues of this election. Having seen some of the debates of both this primary season as well as some of the debates four and eight years ago, I was pleasantly surprised when the candidates actually offered substantive responses to the questions, in detailed and precised manners. For instance, it was interesting to me how sometimes both Obama and McCain skirt around the issue of providing exact (and therefore accountable) methods of carrying out their process, but in this debate they explained several of their detailed plans including how exactly to talk with the leaders of Iran or North Korea. (i.e. with or without preconditions) As well, I wasn’t entirely satisfied with some of the reservations that I felt that Obama had in reproaching McCain. For instance, McCain neither addressed nor Obama hammered home the fact that McCain had tendencies to vote with Bush 90-95% of the time, or whatever the exact figure is, which many view as important. My point is, even though the debate got heated in some segments, in my opinion, they never addressed some of the fatal flaws in either campaign, and I would have liked to see these issued addressed.
In my opinion, I thought the debate was quite uneventful, yet informative and interesting. I had previous expectations of how it would unfold and those expectations were pretty much fulfilled. Both candidates outlined pretty specific plans as to how they would approach different issues such as the economy and foreign affairs, two of the biggest issues facing our government. I thought the moderator asked fair and thought provoking questions and did not attack either candidate very much, except probing for more debate. I was not happy about how timid Obama was and how he allowed McCain to walk all over him. He was almost too polite compared to McCain’s snide comments and disregard for Obama’as turn to speak. In all, I think they both had valid points and were effective in proposing specific ideas. Overall, I think Obama performed better because he knew his stuff and appeared calm, intelligent and presidential. McCain did well, but I think he spent too much time trying to cut down his opponet.
For my debate I saw the Vice Presidential Debate.
The most interesting thing I noticed was the amount of effort Sarah Pallin put in to restore her image, damaged by the recent Saturday Night Live skit. You could really tell that she was striving for that “hockey mom” and “one of you” personas.
Another thing I noticed about her was how frequently she changed the subject when attacked, utilizing the subjects she was most informed in.
Overall, I thought that Joe Biden was very effective in using statistics and counter arguments. In my opinion, he had a fared better in the debate.
I watched the debate on October 15th and was pleasantly surprised to see McCain, at least on the surface level, running for it with his all. He has been typically boring, long-winded at times, and unimpressive as a speaker in the past two, but this time he seemed to have a fire in him that had not been with him before. Perhaps it was the spirit of desperation that drove him to such, since the middle of this year, now, he has been trailing Obama in the polls, and most I think would contend that he has felt his clout slipping, and tonight was a chance, perhaps his last, to really put up a fight in this election. And fight he did, with the brilliantly clever “Joe the Plumber” refrain, was like that one violin that is out of tune, a constant reminder of, in my opinion, one of the serious flaws in the Obama doctrine. A small business owner must continue to grow his business beyond what it currently makes, healthy cashflow is requisite to success in business. However, the Obama doctrine of stepping up taxes on business making 250K or more creates in economics what it called a profit dip or wedge, one that makes it extraordinarily difficult for growing businesses to overcome. A small business, that is growing and close to surpassing the 250K mark, would soon realize all those extra taxes would very likely strain the revenue stream, and cut profits, which would then, if carried through to form, cut salaries and decrease the pay of those working for the company, who might seek better wages. To jump over this squeeze of having no money to pay the workers that keep the revenue stream growing would require the company to go into debt just to pay the workers and continue growth, which is certainly a discouragement as finally, a business that is becoming successful, a proud owner of set of owners succeeded in generating wealth out of nothing, find that to continue, they must lose more money than they had when they were poor. This discourages upward mobility, something disastrous and toxic to a capitalist system. The constant references back to “well, what about Joe?” was a brilliant swing for the McCain camp, it brought home the image of the struggling owner of a small business, who was just starting to “make it”, and then Uncle Sam slabs heavier taxes on him, because his company is “rich” It is economic redistribution of wealth, that is socialism and Anti-American. McCain managed to, perhaps for the first time in this race, manage to at least act like an attack dog, a merciless maverick constantly pushing reform. Obama, on the other hand, was trite, boring, and cliché. He said nothing he had not previously said, and moreover, lost face in having to actually explain out his relation to the proposed terrorist, which on the whole I think was and is a ridiculous assertion or claim of the McCain camp, nevertheless I do not think even associating on a base level with such persons that even once harbored unpatriotic tendencies that drove them to terrorism is reprehensible on some level. Obama, as the proposed “hope” candidate, gave us back-biting “they messed things up, elect me, I’m new, I’m not them, he is, vote me,” whereas John managed to come off as sounding a better informed, moderate, maverick-like (whether or not this image is reality is yet to be seen, but the image at least was enforced) reformist with something new to say, which I think is truly important, as the world financial system basically changed over right under our noses and in little more than a week, the next president needs to change economic policy, for this is not the same system anymore, and I found that in McCain, not Obama. Interesting how people see what they want to see in candidates.
