Dueling Voices: The Republicans take control in Congress
GOP majority is good for America
A few weeks ago Matthew Dowd, the White House pollster, visited Calvin College expressing his belief that the Republican Party would do well on Nov. 5 since the political statistics revealed a different picture from what the media was presenting to the public. So it shouldn’t have come to a surprise that President George W. Bush picked up Congressional seats in the first midterm of his presidency. Bush did what no other Republican president was able to do since President Theodore Roosevelt. In the last 25 midterms there have only been three elections where there were gains for the president’s party. It wasn’t just the numbers that allowed the Republican party to gain back control of the Senate and to hold on the House. It was Bush’s wise choice to use his political capital to his advantage by campaigning strongly in heavily contested states in the last few weeks of the election. As a result Republicans won big on Election Day. For some this came as a surprise since they felt that Republicans were going to be hurt by the corporate scandals, slow economy, and domestic issues. On the other hand those that grasped the understanding of how the public felt going into the polls knew that the Republicans had the upper hand.
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GOP majority a terrifying proposition
We've been told repeatedly over the past several months that we're in a "war against terror." That may be true, but the problem is not an external one – rather it is a domestic threat that jeopardizes our liberty and security in a way guns and bombs never could. We should be extremely concerned by the outcome of last Tuesday’s elections and the specter now haunting us of a GOP-controlled federal government. The elections of last Tuesday provided us with no opportunity for glee, as Travis Norton seems to feel in his article; rather, they should make us seriously consider where our priorities and understandings of our federal government are.
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Complaining about complaining: a spiral of ingratitude
I have a friend who almost bought me an “Official Member of the Piss and Moan About Everything Club” T-shirt, but he withheld, thinking I might be offended. Had he bought it for me, I certainly would have lived up to its claim since I am a champion among complainers. My accomplishments include complaining about complaining, which I may very well be doing in this article; nevertheless, before I continue, I must establish that my championship reign as a complainer has been a sad one. My complaining, and I believe this to be true of all people, directly results from the bad attitudes I maintain toward certain activities, certain people and life in general. Living according to a bad attitude heightens the senses to all things imperfect, thus dulling any awareness of joy and any inclination toward gratitude.
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Mothers: just housewives or economic assets?
In high school, I was tormented by a girl named Liz. She told me my hair looked like Pip’s in "Great Expectations," she congratulated me when I got a detention, she was witty and she was fearless. Out of all the things Liz said to me, her most biting criticism was about my mother: “What? Your mom doesn’t work? She’s only a housewife?” She said it with such condescension and disgust that instead of defending my mother, I felt ashamed. Instead of being angry at Liz, I was angry at my mom. “Liz is just jealous," my friends told me. Perhaps.
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'Proud to be an American' out of tune
During my sojourn here, there have been numerous ideas and beliefs of a few Americans that I cherish with all my being. I suppose what I love most is how there is a great ability to look at the world with selective hind- and foresight. There are people who believe their duty, no, their God-given right as Americans is to do whatever they want, wherever they want because of a piece of paper signed by the president. In America I have noticed two prevailing philosophies: first, war can solve all problems and if war can’t, then money can; and second, the United States has the solution to the world’s problems.
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