Blog #1 -- due Jan 30
Blog #1: Please respond to the blog entry below in 150 words or more. Due Monday, January 30.
How political are you and why? Do you pay no attention at all to politics? Why is that? Do you consider yourself to be a strong member of a particular political party? Explain why. Do you intend to vote in the 2012 presidential election? Are you happy or unhappy with the current political system? Either way, try to explain why you feel as you do. Do you consider politics more important at the national, state, or local level? Explain. Are you happy or unhappy with the Obama administration? Why? If the election were tomorrow, whom would you vote for? Do you even know who the men are who are vying for the Republican nomination for president? If so, do any of them appeal to you more than others? Do you have anything else to add on the subject of U.S politics?
If you have no opinions whatsoever about politics, and if you do not care at all who runs for election or who wins, try to examine and explain why you feel this way. Why are politics not important to you? Do you think they should be important to anyone? Why or why not?
English studentJan 24, 2012 03:04 PMI'm personally not political at all because i have never really have been interested in it. But if i had to say what i side i am on; i would say the conservative side. The only time i honestly pay attention to it is on special days such as the election or primaries. This year I plan on making a little more effort to pay attention to politics just because i do not really want to see President Obama and his administration go on fur and put this country in a deeper depression than it already is. I also do not agree with Obama health care plan that he pasted two or three years ago. I don't believe the average everyday American should pay for some one health care just because they refuse to spend their money on it. I am really pulling for the Republican side of it and hope they can change this economy around along with creating jobs and take our great country out of this deep depression
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Kyle Ogle- English studentJan 25, 2012 12:39 PM
I consider myself to be a little in between the Democrats and Republican parties. I do believe that we need to assist each other in this time of crisis but at the same time hold people accountable for their action, such as: If they are not trying to utilize what's available to them in their areas or maybe they might have to relocate, to get better assistance, but do something to make their situation better. I know first hand about relocating, so I could have better opportunities and it worked. I moved from a large city (Chicago), to Champaign just so I could find a job. I been here since 2005 and have done better here than I ever had in Chicago and I was born and raised there. But as far as Obama, goes to expect for him to turn the economy around in four years is nuts or for any one person in four years to just clean up an obvious mess, would be a dream come true, But it ain't happ'in captin.
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Linda Edwards-Hill
- English studentJan 24, 2012 04:54 PM
I’m not totally political but I know a little bit. Now that I’m eighteen and all I have been following politics and debates a little more closely but I mean I only know enough to know that I have a candidate who I know I’m going to vote for. I don’t pay attention to all the political things out there right now…there’s a lot going on at the moment but I’m following the person who I will vote for. As far as political things go the only real thing I have been following at the moment is the SOPA/PIPA act that deals with the censorship of the internet…wich I believe is wrong and is impeding on our first amendment rights… but I would say that I moderately follow politics is because sometimes things just make me mad to see happen for instance the fact that now women must have a doctor’s prescription to receive the plan b pill…don’t get me started on that…but I do because I want to be able to know what im voting for if I ever have to. Also I don’t like the people who complain about what others vote for when they don’t vote themselves…I don’t want to be that person, so I vote.
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I do plan to vote in the 2012 election, mostly because im tired of Obama. Don’t get me wrong he did a good job, but nothing he did really ever did much to help the nation. It just seemed like the promises I was expecting ended up being broken. It saddens me in the way that I was totally gunning for him to get president and I was happy that he won at first, but then things just ended up not getting done in my eyes. So I could say no, I am not happy with the current situation that we are in as a country. People are taking personal freedoms away in my opinion we cant get jobs if we need them …like a certain college kid typing this response…and if we do have jobs people are hoping every day that they won’t get laid off because of the current economic situation that we are in. Therefore think that politics at the national level is more important. We need to be more concerned with the whole rather than at a state level. The laws are all pretty close and so really do we really need local governments? I think we need representation but I don’t think we need town governments really… theyre not that important to me.
If the election were tomorrow I do know who I would vote for but for personal reasons I don’t normally tell people who I will or did vote for. Its my own opinion and I don’t really share that one since people get all oh why are you not voting for this guy? I don’t like that… but yes I do know a bit about the presidential candidates… enough to know who I want to vote for and enough to know who I don’t want and then the one with the crazy responses for example putting colonies on the moon … so ya.
