Tag Archives: elections

I’m Overdue for a Right-Wing Rant, So Here Goes: Electoral Advice Fails When It Falls Into “Bush Eats Babies” Syndrome, However Subtly

Today’s victim of that syndrome – Jay Cost of Real Clear Politics: Here’s a thought experiment to mull. Take 100 undecided voters and expose them to an hour of clips of George W. Bush talking. How many of them will lean Obama at the end of the hour? More than half, I’m guessing, which is …

October 2, 2008 – 4:48 am | By ashok | Posted in politics | Tagged , , | Comments (3)

Beyond the 2008 Election: How Do We Create a Better, More Educative Politics?

If you read this blog regularly, you can skip this. It’s a right-wing rant that does cite some interesting passages of Jefferson’s, but the link to the letter is directly below and more worthy of your time. I just feel that some things really need repeating, especially when my political views are in one key …

September 17, 2008 – 4:33 pm | By ashok | Posted in education, politics | Tagged , | Comments (2)

The Politics of Denial: On Senator Obama’s Acceptance Speech (Warning: This is Very Partisan)

I’m going to rebut Senator Obama’s positions with Republican talking points, and then make a broader comment about what a sensible liberal has to do in order to achieve the most important items on their agenda. The speech I’m quoting from is here. I will provide links to the sources backing up my arguments as …

August 29, 2008 – 1:22 am | By ashok | Posted in politics | Tagged , | Comments (24)

Not Terribly Objective Thoughts on a Portion of the Democratic Convention

I only saw Senator Kerry, Lt. Gen. Kennedy, Rep. Chet Edwards and the Spielberg/Hanks video, Beau Biden and Joe Biden, so my remarks are limited to that alone. Disclaimer: I do vote Republican, support President Bush, and am voting for McCain. 1. Senator Kerry did his best to completely derail the Obama campaign. He remarked …

August 28, 2008 – 3:33 am | By ashok | Posted in politics | Tagged | Comments (0)

For My Republican Readers: Why Do We Need a Party? And How Are We Going To Win Elections In the Future?

All of us are familiar with the story that the Founders were opposed to political parties, and those of you who have gone through the previous posts on faction and equality can see deep arguments for why parties are a problem. The two I’m thinking of right now are: Parties may increase the chance that …

July 1, 2008 – 1:46 am | By ashok | Posted in education, politics | Tagged , , | Comments (12)

"I Voted For John McCain And All I Got Was This Lousy President"

Dear Senator McCain: I voted for you only because I couldn’t stomach the way-too-slick (and probably very corrupt) Arkansasan, the “conservative” who would probably say Massachusetts likes him because of his “conservatism,” and the rich nutcase with the support of white supremacists and Truthers everywhere. I’m not very happy right now. The main thing that’s …

February 5, 2008 – 5:16 pm | By ashok | Posted in politics | Tagged , , | Comments (4)

The Presidency, Incentives, and Offices

The modern separation of powers did not exist in the Aristotlean schema of government: instead of conceiving of specific institutions that form the government which are certain concepts instantiate – i.e. popular rule (Congress), Constitutional form (judiciary), effective execution (Presidency), Aristotle thought that all citizens should share in working through the everyday problems of law …

March 13, 2007 – 12:09 pm | By ashok | Posted in politics | Tagged , | Comments (1)

Beyond Right and Left: Manifesto

I got whiny on Buzzmachine about the state of politics today, and how I’m right and everyone else is wrong, and I think I had better write something that states more directly what I want:I still get asked by people, when they ask me what I study and I answer “political science,” whether I want …

January 29, 2007 – 11:18 am | By ashok | Posted in politics | Tagged | Comments (2)

Political Change

Perhaps what we need is not merely change of particular policies – i.e. how wars are conducted, what we wish to pay for the maintenance of the elderly and poor, etc. – but rather change in how we conduct political discourse in the first place. It is centered too much around wealth and power, and …

January 23, 2007 – 12:39 am | By ashok | Posted in politics | Tagged | Comments (2)

Please Articulate

Senator Sam Brownback gave what Buzzmachine called a rather “God-fearing” announcement of his candidacy, but I don’t know why Jeff Jarvis decided to italicize every single remark of his that was an allusion to religion (click the link and read the post, it isn’t long, to see why I’m fussing about this).I don’t know what …

January 22, 2007 – 9:02 am | By ashok | Posted in politics | Tagged , | Comments (1)