Our Sacred Honor

One hardly needs to be a politician to understand that our nation is in a crisis of leadership, right now. Today we enter the 4th full day of the government shutdown, and the American people are clearly fed up. As Congress continues to debate over how "compromise" must come about, we have seen the government "shutdown" affect national parks, websites, memorials, and as I saw on facebook a few days ago, even the First Lady's Twitter feed.  In my opinion, this is true budget crisis. As a Public Policy major, I take an almost morbid curiosity in wondering "who will blink first," but even in the midst of this musing, I cannot forget what is truly on the line with this debate -- The healthcare system in our nation, and more importantly, the very meaning of compromise.  From news articles to Twitter feeds to Youtube, we have all seen various perspectives on "who is right" with this issue. In a recent Op-ed in the New York Times, the auth...

Enough is enough! This nation has lived through not one, not two, but a minimum of three massive scandals in the last few months. First, there was the disastrous handling of the attack on the Benghazi consul, and the ensuing cover-up by the Obama administration. Next, we learned that the IRS has been systematically targeting conservative groups for special scrutiny, an act that would be repulsive on its own, but when linked to other power-plays by this administration, is absolutely outrageous. Finally, it was discovered that the NSA has been compiling the phone and Internet records of Americans without warrant and certainly without the knowledge of most citizens. Each of these issues alone, is serious, but when linked together they show an alarming trend toward an ever-more-daring and expanding federal government. In addition, in areas of social justice, we see an increasingly volatile debate over issues of abortion and marriage rights - We have become a nation...