Sam Lehman - English studentJan 24, 2012 08:33 PM
I'am not political at all and do not plan on taking any part of learning politcs. I really have no desire to watch and pay attention whats going on. We will learn about it on the news if it really applies to us that bad. But other then that it just doesn't catch my attention. I do think its pretty cool to take part in presidential elections, it's like taking part in your country. Any ways, yes I would like to vote for this 2012 election and mostly i agree a lot with what Sam said about Obama. Also I feel like we see his wife more then we see him I do believe there should be a little role change if he's trying to help us. To be honest if there was the vote tommorrow I wouldn't know who would be electing till that time, but I will not be voting for Obama. Anyways politics are not my subject and all I really care about is that there making the right choice for everyone in America.
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Alexis H - English studentJan 24, 2012 10:00 PM
I'm not very political involved at all. I dont follow or watch any elections other than the presidential election. I only watch the presidential at the end of the campaign.I would say im a democrat but like i said im barely involved in politics. Yes i am planning to vote for Obama in the 2012 election.Im am happy with Obama, he doesnt done much but atleast he isn't messing things up. Which it would be hard to do much since the republicans in the political system won't let him.Im not unhappy with it, but i feel like the political system and goverment in general is pretty fucked up. I dont know much abput them i have seen them. I heard one of the republican canidate Rick Santorum took his dead baby home and him and his wife took pictures with the baby? That is one of the craziest things i have ever heard in politics or maybe in my life. If you ask me he is one sick bastard so i'm sure the others aren't much better. I hope that Obama wins and from the looks of it he might.
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Ian R - English studentJan 24, 2012 11:05 PM
Well, being a bartender for eleven years, I was told by the boss from the get go: Interceed on any conversation involving religion or politics. This was sort of funny to me to begin with, but guess what...if a conversation starts in the bar over religion or politics, it NEVER ends well. I, personally, don't really pay a whole lot of attention to politics on a daily basis, but I do vote. I try to "cram" very close to the elections and do the best I can with my decision, but I don't watch tv or listen to the radio or read the newspaper very often, it just depresses me. I did have help from one politican once, who will remain unnamed as I saw him at afterhour parties in my twenties and he has sort of a "party guy" reputation. He was our state rep when he helped me and went onto Congress. I know that he also helped alot of other people and even though his personal time was spent sort of questionably, he did his job and there really don't seem to be alot of politicians who do. I began voting only because of this one man. I still vote for him to this day. To be honest, if it wasn't for him, I might not take the time to vote.
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Divina Fourman - English studentJan 24, 2012 11:52 PM
I am not in to politics at all. I do not vote and I probably would not vote for the 2012 elections. But someone has to. I have full confidence in the voters of American. I do not really find myself following any political party. I think that all the talk about how the Obama administration is failing is stupid. It has taken years for this country to get where it is now. All this talk about change and how they can do better, it would not happen overnight. It's going to take time to get this country on its feet again. If I had to vote tomorrow I would vote for Obama, it takes time for a big change to happen. We need to give them a chance to get stuff rolling in a better direction. I am glad people do take politics serious. It needs to be done and it holds the country together. J.McWhorter
ReplyDelete - English studentJan 25, 2012 08:47 AM
In all honesty i do not care nor do i pay attention to the government or any political nonsense. im not a very big fan of "suits". but i do agree that it is important to pay attention to things because after all they make the laws... sadly, and if you choose the wrong person you can have a hell of a horrible life. this may sound really bad but they don't look or sound like interesting people, and i think some of them are not even people at all. i mean its more about a personality thing to me. if they act like they care about there "people" then i will have good thoughts or opinions about them. but if they just stand up there in front of a microphone speaking what they "say" they are going to do then i don't feel as though i should care. everyone else always makes a big deal about but i mean it seams pretty important if people in third world countries die to vote. so in the end yes when i get older ill probably care for it more because it would be effecting my life and even my pay. but in the end i will always look at them as "suits"
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Xeromy Kaziad (8:00) - English studentJan 25, 2012 12:05 PM
Im really not interested, know i should be. I did listen to the address last night. I felt like he said everything everyone wanted to hear. I kind of feel like all politicians do that. I have not voted for a couple of years, but plan on doing this year. I feel Illinois is in a really sad state. We have had a lot of criminals in office, but then again i think there a lot of them in office every where. I am going to try to be more involved, i just find it boring.
