Government and Response

One of the key strengths and weaknesses of Democracy is its people. The power the people hold strengthens the government and provides officials a mandate for action. However, these same people are not always speaking in unison. Often, well always, there are conflicting voices and interests and these conflicts weaken and stall the power and action of government.

Most recently, this weakness of Democratic government has become apparent in the slow response to the Gulf Oil Spill as well as the bumbling response to the financial crisis. Let's start with the oil spill. A national disaster if there ever was one, the spill has devastated the gulf ecosystem and severly damaged the fishing economy of the region. Yet in the early days of the spill, I say days but really they were weeks, there was limited to no government response. Trying to balance the outcry of the people with the force of the big oil lobby inevitably drew out the reaction while millions of gallons of oil gushed into the fragile gulf ecosystem.

Likewise, the financial crisis that plagued the early Barack administration was met with similar shaky decision-making. Even riding on a surge of support in his 'honeymoon period' passing and selling the 'bailout' was not without hiccups. From the beginning there was vocal disapproval of federal intervention; things only got worse when reports of CEO bonuses became public. And throughout it all, while the voice of the people was being heard, little was being done.

Democracy, a system for the people by the people, suffers the faults of the people. Democracy is saddled with quarrelsome citizens, indecisive lawmakers, and interest groups jockeying. Democracy is, in many instances, slow and inactive. Am I arguing that we should embrace a totalitarian government? No. But we should not look past the shortcomings of our current system.

Yafei

Estranged Tales
Source: Real Clear Politics
Author: Jeremy Lott

I suppose there has always been an element of the ridiculous in politics but, lately, more and more cases of lunacy have been popping up. Apparently, somewhere in the great state of Oklahoma, an attorney running for judgeship has been met with a most unlikely opponent: His Daughter.

And while Mr. Lott does a interesting and informative report, 'News' like this, while entertaining, seems to be rather, well, unnecessary. Though this piece has quite broad appeal, after all who doesn't want a laugh, does it deliver any purpose or incite any conversation other than "Hey did you hear...". In some ways it does. Obviously, most readers won't take any interest in McClain county politics, but they may think of the absurdities that happen in our democratic system. Is it likely that John Mantooth and McClain county politics are going to influence the financial crisis or help restore the gulf? No... but it may well make people think about some inherent flaws of our political system that is influence so much by pandering, be it daughters or oil companies.

So should this piece have been written? Yes. Through a whimsical pretense, Mr. Lott is able to expose and argue the absurdity of the role of personal pandering in politics today. He shows the departure of politics from the issues to the candidates, a marked shift that has shaped our current system.

Political Racism

The Racism Faux-Scandals
Source: The Huffington Post
Author: John McQuaid

Racism, thought to be a non-issue, has reared its ugly head recently. Since the election of our nations first African-American president, the vestiges of prejudice and racism have started to make themselves heard again. And in a surprising way. "Reverse Racism" has become a media buzzword as entrenched white upper-middle class male politicians try to retain their power. A seemingly innocuous idea that minorities are now being favored by discriminatory practices this new trend is anything but.

As Mr. McQuaid discusses, this new cry of 'racism' is both shortsighted and, quite frankly, stupid. The issue behind racism and discrimination must be viewed from a historical and social perspective, not from a immediate and shallow viewpoint. From that view, the nominations of Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan are not as some have charged cases of reverse discrimination by nominating candidates that are different and not on pure merit but simply cases of true meritocracy where they were elected because, partly due to their backgrounds, the most qualified candidates.

Truly, to understand racism is to accept subtleties. Racism is not so simple as simply one group oppressing another at a particular time but the analysis of the struggles of an entire people. Thus to these new voices crying for justice against "reverse racism", read a history book and rethink if affirmative action even matters in comparison to slavery.

Energy Secretary Controlling Leak

Steven Chu, the US Energy Secretary, has taken a surprisingly large role in directing the containment of the BP oil spill. A Nobel prize winner in Physics, Dr. Chu has little experience in geology or oil wells. Yet he has had considerable influence on the progressions of the spill relief effort. He ordered the stop of the "top kill" effort and, on Tuesday, ordered BP officials to delay pressure testing on the well by 24 hours.

His team of government scientist have been working in conjunction with and often in disagreement with BP engineers in these months of the disaster. The jockeying for influence in decisions on both sides have been under scrutiny by the public and even Dr. Chu is willing to admit that some decisions haven't been perfect, but he emphasizes that the current efforts and decisions what matters and that things are indeed looking better in the Gulf... although at this point they'd better be.

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