To know or not to know, that is the question...!

The question that is at stake here is whether or not “we the people” have the right to know everything that our government keeps hidden from us.  Most people are going to answer yes to this question, partly because it’s in their DNA to want to know everything and partly because we live in a world where information is easy to access.  It is in human nature to learn and acquire new information, but to what extent?  Should we have the right to privy information if that means that we are harming someone else?  I think that we have earned the right to know what is going on in the world around us just so as it doesn’t harm another person.  We should only have information that helps become aware of situations so that we are able to better protect ourselves.   

The debate that we have here is whether or not we are affecting people’s lives by releasing certain information.  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the document release "puts people's lives in danger,” which is something that Erwin Griswold disagrees with.  He commented, “"I have never seen any trace of a threat to the national security from the publication [of the Pentagon Papers].... There is very rarely any real risk to current national security from the publication of facts relating to transactions in the past, even the fairly recent past.” (This comment, however was made before the 9/11 attacks in 2001 and Wikileaks emerged in 2006)  I think that President Bush would also disagree with putting people’s lives in danger using 9/11 as an example.  He obviously didn’t think that our nation was at risk otherwise he would have done more to prevent attacks from happening.  There are resources telling us that he and intelligent agencies knew about upcoming attacks, but stopped investigating.  Had information been released, people would have been more aware as well as prepared to take on 9/11 and maybe nearly 3,000 American lives would have been spared.

So here we are.  Does information help us or hurt us? I believe that we should have the right to information that our government hides from us.  When I watched the Fahrenheit 9/11 movie it first shows us President Bush becoming the president and then it shows us information about how the Bin Laden family and the Bush family are “connected.”  I wonder if people had known about this beforehand if we would have still elected him as president.   This example goes to show how knowledge is powerful and how it can affect our decisions.  The only guideline I have to add to this is that the person or people supplying the information remain unharmed.  Wikileaks is a provider of such information and are only accessing their rights of freedom of speech and sharing with others information that all should know.  If the government didn’t act so shady, people wouldn’t be as curious to know what we don’t know. 

Facts:

1) Hilary Clinton “puts people’s lives in danger” (the nation article)

2) Erwin Griswold “no trace of threat…” (the nation article)

http://www.thenation.com/article/156835/wikileaks-and-government-secrecy

3) Intelligence agency knows about upcoming attacks

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4582.htm

 

Chaos and Terror!! What to do??

September 11, 2001 marked a day in history that people will never forget and the tragedy from this day remains in the hearts of many.  Our nation was attacked by terrorists in an attempt to prove that the United States was not as secure as we thought it to be. The leader of al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden sought out to show that the US is vulnerable and declared war on America.  Four hijacked planes completed the task of attacking major US attractions and killing nearly 3,000 Americans.  The initial reaction to any tragedy is confusion, hurt, pain, and anger.  I don’t think that the US overacted to the attacks and I don’t think that are country is as protected as it should be.  We all became “proud to be Americans,” but should we remain proud knowing that our leader, President Bush, kept us in an ongoing war that attacked Iraq in the search for peace?

There are still mixed feelings on how America reacted to the attacks from 9/11 as well as to whether our country is safe enough now.  Richard Cohen points out, “Ten years have come and gone since hijacked planes crashed into the twin towers and the Pentagon, and yet our wounds remain fresh and our country is still at war.” John Yoo agrees in the Wall Street Journal that “We have gone ten years without another attack, and for that we must credit the Bush administration’s anti-terrorism tactics…” but he thinks that Americans have overreacted.  Americans didn’t over react to their nation being attacked; however the Bush administration did over react but attacking an innocent country leading to the deaths of many Iraqi civilians along with the American troops sent over to the Middle East countries.  The images that were shown in the Fahrenheit 9/11 movie are graphic and puts us to shame, all because we were fighting for a based on “evidence” that President Bush had. 

I think that America reacted in the way it should and it's unfortunate that many of our troops had to suffer because President Bush kept them in the Middle East for so long.  I also think that President Bush held us back by waiting too long and by attacking the wrong country.  When I watched the movie Fahrenheit 9/11, it made me angry to see that he spent alot of time doing nothing.  When he found out that our nation was being attacked he should have excused himself from the elementary classroom he was in and went straight to the white house to do something about it.  He was not a very good leader and he continued to make Americans feel like we were constantly being threatened.  The Obama administration helped to capture and kill al-Qaeda leaders including the mastermind behind 9/11, Osama Bin Laden.  I think that Bush left a huge mess to be cleaned up and that Obama has done a lot to fix all the mistakes that were left behind.  I also think that our Nation is not as safe as it could be.  We will always be on the alert thinking that someone is out to get us.  We will always have indifferent feelings towards people of Muslim decent.  We will always look at those people who cover their heads and wonder if they are a terroist.  This is why why we will never feel safe. 