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paula albin - English studentJan 25, 2012 12:18 PM
I am not a very political person, I don’t really know why I’m not I have always have been this way. I don’t consider myself to be a member of a political party I am not even sure what party my parents belong too. When the election of 2012 comes around I will more than likely I will not vote because I don’t know enough about the candidates or even who they are for that matter. I am unhappy with the current political system; I believe that the current political system is corrupt beyond belief. I feel that politicians are only looking out for themselves or just wanting to get more money. I don’t really have an opinion about Obama administration because the only thing that I have really heard about his administration comes from those who have already formed their opinion of it. I have no clue as to who is running for the republican nomination, in my opinion it doesn’t matter because I believe they are all corrupt.
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Ryan Marshall - English studentJan 25, 2012 12:29 PM
Im really not interested, even though I know I should be. Ive never voted and im nineteen now. I plan on voting later in life but since ive never really watched politics or anything i dont wanna vote, just to vote. I could try to watch more and try to get involved but its to hard for me. I just find it to boring and not interesting to watch.Maybe ill be more interested when im older but not anytime soon. I mean heck i dont even know whos running besides Obama its safe to say that politics and things that deal with the law just dont go well with me. Bu maybe in the future who knows this can be a better subject for me.
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Brandan McDaniel - English studentJan 25, 2012 12:31 PM
Once you turn 18, I think a lot of people get excited about being able to vote and all that fun stuff. Now myself… I honestly don’t know anything about politics. It bores me to death. To tell you the truth, I have no clue who is even running this term. Sometimes I will try and pay attention when my mom or dad will be watching the news, but confusion sets in and I get bored and walk away. I just can’t get interested. For this election, I plan to vote. Most likely, I’ll be voting what my parents are voting since I’m really not sure. I hope to better myself and become more educated with it and by the time the next term comes around be able to decide for myself.
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Right now, I would consider myself a republican, mostly because majority of them are prolife and against abortion. That is one of my biggest beliefs.
I think that I’m not very interested in politics because no matter what, the president voted is going to do what he wants to do. On the contrary, I’m very glad that there are some people who feel very strongly about politics. I believe there needs to be people like that in order to keep things balanced.
Bryanna Satterlee - English studentJan 25, 2012 12:33 PM
I am not very political because it honestly bores me. I could careless about who is the president, as long as the world is not crumbling down i am happy. I know I should be concerned about the political government but I don't have time to listen to the state of the union address or be concerned about anything else. Obama seems like he is a good president and knows what he is talking about when it comes to taking control over things.
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Emily Harms - English studentJan 25, 2012 02:41 PM
Politics are very important to everybody living in the country it effects us all in different ways. I Have never voted because i just turned 18 but i do plan on voting this year. I Can't say that i pay close attention to everything but i know about the major things going on. Obama has had to overcome a lot of things and problems the country had before he was president. I really believe he has and will do everything in his power to help the U.S As much as he can. Its important that we have more on voting and explaining to young ones political situations going on because speaking for the youth we really dont know whats going on in the world all the time because the information is put in places that don't target us.. newspapers, the news on t.v things of that nature. I just think they need o find a better way to inform us so we can know what's really going on
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Matthew Washington - English studentJan 25, 2012 10:31 PM
I am a person that is not interested in politics at all. It is not that it isn’t important because I do feel that for our world to be administrated in a better way, the people need to see who is the best candidate to make it happen. Though, as my personal opinion, I find it a waste of time for me. I don’t watch it on t.v. because I am always doing things that I just don’t have time for it. I don’t think that one person can change anything. I turned 18 last year so I never signed up to be able to vote and I haven’t and I don’t think I am this year either. I find it not as important to me at the moment; probably when I am older. I think there are more important things. Though, when Obama was running they made it a huge commotion so I did see parts of it and I would get bored me but I saw that everything he said was logical. If I would have voted I would have voted for him but then when I think about it I tell myself, what is the point of voting if what the candidates promise they end up not doing it? Obama has made many decision and we are still the same if not worst.
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Angelita T. - English studentJan 26, 2012 01:00 PM
I'm not a big political person and I pay attention every now and then. I personally believe that politics are corrupt. I don't find myself part of any political party. I guess it's safe to say that I'm one of those people that believe that these things don't effect me when in actuality they do. From the little that I do pay attention to, I think that people expect too much from the Obama administration. Of course he hasn't done much, but our country has been in debt for a couple of decades now, its not that easy to get out of debt, especially only being in office for four years. People expect too much in such a short amount of time. I think its in every presidents nature to lie and contradict themselves. How else are they going to win the election. As far as being a politician,I find them boring and its hard for me to keep up and pay attention.
