Author Archive for Kerry Wakely
One Nation Under God, So Says the Textbook
For decades,Christian groups have maintained that the United States is a Christian nation, that the founding fathers were Christian men who sought to build a government on Christian principles. They reject the separation of church and state and insist that the scrubbing of religion from our textbooks and written history is liberal revisionism.
Texas’s school board [...]
Mr. Smith Gets Filibusted
By now everyone has gotten an earful about “limited government.” Everyone from constitutional scholars to the crazy tea baggers have made that very clear. The reason we have three branches that check each other is so that they can force important decisions to be deliberate, only enacted after debate and careful thought. Over the years, [...]
Keep Teabagging Pure
Two weeks ago, the Republican National Committee approved a resolution urging Republican leadership to examine the records of candidates and verify if those candidates really support the party’s platform. In the event that the wayward candidates do not, the resolution urges that they not receive funding from the RNC. What is interesting about this resolution [...]
NFL’s Supreme Court Smackdown
This Wednesday, the Supreme Court will decide whether antitrust laws apply to the National Football League. If the Court rules in the NFL’s favor, all sports leagues would win a huge victory. Team owners could unilaterally set salaries and the price of all merchandise, effectively controlling both players and coaches and most likely driving up [...]
Finding God’s Loopholes
Once more we are faced with the age-old moral question: do the ends justify the means? Is it acceptable to steal under certain circumstances?
The Long & Winding ‘Road’
APOCALYPTIC: The film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s novel captures the bleak hopelessness of the end of the world.
9/11 Trials Head to the Big Apple
When Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the “mastermind” behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, would be put on trial in New York along with four other terrorism suspects, there was a predictable outcry. The right wing claimed it was a foolish decision to give terrorists the same legal rights afforded to American citizens. The decision, however, is wholly appropriate and consistent with judicial precedent and the high moral standards the very same right-wing people always uphold as American ideals that need protecting. When the time comes to practice them, the right wing is reluctant to prove how effective they are.
Democrats Abort Pro-Choice Provision
Late Saturday night, the House of Representatives finally passed a health care bill with a vote of 220-215 with only a single Republican vote. While this is only the first step to any meaningful health care reform, the bill is already making waves for its amendment excluding funding for abortion. Until now, the Hyde Amendment, passed in 1976, has made it impossible for the Department of Health and Human Services to subsidize abortions in its annual budget. This disproportionately affected poor women who could not afford to pay the private insurance cost for abortions out of pocket and was a restriction for anyone receiving Medicaid or working for the government. But now even more restrictive language has been drafted, taking the abortion issue to an extreme and depriving millions of women of their right to choose.
Getting to Nuclear Zero
Over 60 years have passed since the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing approximately 140,000 and 70,000 people, respectively, by the end of the year. By dropping these bombs, President Truman accomplished his goal: by Aug. 14, Japan was willing to unconditionally surrender, sparing at least tens of thousands of American lives by eliminating the need for an invasion. He was well aware of the devastation he ordered, and the massive cost in terms of civilian life. Today, the dominant thought is that dropping the bombs was the quickest way to end the war and saved our soldiers from a long and costly invasion. Rarely discussed are the immense moral consequences of committing such an inhumane act.
Selling Out has Sold Out
Among the many terms that should be considered cliché and overused, “selling out” is a phrase that is often abused by vindictive and selfish music fans. Bands are frequently labeled “sell-outs,” because their original fan base felt they became too famous. More often than not, this tends to be an inaccurate accusation. Not every famous band betrayed their fans and their principles for fortune and fame.
