Budget Woes, Fox News Suspensions, and Goodbye Anonymity!
Federal Government Shutdown Averted!
Ashley F: I was kind of looking forward to a government shutdown. 1. It would be kind of exciting. 2. It would mean the government wouldn’t be wasting any of our money! However, I have a feeling that this pattern of stopgap after stopgap is going to continue. We need a real, working, long-term budget. I do not, however, applaud the $4 billion in cuts. Its like being 600 pounds and losing 25. It’s not really a lot in the big picture, but it’s a start.
Ashley S: I wasn’t expecting the government to “shut down” per se, but I was expecting a lot more from the 112th Congress. I understand the difficulties they have been presented with the Democrats literally running from their jobs. I also understand that they have a lot of work repealing the major bills passed during the 111th Congress. That being said, I want to see more ferocity from these newly elected officials. When the people voted, it was not for moderation, it was for conservatism. The American people felt that the Republicans best exemplified the characteristics of conservativism. It is now the Republican’s turn to hold their seats through action. A stalemate will not satisfy the American people.
Fox News suspends Gingrich, Santorum
Ashley F: I find this to be a really odd move by Fox. Does the general public even know who these two people are? Will they miss their presence on the network? If Fox wants to show they won’t tolerate commentators-turned-candidates, they need to do the same with Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin- the supposed front-runners and biggest political faces on the network. I guess Gingrich is fine with the move, since he’s now seriously considering running.
Ashley S: I don’t think it is odd for FOX to boot Newt and Santorum. I think this is FOX showing who they believe is a serious contender. There is no doubt that Gingrich is a visionary. He has a lot of baggage, though. But, hey, if we can accept that Clinton “did not inhale” and that Obama is really an American citizen, we should be willing to overlook Gingrich’s past transgressions.
Why haven’t they booted Palin? I believe it is because she would split the Republican party, same as Hillary and Obama in the 2008 elections. What we as a party face right now is a real challenge- can we put forth a candidate that is:
1. Qualified to become the next President of the United States
2. Charismatic enough to be placed against Obama in open debate. Unfortunately, great leaders are not always the best communicators. Also, unfortunately, Americans view candidates by how superior they can come across in debates.
3. Engages the minorities that are often claimed by Democrats (i.e. not the same, old white male). The candidate has to break barriers because the race card has been overplayed and is such a boring fall-back of the opposition, to remove it entirely takes away their safety net.
4. Represents the ideals, values and principles of the Republican party (that knocks you out of the running, Ron Paul!)
If we can come together and stop bickering over each and every candidate and produce someone the WHOLE party can rally behind, then we present a united front that will result in change.
Judge Rules Paper Must Hand Over Commentors Names
Ashley F: This ruling is really dangerous. One of the main reasons people go to news websites is because they can leave anonymous comments. Without that, traffic to these sites would drop like physical circulation of papers. As a journalist and as someone who has had malicious comments made against me on websites, I do not like this ruling at all. I really could not care less what some loser thinks about me. Obviously, if they need to hide to make their comments, they are cowards, so who cares? This judgment is setting a dangerous precedent. I don’t see commentors as people who commit defamation; no one takes them seriously. I think this suit is misguided, and the judge made the wrong call here.
Ashley S: I think you are missing the bigger issue here, Ashley… FREEDOM OF SPEECH. In our God-given rights, we are told that we may say anything and everything that pops into our minds.
Another God-given right that isn’t listed in the Constitution or B.O.R. is the FREEDOM TO CHANGE THE CHANNEL. If you do not like what you are hearing, seeing or reading you have the right AT ANY TIME to switch off the TV, turn the radio knob or click onto another website.
By all means, exercise your right to respond, if you so choose, but don’t be surprised that half the people that respond to your comments dislike you, while the other half agree. You know what it is called when everyone agrees and no one says bad things about anyone in case feelings get hurt? BRAINWASHING.
The courts were wrong to favor violating rights of privacy because someone has a thin-skin. If we are seriously considering this, what’s next? Do I get to sue for all the ambiguous comments made by angry friends on their Facebook updates? Grow up, Marion County.
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