Politics Blog

This will be my last political blog.

I haven’t updated this nearly as much as I should, and I feel like a hypocrite asking other bloggers to update at least twice a week when I rarely do that. I could just let it flounder, updating occasionally, but I feel like it needs some closure. This doesn’t mean I’m done following politics though.

Politics is part of everything. It impacts our daily lives in ways we often don’t notice, and we often don’t fully appreciate the role, and responsibility, we have to influence politics before it impacts us. We all have a responsibility to be aware of political news to be informed about our votes. We have the right to take action based on our informed opinions, and everyone should make their voice heard.

Defining the news among all of the information is the tricky part sometimes. I encourage you to be aware of what’s going on. Don’t burn yourself out with the junk that is labeled as news though. It’s often been frustrating sifting though the political information. I’m not interested in the drama of politicians’ personal lives, even though it’s usually easier to find that information than facts about the latest plans, proposals and bills.

There are good sources out there though. For true political junkies (personal info included), follow CNN’s Political Ticker. For something a bit more news focused, look at Newsweek’s politics page . For an international perspective, The Economist is a great source.

I wish you happy political-info browsing, and I may be back with another (non-political) blog later this year, which will again be hosted through Spartanedge. For a great variety of blogs to follow, visit Spartanedge.com (shameless plug.) It’s been my honor to work for the site, and I’m really excited about being editor-in-chief next year. We’re here to cover all of your MSU info, and that’s something which will never burn me out.

The jury is still out when it comes to deciding how successful President Obama has been in his first 100 days. Obama has asked to be judged on a longer timeline. Given the variety of issues he has yet to even address, that could be a good thing for him.

On the other hand, he could face new negativity and a decline in approval ratings if he doesn’t start delivering on more of the many campaign promises he made.

If he has anything going for him despite an overwhelmingly full plate of issues, it’s his personality. Three in four people believe he has the “right” qualities of a president, despite a lower number of those same people actually approving of his policies, according to a CNN poll.

How has Obama’s first 100 days impacted politics in general?

His presidency marked an influx of Democrats into Washington after eight years of a predominantly Republican presence. There was no drastic change in the way the parties are viewed though. The Democratic Party did not receive as high of a rating as Obama, but it did receive better marks than the Republican Party.

No surprises here, really.

This is the kind of writing I love: Informed and impassioned. You just don’t see opinion articles like that in major news sources very often these days.

There is a debate over whether journalists can express their opinions about a subject and still report on it objectively. The real debate should be about how well individuals do it - not whether or not journalists should even be allowed to do it at all. Ok, technically they’re all “allowed to,” but the common rule is that you’ll be ostracized if you do. Journalists are supposed to be completely objective, opinionless fountains of facts.

…. No. They are opinionated!

Journalists should be informed, and knowing all the facts about an issue often leads to a strong stance on it. Why shouldn’t informed and opinionated people be allowed to share their views, especially when it’s well written?

Reporting the hard facts objectively is important, but I don’t think sharing and defending opinions interferes with journalists’ ability to be fair. The opinions are there anyway - why not share them?

Alright, that became more about journalism than politics, but if you do want to read a great political rant, click the link. Happy ranting!

Rumor has it President Obama can talk us out of a depression.

He’s definitely been trying. In the most recent stories about the president and the economy, phrases like “Obama reassured the nation,” “don’t be fearful,” and “glimmers of hope” pop out as the recurring sentiments.

This doesn’t mean he’s skirted around the dismal numbers that have come out in his time as president. He sticks to the facts and “tells it like it is,” but he seems to just generally be an optimistic person when he sees merit for it. Dr. Phil might want to watch his back.

Not only has Obama assured the country the economy will get better from the low it’s at right now, but he’s said things will be even better than they were before. That prospect seems pretty far away for the many people who have already been laid off or can see the pink slips waiting to be handed out.

When Obama says it though … is it more believable? According to the CNN reporter in the video, he is “rhetorically blessed.”

OK, Obama, please repeat after me: “You will ace all of your finals … ”

For my journalism class blog, we’re writing about President Obama’s first 100 days in office. It gives me easy cross-posting, but since this blog follows national politics in general, I did some searching out of curiosity to find out how many major news sources have sections devoted to the first 100 days.

The result?

It seems every turn in the maze of political content on the Web leads to something about the time period deemed crucial for evaluating new presidents.

The Wall Street Journal is blogging it. The Huffington Post has a special section with articles, video and photos for it. CNN is keeping track too, placing their top categories of issues as tabs for easy tracking of news and progress in those areas.

The mainstream media seems to be doing a thorough job of reporting on the decisions made by the administration, playing the “watchdog” role crucial to democracy that journalism students are taught about from their first classes.

So one question looms: will the media continue to do its job past the 100 day mark? Day 100 will be April 29. Any predictions?

