NYC Terror Trials

Cory Ruth explores the Administration’s decision to forgo military trials and proceed instead with U.S. criminal prosecution of the alleged enemy combatants in "NYC Terror Trials."

Towards Bringing Some Perspective To The Health Care Debate

If you are married or have otherwise ever spent considerable time around a married couple then you are no doubt familiar with the occasional squabble involving some exchange of nuanced perspectives on any range of nonsensical matters – the trash or laundry for instance. These exchanges more often than not belie a deeper, more complex, substantive and comprehensive challenge that humans tend to administer through vituperative wrangling about matters that either could be easily negotiated or are of no consequence at all. I sense the same has occurred in our national dialogue about Health Care. What is lost in this debate is the stated awareness that this debate is not primarily about health care but rather the broader matter of the role of government in American life. READ MORE.

The Elephant in the Room: The Conservative Response to Obama's Economic Strategy

A recent cover of Newsweek magazine reads “We Are All Socialist Now:” ; the latest cover of The Economist magazine reads “The Return of Economic Nationalism” the illustration on which has an arm reaching out of a grave surrounded by tombstones with inscriptions that refer to Protectionism and the Great Depression. The covers of the two periodicals have captured the fears of a great deal of discerning citizens, specifically regarding the role of government in the marketplace. As I pen this article our President is preparing to sign the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, a Keynesian style economic strategy based in a conviction that only an active government response can reverse the consequences of predatory private sector decisions and thereby stabilize the economy. Accordingly advocates of this strategy have overwhelmed the public with urgent messages of the dire need for drastic government solutions to our current economic downturn. READ MORE.

The Immediate Effects of an Obama Presidency

If a hypothesis is an educated guess then I don’t know if anyone in the electorate can make a hypothesis about an Obama Presidency. As the election results rolled in Juan Williams referred to the election of Obama as a stealth presidency because after a two year campaign the electorate is still frightenly uninformed about his positions on so many issues. However, I want to evaluate what we do know of Obama and begin to piece together something resembling a hypothesis about his presidency. READ MORE.

Obama Seals Historic Victory: What Does That Mean?

"This is our moment; this is our time.” With those fateful words before a ruckus crowd in Minnesota Barrack Obama made history. I suppose had he escaped assassination Martin Luther King, Jr. would have risen to the Presidency in the same manner as Nelson Mandela in South Africa perhaps instead of Carter in 77’ but certainly he would have been considered instead of Jackson in 84’ and 88’; Colin Powell was favored to win the 1996 elections before voluntarily bowing out; George Bush was pressured in 04' by the Republican elite to replace the embattled Cheney with Condoleezza Rice. But Obama is the first African American* to be the nominee of a major political party in America: the epic consequence of a vexing cry for presidential statesmanship not the vexing guilt of a supremacist legacy. READ MORE.

Choosing A Democratic Nominee

One should note with regard to the national discussion about the Democratic Primary race that the DNC is a private organization, not the United States government. As such its officials and members have a right to determine who is best suited to represent them in the up coming general election. Having said that, the DNC, its officials and members, have decided to set 2024 pledged delegates as the benchmark a candidate must attain before being considered the presumptive nominee. In more concrete terms, the apprehension of that benchmark by a candidate is accepted as a mandate of the people. Absent the apprehension of that benchmark by any of the candidates the DNC assumes the race is too close to call and consequently allows the selection of a nominee who represents the party to pass from the people to independent super delegates. To date the national discussion has centered on Barack Obama’s mathematically insurmountable lead in pledged delegates, his edge in the popular vote, his record breaking fund raising and his advantage in the number of states won. Undoubtedly, these considerations will weigh, perhaps heavily, in the decision of the Super Delegates, they are nonetheless not the deciding factor. Neither Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton can attain the 2024 pledged delegates necessary to assume a mandate of the people. Therefore, the Super Delegates will decide the nominee who will represent the Democratic Party in the general election. READ MORE.

The Next Frontier: Overcoming Sexism In America

Recently Sarah Palin made an interesting observation that surprisingly did not muster much media attention. In a speech to a woman’s group Mrs. Palin compared the episode in which Barack Obama overlooked Hillary Clinton for his running mate to the many instances in which women are overlooked in the workplace for promotions. While women are completing graduate school at faster rates then their male counterparts they still make only 77 cents for every dollar a man makes and executive promotions are still overwhelmingly rewarded to men. READ MORE.