US and NATO

With the recent events in the Middle East concerning Russia and Turkey, the President has reassured Turkey of our continuing support through NATO.
For those of us who don't know, NATO, or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created during the Cold War to counter the Soviet Union's Warsaw Pact bloc.

What do you guys think about this support of Turkey? They are a NATO member, and one of our closest allies in the region. On the other hand, the Cold War is over, and the Soviet Union is no more. Should we stand behind a government that is not afraid to violently provoke Russia?

Thoughts?

Donald Trump is Still Relevant?

What do you guys think about Trump? I've heard a lot in the news about him and all of his comments and assorted scandals, but what do we as Political Science majors make of all this?

Usually I don't compare anybody to Hitler, but Trump's proposed policies and much of his rhetoric sounds a lot like what Hitler used to get elected. Again, I'm not saying he's Hitler, just drawing comparisons and asking what you think. Why hasn't Trump fallen out of the race yet? Wasn't he supposed to be a small blip on the radar awhile ago?

The Uninformed Trump Supporter

The idea that Donald Trump could win the Presidency terrifies me. It's not because he would make a bad President that his harsh rudeness could piss off the wrong country leader. It's not because his fake tan and fake hair would make him an excellent addition to the Jersey Shore cast. It scares me because I STRONGLY believe people don't know what or who they are voting for. Today's Americans come from the age of excessive TV watching. That's exactly where Trump is from, TV. People have seen his name and his outrageous personality. I believe people are sucked into his campaign because he has the exposure. Then the uninformed American latches onto his every word and believe what he is saying is right.

Trump wants to build a giant wall to stop people from Mexico from coming to the US? Well, okay, all of Trump's supporters can work the fruit-picking job for three cents an hour so that food prices won't rise by 3000%. Oh, and Trump wants Mexico to pay for the wall. (https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions/immigration-reform) Recently, in reference to the oil fields in Syria and Iraq, he stated he would "bomb the s--- out of 'em." I'm not convinced this is the solution. What is the difference between ISIS going into France to cause mass casualties and destruction and the US going into Syria or Iraq to cause mass casualties and destruction? Now, I am not putting good (used loosely) and evil on the same playing field. What happened in France and other places around the world was absolutely devastating. It would be just as devastating to the non-ISIS members in those countries to have their whole world destroyed because of the radicals in their countries.

Trump supporters rally behind all of his words and don't think about what he is actually saying. But, Trump is new, flashy and exciting to watch. Trump isn't some boring Senator from some boring state; he's Donald Trump -- "You're fired!" -- Everyone knows who that phrase belongs to. I don't know if Donald Trump would be a great President or our next corrupt world leader. I also don't know who would be the best President all of the candidates we have been presented with. What I do know is, the American voter needs to be informed by real facts.

All of these thoughts are my own but I did draw some inspiration from the following:

http://www.bustle.com/articles/126490-5-times-people-attacked-donald-trump-said-exactly-what-you-thought-about-his-scary-campaign

http://www.politicususa.com/2015/09/19/donald-trump-reveals-pure-gop-heart-voters-dont-care-nothing-buy-presidency.html

http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-bomb-isis-2015-11

https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions/immigration-reform

Donald Trump knows he needs more of a Presidential Attitude

Everyone expected Donald Trump to fall from the polls earlier and earlier, but he keeps going and going. Trump is starting to look more and more like a serious contender as people are dropping out and we come closer and closer to primaries and the 2016 presidential election. As people start taking himself more seriously, he needs to take herself more serious. And by that he can't mock immigrants, he can't call other running mates "stupid" and other terms he's used to attack them. As trump is facing protestors in the past he may have said something like "that person needs to get roughed up, opposed to now he is saying things like "please escort that person out of here". It is one thing to establish dominance to your peers but its another thing to just be rude and unprofessional. If Trump has a chance to win which I'm starting to think he may, then he needs to act more presidential so the swingers will go his direction.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/28/politics/donald-trump-sarasota-florida-rally/index.html

Presidential Debate Lies

The presidential debates, both Republican and Democrat, have been followed closely by millions of voters with great anticipation towards the first primaries and caucuses. Likewise, these debates have also been followed very closely by various media outlets with an excess of fact checks. Very often do candidates get their numbers and statistics a little off, or sometimes a lot. Most of these situations can be written off as mistakes or exaggerations, but all of these misquotations are by far overshadowed by outright lies. All mistruths and exaggerations aside, one candidate has told a great deal more lies than the others. Do you have any clue who I’m talking about? I’ll give you three hints: he said he’s going nuke ISIS, achieve what is physically impossible, and will add $10.2 trillion to the debt. If you guessed Trump, you assumed correctly.