I watched the second presidential debate with the town hall meeting with McCain and Obama. I found the event to be uneventful with no clear winner. The two big issues discussed were domestic and foreign affairs. The two candidates did express their differences in these areas.
McCain stressed let’s not raise taxes for anyone while Obama wants tax cuts for anyone who makes less than $250,000. Another big difference concerns health care where McCain feels that it is a responisbility for parents to provide health care for children but he doesn’t want the government mandating the health care. Obama feels that health care should be a right and not a responsibility and a parent will be fined if they don’t provide health care for children.
They also had differences in dealing with Iraq. Obama wants a time period for withdrawal of troops while McCain wants to finish the job and then add more troops in Afghanastan.
McCain is still trying to emphasize that we don’t need a President who needs on the job training. He portrays Obama as the big spender and liberal tax raiser while Obama says that he is for the ordinary person and McCain is for the big shot.
Overall, no one made any major mistakes and no one came away as being the clear winner.
Mary and I went to the board meeting tonight and actually found it quite interesting. We were told however that we were very lucky because it would be the shortest meeting all year. After the pledge the board recognized a student for getting a perfect score on the SAT and ACT. After that the board talked about the accomplishments of some of the westlake teams and clubs. As the meeting progressed someone began to talk about how Westlake is doing with no child left behind. We have talked about this is class and it was interesting to see how eanes as a district was doing. All the elementary schools are in 100% compliance, as well as the middle schools. Westlake however has one Latin teacher who is not completely qualified. Because he earned his degree from cambridge, the texas government does not recognize it. However when they recieve his scores from the texas test eanes district will be in 100% compliance. After that the board was presented with the monthly financial budget. We learned that the budget year starts on september 1st of each year. We figured out that eanes has spent $72.4 million in investments and that there is $75 million in the general account. After that individuals were allowed to speak and only one did. A man by the name of Jimmy Evans spoke about the AEP building and how it is almost like a jail with no natural light. Also it is small and secluded and he wants the children in there to be able to get out and have some fresh air. After, the meeting was ajourned. Overall it was definitely worth attending to see what the board was talking about and to figure out what the people have to say. It was a great way to see government working at a local level.
In The Big Sort, Austinite Bill Bishop identifies an important demographic trend related to American politics. Increasingly, Americans are segregating themselves according to political beliefs and social preferences. Bishop identifies several potential negative implications: extreme local elections, policy gridlock at the national level, exploitation by politicians and businesses, and an exacerbation of the culture wars. To what extent do you believe this division of America is corrosive? Does it have any potential benefit? Does the segregation exist at all?
On January 28, 2009 I had the pleasure of attending my first Eanes School Board meeting. At the board meeting a wide range of topics were discussed, everything from the achievements of the students at the various schools in the Eanes school district to the financial situation and budgeting. Students in the orchestra and volleyball team were given special recognition. I was surprised by how much time was allocated to recognizing students. On a more serious note, a representative from the grounds department came up and discussed the position of the hand dryers and proposed that they be readjusted to fit the needs of the students; seeing this interaction made me realize that any matter, no matter how seeming minuscule, as long as it need school board funding, had to go through the board. Another important topic of discussion was the progress on the Fine Arts Facility. Dr. Wellman the superintendent stated that it cost about $300,000 a year on the renovations but the program was well supported. Another representative then spoke of the possibility of adding a state of the art fiber optics technology to the in-progress FAF. Overall, the experience was very organized, I was able to see everyday people voice their concerns.
