Head of State Blog

The movie "Head of State" staring Chris Rock satirizes modern politicians and political figures as well as the entire nonsense associated with election campaigns. More specifically, they poke fun at the fact that politicians do not state their true beliefs, only what will get them elected. A prime example of this would be when Mays' opponent Lewis flew to a school where a tragedy occurred and only stayed their for the interview where he states his "sorrow". Another example of this would be when Lewis released the attack ad stating the Mays supports cancer, which is of course absurd. However, the movie is not just about poking fun at politics. It also shows the growth of the film's protagonist, Mays Gilliam. Mays began as a alderman of a town and slowly worked his way up to a presidential disposition. Initially when he began running for president he did everything his advisors told him. This all changed when Mays met his brother Mitch, played by the great actor Bernie Mac. Mitch tells Mays to be himself and talk about his views and not the views of the party. This eventually leads to Mays running his campaign in a completely unorthodox way, including openly cursing in front of the crowds to dubbing a video of Osama bin Laden saying that he hates America but loves Lewis. This film is a perfect way to remind everyone how silly and power hungry politicians are.

2014 Massachusetts Governor Election Opinion

We have come to the 2014 governor election to see who will fill the shoes of soon to be former governor, Deval Patrick. The question is though, who will be able to replace the former governor? The candidates running include: Republican Charlie Baker, Democrat Martha Coakley, and independents Evan Falchuck, Scott Lively, and Jeff McCormick. Prior to writing this blog I did some digging into the history of each candidate, their policies and how they perform in the debates. We are taught to support the candidate whose policies align with ours. I however, measure a candidate based on their ability to be a leader. That being said, I cannot support Scott Lively or Jeff McCormick. Lively is a bigot who tries to stop the world from changing, and McCormick is simply more boring than white bread. I cannot support Coakley either. During her time as the District Attorney several children under her watch were sexually abused. I simply cannot trust someone as incompetent as Martha Coakley to lead our state. Which brings us to the last two, Charlie Baker and Evan Falchuck. Logically, Baker has a much larger chance at winning. During the debates he carried himself almost like Mitt Romney did, his deliberation was logical, but not emotional. Falchuck on the other hand did what I have always wanted to do, he provided a human perspective. During one debate Baker and Coakley were arguing about Coakley's incompetence when dealing with the abuse scandals. Falchuck pointed out that they were both using this horrifying instance as political fodder. He said it not only disrespected the other candidates, but also those who suffered from this tragedy. Falchuck knows he has no chance of winning, but his long term goal is to create a new political party, the United Independent Party. In essence the party would provide independent candidates a chance to win. I support this man's ideals and hope for his party's success in the future. In conclusion, even though his chances of winning are absurdly slim, I would vote for Evan Falchuck.

Lincoln Movie Blog

The movie Lincoln properly documents the problems Lincoln had when attempting to pass the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery. The most obvious reason for voting against the amendment was that many of the men voting were racist. Those who were not racist saw that releasing all the slaves at once could be a colossal disaster. Many were also worried that they would try and take people's jobs since they would ask for less pay. Many also question if Honest Abe was truly honest due to many unethical steps he took in order to pass the amendment. Lincoln offered jobs (especially to lame duck politicians) in exchange for votes. Lincoln also bent the truth about the amendment. However he was not entirely underhanded in his time in office. He knew that ending slavery would be a catalyst to ending the entire civil war. Lincoln was also clever since he wanted to change the Constitution so the Emancipation Proclamation could not be repealed by he successor. What is surprising is that the film revealed that Lincoln was not entirely racism-free. He just saw it as the quickest way to ending the war.

Petoria

During the Family Guy episode E. Peterbus Unun, Peter Griffin becomes head of his own country, Petoria. Although the country itself is fictional, we can insinuate what kind of country it is. It could be argued that it is a dictatorship. Evidence of this can be hinted at when Peter annexes Joe's pool, without anyone else in his country (i. e. his family) having a say in the decision. It also can be inferred since Peter invited other famous dictators like Castro and Saddam to a party. However Peter is far from a dictator. Although not mentioned directly, since Petoria's entire population is comprised of Peter's family, it is very possible that Petoria could be a monarchy. Peter also abused his power by using his diplomatic immunity. He used his immunity to get free drinks as well as jay walking, writing graffiti, and parodying U Can't Touch This with out a chance of being sued by the song's artist MC Hammer. Petoria also faced drawbacks however since it was not a federal government. Since peter seceded he could not receive imports. When he annexed Joe's pool it almost sparked a war with America. Lastly this led to his family resenting him.They also missed out on many of the freedoms we have in a federal government. They also do not have the stability a federal government has.

The Pros and Cons of The Articles of Confederation

Most consider the Articles of Confederation to be the first step our government took to a working economy. Although there are few pros to this system, there are also many cons. The most important contribution the articles had on our government was the creation of congress. Another important pro of the Articles of Confederation is the northwest ordinance of 1787 which recognized territories of state. Beyond those however there are not many other pros. The Articles of Confederation vastly weakened the central government's power. Since there was no central government there was no military so states would have their own militias. One of the largest failures of the Articles was that each state would have their own form of currency instead of a universal currency.