Please don't mark as late! - Internet was down
There is currently an issue surrounding ACORN - or Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now - a company currently dedicated to getting voters registered. The problem is that they recently found about half of their registration forms to be fraudulent. They are now being accused of voter fraud - primarily by the Republicans. However, the Democrats are saying that by trying to stop what ACORN is doing, they are allowing voter supporession. This has also been called "The Republican War On Voting." This raises an issue which has been raised for years - the suppression of votes. This is what many Democrats claim the reason is behind Bush winning the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections.
While it is true that it is the fault of the people sending in the registration forms - the Republican argument is that this is a major threat to democracy - and could severely impact the way the vote turns out. They say this is fraud, and it is a felony. The Democratic argument is that the Republicans have far larger issues to be worrying about - and since the issue with the fraudulent votes is being taken care of, the Republicans shouldn't care if the valid forms go through, since it means more people would then be allowed to vote. This ties back into the original claim of voter suppression.
One thing to remember about this issue is that each political party has it's own agenda, and they are likely to have other (self-serving) reasons why they would or would not want ACORN to stay in tact. Since much of the unregistered voter population is Democratic, it is in the Democratic party's best interest to have ACORN continue to do it's job. Since the Republicans do not hold the majority of this unregistered voter's population, they are much less understanding of ACORN's situation, since it is not in their best interest. If the situation was reversed, however, and ACORN was primarily benefiting the Republican party, it is quite likely the Republicans would be the ones with no complaints, and the Democrats would be outraged.
However, the story is actually very clear on which of these issues is the larger one, if proper research is done. Voter suppression is by far the more serious concern. Only a handful of people are actually involved with fraudulent voting - not enough to swing an election. However, "(t)ens of thousands of eligible voters in at least six swing states have been removed from the rolls or have been blocked from registering in ways that appear to violate federal law."
It has been shown that the majority of the people who don't vote are Democratic, so it is therefore insinuated by members of the Democratic party that the Republican party intentionally suppresses these votes. There are many separate incidents in which people (who were primarily Democratic) had difficulty voting. One example of this is when college students were not allowed to vote or were told they were not allowed to vote, due to technicalities. There have also been a number of phone calls placed from an untraceable number, in which an automated message told people to wait a few days for a voter registration packet to arrive in the mail, so they could fill it out and vote. The problem with this is that by then, the elections would be over - the phone calls are intentionally misleading.
The issue with solving voter suppression is that it is a Nation-wide problem, and cannot be traced back to any one individual person. Also, for all those who are put in positions of power, there is plausible deniability (such as if they flag a vote as being suspicious and throw it away, when in truth there was nothing wrong with it, there are laws in place which allow that person to claim that they thought the vote was invalid). Of course, it is not the intent of the entire Republican party to suppress votes. However, it is far more likely that many of the people behind voter suppression are Republican, because as I said before, it works toward the goals of Republicans, and not those of the Democrats.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Honors Literature Blog
Please don't mark as late! - Internet was down
Ernest Hemingway develops the theme of being in undesirable situations through imagery, allusion, and paradox. A main sub-theme that really ties in with this is corruption.
In a large portion of this book, Ernest Hemingway is describing the scenery around him. In doing so, he is using the literary device of imagery. He first gives a very good idea of where he is, and what is going on around him, so that the reader feels more involved. “I went out onto the sidewalk and walked down toward the Boulevard St. Michel, passed the tables of the Rotande, still crowded, looked across the street at the Dome, it’s tables running out to the edge of the pavement.” After he’s finished describing his surroundings in depth, he’ll explain the events that unfold at his ending location. Once he has put the reader in this mindset, he makes way for an explanation of how many of the main characters hate where they are a lot of the time – among which are Lady Ashley and Robert Cohn. This helps along the theme.
