Blog Stage Five: My Thoughts

I've been thinking a lot lately about the founding fathers, and the previous presidents of our country. I remember learning about the election of 1828 in which Andrew Jackson was defeated and John Quincy Adams won. It was called by some the 'Revolution of 1828'. This was a peaceful revolution, though. It was one in which a candidate of a different party was elected and thus proceded to take the place of the previous president without any violence or uprisings. I remember thinking how amazing that was. Think about how leadership works in other nations. Some countries have dictatorships! They don't even get to vote. Other places have people appointed to lead them. We get to vote! We get to choose who we want to be our president, and we do it peacefully! To me, this is an amazing quality about our country.


With the election on everyone's minds, I find myself pondering what the future holds for the United States of America, and our national government. It always feels like each election is the most important. I remember when President George W. Bush was running for re-election four years ago, and I remember thinking how important that election was. This one feels just as important. Who knows what will happen once we find out who our next president is?

There are so many problems that our nation faces, so many situations and issues to address. President Bush has not made it easy for whoever takes his place. Our nation is in tremendous debt, we're in the middle of an economic crisis, and of course, there's the war in Iraq. How would each candidate address these problems? The next four years could either help or hurt us. I don't think that our country is in a place where we can just stay how we are. Things will either get worse or get better. Right now, I'm just trying to think about what things will change, and what things will stay the same. I know that when Obama first started campaigning, he said that he wanted to get us out of Iraq. But recently, he's been quoted saying that we wouldn't get out immediately and that it wouldn't benefit the country to leave just yet. McCain also feels that we should stay in Iraq. But what actually happens when people get elected to office? Would Obama stand by what he's said recently? Or would he pull us out of Iraq anyways?

Our nation is in for a change. Change can be good, or change can be bad. Only time will tell how this election will affect our national government, and then we will know where we stand. It's an ongoing process, keeping this country alive and thriving, and we need a strong president to lead us. We need a strong national government to govern us. I hope that this change will be for the best, both short term and long term.

Blog Stage Four

In the editorial Is It the Economy (Again), Stupid? written by Janine Davidson, the reader's attention is again brought to the upcoming election. In this article, the author suggests that the economic dilemma is the most important issue in this election, when more focus should really be given to foreign policy and national security.

This author is targeting potential voters, people who are really concerned about the upcoming election and the issues that are being focused on. The author appeals to the emotions of the reader by referring to 9/11. Davidson says that this election is unlike the 1992 election of Bill Clinton, where the economy was the main issue, because "We hadn't experienced a major terrorist attack on American soil" then. She reasons that in this day and age, where everyone is, at least on some subconscious level, on alert to terrorist attacks, that national security should be the major issue.

Davidson establishes her authority on this subject by letting the reader know that she is a "national security scholar" and this is obviously her area of expertise.

I both agree and disagree with this author. On the one hand, I do feel that national security is a major issue that needs to be addressed; after all, it's the safety of our country we're talking about here! But on the other hand, we as Americans find ourselves in an economic situation that we haven't been in for quite some time. Many Americans feel insecure about the economy, and this is on their frontburners. Both Obama and McCain know this, and so of course they are going to make it the main issue that they focus on; it's what all of their voters are concerned about. It's an issue that is pressing upon everyone's minds because it affects everyone more directly and personally than national security does, because terrorist attacks don't just happen every day. But bankruptcy, foreclosures, and drops in stock market values do happen every day, and they affect the lives of Americans everywhere. That is why the economy is on the frontburner in this election: it's what everyone's most concerned about, and so while I agree that national security needs to be addressed, I think that McCain and Obama know what they're doing when they focus on the economic problem at hand.

Blog Stage Three

I found a really interesting commentary in the Austin American Statesman entitled Ditch the Do- Nothing Congress. In this commentary, the author (Rueben Navarette, of the San Diego Union- Tribune ) is addressing all Americans, all voters. In this commentary, Navarette talks of the ineffective way Congress handled the Bailout Bill that was proposed and initially rejected by Congress. One method he used in this commentary that I thought was very effective was his neutral (at least party-wise) commentary. He did not lean to the left or the right more in his comments, he only presented the facts, and actually said negative things about both parties, leaving the reader to judge for themselves how they feel about the situation. I think that this was a good idea, because simply stated the facts, but still showed where he stood on the issue. He didn't make it a party issue, he made it about Congress as a whole. I think that this author has a great credibiility because he works for an already established newspaper. He's not just some guy writing his opinions on "that crazy Congress." He's obviously done his research and it's evident that he knows about the subject he is adressing. Navarette argues that Congress needed to act more urgently in the Bailout Bill passage, and that they don't understand how to deal with crises or important issues. He alludes to previous issues which Congress has "dodged", such as Social Security and the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind initiative. He embeded several facts into his commentary, about who did and said certain things, and how those comments effected the passage of the bill. At the end of his commentary, Navarette encouraged Americans not to put up with a "do-nothing Congress". I think that this is an effective closing statement because it urges the reader to become active in the legislative process, whether it be by voting for different representatives or writing a letter to his/her representative. All in all, I think this was a very effective essay, and I do agree with most of what Navarette said. I think that Congress does need to act more urgently when matters require it to, and I think that Navarette was right on.