Editorials

• Sexuality: Why Do We Care?

  Editorials September 26, 2011 at 8:07 pm Comments are Disabled

  On Tuesday, the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy was put in the trash bin of bad policies where it belonged. I — along with many other people, liberal and conservative —consider Bill Clinton a pretty smart guy, but what the hell was he thinking when he introduced this nonsensical legislation? I can only fathom that, at its introduction, it was actually progress. It did, after all, take the question of sexuality out of soldiers’ paperwork. That’s also assuming that progress dictates you lie to both yourself and your sergeant, which isn’t exactly good military policy. I took part in a photo campaign this time last year called the NOH8 Campaign, which was a grassroots response led by celebrity photographer Adam Bouska against Proposition 8 in California, an initiative that reversed the state’s policy on marriage equality. The campaign also held a strong opposition to DADT, on which there was set to be a vote in the Senate the day after the photo shoot. And obviously we all expected that it would be overturned but, shockingly, it wasn’t. A few weeks after the congressional decision and the president’s refusal to write it off in an executive order, I sent a […]

   

• Generation Snookie: What Price Are We Paying for Reality TV?

  Editorials September 19, 2011 at 6:01 pm 1 comment

  Gym. Tan. Laundry. These are the keys to success — or at least are being communicated as so to the next generation. I love a decent guido brawl as much as the next person, but what are the messages that reality television programs send to children? The vain, morally bereft generation — I begrudgingly admit to be my own — is robbing the next generation of what little innocence remains out there. Would domestic violence or intimate behavior captured by night-vision cameras pass as acceptable television programming in the ‘90s? The recent phenomenon of reality TV caters to every carnal desire a viewer might have. Between the sexual, dating and competitive elements included in programs like MTV’s “Real World” and ABC’s “The Bachelor,” we can indirectly partake in activities otherwise unavailable to us in our own lives. In what dimension could anyone take three months off of work to go do the equivalent of speed dating in some exotic location or binge-drink their way into stardom? The fantastical elements of these reality stars’ lives have us entranced, but how is a generation that grew up accustomed to watching these scenarios going to learn how to differentiate between reality television and, […]

   

• Say Goodbye to the Postal Service

  Editorials September 19, 2011 at 6:00 pm Comments are Disabled

  The days of letter writing may soon be officially over as the United States Postal Service races toward bankruptcy. The most trusted federal agency of 2010 is not only riddled with billions in debt, but has yet to find funding for $5.5 billion owed to a retiree pension and health benefit trust fund. By year-end, Congress will be forced to reform the Postal Service or watch it close thousands of locations and eliminate nearly 220,000 employees. Realistically, members of Congress will toss billions of dollars at the problem and postpone necessary reforms to avoid getting themselves booted out of office in the 2012 elections. Simply put, the Postal Service is run like any other inefficient, bureaucratic monster muzzled with government labor regulations when it could be a prized beacon of modern commerce. The Postal Service financial debacle could easily be fixed were a 2006 law repealed that impractically requires the agency to fund 75 years of retiree health and pension benefits in only 10 years. While seemingly common sense, the unpromising future of the repeal is likely to force the Postal Service into default for the first time in history come Sept. 30 when the payments are due. The best […]

   

• Hollywood Keeps Churning Out Stylized Updates That Miss the Mark

  Editorials September 19, 2011 at 5:59 pm Comments are Disabled

  In 1903, one of the first films to actually feature a narrative, “The Great Train Robbery,” was released and became a huge success. It was so popular that one year later it spawned a remake that wasn’t nearly as well-received. Looks like Hollywood still hasn’t learned its lesson. I wouldn’t say orginial ideas in Tinseltwon have finally died off; there were a few original concepts released this year that I found particularly interesting. “Insidious,” “Hall Pass” and “Drive Angry” were all original stories that proved writers still had some juice left in them. The problem is that for every one original movie, we get a dozen remakes and sequels. “Arthur,” “Fright Night,” “Straw Dogs” and “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” are all remakes of classic films released this year. If they were financially successful maybe I’d understand why studios continue releasing these movies. But none of them are. Not to say that no remake has done well. “Nightmare on Elm Street” and “Friday the 13th” both had very successful opening weekends, but then plummeted after people realized they weren’t good at all. Don’t get me wrong, though. I actually enjoy some of these — but I don’t need them. I […]

   

• Crowd at Republican Debate Could Stand a Lesson in Compassion

  Editorials September 19, 2011 at 5:59 pm Comments are Disabled

  A typical post on Facebook for me gets five, maybe six likes. This one last night had 15: “I hate to be overtly political all of the time, but the crowd at this debate just cheered “yes!” when Wolf Blitzer asked if a 30 year old man with no health insurance should be allowed to die because he can’t afford treatment. That is disgusting and fundamentally wrong and if you believe it, you should be ashamed. What’s wrong with America?” The saying goes “obvious troll is obvious,” but I don’t think that was a troll. And though I’m terrified by it, I truly think that there are people out there who believe that someone who cannot afford health care, as a result of having not purchased health insurance, should be allowed to die. I believe the question posed to Ron Paul —“If an uninsured 30-year-old man has an accident, under your health care plan, who would pay for it?” — was intended to tease out a reasonable response from the arguably moderate (if die-hard libertarian counts as moderate) statesman. Here is the truly staggering part: While I hate false promises, the ethical principles that we as a developed democracy generally […]

   

• Where are the Eisenhower Republicans?

