Should we or shouldn't we?

Last week I was talking to my friend who was mad at her science teacher because he had talked about politics in class. She said that he had talked about how the democrats were right and the republicans were "evil" and he had gotten people very upset. My question is should we talk about politics in school, knowing that it may cause tension? Personally I think the answer is yes. Even though my friends teacher did not go about doing it in the right way, I believe it is incredibly important to discus politics in school. I think it is necessary to teach the future voters that go to school about what is happening in the country. Too many Americans are ignorant of the world around them and make poor or uninformed decisions because of it. I think the more information and discussion there is in school, the more informed decisions the presant and future voters of America will make.

Is it all just talk?

I am an Obama supporter, and I've been listening to information about the election and I've found that some people are saying that Obama's a good speaker, but "that's it." This is usually followed by a list of qualities they believe Obama dose not posses, but I would like to focus on this point. I think that many people underestimate the importance, and power of a good speaker. In fact I think it is necessary for a leader to be a good speaker, because good speakers are the people who inspire, who motivate. And I believe that America, especially in our current economic situation,needs a leader that can motivate the people of this country to help ourselves out of this hole we're in. Historically Americans have accomplished amazing things when we had the proper inspiration and motivation to do so. For example the civil rights movement. And no, the purpose of this point is not to compare Obama to Martin Luther King. It is an example of how people in this country came together and changed the way things were. And I think that now things need to change in order for America to recover and we need a leader who can inspire us to make those changes.

Where are they getting this?

I was looking on youtube and I came across this great clip from NBC. In the clip it said that studies had shown that 83% of 18-29 year olds get most of their political information from The Daily Show, and other similar political satires. The clip included an interview with John Stewart the host of the daily show on his increasing "Political Pull." I thought that was so interesting. What dose it say about young Americans that we are looking to pure entertainment shows to get important political information, as appose to a New station? Do Americans find the information more reliable? Personally, at times I feel like all the information on the presidential campaigns, such as interviews and speeches, feel so fake, and "scripted" that there isn't much of a difference. Of course I'm not saying that people should rely solely on programmes like The Daily Show for information, I'm just saying that it's nice to hear someone point out the stupidity. I also think that people appreciate the humor, and simplicity of the information they are being given. It can get pretty boring listening to all those long speeches and interviews, and shows like The Daily show offer simplified, and more comical versions that are appealing to younger viewers.

Obama, Paris, Palin?

Today while I was in the bookstore I saw a copy of US magazine. What caught my eye was that on the cover was vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her baby, the title of the issue was Babies Lies and Scandals. I did not look through the magazine so I can not describe the content. The reason I'm bringing this up is because I have to wonder just how hypocritical can the republicans get? They launched a political ad against Obama saying that he's just a celebrity and even compared him to Paris Hilton, and yet now their vice presidential candidate is on the cover of a popular celebrity gossip magazine?! Of course that not the only contradiction, throughout his campaign McCain has called Obama out for being too young and too inexperienced to be able to be president, and yet his vice presidential candidate Palin isn't much better. It could be argued that Palin is only running for vice president, but with McCain being in his seventies and having had cancer twice, it is definatly important that we have a vice president that is ready to fulfil all presidential duties from day one.