Facts:

1) Nearly 3,000 Americans were killed (Wikipedia)

2) "Our wounds remain fresh and our country is still at war" -Richard Cohen, Washington Post

3) America overreated and "We must credit the Bush Administration..." -John Yoo, Wall Street Journal

 

Everyone Deserves a Second Chance....

The title says it all.  Everyone deserves a second chance.  Obama did many things during his term as president that made a significant change in America.  He brought down the world’s most wanted man, Osama Bin Laden.  This put a lot of ease on the people who lost loved ones during the 9/11 attacks as well as families that had loved ones fighting in the Middle East.  He created a health reform that makes the healthcare system more affordable and holds insurers more accountable.  He also helped in expanding coverage to all Americans.  The biggest concern that people have in regards to Obama remaining president is the job ratings remaining as high as high as they are right now.  People are afraid that they will lose their houses because the economy isn’t improving.  His taxation system isn’t appealing to a lot of people again putting a stress on the economy.  His foreign policy is also a concern to a lot of conservative people in the fact  that it is very “soft” towards certain countries like Iran and North Korea. 

 Now on the other hand we have very good Republican canidates who state that they are willing to do a better job than what Obama has already done.  Let's take for example Mitt Romney.  He appears to be Obama's biggest challenger.  He shows promise to make improvements on many things.  Let's take the economy for an example.  Mitt Romney has pledged that if he becomes the next president he will initiate 10 major actions on his first day of presidency consisting of 5 bills and 5 executive orders.  An example of one of the bills is the American Competitiveness Act, which will reduce corporate income tax by 25%.  An example of one of his executive orders is an order to pave the way to end Obamacare, stating that the secretary of health and human resources will return the maximum possible authority back to the states. The way that he operates, especially in the aspect of being a successful businessman, brings a fresh look and a new promise to the people.   

All in all while both sides make valid points, I think that Obama should serve another term.  While things may be a little rocky at the moment they are slowly improving.  He created a stimulus package that put money in people's pockets to help improve the ecomony.  He helped to bailout banks and the auto industry in Detroit.  He helped gay people be given the right to openly serve in the military and helped in the fall of Gaddhafi.  Many of the republicans disagree with these by being anti-gay for example.  It shouldn't matter what your sexual preference is when you are doing an honor for your country.  Obama is more open to a lot of things where republican candidates tend to be a little more close minded.  Mitt Romney may have a lot to offer, but it will never be able to out do the things that Obama has done.  Nobody will ever be able to top getting the World's most wanted fugitive again. 

Facts:

1)Healthcare reform (also has a video I wanted to add but couldn't figure out how)

2) Ten Major actions for first day as president

http://2012.republican-candidates.org/Romney/Economy.php

3)Justice has been done (Bin Laden Dead)

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/02/world/asia/osama-bin-laden-is-killed.html?pagewanted=all

 http://www.whitehouse.gov/healthreform

Where does the truth lie?

The question we are being asked wants us to decide whether mainstream media is more liberal or conservative.  I think that we judge what our mainstream media is showing us based on our own personal beliefs and opinions.  We are going to listen and watch news articles based on what interests us.  It is true that the news often puts what they believe to be the top stories on the front page or aired first on the nightly news and it does tend to lean more towards the Liberal side, but ultimately it is our own decisions as to what we want to watch and believe in that makes us conservative or liberal. 

I often read and watch news from fox news and the Boston herald.  These types of mainstream media have been labeled with a conservative outlook.  But this doesn’t make me 100% conservative.  Upon reading the opinions placed on major topics between both liberals and conservatives, I found myself agreeing equally between the sides depending on the topic.  For example I think that the Liberal argument on abortion is more realistic than the conservative one.  If a woman was raped she should have the choice whether or not she wants to keep a felons offspring.  With the topic of the death penalty I feel myself agreeing with the conservative side.  Why should we spend our tax dollars on some criminal who should be punished for his crimes?? Is it a punishment to be sitting in a jail being fed three meals a day and allowed luxuries such as cable tv and a state-of-the art medical center, when we have poor and needy people all around us struggling? 

Taking a look at a Liberal media resource, I looked up the Boston Globe online.  The very first thing that was brought to my attention was the upcoming Super Bowl game.  Now if you are an avid sports fan you are going to automatically click on this article to find out why the Super Bowl is played on Sunday.  According to an this article written by Craig Harline, he tries to point out that this wasn't always the case seeing that the Puritans who helped found the nation, believed in the Sabbath’s prohibition on work extended to play as well.  So now we have an article that pulls in a religious viewpoint as well. 

To sum this up, I think that the media tries to portray a more Liberal aspect to what it's citizens see.  But there will always be somehting like the conservative output that will reel people into their direction.  Freedom of speech plays a keen role but our opinions ultimately help us on our own indvidual paths to what we truly believe in.

Facts:

1.  Boston Globe advertises an article and entices you to read more, but you must be a member.  (Bostonglobe.com Super Bowl XLVI article)