We're all really "red"-blooded Americans after all...

I couldn't believe how many connections there were to our class in Jon Meacham's latest article in Newsweek. He basically argues that America is generally conservative (right of center, to be precise), and that even if the Democrats win BIG, Obama will more effective if he is pragmatic and recognizes that Americans are basically more conservative than liberal. This is especially ironic to me given that Obama has cast himself as the candidate of hope and idealism. But perhaps that's how our political system has been set up from the Revolutionary era... we want to bring someone into power who inspires us and casts a grandiose vision (Declaration of Independence), but then we want a government that can actually get some things done without going too far and taking us out of our comfort zones (Constitution).

The other interesting thing was his agreement with my own observations in class the other day, namely that Americans have this weird love-hate relationship with government and taxes. Perhaps because our Revolution was so steeped in taxation issues, we say "taxes" as if we're referring to STDs. Yet we expect the state to fulfill certain obligations, like war, education, disaster relief, rescuing investment banks... depending on your personal views of what's important. I love Meacham's characterization: "The American relationship with government is so fraught with hypocrisy and cognitive dissonance that it is difficult to discuss with any degree of rationality." Just wait til we get to the Constitution...

An Ideal or Pragmatic Approach?

A hot topic on the campaign trail has been the issue of how to handle ending the war in Iraq, and each candidate seems to take either a pragmatic or ideal position on the issue.

Senator McCain has argued that we should not leave Iraq until we have secured "victory," while Senator Obama has argued that getting involved in Iraq was a mistake all along and that we need to withdraw in a "responsible manner."

One could argue that McCain's answer is an idealist's approach to the issue (victory!) while Obama concedes that mistakes were made and that while we might not be seen as winners, we still need to leave for very good reasons.

But this is just one instance where we see these values (idealism and pragmatism) clash. Where else do you see this conflict in American culture?

Some political road rage?

I was a bit disturbed when reading reports about crowd reactions at McCain events. Not surprisingly, many McCain supporters wanted to see him "fight back" against the Obama campaign. Then other individuals expressed their fear, one saying he was"scared" of an Obama presidency, and another woman saying she couldn't trust him because he's an "Arab". At one point, someone in the crowd yelled "kill him!" Some analysts say no big deal-these political rallies have a tendency to get emotional and passionate, and perhaps bring out sides of us that we wouldn't normally express in public. But isn't this precisely the point? Why is that what we wouldn't say to a person's face in a normal conversation is acceptable at a rally? This underscores the point that people are too easily whipped up into a kind of mob mentality and suspend their rational faculties when they perceive a time of peril. (I think of the hanging scenes in the film version of The Crucible.) Do we really want to excuse this type of public behavior? To his credit, McCain cautioned his followers and expressed respect for his opponent.

I'd like to read some reports regarding if anything similar goes on at Obama rallies, if anyone can find them. Are there people shouting "shoot Palin!" for example?

Guantanamo Update

Check it out:

NY Times article.

The end is near!!!

Did we get your attention? OK, we're not talking about the end of the world, nor are we misquoting The Man-Who-Was-Probably-Lakota from "Res Blues." The "end" we're speaking of is the end of our "Perilous Times" unit.

We'll introduce the essay prompt early this week, but here's a teaser, and an opportunity for pre-writing and accessing some prior knowledge...

What do you know about these three somewhat recent events/topics?
- Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
- Patriot Act II
- The recent bill passed and signed by President Bush this Friday, October 3rd

This isn't a homework assignment we're posting, but if you happen to catch this blog post, give these items some thought.