Parties - 12/19

        In this year’s midterm elections, the Republican Party became the dominant party in American politics. Following the midterms, former Republican National Committee Chairman Haley Barbour stated “Republicans are now being given a chance by the people to get things back on the right track. Republicans should not take this election as some rousing endorsement. It is more that the people are very dissatisfied and they are giving us a chance to fix it.” Here, Barbour is basically saying that the Democrats screwed up, and now it’s time for the Republicans to clean up their mess.

       In The Wall Street Journal, Janet Hook wrote “With the Louisiana and Alaska Senate races yet to be decided, Republicans have a majority of at least 52 seats, with victories not just in such conservative states as Arkansas, South Dakota, Montana, and West Virginia, but also in swing states Mr. Obama had won: Colorado, Iowa and North Carolina.” Just recently, Louisiana’s fate was determined: Republican. In the last term, the Democrats had an 8 seat advantage over Republicans, but now the tables have turned in a major way. The Republicans are now in the majority in the Senate. What does this mean? Any legislature that needs to be passed has to come through the Republican Party now.

       Republicans tend to be more “socially conservative” and are in favor of ending the war on terrorism and promoting global democracy, gun ownership, and anti-abortion, to name a few. These principles are founded on Christian principles and as Christians, it is our duty to support leaders who share our same beliefs. Now that the Republicans are back in power, maybe this nation will be restored to its roots in faith and Christianity.

Torture - 12/12

        If you’ve seen any police movies, you’re probably familiar with interrogation. Interrogation is when an officer will ask a suspect about a crime, usually to reveal incriminating evidence. Usually simple questions will be asked in smaller cases, and the more serious the crime, the more serious the interrogation. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is no exception to this practice, but their methods have been under fire recently. A report about the CIA’s “enhanced interrogation techniques” was release after a lot of anticipation. These “techniques” are literally torture, and that is where the controversy came from. The report that was released had over 6,000 pages of classified information in total, but only 500 were released.

        The question is: are these “enhanced interrogation techniques” necessary? There is no question that these methods have saved many lives, but at what cost? Morally, torture is a low form of control over another person even if they are good or bad, but at what point is it unnecessary? You might say “Well these people that are being tortured are bad people! They deserve to die!” but still, they are people. Jesus says to love your neighbor and forgive people not only 7 times, but 70 times 7. There still is that dilemma about the greater evil; regardless of which side you support, you’re either hurting one person or letting a thousand innocent other people die. I think that in certain circumstances, it might be more important to gather the information we need, even if it means hurting someone. As a nation, it makes sense. But morally, it can still cause some issues. Only time will tell if we are right with these methods, but for now, a firm fist is better than another terrorist attack on our country.

Ferguson 2 - 12/5

       Ferguson has been in the news once again, but this time, not because anybody got shot. Last week, a St. Louis grand jury did not indict Darren Wilson, who shot and killed Michael Brown. They could find no reasonable evidence to pin Wilson with any charge, ranging from first-degree murder to involuntary manslaughter. Nobody with a brain (legal analysts) really expected for Wilson to be indicted, but the people of Ferguson wanted this man d-e-d dead. The kind of shooting that happened normally would have led to an internal investigation with the police department that Wilson worked for, not a grand jury national event. But, the rioting, looting, and arson called for a bigger case. The city of Ferguson has been like a real-life “Hunger Games” scenario, with people stealing what they can to survive.

       Michael Brown’s family is no exception. His father and mother wanted peaceful protests, but his step-father made some interesting comments. His most “famous” one, “Burn this [bad word] down,” has led to being nearly charged with inciting a riot. President Obama responded by attempting to calm the people of Ferguson, saying “First and foremost, we are a nation built on the rule of law. And so we need to accept that this decision was the grand jury’s to make. There are Americans who agree with it, and there are Americans who are deeply disappointed, even angry. It’s an understandable reaction. But I join Michael’s parents in asking anyone who protests this decision to do so peacefully. Let me repeat Michael’s father’s words: ‘Hurting others or destroying property is not the answer. No matter what the grand jury decides, I do not want my son’s death to be in vain. I want it to lead to incredible change, positive change, change that makes the St. Louis region better for everyone.’  Michael Brown’s parents have lost more than anyone. We should be honoring their wishes.”

       I still stand by my original stance, which is that more peaceful protests are the answer, and that rioting is just making it worse. It’s good to know that one of the most powerful people in the world shares my stance. Maybe Obama’s not so bad after all!