At the beginning of the book, he describes how his friend, Cohn, read the book “The Purple Land” by W.H. Hudson – which is an allusion. He talks about how this book temporarily changed Cohn’s views on the world and on life, and suddenly made him desperate to get away. “The
Another literary device Ernest Hemingway uses is Paradox. In the first chapter of the book, he has the following to say about his friend, Robert Cohn: “He was a nice boy, a friendly boy, and very shy…” However, as it shows Cohn throughout the story, he progressively gets more and more angry and violent. Towards the end, Cohn reaches the peak of his anger, and a fistfight ensues. This can all be directly related to Brett, since she is what the conflict is about with all of the main characters. This is a perfect example of the sub-theme, which is corruption. Someone who is perfectly nice and shy (and engaged) let himself get sucked into a 5-way love triangle, and virtually ruin his entire romantic life.
The reason all of the events in the book happen is because of the theme – undesirable situations. It is the reason for the entire central conflict, as well as what drives the plot forward. Brett finds herself in an undesirable situation with all the men she dates, and as a result, the men she dates find themselves in an undesirable situation with one another, and all the while, they are living in a place they find undesirable, or have to deal with people or situations they find undesirable. From beginning to end, this theme is maintained, thus making the ending – and the book – quite undesirable.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
16: Fraud Or Suppression? The Greater Of 2 Evils?
There is currently an issue surrounding ACORN - or Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now - a company currently dedicated to getting voters registered. The problem is that they recently found about half of their registration forms to be fraudulent. They are now being accused of voter fraud - primarily by the Republicans. However, the Democrats are saying that by trying to stop what ACORN is doing, they are allowing voter supporession. This has also been called "The Republican War On Voting." This raises an issue which has been raised for years - the suppression of votes. This is what many Democrats claim the reason is behind Bush winning the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections.
While it is true that it is the fault of the people sending in the registration forms - the Republican argument is that this is a major threat to democracy - and could severely impact the way the vote turns out. They say this is fraud, and it is a felony. The Democratic argument is that the Republicans have far larger issues to be worrying about - and since the issue with the fraudulent votes is being taken care of, the Republicans shouldn't care if the valid forms go through, since it means more people would then be allowed to vote. This ties back into the original claim of voter suppression.
One thing to remember about this issue is that each political party has it's own agenda, and they are likely to have other (self-serving) reasons why they would or would not want ACORN to stay in tact. Since much of the unregistered voter population is Democratic, it is in the Democratic party's best interest to have ACORN continue to do it's job. Since the Republicans do not hold the majority of this unregistered voter's population, they are much less understanding of ACORN's situation, since it is not in their best interest. If the situation was reversed, however, and ACORN was primarily benefiting the Republican party, it is quite likely the Republicans would be the ones with no complaints, and the Democrats would be outraged.
While it is true that it is the fault of the people sending in the registration forms - the Republican argument is that this is a major threat to democracy - and could severely impact the way the vote turns out. They say this is fraud, and it is a felony. The Democratic argument is that the Republicans have far larger issues to be worrying about - and since the issue with the fraudulent votes is being taken care of, the Republicans shouldn't care if the valid forms go through, since it means more people would then be allowed to vote. This ties back into the original claim of voter suppression.
One thing to remember about this issue is that each political party has it's own agenda, and they are likely to have other (self-serving) reasons why they would or would not want ACORN to stay in tact. Since much of the unregistered voter population is Democratic, it is in the Democratic party's best interest to have ACORN continue to do it's job. Since the Republicans do not hold the majority of this unregistered voter's population, they are much less understanding of ACORN's situation, since it is not in their best interest. If the situation was reversed, however, and ACORN was primarily benefiting the Republican party, it is quite likely the Republicans would be the ones with no complaints, and the Democrats would be outraged.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
15: In 200 Years, What Will They Say About Us?
The presidential and vice-presidential debates of 2008 were responsible for creating history, and sparking much publicity and excitement, the likes of which have never been seen before. In the first presidential debate, Senators John McCain and Barack Obama took the stage in front of thousands of audience members and millions of viewers. They each made a strong impression, and elaborated on their policies and strengths, as well as opponents’ weaknesses. After that debate, the polls showed Obama in the lead. This was such a historical debate because Barack Obama was the first African American man to ever run for president of the United States.
