politics

Politics does not dictate our collective cultural mindset as much as it simply reflects it; We've got to look in the mirror sometimes, and we've got one.

The Serpents That Shape the World
On the evening of September 26, 1960, the unknown senator from Massachusetts John F. Kennedy faced off against incumbent Vice President Richard Nixon, in what was the United States’ first televised debate. The role of the media in shaping politics can be seen in America’s political history, media in television and radio and political campaigns to come, as evidenced in the electioneering of the 1960 presidential debate—the first televised encounter between candidates in American history. When Nixon took to the podium his form was morose, scant and sickly from recent hospitalization; Kennedy calmly took his place with confidence and poise. According to a census taken thereafter those who listened to the debate on the radio thought Nixon had won, a sharp comparison to the estimated 74 million of the majority of Americans who now owned a television set. The new medium had set the stage for a realized public recognition for how political events could be swayed, dependent on the media to shape how political figures are to be viewed by the nation. On November 12, 1960, four days after winning the election by the skin of his teeth, Kennedy was quoted as saying that “it was the TV more than anything else that turned the tide." With the rising force of television the mainstream media caught wind of just how explosive the Kennedy-Nixon debate was with the populace. Major broadcasting networks’ ratings rocketed sky-high, television sets were sold to every family on the block—America had plunged into the twilight zone like a TV show on mute; waiting, watching and listening on bated breath for the next ‘life-altering’ thing to come out of that tiny box in the living room. There was no doubt that television carried great power in its potential. "With the nation watching," a 1979 task force report noted, "The Nixon-Kennedy debates made televised encounters between candidates the hottest thing in electioneering since the campaign button." The media had dug its talons of razor wire into Kennedy’s public image, cataclysmically enabling the potential for television to double in size and scope. This event is the genesis of the next-generation public game, the next-level playing field of politicians and journalists: this is the theory of ‘media politics.’
By Andy Reed8 years ago in The Swamp
What Is "The Left"
"The Left." We hear it constantly from conservative pundits and editorialists, most often trying to get rise from the democratic party. I find that nobody on the right actually knows that that means. To those who believe they know what it means on the right, you probably have little conception of what socialism actually is, much less the broad term "the left." While the Democratic Party is the most leftist major party in the United States, it is not by any means a portion of "the left," although some moderate leftists are in the party. The broad definition of "the left" as perpetuated by conservatives is an authoritarian system and the soviet-form socialism that resulted in another imperialist state. While people think that socialism is inherently authoritarian, it is not. Socialism, as a principle merely refers to the absence of private property (i.e. property used by an employer's employee for use for the purpose of profit). It states that the employment of such a system will result in mass unemployment, mass poverty, hunger, mass homelessness, and overproduction.
By Thomas Sebacher8 years ago in The Swamp
Why Are the Democrats Turning to Socialism?
BRYCE ON POLITICS - Most people do not understand the differences between Capitalism and Socialism. Click for AUDIO VERSION.
By Tim Bryce8 years ago in The Swamp
'The Purge' Already Happened in the 2016 Presidential Election
October 9, 2016. Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. The second presidential debate is kicking off with a question to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. A woman asks about the negative tone of the current campaign, to which Secretary Clinton responds:
By Stephen Walden8 years ago in The Swamp
Best Vintage Cold War Political Cartoons
Studying Cold War political cartoons allows one to see how America sees itself in the ways in which it identifies its own mirror double in the Soviet Union. In US criticism of the USSR, we discover America's own insecurities and the lengths to which it would go to shield itself from introspection. Across these ten Cold War political cartoons, you'll be able to see how it's only under the guise of exceptionalism that America can justify aspirations that are otherwise indistinguishable from that of its foe.
