As a young and impressionable college student, I find myself thinking, more often than not, that my opinions in politics may be underdeveloped and too ideological. I don't think I'm wrong on this one.According to "How to Win at College" by Cal Newport, it's important for younger people to get involved politically since they 1. are ideological enough to stand on principle, and 2. not cynical enough to back down. I think that, despite his inexperience, Barack Obama's position on political corruption in Washington is an excellent example of what Cal Newport was talking about.
But beyond the problem, is anyone proposing a solution? After all, it wasn't too long ago when leading political pundits accused Republicans of being corrupt and Democrats of being gun-shy and unwilling to take a controversial stance for fear of rocking the already unstable boat. Then Scooter Libby came along.
Thank goodness he did too because now early criticisms that the rhetoric used at the beginning of the War on Terror was simply a method of appeasing the people on the surface while allowing vicious political undercurrents to flow is appearing like more than just political dogma. Everything from the nature of Mr. Libby's crime to the way that it's being defended are further exposing the overly-empowered right in Washington as a win-at-all-costs group of well-spoken crooks. Furthermore, the crimes and methods that the Bush administration has been employing are empowering the left and pushing us out of our easy chairs and forcing even controversy-laiden figureheads like Bill Clinton to speak out.
And besides the partisan chess match, the powers that be are even beginning to re-examine the practices of the "unitary executive".
It's a great time to be on the left and I hope that the practices of the "minority" of the conservative party don't damage the reputation of the United States so greatly that we're left out of the international stage as well.
Press on friends.
Additional links include a John Edwards blog post about the Nixon scandal that won't die, Gore's editorial and an interesting new insight on the Scooter Libby debacle, and of course, more laughable quotes from our unitary executive comparing Iraq to the Revolutionary War.