I recently attended the January School Board Meeting. It was very interesting to see where all the policies are made for the EISD school district. The School Board Meetings relate to the course in that they have elected officials (members of the board) who solve issues that are brought to their attention by staff and students of the Eanes District. During the time I was present at the meeting, there was a lot of discussion regarding the new FAF facility. The tech teacher wanted to replace a lot of the “out-dated” equipment and install new wires for the new technologies. I thought it was very interesting how the board personally recognizes astounding students at Westlake and their current accomplishments. The board seems to take great pride in the district and want the best for everyone involved. I look forward to the next one! -Allie Goldstick February 4, 2009
Having read the book “Blind Into Baghdad: America’s War in Iraq”, I have still yet to get a clearer understanding of America’s primary reasoning behind the Iraq invasion. Although the author, James Fallows believes that Bush administration attempted to enter Iraq for the purpose of “defeating terrorism” and spreading democracy, it seems to me that something is still left unanswered. Why did America truly enter Iraq, considering the lack of an immediate threat?
The board of Trustees/school board meeting on January 28, 2009, left me with far more questions than answers. If you simply want a summary of what happened see the other posts on this blog or email me and I will send you a copy of the docket. Without further ado, here are a lot of provoking questions:
(in order of progenitor)
• School boards theme for year = leadership – what has it been in the past?
• Schools thanking board? How often are such cards made?
• Does the board do anything during an open board meeting other than thank/recognize people? (sorry, I had a little bit of an attitude at the beginning of the meeting)
• How do you get your name on the list to be read for recognition?
• How much are school board members paid?
• How many hours do they put in?
• What is the election process?
• How often are elections held?
• Is there a Eanse ISD constitution?
• What is the structure of the Eanes School?
• Who has the power?
• Is the board comparable to congress, the principal to the president, and the students and parents to the supreme court?
• What is the school’s budget?
. What are PSF bonds? Do they guarantee school bonds?
Lastly, if you are still reading this and you are not Mrs. Phelps, then… Anyways, a personal “he, he, he” – I was the last student to leave.
I recently saw the movie “Frost/Nixon” which was about the historic and momentous interviews between talk show host David Frost and President Nixon shortly after his resignation. The story begins with Nixon giving his resignation speech which of course is broadcasted globally. Savvy talk show host David Frost sees this as an opportunity to gain great publicity and soon organizes a series of interviews with Nixon focusing on such topics as: Vietnam, foreign policy, domestic policy and Watergate. One theme that I saw that clearly pertains to government was the symbiotic relationship between the media and the president or in this case the ex-president. In the movie it really seemed cutthroat or “no holds barred” as Nixon put it in the movie, it really was a competition with each competitor setting their goals on victory even if it meant belittling the other. Towards the end of the movie the careers of both men hung in the balance. By watching Frost/Nixon I saw the symbiotic relationship between the president and the media and how each uses the other to their best advantage. I learned how cutthroat it can be and saw some of their motives, for instance Frost was in it for the money and fame and Nixon his reputation. Overall, the movie was excellent and very informative.
For extra credit, I watched the movie, “Milk”, about a gay activist who dedicates his last years of his life to make a difference on Castro street in San Francisco but branches out to all homosexual citizens thorughout America. I learned from this experience that anyone could get involved in politics, not just politicians. I always had a hard time comprehending how acts come up and get passed but I now know it comes from determination. You do not have to go to law school and get all of these special degrees to make a difference. It was a very enlightening and emotional movie and I would DEFINITELY recommend it to anyone/everyone.
I watched the movie “Milk”, which is about the fight for gay rights by Harvey Milk, the first openly homosexual man to be voted into public office. Milk fought for more than just gay rights. He stood up for the rights of the elderly and minorities as well. My question is, what specific issues did he attempt to change for these groups, and was he successful in his efforts? Also, did this groups actually provide him the support he needed, or was it his political maneuvering and support of the gay community that got him into office?