Something that majorly helped Obama to gain his lead was by comparing John McCain to George W. Bush, the previous president of the United States, who served 2 terms. By the time his presidency was over, he was widely disliked by the majority of the American (and world) population. Initially, in the 2000 election, he hadn't even won the popular vote, but the vote was close enough that the electoral college, which did vote in his favor, was enough to sway the election. In the 2004, however, George W. Bush did win the popular vote.
After the first 2008 presidential debate, there came the Vice presidential debates, in which Governor Sarah Palin and Joe Biden debated in the same format. This was another history-making debate, since if John McCain were to win, Sarah Palin would be the first female vice-president. By the end of that debate, Biden was shown to have a very large lead. In the second presidential debates, Obama and McCain had a town hall style debate, in which both of the candidates were mildly incoherent and failed to answer the majority of the questions. This, however, was meant to be John McCain’s specialty, which is why, after that debate, Barack Obama had only a slight lead.
In the third presidential debates, the nominees sat one on one. There, they flung accusations, discussed and argued about each other’s policies, and gave a few shout-outs to Joe the plumber. Barack Obama was shown to have the lead after that debate was through – although John McCain had made a very large improvement from his previous 2 debates. Shortly afterward, Barack Obama released an advertisement in all the “battleground” states, which showed John McCain saying how he has agreed with 90% of Bush’s decisions. This pushed him very far ahead in the polls, as well as with the electoral college.
"Facts Muddled In Mississippi McCain-Obama Meeting," FactCheck, http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/10/15/1550438.aspx, 9/27/08
"Presidential Election Of 2000, Electoral And Popular Vote Summary," InfoPlease, http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0876793.html
Mark Murray, "Joe The Plumber," FirstRead, http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/10/15/1550438.aspx, 10/15/08
"Election Center 2008,"CNN Politics, http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/
Thursday, October 16, 2008
15: Een Yoonited States - INTERNET informs YOU!I
The Internet Gains In PoliticsAndrew Kohut
Pew Internet
1/11/08
The internet has had a massive effect on the way this generation examines politics and current events. Because of this, we are far more well informed, and we have the confidence of knowing that the full story on virtually anything we want to know is always just a mouse click away.
I agree and connect so much with this idea, because it is something that is more a part of my academic life than anything else. Case and point: the blog I am writing about right now. What is it about? Current events. What was required of me in order for me to find current events? Research. How did I do the research? THE INTERNET. That's basically what it all is in Lehman's terms, anyway. The school I go to really helps to enforce it all, as well. There is no class I have ever had that has not, at some point or another, required online research of modern life.
What I like about this article is that there is no twist - it's relatively short and to the point, and doesn't have any sort of framing or bias (no detectable one, at least). It simply states how many people are now turning to the internet for virtually all of their information. The reason I appreciate the fact that this article doesn't list the downsides is because I don't feel there are too many
worth discussing. True, there are online sources which can be untrustworthy, but people simply need to learn how to avoid these. We shouldn't try to push away from something which has accomplished bringing people together, enhancing our forms of communication, and expanding the minds of people everywhere.Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Bonus Blog! Newspaper Project Reflections!
I feel like I contributed my fair share to this project. Looking at just the writing, there were a total of 2 articles that needed to be written, and there were 4 of us. Therefore, each of us needed to write a half an article in order to have an equal amount of work between us. I wrote the first half of the first article. I also split up our debate into 4 parts, and assigned our group members to read and sort through the different parts, so we would all be well educated on our specific section. On top of that, I made the basic layout for our newspaper (background color, picture, title, font, and separating lines). Although virtually none of my exact work made it through to the final product, I still feel as though what I contributed played a major role in the way our project developed, and in turn, affected the final product.
