The question of McAdory

Admittedly, I am late in discussing this story but I still feel the need to comment on it. I will first explain what actually happened to those of my readers that have not checked the national news. Last Friday, McAdory High School's football team played against Pinson Valley High School, a team that has a Native American as its mascot. Before the game, McAdory's students held up an offensive sign that said, "Hey Indians, get ready to leave in a Trail of Tears Round 2." The cheerleading coach, who normally monitors these signs, was on maternity leave at the time of this disaster. Obviously, this shows a lack of class on the part of the cheerleaders who made this insensitive sign, but what has followed this incident might be blowing things out of proportion. I agree that complaints needed to be brought forth, especially by those in the Native American community. However, McAdory has actually received threats for this one banner. My best friend, who goes to McAdory, informed me of an online statement that, paraphrased, stated: "It would certainly be nice if somebody shot up that school."

I will not deny that this sign has racist connotations. However, how are we to move forward as a society if our immediate response to racism is always to issue death threats? I remember, two years ago, there were these two girls on Youtube that were kicked out of school for uploading a video that repeatedly insulted the black community. Afterwards, the families of these two girls kept receiving anonymous death threats for their daughters' actions. In my opinion, responses like these make it hard to sympathize for those that are offended.

"Obama announces change to address health insurance cancellations"

   President Barack recently had to make adjustments for his health care law. Whilst giving a speech, Obama exposed the flaws with his previous health care law as well as his involvement with said flaws. Obama also recently contradicted his promise that people could keep their insurance plans. Afterwards, Polls were taken and they showed that disapproval for the Affordable Care Act has risen from 47 to 55 percent. The polls also displayed that Obama's approval rating has dropped into the high 30s and low 40s.
   It is times like these where one begins to wonder if the President is just an incompetent figurehead or an incredible liar. Obama's history of not keeping his promises has repeatedly called his own loyalties into question. Does Obama truly have the best interest of the American in mind, or is he just telling the Democratic voters what they want to hear? Only time will reveal the true answer to this question.

"Techies concerned over NSA surveillance will march in D.C., proclaiming ‘Stop Watching Us’"

The NSA controversy has become the defining issue among those that are technologically savvy. A protest against the NSA's spy programs is scheduled for Saturday near the Capitol and is expected to gather thousands of followers. The group in charge of the protest, Stop Watching Us, has stated that their protest welcomes any supporters. Stop Watching Us's motivation for protesting lies in the fact that the government simply has too much information at its disposal. One protestor even stated: “Twenty years ago, if they collected this information, they couldn’t do much with it.”

I personally believe that any protest against the NSA is completely justified at this point. The fact that such spy programs existed in the first place already trampled the Constitution, but at least the government was honest about such privacy invasions during the Bush administration. However, President Obama not only went against his campaign promise of ending such programs, he expanded them, which is a horrible crime towards the American people. The term fascism is thrown around frequently with issues such as this but I am going to take a stance at middle ground. I am not one of those people that insists that the United States is already a fascist country, because we have not gone as far as to execute citizens for dissent. However, the direction the United States is heading towards, whatever it may be, cannot be one that is desirable when every citizen is watched constantly as if they are all criminals.

"Obama, Republicans in debt talks on two fronts"

After trying to negotiate with House Republicans about how to end the government shutdown yesterday, the Obama administration has still not made any progress. The Senate suggested reopening the government and raising the federal debt limit for three months, which were closer to Obama's terms. The White House has said that there is the potential for progress to be made in negotiations which would allow Obama to reopen the federal government and resume fixing the economy. However, this statement has not received much clarification as the House Speaker, John A. Boehner, left the Capitol without speaking to reporters.

Both sides have a different view of the meeting. The Republicans see it as a negotiations. However, Obama has publicly and privately stated that he would not negotiate over the federal debt. Today, Obama is expected to host a meeting with the Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell. The House has stated that it would negotiate on November 22 but would not agree to end the shutdown.