By Lauren Skopkowski8 years ago in The Swamp
Compromise
Compromise. We have compromised for too long, there is a single option that we acknowledge as possible and feasible, and that it must happen as decent, principled millennials. We need a revolution, whether it be political or social, to modernize, streamline, and correct economic, political, and social movements that have outlived their usefulness in their current forms. As such, we must acknowledge that compromise is not a part of revolution—if it were, we would very clearly be reasonable. Compromise is only possible among people who believe that the forces must be there. The problem of compromise is that it is just that, when one compromises, their values are compromised. In the rise of the right-wing, we see very clearly that the world is turning towards authoritarian nationalism. Any compromise with authoritarian nationalism is a deal with the devil—it will come back to destroy us. In the 1930s, compromise among the far-right (where the Republicans have been since the 2000s) and the center (where the Democrats have come to be located after decades of neoliberalism) led to the abolition of liberties and the passage of the Enabling Act after a slight national crisis. We are coming to a point where we will—mind you, will—see a genocide in fascist countries in the next decades. We are in a political climate which, if turned towards compromise, will bring both parties to the far right. While compromise, in theory, was what our country was built upon, I find this unlikely.
By Thomas Sebacher8 years ago in The Swamp
Dying Democracy: The Collapse of Compromise
If one were to ask anyone that predates the millenials about the current political atmosphere, responses tend to be of similar nature. Despite political affiliation, everyone seems to have a strong distaste for the polarization of politics. The response is often, “back in the Reagan-Clinton era and before that, people could discuss politics, civilly.” That comment often precedes the observation, “I do not know how we ended up here.” So how did the U.S. become entrapped in the disease of polarization?
By Dillon Staples8 years ago in The Swamp
Are the Democrats Winning?
BRYCE ON POLITICS - Even with their visceral and intolerant behavior? Click for AUDIO VERSION. Democrats claim the "Blue Tide" is rising as we approach the 2018 midterm elections. As evidence, they point to a series of polls showing them ahead by 6%.
By Tim Bryce8 years ago in The Swamp
Who Controls the Narrative? (Pt. 1)
The Public Adminstrator Article I, Section I of the Constitution grants all legislative power to the Congress of the United States (Independence Hall Association, 2013b). The power of Congress derives from the people who elect them to office. The tremendous duty of developing policy and legislation that represents the needs and desires of citizens but also does not violate the Constitution is a responsibility that falls solely on their shoulders. Theoretically, all influence on policy and legislation comes from the citizens they serve, however, as society has grown more complex, different actors have taken the responsibility of being “the voice of the people” and functioning in protecting the public interest. Policy can create opportunities but who is responsible for the narrative that forms policy?
By LaKeisha Harrison8 years ago in The Swamp
The Problem With 'The Left'
Take your most stereotypical extreme "Lefty." Anti-Establishment, Anti-Capitalist, Anti-War, Anti-Racism, Anti-this & Anti-that. Do you see the problem? Negativity so deeply entrenched in their core it blurs the positivity of their ultimate goals of equality. The need to be against something is so strong that before the thing they are currently fighting has even been won, they are preparing for the next fight.
By Jake Haydn8 years ago in The Swamp
Human Rights?
Today, our Republicans in congress and the Trump Administration are quite apt in forging a complete antithesis to the preamble to the Declaration of Independence. For that matter, in no other time in our history has there been such an assault on human rights by a Republican run congress and a very ill-equipped President and his cabinet. The continuing debacle that this Administration has made not only here at home and in foreign affairs has made America's decline in world standing almost irreversible. But, the latest travesty condoned by this present Administration in their immigration policy where thousands of children are being ripped apart from their parents in an effort to deter Illegal immigration has become a typical response of the mentality of this Administration.
By Dr. Williams8 years ago in The Swamp
Fascism
In academic and popular discussion, there is a great misunderstanding of how fascism functions and how it forms. Here I will discuss the precepts and the formation of fascist societies and governments, as this subject is largely misunderstood in popular discourse. What is fascism? Are European governments arriving closer and closer to fascism? The answer to these two questions is far less simple than they would appear.
By Thomas Sebacher8 years ago in The Swamp