There is one thing about the final product I am not quite satisfied with, though. The layout slightly bothers me. Looking back, I realize I should have made a more specific template, instead of just the bare basics. There are many things about the current template I like, such as how the columns are set up, and how the key quotes are made to be larger and bolded, however, I do not like the font of the title, and I do not like that there are no margins around the pictures. I should have taken that bit of extra time I had while I was in school and applied that to revising and adding to the layout, instead of revising my part of the article (which turned out to be no good anyways).
I believe that during this project, I had a very good time management process. Considering this was a 5 day project which I personally only had 3 days to work on, I feel that I took full advantage of the time I was given. I was constantly making sure my group had equal tasks, and that we were working in order to help one another. I was also working on my own individual tasks, which consisted of creating my half of the article, revising my group members' articles, and creating the basic template. Another resource I had, but didn't use, was research. I didn't look at any books, or check out any online sources besides the official debate. Although I feel the subjects of our articles were good, there is a chance that additional research may have helped to improve those articles.
There is one thing about the final product I am not quite satisfied with, though. The layout slightly bothers me. Looking back, I realize I should have made a more specific template, instead of just the bare basics. There are many things about the current template I like, such as how the columns are set up, and how the key quotes are made to be larger and bolded, however, I do not like the font of the title, and I do not like that there are no margins around the pictures. I should have taken that bit of extra time I had while I was in school and applied that to revising and adding to the layout, instead of revising my part of the article (which turned out to be no good anyways).
I believe that during this project, I had a very good time management process. Considering this was a 5 day project which I personally only had 3 days to work on, I feel that I took full advantage of the time I was given. I was constantly making sure my group had equal tasks, and that we were working in order to help one another. I was also working on my own individual tasks, which consisted of creating my half of the article, revising my group members' articles, and creating the basic template. Another resource I had, but didn't use, was research. I didn't look at any books, or check out any online sources besides the official debate. Although I feel the subjects of our articles were good, there is a chance that additional research may have helped to improve those articles.
13: Neither Side Can Tell The Truth
Health Care Spin
Lori Robertson
FactCheck
10/14/08
Both Barack Obama and John McCain have a very hard time telling the truth wh
en it comes to health care. As for their own plans, they are relatively good at stating their intentions, however, when it comes to the other side, neither party is willing to be at all truthful.
During class this year, I've learned that you cannot take any political candidate for their word, and listening to ANYTHING that the political commercials have to say doesn't guarantee anything. Both Obama's and McCain's campaigns claim that the other candidate's plan would be catastrophic to the economy, and that their plan is so
unbelievably better than the other persons. However, neither of these claims are true. Thanks to FactCheck, I can now verify just how preposterous the claims from both campaigns are.
It makes me quite angry that both candidates have resorted to dirty tactics. They're not even truth-stretching anymore - they're just flat out lying. I believe that there should be certain laws implemented that prohibit the candidates from telling half-truths and pulling quotes entirely out of context. There has certainly been progress - the law that requires them to say their name and that they approve the message is definitely a step in the right direction. I just wish they would take it a little further.
Image 1
Image 2
Lori Robertson
FactCheck
10/14/08
Both Barack Obama and John McCain have a very hard time telling the truth wh
en it comes to health care. As for their own plans, they are relatively good at stating their intentions, however, when it comes to the other side, neither party is willing to be at all truthful. During class this year, I've learned that you cannot take any political candidate for their word, and listening to ANYTHING that the political commercials have to say doesn't guarantee anything. Both Obama's and McCain's campaigns claim that the other candidate's plan would be catastrophic to the economy, and that their plan is so
unbelievably better than the other persons. However, neither of these claims are true. Thanks to FactCheck, I can now verify just how preposterous the claims from both campaigns are. It makes me quite angry that both candidates have resorted to dirty tactics. They're not even truth-stretching anymore - they're just flat out lying. I believe that there should be certain laws implemented that prohibit the candidates from telling half-truths and pulling quotes entirely out of context. There has certainly been progress - the law that requires them to say their name and that they approve the message is definitely a step in the right direction. I just wish they would take it a little further.