It is a wonder how the government has come to this point. One wonders if, at this rate, the government will even reopen in the year of 2013. Our current politicians need to understand that this shutdown has the potential to cripple America's economy. However, they are too involved in disagreement and will not budge. I once saw an internet movie critic named Doug Walker that delivered this statement when reviewing a movie: "I've just realized the problem with this movie. There's no story. It's just explaining... it's just explaining and fighting, and I get enough of that from my own government!" This statement definitely holds true to this situation. At the very least, we all can at least tell our children that we lived through this event in American history and just laughed at the incompetence of our politicians.

"Obama cancels the rest of Asia trip, citing difficulties of travel during shutdown"

Last Thursday, President Obama had to recuse himself from two regional summits to handle the quarrel of the budget in Congress that shut down the federal government. Obama made this decision because the shutdown, which was completely avoidable in his eyes, is setting back the government's ability to create jobs, which would be done advocating American advancement and exporting in Asia. Obama was originally scheduled to visit the Southeast Asian countries of Indonesia, Burma, Malaysia, and the Philippines. At the regional summit, Obama was hoping to negotiate with the Russian president over the crisis in Syria and the fate of Edward Snowden, the one who leaked crucial documents about the American government's extensive wiretappings. Experts have said that Obama's inability to make it to the summit will deal a crucial blow to the Obama Administration, as the Chines will probably be able to slowly break off relations with the United States.

I believe that the effects of the government shutdown are a fascinating display of what happens when there is a lack of cooperation amongst politicians. The shutdown has also cost us the opportunity to negotiate for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a free trade agreement that would include over twelve nations. If America is to truly progress as a country, our politicians must learn the meaning of the word "compromise". If our politicians do not learn to compromise in the future, then all of us will suffer. I personally predict that, given the quarrelsome state of our government, another shut down in the future is incredibly probable.

"Iran leader open to meeting Obama at a later date"

The Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, and Barack Obama had to reschedule a meeting last Wednesday due to the Obama administration lacking a clear strategy for negotiations. Rouhani himself has stated that Iran itself actually is open to discussion of peace after 30 years of estrangement but certain conditions need to be set. Rouhani brought up the holocaust as an example, stating that while the event was horrific, it did not justify the displacement of Palestinians in Israel as a result of the Balfour Declaration.

 It has become clear at this point that there will never even be a chance at peace between America and many Middle Eastern countries until the conflict between Israel and Palestine is resolved. However, the question of how and if the conflict will be resolved is pertinent. The Israeli army's response towards terrorist attacks has always been a typical eye for an eye scenario. However, one could argue that the Palestinians are also difficult to sympathize with due to the nature of their terrorist attacks and the fact that the perpetrators of said attacks practically hide behind civilians in an effort to paint the Israeli military as one that deliberately targets civilians in their attacks. This places Iran and the United States in an awkward position when negotiating, as they both support the opposite side.

However, there is still hope for negotiations involving nuclear power, as President Rouhani has the support of Iran's supreme leader in declaring the possibility of scheduling such negotiations at the United Nations.

9/11

September 11, 2001 is a date that will forever invoke fear into the hearts of the American people. On this day, thousands of people died from four suicide bombings. However, more was lost to us after that date than those innocent people. After 9/11, America proceeded to pass the Patriot Act, which tramples on the Constitution. After this date, America would forever live in fear of another terrorist attack and this would allow the government to coerce the people into choosing security over liberty.

It is important to note that while 9/11 should not be taken lightly, American citizens should still not allow themselves to be fooled into giving up what was fought for in the American Revolution. Benjamin Franklin's famous quote is as follows, "Those who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary security, deserve neither liberty nor safety." Franklin knew that there will always become a certain point where after fear has escalated enough, a society will gladly give up all of its freedom. The government should not use the deaths of thousands as an excuse to treat every citizen like they are already criminals. It is both insulting to the victims of the families. However, as the years pass, 9/11 has also become something more akin to a media event, as opposed to a recollection of all of those who have died.

Every year, the footage of the World Trade Center falling has been broadcast over the news. One could argue that this footage is used to remind the American people why we are still at war with the Middle East. However, every year this footage invokes more fear than mourning. I believe society prefers to live in fear of a terrorist attack more than we prefer to pay our respects to our dead. I believe the media could take the recollection of 9/11 in a slightly different route considering the one who orchestrated the attacks has been dead for almost three years. However, one could also argue that that is the nature of society. Fear is a more powerful emotion than sadness and the media uses this to their advantage.