Blog

On the topic of assessing my blog grade, I would say that I am in the B range. I received an A for the first half of the semester. But, during the second half of the semester I missed a few blogs, and didn’t take others seriously. On the topic of my likes and dislikes to the blog, in general I liked doing it each week. It sure beats a 10 page paper due at the end of the semester. However, I grew weary of it during the second half of the semester. I think a better plan of action would be to have the blog for the first half of the semester, and then have a shorter paper due at the end of the semester. I also found it difficult to comment on other peoples blogs; I don’t know if it was laziness or whether it was just a dislike for reading other peoples blogs and than commenting on them.

Sorting

Sorting is the process where people who affiliate themselves with a political party, now affiliate with the ideolgicially correct party. The idea is that people are now voting with the party that is most close to there preferences. With the advent of the end ot the southern democrat, and the beginning of the true republican south, we have seen "true" ideological parties. The odd thing about parties as we see them today is that sorting has also helped to emerge two distinct ideological parties.

A critical era

First we must define what a critical era is. A critical era is a time where there are drastic changes followed by a period of relative stability. When answering the question as to whether of not the 90s were a critical era, I am going to suggest that it was. First we can look at what Aldrich constitutes as the four main factors determining a critical era. 1) Changes in attitudes of the public 2) Changes in the attitudes of the elites 3) Changes in the institutions 4) major changes in policies. I am going to suggest that the 1994 Republican Revolution constitutes a major change, and was than followed by a period of relative stability, which makes the 1990s a critical era. We saw changes in the attitudes of the public by ushering in a Republican party that had control of both branches of congress. We saw a change of attitude amongst the elite, who amongst other things, changed the institution of the House by casting away the seniority norm (which technically is not a institutional change), and by cutting down the amount of committees, and centralizing power to Newt Gingrich. These changes also made for some major policy changes, and one of the largest was a tax cut to the wealthiest group of Americans. Based upon Aldrich’s reasons for the presence of a critical era, I am going to suggest that the 1994 Republican Revolution constituted a major change followed by a period of relative stability, and therefore a critical era.

Is today stable? We can look at the same checklist provided by Aldrich. I am going to suggest that we are in a period of relative stability. We have ushered in a Democratic congress, but they are not overwhelming. The attitudes of the elites have not changed, and we can see this by the continuing war in Iraq. We have not seen any institutional changes, and we have not seen any major policy changes.

Critical Era

First we must define what a critical era is. A critical era is a time where there are drastic changes followed by a period of relative stability. When answering the question as to whether of not the 90s were a critical era, I am going to suggest that it was. First we can look at what Aldrich constitutes as the four main factors determining a critical era. 1) Changes in attitudes of the public 2) Changes in the attitudes of the elites 3) Changes in the institutions 4) major changes in policies. I am going to suggest that the 1994 Republican Revolution constitutes a major change, and was than followed by a period of relative stability, which makes the 1990s a critical era. We saw changes in the attitudes of the public by ushering in a Republican party that had control of both branches of congress. We saw a change of attitude amongst the elite, who amongst other things, changed the institution of the House by casting away the seniority norm (which technically is not a institutional change), and by cutting down the amount of committees, and centralizing power to Newt Gingrich. These changes also made for some major policy changes, and one of the largest was a tax cut to the wealthiest group of Americans. Based upon Aldrich’s reasons for the presence of a critical era, I am going to suggest that the 1994 Republican Revolution constituted a major change followed by a period of relative stability, and therefore a critical era.

Is today stable? We can look at the same checklist provided by Aldrich. I am going to suggest that we are in a period of relative stability. We have ushered in a Democratic congress, but they are not overwhelming. The attitudes of the elites have not changed, and we can see this by the continuing war in Iraq. We have not seen any institutional changes, and we have not seen any major policy changes.

I inhale everytime!

I recently read an article about Barack Obama allowing Iowa caucus goers to ask provocative questions. The usual health care, Iraq war and immigration policy questions surfaced. But, near the end of the question session somebody asked about marijuana legalization. Obama is opposed to the legalization of marijuana. Which than lead to the question as to whether or not he inhaled. Obama said that he did inhale and that was the point. This question session poked at Hillary, and I think was very helpful to the Obama campaign. First of all, he made sure that everyone understood that these questions were not planted by anyone in his administration, a clear shot at Hillary because of the recent uproar about question planting in her campaign. The big question still lingers however, was it safe for Obama to tell the truth about inhaling marijuana? I think in the long run it pays to tell the truth (even though Bill got away with saying he didn’t inhale, which by the way is preposterous, How does one smoke and not inhale?). I want to hear somebody ask Hillary this question. Oh, and I have a follow up question to the marijuana inhalation question. What kind of smoking apparatus did you use to inhale the alleged marijuana? The answer to that question just leaves a funny picture in my head.



http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/25/did-obama-inhale/

Party project

I chose that the Republican party has dissolved. The new name for my party is the New Republicans. We are going to run on a staunch conservative platform. We will be pro-life and Christian. We will support no laws that hinder the carrying of firearms, and we will advocate a aggressive stance on terror. With this we will advocate bills that will send our country to war with Iran, and we will support simulated drowning as a tactic for interrogation. We will participate in dirty politics and by this I mean we will call the Democrats weak on terror, and advocate that they have made our country weaker for not allowing the surge enough time to work in Iraq. We will have our constituent bases in the South, and we will support moral Christian values that will allow us to win constituent bases among the religious factions that our country is springing up.

Party project

I chose that the Republican party has dissolved. The new name for my party is the New Republicans. We are going to run on a staunch conservative platform. We will be pro-life and Christian. We will support no laws that hinder the carrying of firearms, and we will advocate a aggressive stance on terror. With this we will advocate bills that will send our country to war with Iran, and we will support simulated drowning as a tactic for interrogation. We will participate in dirty politics and by this I mean we will call the Democrats weak on terror, and advocate that they have made our country weaker for not allowing the surge enough time to work in Iraq. We will have our constituent bases in the South, and we will support moral Christian values that will allow us to win constituent bases among the religious factions that our country is springing up.