Image 1
Image 2
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
The Future President...OF THE PAST
Mr. Lincoln's Speech
The National Park Service
10/3/1858
OnOctober 13th, 1858, Senator Lincoln and Senator Douglas participated in their 6th official debate for the presidency. Lincoln was the first to talk, and he mentioned his views on slavery, saying such things as " I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races..." He also was very quick to put
down and mock his opponent. When Douglas took the stage, first he took some time to defend himself and refute Lincoln's arguments, and then went on to describe how he felt he would do as president, and have the audience an idea of the way he works. “I correct myself, as a gentleman, and an honest man, and as I always feel proud to do when I have made a mistake.”
This series of debates is part of what helped to shape American history, and the nation that we all know today. It is probably partially because of these debates that Abraham Lincoln became president of the United states, and helped to free blacks from slavery, and probably caused many of the segregation issues that this nation faced and is still (partially) facing. These debates have been quoted many times by many famous politicians who like to employ these same values. And overall, the butterfly effect that having Lincoln as president has probably had has affected us all in ways we probably could have never predicted and will never be able to figure out.
I believe that the first presidential and vice presidential debates were great. They really helped me to gain insight
on what both candidates believed, and the way it was set up made it really hard for either of them to lie, or even stretch the truth. The arguments and points were lively and easily understandable, and I was able to pick up on patterns from all the candidates, and identify what they said, how they said it, and what it probably actually meant. As for the most recent debate (the second presidential debate), I was not at all fond of it. It was far too informal, neither of the candidates answered any questions, and I found both to be highly annoying in different ways. I had thought that the town hall style would work, but as it turns out, it just doesn't.
The National Park Service
10/3/1858
On
down and mock his opponent. When Douglas took the stage, first he took some time to defend himself and refute Lincoln's arguments, and then went on to describe how he felt he would do as president, and have the audience an idea of the way he works. “I correct myself, as a gentleman, and an honest man, and as I always feel proud to do when I have made a mistake.”
This series of debates is part of what helped to shape American history, and the nation that we all know today. It is probably partially because of these debates that Abraham Lincoln became president of the United states, and helped to free blacks from slavery, and probably caused many of the segregation issues that this nation faced and is still (partially) facing. These debates have been quoted many times by many famous politicians who like to employ these same values. And overall, the butterfly effect that having Lincoln as president has probably had has affected us all in ways we probably could have never predicted and will never be able to figure out.
I believe that the first presidential and vice presidential debates were great. They really helped me to gain insight
on what both candidates believed, and the way it was set up made it really hard for either of them to lie, or even stretch the truth. The arguments and points were lively and easily understandable, and I was able to pick up on patterns from all the candidates, and identify what they said, how they said it, and what it probably actually meant. As for the most recent debate (the second presidential debate), I was not at all fond of it. It was far too informal, neither of the candidates answered any questions, and I found both to be highly annoying in different ways. I had thought that the town hall style would work, but as it turns out, it just doesn't.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
11: Race Decides Election?
U.S. Census Bureau Percent Of Total Population Who Are Black Or African American Alone 2006
According to the Demographics on the U.S. Census Bureau (link above), 7 of our states have a population made up of anywhere from 27 to 55% African Americans. Eleven more states have anywhere from a 14 to a 21% Black population. What I would like to know are the specifics on this, and whether this is evenly spread throughout the state, or only in certain counties. I would also like to know why there is such a difference in Black population in the United States. I say this because 13 of our states only have between a 0.5 and a 2.3% Black population.
I believe that the demographics here can heavily impact who becomes the next president of the United States. African Americans make up a large portion of the United States's population, and although there is no saying who will vote for who, it is more likely that some of the African American population will be biased, in thinking that we should have our first African American president. With this in mind, there have also been times in which the decisions of just one state have decided the entire election. In 2000, when many Floridians voted for a party outside of the Democrats and Republicans, it was enough to sway the popular vote in George Bush's Favor.
