Election
11
All of the aforementioned issues are coins with two sides.
Obviously, Romney opposers disagree with many of the
positions taken in this article. One may argue, however, that
they have had their four years, and nothing has been done. It
is time to try a method which has not failed, and this also does
not succeed...America is a democracy. There will be another try
four years from now.
•
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abbortion if the carrier’s life is in danger. It has even recently
come to light that Tagg Romney and the surrogate mother of
his child had a clause in their contract allowing the surrogate to
have a voluntary abortion if Tagg and his wife agreed. While
liberals may see this as a weakness, it is probably the Romney
secret weapon. His ability to compromise could lead to the
most socially moderate Republican candidate in twenty years,
helping him gain the support of undecided independents.
Bush-Rice ’16 It is easier for the party opposite of whoever
is currently in office to win the election. The opponent simply
needs to find existing flaws within the administration and
expose them. A Romney win would be great news for forward-
thinking liberals. Rumors are already swirling of a J. Bush-Rice
ticket in ’16, which would be the most demographically diverse
Republican team possibly in the party’s history. Rice would help
regain the vote of disillusioned minorities and women, while
Jeb Bush was the popular governor of Florida, a swing state.
If Romney is elected in ’12, it would dramatically decrease this
competitive ticket’s chances of winning.
controversial legislation passed by Clinton in the 90s stipulating
that fellow soldiers could not, did not, ask the sexual orientation
of other soldiers. Well, nationally the US changed. The social
stigma unfortunately attached to homosexuality and LGBT
issues has been a long-time American (and global) controversy.
Entrance into the army represents, for men, a personification
of the “machismo” that comes along with protecting ones
country, and a victory for women, who fought centennially
for their right to fight and defend. Now, finally this “right” has
been awarded to the LGBT community, who can now serve our
country just as proudly as any straight American would. To the
open minded Ransom student, these social accomplishments do
not take precedence in our everyday lives because our school
inculcates a fine sense of diversity of all categories. Another
important social accomplishment of Obama’s is the passing
of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. This allocates equal pay
for women for the same work quality as men. How logical, yet
so disappointingly primitive and elementary of our country
to only now, in the 21st century be allowing equal pay for
women. Already long ago women were the established equals
of men, yet it took a great, honest, and supportive president like
Obama to finally confirm this. However obvious this may seem,
however logical, it is imperative to remember that Obama is
the first president to sign his name on a legislation in support of
women’s equal pay.
Unfortunately, there still lays a myriad of crucial social
points and economic points to discuss that stretch far beyond
the scope of this article. In summation, however, we have seen
how Obama has stood against all odds to turn this country
around from the backward years of Bush. Even though the
September poll numbers reveal a tie (47%-47% Obama-
Romney) distributed around the country, Obama has remained
ahead of Romney by 3-5 points consistently since May. He has
earned the support of the socially pariah-ed and the socially
neglected. Obama has reconstructed the face of America
from that of ignorance to that of persistence, peace, hope, and
acceptance. Although regrettably this article barely scratches
the miles-thick compilation of this president’s accomplishments
over the past four years, there is still very little room for doubt of
Obama’s reelection. His discontent with mediocrity has directly
translated into his iron work ethic that is turning this country
around. And that is what the United States is.
•
Dara Weiss, Junior
What is the United States? Is it the enigmatic totality of
diversity we call a “melting pot”? Or is it a grandiose land of
vivid and finite dreams only barely calculated and conceived
by those who have not yet experienced its grandeur? There is
no concrete answer. Each American has his own perception of
his country. Who, though, has driven this tangibly tenacious
force? Who has had the courage to face the daunting task of
representing one of the world’s most fiercely independent and
strongest countries. A man elected by the people, for the people:
Barack Obama. Has he had an easy go in office? Anything
but. Barack Obama came into office having inherited one of
history’s most severe economic recessions. Unemployment
numbers surged. GDP plummeted. For the American people,
during the final quarters of the Bush administration, not even
an iota of hope streaked the headlines. Every bit of news veiled
the American public in another layer of despair, as our financial
crisis begun to wreak havoc on other countries as well. What
has Barack Obama done to fix the economy? What has he
done to “fix” unemployment? How has he reshaped the US
political system? Many a conservative has complained that the
president has done nothing, or very little, to “fix” everything.
Last month in August, the president was heavily criticized
for ONLY creating 96,000 jobs...how illogical is that? It is
absolutely nonsensical to say the least. People seem to forget
that that number still represents 96,000 more people who get to
go to work everyday. That’s 96,000 more people who wake up
with a reason to leave their homes. Again, that is 96,000 more
employees providing for themselves and their families where
they previously could not. And yet, 96,000 only represents a
fraction of the jobs created under Obama’s administration.
One of Obama’s greatest economic achievements is the auto
bail-out. He stood alone amidst a congress of opposition. He
signed to save the auto industry, an investment that could have
potentially regressed the US into an even deeper economic
ditch. Hundreds of thousands of jobs were created in Detroit
alone, not to mention the cumulative hundreds of thousands
created throughout the country.
However, something even more visceral is the social
legislation passed under Barack Obama. Obama has introduced
a multiplicity of social reforms that have revolutionized this
country, not only internally, but also externally as well. For
example, one of Obama’s many social accomplishments
for this country, is the repealing of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” a
Political Column-Liberal
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