The Home Page · The Integral Worm · My Resume · My Show Car · My White Papers · Organizations I Belong To
Technical Writing · Exposition & Argumentation · Non-fiction Creative Essays · Grammar and Usage of Standard English · The Structure of English · Analysis of Shakespeare
Analysis of Literary Language · Advanced Professional Papers · The History of the English Language · First Internship: Tutoring in a Writing Workshop · Second Internship: Advanced Instruction: Tutoring Writing
Visual Literacy Seminar (A First Course in Methodology) · Theories of Communication & Technology (A Second Course in Methodology) · Language in Society (A Third Course in Methodology) · The Writer's Guild
UMBC'S Conservative Newspaper: "The Retriever's Right Eye" · Introduction to Journalism · Feature Writing · Science Writing Papers
Local Article 1 · Local Article 2 · Local Article 3 · Local Article 4 · Local Article 5 · Local Article 6 · Local Article 7 · Local Article 8 · Local Article 9 · Local Article 10 · Local Article 11
Opinion Article 1 · Opinion Article 2 · Opinion Article 3 · Opinion Article 4 · Opinion Article 5 · Opinion Article 7 · Opinion Article 8 · Opinion Article 9 · Opinion Article 10 · Opinion Article 11 · Opinion Article 12 · Opinion Article 13
John Ellis, Retriever Weekly Staff Writer, published September 7, 2004
Usually I try to ignore most political ads, because I recognize them for what they are; advertisements with little substance. I don’t expect McDonald’s to present a fair assessment of Big Macs in their ads, so of course I don’t expect any better from Democrats or Republicans.
Recently however, you can’t escape them. The Republicans are running their election year infomercial (also known as a convention) and the main campaign issue is about a war that ended for America more than 30 years ago. Apparently John Kerry was fighting for North Vietnam while George Bush was coked up dodging the draft. If either of those statements sounds incorrect to you, then welcome to the world of ads from 527’s, where you don’t have to prove it, you just have to say it!
I mean, it doesn’t matter that some of the ironically named Swift Boat Veterans for Truth have actually made completely contradictory statements and supported Kerry’s valor in the past, let’s just sit back while they completely hijack the election debate. I mean, if you have money from a Texas Republican millionaire and legal advice from the Bush campaign lawyers, you deserve to have your totally unbiased views on Vietnam dominate this election.
But wait! Don’t forget Moveon.org, whose ads describe George Bush as a draft dodging chicken hawk! Well again, that is completely irrelevant to the issues of the election, and they can’t prove it, but hell, its America right? I mean, slander is covered under Free Speech, right?
I applaud John McCain for condemning both these ads, and I especially applaud John Kerry for actually telling Moveon to pull the ads described above. If only George Bush had the decency to do the same thing (Sorry W. you can’t condemn them and try to have it both ways). The tone of this election is pathetic, and has been decidedly negative on both sides. The only way we can return to a debate centered on the issues is to inform ourselves, because clearly the media doesn’t have the teeth to expose obvious lies anymore. They just compare Republican lies to Democratic lies and are afraid to criticize either for fear of appearing “biased.” Well, calling someone out on stories they can’t prove isn’t biased, it’s “journalism.” Hopefully someone remembers what the word means.
Christopher Paul, published September 14, 2004
In Rebuttal to Ellis' article "Shut up, shut up, shut up and shut up!," this is the first problem. When a liberal does not posses all the facts necessary to support a logical argument they resort to this mantra.
Fact: Kerry himself chose to use his Viet Nam military record as his political platform.
Fact: Kerry opened his acceptance speech with "Reporting for Duty!," implying that he is the best candidate for the position of Commander in Chief.
Fact: If the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth were indeed slanderous, Kerry's lawyers would have rectified the situation.
Fact: Kerry was absent to cast his vote on at least 75% of the
legislation during his term as a State Senator.
Fact: According to the Baltimore Sun dated Friday, September 3, 2004, President Bush in his acceptance speech spoke about terrorism, simplifying the tax code, overhaul of Social Security, health care, pension plans, and worker training.
I'm not for either candidate, so this is not simply "four legs good, two legs bad" rhetoric. Neither the left nor the right are addressing the real problem in America which is summed up in three words; "Language, Boarders, and Culture." These are the things that define and unify a nation.
If we look to any nation it is a common language that unifies a country. Without a common language we have a tower of babble. As citizens we must push for legislation which will establish American English as the only language to be used for communication.
The boarders must be secured. One solution would be walls on the US/Mexican and the US/Canadian boarders similar to the Great Wall of China. If one examines the smaller version, the Berlin Wall, was this not an effective solution? Or pull our troops for North Korea and Germany and place them on the boarders. We must deport the illegal aliens.
The culture of this nation is founded on Judeo/Christian ethics, the US Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. There is nothing stated in either the Constitution nor the Bill of Rights stating that there must be a separation of Church and State. We must get back to these roots in order to save our country.
The last solution is a viable third political party that has as its foundation "Language, Boarders, and Culture," and that is willing to take the bold step of stating this mantra as their foundation.
The Home Page · The Integral Worm · My Resume · My Show Car · My White Papers · Organizations I Belong To
Contact Me · FAQ · Useful Links