October 2008
“It’s the economy, stupid.”
That was the mantra of the Democrats in 1992, when Bill Clinton won his first term in office. Today economic issues may once again be lifting a Democrat in the polls. But Democrats really have another secret weapon hidden in an obvious spot: the popularity of Sarah Palin.
To: Adulthood
From: Childhood
Date: Timeless
Re: Growing Up
I’ve heard you are coming, and that you are going to stay. No fair! Why??—you don’t have to—besides, I never even asked you to come anyway….
I like it the way it is!!…. I like being cared for; I like playing around; I like just chillin’ with friends. I want to imagine things that are more real (and true and beautiful) and more fun than that “real”
stuff, all that serious stuff, you have to offer.
I’m afraid of what I’ll have to do and where you will take me …. Routines, responsibilities, commitments, hurts—bigger hurts—when things go wrong, and work, so much work….
But you know, I am kind of curious about all the things that you can do…. You, like, achieve things and get real close with people, and I guess you understand stuff, like how things work and all. That sounds pretty cool….
So, will you take me with you? I won’t take all your
time, I promise, and maybe I can help, if you’ll let me. Can we go … together?
April 2005
I testified at Stetson’s Model Senate in favor of defusing land mines before a panel of role-playing student “Senators.” They grilled me with questions about ways to reduce innocent destruction and about ways to assert power. At Model Senate, students get the feel of wrestling with real political choices. And the experience was a reminder that, with the current fear of terrorism, there have been no recent bills to support dismantling these deadly instruments of past wars.
On Saturday, March 19, I took a day trip to the nation’s Capital—actually I was only there an hour, and I never really left town. I testified at a Model Senate hearing, and for a few moments, it felt a little like being in Washington.
November 2004
President George W. Bush has received an unprecedented amount of criticism, even from military people, fiscal conservatives and other Republican-leaning constituencies. If the election had been held on the basis of these evaluations, it would not have been even close. Instead, Bush won by a comfortable margin. How’d that happen?
October 2004
Dear Sen. Kerry,
You must have noticed problems with your campaign during the past month or two since you have hired new strategists, and you have become more aggressive on the stump. Attacks on Bush will help, and they show a vigor that is vital for the electorate to see, but they need to be matched with better use of your own strengths—from your resume to your current policy plans.
George W. Bush has done an excellent if not-so-admirable job of defining you in the eyes of much of the electorate. Let’s put aside the shock about how you could have let that happen—there’s no time for that no. For the few weeks that remain before Election Day, I propose a campaign to educate the electorate about John Kerry. Clearly you’ve got the substance, but you need a story—to energize supporters and pull swing voters.
November 2004
Another scandal? We have heard about so many powerful people abusing their positions to gain still more power that many suffer from scandal fatigue. But we ignore these all-too-frequent events at our peril: they raise our taxes, erode confidence in our institutions, reduce our security—and even cause bloodshed.
Peter Brown’s column “Why does U. N. get free ride in scandal?” last Friday was a welcome assault on that jaded indifference toward scandal. It sheds light on an alleged skimming of billions of dollars by Saddam Hussein and U. N. officials from the organization’s Oil for Food Program during the 12 years before the Iraqi dictator was overthrown in 2003.
If true, this is outrageous. And while we learn about the scandal, we also need to understand its contexts.
To learn a little more about the 2004 scandal, read the rest of this piece here!
September 2004
The word on the street is that the Republican convention was one for the moderates. Florida Gov. Jeb Bush says calmly: That’s simply what the Republican Party is.
But if that were the whole story, where were Colin Powell, James Baker and other luminaries of moderation in the party?
Before we Americans get too excited about what we saw about President George W. Bush as presented in New York, we ought to get clear not only on what we’ve seen, but also about what we have not seen.
March 2004
I spent part of my spring break in Las Vegas. It was a tough job, but someone had to do it—that is, serve as an advisor to The Reporter staff attending the National Collegiate Newspaper Convention. Besides, as a certified United States culture watcher, it was… well… sort of my duty to do some genuine culture watching in this remarkable town.
The Reporter remains the oldest collegiate student publication in the state of Florida–read on for more about their 2004 spring convention!
October 2003
Citizens receive mixed message about voting. The civic message is about the special right to have a voice about public decisions. The more subtle message whispers, Why bother? The most powerful seem to have their way. The sway of power and money in elections only works if we let them. Each individual vote may not count for much, but if voters make their own choices, rather than letting political handlers trip wire them into serving the interests of the powerful. Add those choices up, and then your vote counts.
May 2003
This is a story of grave international policy questions and clashing worldviews as they played out on a side street in the small town of DeLand where I live.
The story starts with my own skepticism last fall about the policy for invasion of Iraq. While recognizing that Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator, I suspected war would make matters worse.
My whole family agreed, so we decided to make our small voices heard: We put up a yard sign in January that said “War is Not the Answer.”
Pub Classroom 