State of the union reaction column

Unity and innovation were the overtones in President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech Tuesday.

The tragedy in Tucson started off the address. Obama used this event to illustrate a point of unity. I predicted he would use it as an example of how politicians need to work together. Differing views should not matter. We are all Americans and human, and there’s no sense to physically hurt someone because they don’t wear the same glasses another does.

He also referred to debate in American politics: “The debates have been contentious: we have fought fiercely for our beliefs. And that’s a good thing.” Yes, Mr. President, it is a good thing. But also remember opposing views can’t be so wrapped up in attacking the other side that no actual laws get passed.

In relation to this concept, he praised the Congress for being able to pass a tax cut bill in December. Occasions like that should happen more often. It’s nice to see the parties working together for the benefit the American people. But it shouldn’t be such a shocking rarity. Isn’t government’s purpose to serve its people, not the other way around?

Finally, Obama alluded to Don’t Ask Don’t Tell to round out this concept near the end of the speech. While he didn’t name the law, he stated the jest of what it means. It’s a huge victory for equality. It is unfair to have someone hide how they are simply because someone else has a stigma attached.

The second theme of the address was innovation and developing new technology to restore America’s superiority. “We need to out innovate, out educate, and build the best of the world,” he said.

 Obama tied this in with job creation. While I said he would talk about how to create jobs, it was not in this fashion. Still, it was interesting to hear his proposals. He said something to be done to keep from businesses from shipping jobs overseas.

One way to keep the jobs on the home front is to strengthen the economy. Obama alluded to the deficit and how to lower it. He proposed a freeze in domestic spending. It’s a good idea to set a limit so the deficit doesn’t get any worse. He also addressed the pork barrel legislation that a lot of congressmen try to pass. He warned them he would veto it. While it was a strong warning, I doubt congressmen will deviate from that. Finally, he talked about increasing taxes for the richest 2 percent of Americans. This will increase revenue but it may not be the only solution.

Obama touched on the war on Iraq. It was section of an overall view on foreign policy and seemed like an afterthought with the emphasis on restoring American supremacy in the world and learning to work together.
“100, 000 of our brave men and women have left with their heads held high: where American combat patrols have ended: violence has come down, and a new government has been formed,” he said.

In 2009, Obama set a timeline for the Iraq withdrawal and it’s apparent that promise has been kept. Regardless of mixed emotions of how the war started, it is reassuring to see the government follow through on a big promise it made. It shows some semblance that serving the people is the government’s priority instead of seizing all the power for oneself.

Overall, the president performed well. He looked self assured and made the words on the page believable. He commanded the respect of the dignitaries in the room and it was given.

Unspeakable errors

Today in JMC 414, we talked about articles published in the Parthenon. They had many errors in them. However, some mistakes seemed more unforgivable than others. The men's story pulled from the wire had a wordy lead. The time elements was not where it was supposed to be. The rule of thumb is to keep it as close to the verb as possible. At the end after WOWK TV, it said would be broadcast on the Capital Classic Network. It wasn't necessary. On the women's story, the Capital Classic was not capitalized. It seemed like sheer laziness to me. How can it be capitalized on the men's and not the women's? It's right there in front of your eyes!

Obama prediction column

The yearly State of the Union address is upon us in a matter of days. It’s the speech where the current president tries to balance optimism and reality of the situation. They also try to provide an accurate self-assessment of how the past year went and where the country is going in the forthcoming year. President Barack Obama has a mixture of both to talk about in this speech. Some of the main topics he touches may be: the economy, jobs in America, the war in Iraq, and a theme of unity and acceptance.

Obama should mention a note on the economic situation. The United States spending budget deficit is upwards of $1.32 trillion dollars (usdebtclock.org). And if the deficit is continues on this same track, it could compose as much as 6 percent of our gross domestic product by 2020 (Christina Romer, NY Times). The government has to find somewhere to cut spending. He should propose tax cuts to bring more revenue to the federal government. Spending should be focused on decreasing our debt, not on all the extras thrown in using pork barrel legislation. It’s the reasoning applied to one’s personal finances: pay off the debts little by little, and limit spending on extraneous things for a while.

In relation to the economic topic, jobs are becoming harder to find these days. The unemployment rate is approximately 9.4 percent at present. This is a similar situation to Franklin D. Roosevelt, although he endured much  worse. When Roosevelt took office in 1933 at the tail end of the Great Depression, the employment lurked about 25 percent. It rose and fell throughout the remainder of the decade, and finally fell below 14.1 percent in 1941. (www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/snprelief1.htm) President Obama should propose some new way to create more jobs for these people or get the jobs to stay the U.S.

Obama should touch on the progress of the Iraq war. He set a timeline to withdraw most of the troops from Iraq (according to a Washington Post article, a third of 142,000 troops will remain there till the end of the year for training purposes.) Public sentiments for this war have not been favorable and want it to end as soon as possible. Nixon faced a similar situation with the Vietnam War back in the 70s. In his 1970 State of the Union Speech, Nixon said he wanted that era to be remembered, as a time not plagued war, but a generation who achieved peace for the future to enjoy. Unfortunately, that is not the case. The Vietnam War is mostly looked back upon with not much fondness.

A few events in recent months have taught the American people that unity and cooperation is important. The shooting of Congresswoman Giffords and others shows how we all need to work together one unit. We don’t need to judge anyone based on his or her differences or political party. The repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell may also be a tool to illustrate this. Gay people shouldn’t have to hide who they are in the military. If they can perform their job just as well as the heterosexual person serving alongside them, that shouldn’t matter. Again, it’s attacking and judging people who are different from us.

Finally, Obama should keep America’s confidence up by providing set plans to improve our country. Some of the voting public was skittish about his lack of experience during the 2008 election. John F. Kennedy had to face the public’s same reservations back in the 1960s. But he turned out to be a good President, leading the country through tumultuous times such as the Cuban Missile Crisis. Obama can do the same. 

New York Times Blogs

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/ 

This blog is about any aspect of New York City life. It talks about government, schools, pictures of the city, and general life things. The overall theme currently in the blog is posts relating the winter storm such as school closings and travel advisories. I liked the post of the same street on different days. It seemed in the January picture the city was quicker to plow the street.

http://thequad.blogs.nytimes.com/

This is the NY Times college sports blog. It's in a transition between football and basketball season, since the national championship game took place on Monday. It's a mix of football and basketball stories. It's not just game stories; there's pre games, stories about bowl games TV ratings and how scalpers can raise the prices to the national championship game.

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/


This blog is run by Robert Mackey. He posts both US news and international news. In several of the posts he added some sort of visual aid, whether it be a picture or a video relating to or from the event he's writing about.

Maureen Dowd

I read several columns by NY Times columnist Maureen Dowd. Her writing was excellent and drew the readers in with every word. She gives vivid descriptions of what she is writing about, whether it be about her brother's unique collecting hobby or a disobedient colonel. After reading a few pieces, one aspect of her writing style stood out to me. She starts with a strong, thought provoking sentence. I thought, "What does she mean by this?" and am rewarded with a rich, well documented story. As a writer, I've found one of the hardest things is to find the right beginning. And she does it incredibly well. For example, on her column "Usurper In Chief," she begins with a seemingly simple sentence: "He can't handle the truth." Another simple sentence follows" "At least not when he's facing the brig". Then she reveals who 'he' is: Lt.Col. Terry Lankin, a disgruntled colonel is wrapped up in a conspiracy theory that President Obama is not a natural born citizen of the United States.