To me, it seems that most people will consider all the facts before going to vote, but when it comes to the African American population, Barack Obama has a bit more of the appeal, which gives him a slight advantage (for those states). Therefore, supposing the election is almost a tiebreaker, those 7 states (or even just 1 of those states) may be able to swing the vote in Barack Obama's favor.
According to the Demographics on the U.S. Census Bureau (link above), 7 of our states have a population made up of anywhere from 27 to 55% African Americans. Eleven more states have anywhere from a 14 to a 21% Black population. What I would like to know are the specifics on this, and whether this is evenly spread throughout the state, or only in certain counties. I would also like to know why there is such a difference in Black population in the United States. I say this because 13 of our states only have between a 0.5 and a 2.3% Black population.
I believe that the demographics here can heavily impact who becomes the next president of the United States. African Americans make up a large portion of the United States's population, and although there is no saying who will vote for who, it is more likely that some of the African American population will be biased, in thinking that we should have our first African American president. With this in mind, there have also been times in which the decisions of just one state have decided the entire election. In 2000, when many Floridians voted for a party outside of the Democrats and Republicans, it was enough to sway the popular vote in George Bush's Favor.To me, it seems that most people will consider all the facts before going to vote, but when it comes to the African American population, Barack Obama has a bit more of the appeal, which gives him a slight advantage (for those states). Therefore, supposing the election is almost a tiebreaker, those 7 states (or even just 1 of those states) may be able to swing the vote in Barack Obama's favor.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
10: Democrats - Throughout The Years
The Democratic Party has consistently changed over the course of the past two centuries, from everything to the values it holds, to the title. It would be difficult to say exactly how the founders of the Democratic Party would feel about it's current state, but they would probably be pleased, since a lot of what the Democratic party stands for still involves Democracy, and a bit of anti-federalism (although depending on who is in office, that can change).
According to the official website of the Democratic Party, "Thomas Jefferson founded the Democratic party in 1792," so he could promote the bill of rights, and work against the federalists. However, at the time, this was not called the democratic party - they were the Democratic-Republicans. The Green Papers mention that they were initially called Republicans, but since they believed in Democracy, they were more commonly called Democratic-Republicans
. In 1824, John Quincy Adams was elected as the president of the United States, which caused many disagreements among the Democratic Republicans, and in turn, caused them to split into 4 separate factions. Among these 4 groups was the Jacksonian Democrats, which was organized by Andrew Jackson, a war hero, and one of the founding fathers of the Democratic Party. The title "Jacksonian-Democrats" was eventually shortened to "Democrats." Over time, the party continued to evolve, and define itself, until it became the Democratic Party that we all know today.
The history of the Democratic party is important to know, and ties in very much with what we are currently learning about political parties. This is because it demonstrates the changes that a political party can go through. Depending on a variety of factors, one of which being who is elected president, can decide the changes that a political party can undergo, which in turn, can effect whether or not people even choose to stay with that party. Cindy Sheehan,
a grieving mother, posted an article online, saying "Why I Am Leaving The Democratic Party." She first mentions that her son was killed in the service, and then describes how she opposes the Iraq war, and George W. Bush for sending our troops into this war. Then, she goes on to say that ever since the government has become majority Democrat, they have done very little to help with ending the Iraq war. "I knew having a Democratic Congress would make no difference in grassroots action. That's why we went to DC when you all were sworn in to tell you that we wanted the troops back from Iraq and BushCo held accountable..." This is an example of a woman who, after all was said and done with the political parties, was deeply affected by the beliefs of each party, and which one had come into power at the time.
It is believed by some that the political parties change and alter themselves based on the current events of the time period. In Jake Neighbor's blog, he posted: "Throughout the many years of service the Democratic party went through, they went through a lot of changes, each in which changed as a major event occurred." I fully agree with this - the ideals and beliefs of a party are highly dependant on new issues and circumstances. Take abortion, for instance. 50 years ago, this topic was unheard of, but now, there are people who take a strong political stance on one end of it or the other. Because the Democratic party has chosen a particular side in this, this effects whether or not people would even choose to be in the Democratic party, and it changes the way the party as a whole is viewed.