ReplyDelete - English studentJan 26, 2012 08:32 PM
Honestly I am not big in to all the political things going on out there. I hear people talking about them all the time but I dont really have an opinion on it. It just bores me. Sometimes I will try to pay attention if my parents are watching the political stuff on tv but it all gets so confusing. As for this election, I plan to vote.If I dont know much about the election i will most likely vote for who my parents do. I kind of look at it as though if you vote you will have a say in about the world and if you dont you really cant complain about it because you could have had a chance to choose someone different. There are some things i agree with Obama and other things i dont. I just wish i could pay more attention to everything that is going on but somethings are just boring.
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Bailey - English studentJan 26, 2012 08:44 PM
I am not political at all. I do not keep up with politics because it is boring. I do not plan on participating in the upcoming election because I don’t know a lot about politics to vote so there is no reason to vote. I am fine with how our political system is now because I don’t notice how it is affecting me as of right now. If the election was tomorrow I would not care because I don’t plan on voting because I don’t know much of politics. People who don’t know much about politics should not vote in the election just to say that they voted. Really the only way I keep up with politics is when I watch The Colbert Report or The Daily Show with John Stewart on Comedy Central and watch them make fun of the people in politics. That’s about all the political I have in me. Slade W.
ReplyDelete - English studentJan 27, 2012 10:08 AM
The strongest opinion that I have, one that seems to have become a more popular belief, which the American community needs to band together in order to change the political power system that is in control into something that is less convoluted and more streamlined in order to work for the people and allows for less corruption and greed.
The American government has become an idle group of greed driven; power hungry facades of what it had been intended to be. The idea of a government that was chosen by the people in order to reflect the thoughts and beliefs of the majority has been lost to men who gain their personal beliefs based off of lobbyists and what they think will get them into office again. This is apparent when looking at the simple facts of polls taken every day. The people can have whatever belief in whichever issue you want to use and if it isn’t considered socially acceptable by their party, the lobbyist paying for their next campaign, or by the media, regardless of the public’s opinion the politician makes the economically wise choice for his own pocketbook, not the will of his/her constituents.
One way that the government agencies help to protect and control their own fates is the use of overly complex and confusing “red-tape” in order to keep the common citizen either afraid of attempting to foster change in the system or their own community or makes it so difficult to understand that the common person wouldn’t stand a chance of actually affecting policies. At one time a petition would allow a person to get at least get a bill introduced to their local officials. Now, beyond just the petition, one would have to give exhaustive research into the subject matter that they are proposing in order for the bill to get to a committee before it even meets the desk of the representative. The thought is to keep the rep from being overwhelmed by millions of ideas, which seems simple and logical enough. Except for that many of the ideas and beliefs of the “working poor” collectively, the “blue collar”, and individual “white collar” political believers don’t get passed the first step of the process.
“I'm convinced that you never have to give up liberties to be safe. I think you're less safe when you give up your liberties.”
― Ron Paul
Another way the wool has been pulled over our eyes, so to speak, is the loss of personal liberties and personal expression/privacy. Many factors have chipped away at our civil liberties, including our own drive to be more socially conscious of the feelings of individuals based on sexual preference, race, religion, etc. Although the Constitution and Bill of Rights does call for every man to have the right to pursue happiness, the fact that we are now considering making certain words illegal due to the fact that the offend a person is directly in conflict with the rest of the rights protected, if not in simple English then clearly intended, by the writings of the founding fathers of the American country. To simply decide that someone doesn’t have the right to use “foul language” or “inappropriate terms” is a clear violation of ones right to speech, in any forum. Why then, are people being jailed every day for speaking against political figures and their actions? Why then, are people not allowed to discuss explosives anywhere near an airport? The second example may seem like less of a violation due to the terrorist fear that has been instilled in our culture since 2001 and the great tragedy that our country endured, but if you would consider that jail able, why not jail someone who jokingly states that the government will only change after a violent uprising? Or perhaps someone who makes a harsh statement against a political figure that you are in support of? The fact is they have already dramatically limited the rights and privileges of the average American citizen by simply ignoring the poor, the economically unstable, and those that believe that their voice and vote are useless.
Jonathan Lawrence
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