Aside from many misquoted figures, Trump has told three very memorable lies during the debates. The first one occurred at the very beginning of the first debate, where Senator Paul accused Trump of buying politicians and Trump retorted that he gave the Senator plenty of money. In this context, this claim by the Donald is blatantly false: the total contributions of Trump to Paul’s campaign amount to zero. Trump had previously given $10,000 to the Moran Eye Care Center at the University of Utah as part of Dr. Paul's mission to provide eye surgery to those who cannot afford it in Guatemala. 

Next, Trump got into a fight with Jeb Bush where Jeb claimed that Trump tried to buy him out on the issue of casino gambling. The Donald then claimed that he never wanted casino gambling in Florida, a statement that could not be more dishonest: Trump’s company is on record for trying to get casino deals in Jeb’s state for 21 years, with Trump even quipping in the past, "If Miami doesn’t get casinos, that would be a terrible mistake."
The third most memorable moment occurred in the third debate when the moderator asked him, "You have talked a little bit about Marco Rubio. I think you called him Mark Zuckerberg's personal senator, because he was in favor of the H-1B visa," to which Trump cut him off and responded, "I never said that, I never said that." However, a simple trip to Trump's website reveals the exact quote: "Mark Zuckerberg's personal Senator, Marco Rubio, has a bill to triple H-1Bs that would decimate women and minorites."
If Trump is this eager to lie to millions of Americans right to their faces for political gain, how quick will he resort to familiar habits to cover his a** in the Oval Office? According to Trump supporters, he's the guy that's not afraid to tell it like it is. Apparently, he's not afraid to tell it like it isn't, either.

In light of the recent attack in Paris we have seen Obama taking a stand against most of Congress including members of his own party.  Today the House of Representatives passed a bill that would stop Syrian refugees from coming into the country until national security agencies can certify refugees will not pose a threat.  This stance by Obama shows him taking on many different roles of the presidency.  He is trying to take on a legislative lead as he threatens to veto the bill and work with Democrats in the senate to block and kill the bill.  He is acting as a party leader, unsuccessfully, as he tries to get Democrats to follow his position of accepting refugees.  Finally one can argue this is as much a foreign policy decision as a domestic one, depending on how America responds and acts it will shape how people view us around the world.  With France saying they will accept 30,000 refugees this could be embarrassing for Obama as we were not even the ones attacked or directly affected by the attack.  The only nations devoted to openly accepting refugees into their borders in the Western world right now are Germany and France, with most other nations making it hard.  Obama’s actions will shape the way in which other world leaders will deal with us in response to the refugee and Syrian situation.  The problem is though we are seeing Obama loose his grip on the Democratic Party as 47 Democrats voted in favor of this bill to restrict the flow of refugees.  On top of that many governors have already stated they will not accept Syrian refugees at all or until a more intensive screening process is implemented.  This is another test for Obama as refugee relocation is a federal power.  He can easily ignore governors and put refugees in their states but he runs the risk of lowering his opinion polls and threatening the next democratic presidential candidate’s chance of being elected.  A very complicated human right crisis has arisen and now is the time to see if America will step up to the plate and respond accordingly to it.  The only problem is like most things in America there are two sides and they will fight forever until the problem ceases to exist and both sides claim they win.  Obama’s actions can help to steer the nation away from the fear that currently grasps it and hopefully he will be able to keep fighting until people come to their senses or the tides sway back to his view.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/19/politics/house-democrats-refugee-hearings-obama/

GOP vs. Obama

An update on the ongoing debate throughout Washington... 



As of Monday November 16, the GOP is 'bashing' President Obama and his allowing Syrian refugees in the United States. Since the recent Paris terrorist attacks, the Democratic party has been put on the defense after reports that one of the terrorists involved in the attacks entered Europe as part of the wave of Syrians fleeing civil war. In response, Obama stated that the United States has to remain committed to its values of tolerance and accepting immigrants in the country. 

"The people who are fleeing Syria are the most harmed by terrorism," Obama said in Antalya, Turkey, at a meeting of the G20. "It is very important ... that we do not close our hearts to these victims of such violence and somehow start equating the issue of refugees with the issue of terrorism."

Republicans are however stressing and advocating for the importance of national security. The large influx of war-ton immigrants into the country has risen numerous security concerns, which has subsequently led GOP lawmakers and governors to announce that they would not allow Syrian refugees into their states and are encouraging stronger control of the U.S. borders. 

What do you guys think? Close up the borders to Syrian refugees? Or should we continue to allow immigrants into the U.S., especially those fleeing war-torn countries?

SOURCE: http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/16/politics/republicans-syrian-refugees-2016-elections-obama/index.html