I’m not sure who decided on the number as a standard of measurement, but I stumbled upon this fascinating page, which shows major milestones of several presidents’ first 100 days in office. It does seem to reveal the tone of the presidencies to some degree. Maybe there is good reason for so much focus on these first few months, but I hope the “watchdog” doesn’t fall asleep after the first shift is up.

Is President Obama trying to be too good for his own good?

Some are saying Obama’s standards for administration members are too high and it is keeping qualified candidates out of positions. “It’s the old law of unintended consequences: in order to satisfy a public desire for squeaky-clean government, elected officials have put at risk a more critical goal: dealing expeditiously with the financial crisis,” according to the Newsweek article.

The prolonged process of picking officials is not the only thing that has some people worried about Obama’s ability to bring change. There seems to be worry that he has taken on too many issues in his first few months in office.

From the CNN article:

“In his first weeks in office, Barack Obama did not focus exclusively on the economy but instead announced new policies and proposals on everything from education to health care to Afghanistan and Iraq,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. “He gets high marks on most of those issues, but it seems that many Americans are worried that he might lose his focus on economic recovery.”

President Obama Tuesday dismissed criticism he’s trying to do too much. “What I say is that the challenges we face are too large to ignore,” he said.

Is there such a thing as being “too good” for the good of the country? The nation certainly faces many issues right now, so it seems administration positions should be filled soon to ensure changes can be implemented. Obama and his team have had plenty of time to choose by now.

As for dealing with so many issues, I applaud the administration for following through on many promises of change and action. It is reassuring to know that, despite the economic crisis, other important matters are not being ignored. The whole point of departments and a large number of officials would seem to be the ability to address the different issues. If Obama’s administration is already working on a variety of issues, just imagine what is possible once all of the positions are finally filled. His tactics might have some people worried right now, but it seems he has a system that works so far.

It might be hard for liberal bloggers to write constructive criticism of Obama after the last eight years of blasting the previous president and administration.

As someone who has clearly supported Obama for a while, I have to say I don’t understand their “dilemma.”

You can support someone and think they make a good leader, and still disagree with some of their actions and policies. You can point out the mistakes they make and suggest better alternatives rather than tearing them down and not offering any solutions you think would be better.

The CNN article in the link points out that during the Bush administration years, there was plenty of destructive criticism. We’re talking about established news organizations who literally kept track of all the times Bush misspoke. You can imagine what the blogging community did.

Constructive criticism takes more thought and understanding than bashing someone. Bloggers will have to understand the issues to fairly criticize them and offer their opinions on better alternatives. Maybe we’ll have some more intelligent blogging as a result of all the bloggers who feel obligated to finally be constructive.

There are a lot of mixed reactions to Obama’s recently unveiled military plans. The troops in this AP Video seem to be all for it … but several admit that part of the appeal is in the pay increase.

House Democrats have been voicing concern, especially over troop levels. According to a CNN article, Pelosi told Obama the plan would be “easier to sell” if he said 35,000 - 50,000 troops would be kept in Iraq. Kudos to Obama for sticking to the 50,000 mark and not trying to sell a plan to the public.

Even McCain agrees we’re losing the war in Afghanistan, though. It’s interesting to see the focus shift back to the first war started in the Bush years. For a while it felt like, “War in Afghanistan? You mean Iraq, right?” The U.S. has a lot going on right now, but Obama seems to be keeping his promise of addressing the military situation on all fronts.

There is a lot of bitterness coming from the $787 billion stimulus package that was signed today. Republicans are accusing the Democrats of pushing the bill through, and Democrats are already tired of hearing the Republicans whine after they put up with eight years of Republican majority and the same tactics. (Take a look at what John McCain had to say about it.)

Obama promised to unite the nation and bring it out of troubled times, but it’s proving difficult to accomplish anything and bring about change in D.C. at the same time. It sounds like politics as usual to everyone … so will the country tune out after the bill is signed?

Here’s one interesting idea I saw in a CNN commentary: if Republicans don’t like the stimulus package, they should decline the money being offered to their state. It’s doubtful that any will actually do it, but it would be interesting if there was some sort of mass movement by the GOP to show their unhappiness. Let’s see some action instead of all this grumbling.

The next few years might be dubbed the “Era of Responsibility.”

Check out this interview of President Obama as he explains how he feels about losing two job candidates today who had to pull out due to tax issues.

He said, “There are not two sets of rules. That’s exactly why I think today was an embarrassment for us. I think it was a problem, and we’re fixing it.”

It was really refreshing to see the president be straightforward and admit to being frustrated and embarrassed while remaining optimistic about the future of his administration and their ability to help the country.

“That’s part of the era of responsibility, is not never making mistakes … it’s owning up to them and trying to make sure you don’t repeat them, and that’s what we intend to do,” he said.

No matter what you think about what Obama’s accomplished in his first three weeks, I think most would agree the man certainly still has a way with words. That won’t be enough for him to accomplish everything he’s promised, but it certainly doesn’t hurt his goals when he has everyone listening.