The Democratic Party
"Party History"
http://www.democrats.org/a/party/history.html
Date Accessed: 10/2/08
Richard E. Berg Andersson
The Green Papers
"A Brief History Of American Major Parties"
http://www.thegreenpapers.com/Hx/AmericanMajorParties.html
Published: 5/21/01
Date Accessed: 10/2/08
Cindy Sheehan
Counter Punch
"An Open Letter To Congress: Why I Am Leaving The Democratic Party"
http://www.counterpunch.org/sheehan05282007.html
Published: 5/28/07
Date Accessed: 10/2/08
Jake Neighbors
Jake Neighbors' Blog
"The History Of The Democratic Republicans"
http://jakeneighbors.blogspot.com/
Published: 10/2/08
Date Accessed: 10/2/08
According to the official website of the Democratic Party, "Thomas Jefferson founded the Democratic party in 1792," so he could promote the bill of rights, and work against the federalists. However, at the time, this was not called the democratic party - they were the Democratic-Republicans. The Green Papers mention that they were initially called Republicans, but since they believed in Democracy, they were more commonly called Democratic-Republicans
. In 1824, John Quincy Adams was elected as the president of the United States, which caused many disagreements among the Democratic Republicans, and in turn, caused them to split into 4 separate factions. Among these 4 groups was the Jacksonian Democrats, which was organized by Andrew Jackson, a war hero, and one of the founding fathers of the Democratic Party. The title "Jacksonian-Democrats" was eventually shortened to "Democrats." Over time, the party continued to evolve, and define itself, until it became the Democratic Party that we all know today.The history of the Democratic party is important to know, and ties in very much with what we are currently learning about political parties. This is because it demonstrates the changes that a political party can go through. Depending on a variety of factors, one of which being who is elected president, can decide the changes that a political party can undergo, which in turn, can effect whether or not people even choose to stay with that party. Cindy Sheehan,
a grieving mother, posted an article online, saying "Why I Am Leaving The Democratic Party." She first mentions that her son was killed in the service, and then describes how she opposes the Iraq war, and George W. Bush for sending our troops into this war. Then, she goes on to say that ever since the government has become majority Democrat, they have done very little to help with ending the Iraq war. "I knew having a Democratic Congress would make no difference in grassroots action. That's why we went to DC when you all were sworn in to tell you that we wanted the troops back from Iraq and BushCo held accountable..." This is an example of a woman who, after all was said and done with the political parties, was deeply affected by the beliefs of each party, and which one had come into power at the time.It is believed by some that the political parties change and alter themselves based on the current events of the time period. In Jake Neighbor's blog, he posted: "Throughout the many years of service the Democratic party went through, they went through a lot of changes, each in which changed as a major event occurred." I fully agree with this - the ideals and beliefs of a party are highly dependant on new issues and circumstances. Take abortion, for instance. 50 years ago, this topic was unheard of, but now, there are people who take a strong political stance on one end of it or the other. Because the Democratic party has chosen a particular side in this, this effects whether or not people would even choose to be in the Democratic party, and it changes the way the party as a whole is viewed.
The Democratic Party
"Party History"
http://www.democrats.org/a/party/history.html
Date Accessed: 10/2/08
Richard E. Berg Andersson
The Green Papers
"A Brief History Of American Major Parties"
http://www.thegreenpapers.com/Hx/AmericanMajorParties.html
Published: 5/21/01
Date Accessed: 10/2/08
Cindy Sheehan
Counter Punch
"An Open Letter To Congress: Why I Am Leaving The Democratic Party"
http://www.counterpunch.org/sheehan05282007.html
Published: 5/28/07
Date Accessed: 10/2/08
Jake Neighbors
Jake Neighbors' Blog
"The History Of The Democratic Republicans"
http://jakeneighbors.blogspot.com/
Published: 10/2/08
Date Accessed: 10/2/08
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
