Our Sacred Honor

Disclaimer: I apologize in advance for the length of this post. It has been a long time since I have had ample time to organize my thoughts on any political issues and as such, I may tend to ramble a bit more in this post than I had intended. However, I feel that the issue discussed here is something that is certainly worth at least a cursory glance and consideration. I hope my attempts to express my thoughts are at least mildly stimulating, albeit exhaustive. – Evan PC: CNN             Every election year has its share of challenges and disappointments. I want to make sure I am clear on that point before I go any further, because I feel it is something that many individuals tend to forget in the midst of the bloodbath that arises as we enter Q3 of a general election year. Elections are messy. They’re brutal. They’re full of misdirection, lies, and attack ads. Good ideas are discussed. Bad ideas are discussed. Democrats blame Republicans for our ...

Have you ever heard the analogy that the United States of America is a "melting pot" - where different cultures, religions, ethnicity, and personalities come together to create something unique and special? I've always appreciated this analogy for its simple depiction of what makes America great - our pragmatic assimilation and appreciation of the good ideas in the world. This "melting pot" approach to American society and government can be traced all the way back to the original colonies in this nation. While many were British, there was also a great deal of influence Dutch, Spanish, and French society, as well. Settlers came to have opportunity, land, and freedom from the "old country." As time went on, the predominantly Protestant Europeans also began to be diversified among different denominations, and even Catholicism and some non-Christian sects, as well. By the time America declared independence, there was already a great deal of diversity of ...

I really, really, really hate the mainstream media. Oh wait, maybe I should be a bit more specific about why I'm saying this at this particular moment. By now, you've either heard extensively  about the Santa Barbara killings last week, or you're already so disillusioned with the "news" that you no longer pay attention. Allow me to summarize -- a spoiled 22-year-old boy, with a warped perception of life and women, wrote a 137 page "manifesto" declaring his frustration with life and with women who wouldn't accept his advances (The media coined him the "virgin killer", as though this is some shameful label to be worn by an unmarried 22-year-old. But I digress...) . He then proceeded to stab 3 college students, and gun down another 3, while evading cops and running over cyclists with his car. He then took his own life before cops could arrest him. Oh, and this kid had been getting therapy since he was 8 years old - and his parents had pr...

This post was spurred by a discussion I had a short time ago with a professor about the different views of "compromise" in the U.S. two-party system.  This picture says it all. Whether you are a gun-toting, laissez faire conservative or a bleeding heart Liberal, it is safe to say that you can recognize this meme's representation of the two-party system. By that I mean people recognize that this is the picture painted of the GOP, whether or not it is true. Why is this the case, though? What is it about the word "liberal" that evokes imagery of freedom, equality, and reason while "conservative" makes one feel stifled and suppressed? I have written in the past about what I feel is the best tactic for the Republican party as we approach 2016. I have also written about my frustration with my own party in its inability to collate around the core planks of the platform. Today, I would like to discuss the political stigma of the GOP in contrast the...

In case the above title is a stumper for you, let me briefly explain what I mean by "federalism." The term refers to a organization of government into two separate categories - the central government or "federal" government that has sovereignty over the nation as a whole, and the "subordinate" or state institutions that govern the individual states within the nation. In the United States, federalism was designed to provide a strong check to the powers of both the state and federal government - by allowing for dual sovereignty, with conflicting interests between the overlapping government forcing the governments to compromise. Now, for some of you, it was not the first term that was the stumper - but the phrase taken as a whole. This is where I would like to focus my time today. What does federalism look like in contemporary America? Or more to the point, does it even exist, today? This question was brought to my mind recently as my school debate club p...