  Editorials September 12, 2011 at 2:28 pm Comments are Disabled

  There are constantly earthquakes in Washington. The one last month, however, has been the only to crack the Washington Monument. Though not caused by tectonic plates, political tremors are constant and the concerns of many Americans stem from the fact that the aftershocks are often nothing more than a clash of liberal and conservative values, and rarely about what’s in America’s best interest. Some of these crazed debates make many moderates wonder where civil discourse has gone and leave them wondering where Eisenhower Republicans have gone into hiding. Granted, we aren’t beating each other with canes over our disagreements, but we are beating at each other’s lifestyles with our own personal values. For example, it is concerning to me that the platforms of many candidates in the GOP this year are based largely on social issues, which all too often win swing votes. Fortunately, we’ve come a long way from calling President Obama a Kenyan and incorrectly identifying him with the Muslim faith, yet we still have some people who just refuse to grasp the facts. While on vacation in Charleston — the week Rick Perry traveled to the city to announce his candidacy — I, against my better judgment, […]

   

• Obama’s failure in Libya

  Editorials September 12, 2011 at 2:27 pm 2 comments

  Muammar Gadhafi and his totalitarian regime are deposed. In the coming weeks he will either be killed, captured or in permanent exile. His followers will continue to ravage the country for some time but they will never take back control of the country. The former was the easy part. The real challenge will be to forge a government that will be in the best interests of not just the Libyans but the American people as well. If we do not plant the seeds of democracy now, we may pay for it in a big way later. Let’s face it; We dropped the ball in 1989 after we helped repel the Soviets in Afghanistan. We had the chance to build a democracy and an ally in the most tumultuous area in the world and we blew it. Radical Islamists led by the Taliban filled the power vacuum resulting in a new terrorist breeding ground. We paid for that mistake on Sept. 11, 2001. We now face a similar crossroads in Libya. If we pack up and ship out, leaving Libya to its own devices, then we risk the power vacuum being filled by one of our mortal enemies; Iran. This is […]

   

• ‘Never Forget’ Shouldn’t Apply To A Single Day

  Editorials September 12, 2011 at 2:27 pm Comments are Disabled

  Sitting in my tenth grade English class, I remember not really understanding the severity of the news that I had just heard. I was a 15-year-old kid, and my friends and I had just been joking around, flicking staples at each other with our pens. How are you supposed to react when you’ve just been told a plane flew into one of the World Trade Center towers? As the day went on I learned that some of my friends had televisions brought into their classrooms and had been watching live news coverage of the event. When a second plane crashed into the South Tower, everyone knew that the situation was even more serious than had been previously thought. When I got home that day the full weight of the situation finally pressed down on me. I hadn’t yet heard about the Pentagon or the fate of the passengers of United 93, but once I walked inside my house and my mother finally stopped hugging me, various news organizations painted the picture that I had been unable to see. What’s really funny to me, in retrospect, is one of the ways I internally rated just how bad things were. My parents […]

   

• Obama’s Charisma Won’t Win Voters Over In 2012

  Editorials September 12, 2011 at 2:26 pm Comments are Disabled

  President Obama recently gave an address proposing his new plan to increase employment known as the American Jobs Act. The proposal was thought to be a fail-safe, being composed of fiscal and social action that previously received bipartisan support. However, the American Jobs Act is under intense scrutiny since similar attempts in the past have failed spectacularly. The act is reminiscent of the tumultuous stimulus of ’09, and anyone familiar with that debacle knows how unsuccessful it was. Obama repeatedly begged Congress to sign the $450 billion package for small business tax cuts, payroll tax cuts, unemployment benefits and Social Security tax cuts. He also suggested the construction of an “infrastructure bank” that he promised would pay for itself in a year. The aforementioned bank would be created to help alleviate private sector issues. The president then began asking Congress to quit being a “political circus.” I had to agree on this one. Regardless of how I feel about the proposed act, “political circus” is a sadly accurate description regarding the recent behavior of our legislative and executive branches. The president was referring to the supremely magnificent immaturity both parties have exhibited since the GOP captured the lower house. Two […]

   

• A Monthly Letter From SG To Keep You Informed On WhatTo Expect For The Student Body

  Editorials September 12, 2011 at 2:26 pm Comments are Disabled

  The George Mason University Student Government would like to welcome both the new and returning students for the start of another great school year. Over the summer, SG has been working diligently planning and creating goals and events on behalf of the student body. One of the most notable initiatives that SG has been working on for several years now is the quest for Mason to become a polling location. Just this past July, with persistence and dedication, various Mason student representatives stood before the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to make this dream become a reality. Mason will now be home to the former portion of Braddock district’s Woodson precinct. To ensure that students are well aware of this extraordinarily great opportunity, SG has teamed up with Mason Votes, GMU College Democrats and GMU College Republicans to advertise voter registration and the upcoming elections from now until Election Day on Nov. 8.. The aforementioned organizations will be at kiosks in the Johnson Center from now until Oct. 17 to help students on campus with the voter registration process. Be ready to rock the vote! But it doesn’t stop there. With the 2011 school year in full swing, SG has […]