Perhaps one of the most profound ethical dilemmas that has gained prominence in contemporary American political discourse is torture. Brought to us by the War on Terror, this issue has been contentious for years, but it recently resurfaced with the decision of the Obama administration to release previously classified memos regarding the controversial “enhanced interrogation techniques” of the Bush administration. These techniques include water boarding, stress positions, sleep deprivation and interrogations lasting up to 20 hours, among other methods.
Posts Tagged ‘obama’
April10
The Ethics of Torture
This weeks featured fake news story comes from Wednesday’s episode of The Daily Show, where Jon Stewart examines what President Obama has been up to since passing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Including an arms treaty with Russia, expansion of off-coast oil drilling, and a trip to Afghanistan. Is there anything Obama won’t do? Also, who doesn’t love a great ’80s montage?
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The President of the Rutgers Democrats, Alex Holodak, was scheduled to give a speech of his own with Governor Corzine and President Obama at the rally in Holmdel, NJ. Due to time constrictions with the President, Alex did not actually get to speak. While this allowed the crowd to have more time hearing from President Obama, we think Alex wrote an amazing speech and deserves to have it out there for people to at least read. That speech, in its entirety, is below.
Alex Holodak, President of the Rutgers Democrats
Good afternoon and welcome fellow New Jerseyans, members of the Rutgers community and welcome to our very special guest, the President of the United States, Barack Obama! Now, we are all here at the PNC Bank Arts Center, yet it matters not where you sit, but by whom you sit. Look now to your right, look to your left. They are your friends, they are your peers; this is your community, this is our state. We are here today for the common purpose of demonstrating our confidence in and our support for the governor of the great state of New Jersey – Jon Corzine!If education is not our top priority today, then we invite failure tomorrow. To this noble end, Governor Corzine has endeavored to strengthen our schools, support our teachers and inspire our students. Without fear, Governor Corzine has not simply stepped on the so-called third rail of New Jersey politics, but has in fact dared to neutralize it. Once considered improbable, if not impossible, he signed legislation to consolidate school districts and services, thereby eliminating unnecessary bureaucracy and realizing greater efficiencies.
Breaking a 40 year impasse on school funding, Governor Corzine implemented a new formula that has brought our state’s students back into focus, one which provides for a more equitable distribution of funds and increases funding for special education.
Owing to our governors great efforts, we boast the highest graduation rates in the country. New Jersey is ranked #1 by Education Weekly for preschool enrollments and New Jersey students are also considered among the best prepared for higher education. We must now resolve to work hard so as to allow Governor Corzine another four years so he may continue raising the standards in education.
Jon Corzine is a chief executive, with proven successes in both public and private sectors, who has made tough decisions, and whose steady hand has steered our ship of state through a dark time. The current financial crisis looms large over us all, but we may find comfort in the seasoned financial expert, that is our governor, who leads our state. It is today, more than any other, worth mentioning that when the Obama administration crafted the economic stimulus plan, which has saved tens of thousands of jobs and strengthened our economy, they went to one of the nation’s foremost authorities on finance – Jon Corzine. Described by Vice President Joe Biden as, “America’s Governor,” Jon Corzine possesses precisely the knowledge and ideas of leadership necessary in this tumultuous time.
As president of the Rutgers Democrats, I am here today as, yes, a partisan. So-called partisan politics is decried in the media as a dirty word, but let’s take a look around. We should be proud to call ourselves democrats! I am proud to be here with my peers from the University, I am proud to be here with Rutgers President Richard McCormick, and I am very proud to be here with Jon Corzine and Barack Obama!
Speaking now, to those specifically of my generation, we must realize that what our president has said is true – that this is our time! We can no longer sit idly by with indifference and apathy. We possess the potential for immense political power, but many of us choose to ignore our obligations, instead finding blissful ignorance in hollow distractions. Don’t get me wrong, we all require and deserve outlets and levity, but I beg you to focus your energies this fall to the task at hand of re-electing Governor Corzine.
Today we have had an open and honest dialogue with one another. Yes, we are, for the most part, all democrats, but it need not be limited to one party. If explained gently, with kindness and patience, our friends from the other side of the isle will recognize what we know to be true. I recognize politics will not change overnight, but I also acknowledge that is changing. I believe we stand at a precipice. Bastions of the old guard have signaled that even they are aware of the change that is so undeniably in the air. Look to Washington, where a woman serves as Speaker of the House, where a man who less than century ago could not even vote, serves as our nations president. Look to Europe, once separated by differences, now united in their common humanity. Look even to the Vatican, where Pope Benedict speaks not of maintaining the status quo, but of large changes. Up until today, there has been only tacit acknowledgement of the immense change that is taking place.
Well, today, I challenge you to join me in turning the page. The seemingly endless chapter of old, dirty politics is over – we must turn the page. The days we were on the sidelines are over – turn the page. Gone is the fear and insecurity – We will turn the page this November! But let it not stop there. Let us continue this frank discussion. Let us continue to have ideas and to take action. We must endeavor to bring back the public square that is so necessary for the vital exchange of ideas, which drives that steady march of progress. So with that said, I invite those of you Rutgers students, to join our organization, the Rutgers Democrats on Facebook, Twitter.com/RUDems, or rudemocrats.com and to all of you to follow me at twitter.com/alexholodak so we can continue this discussion as we move forward.
Finally, I would like to thank the Corzine campaign for the opportunity to speak today. I also would like to express my appreciation to Rutgers University. They have gone above and beyond to help our student organization in this effort. I am proud to be a product of Rutgers University.
In closing, Martin Luther King told us that, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter.“ I want you to know that this matters! November 3rd matters! Our state matters! And re-electing Jon Corzine matters! Go vote and spread the word! Thank you!
-Alex Holodak, 2009
Rick Warren giving a sermon at the Inauguration of Barack Obama.
For those of you not up-to-date on the recent controversies, President Barack Obama decided to have Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church do his invocation during the January 20th inauguration. Sadly, this decision has been relentlessly criticized by many Democrats without cause, and such criticisms have been reduced primarily to ad hominem attacks on Warren himself.
The first question you must ask is whether Obama’s decision was “wrong”. I would argue it was not. Rick Warren is not a fundamentalist. In fact, he remains one of the most moderate and open-minded individuals within popular Christianity; even hosting a fair forum with both 2008 general election candidates without ever taking sides. Any remark of extremism and/or comparisons to the likes of Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson reveals simple ignorance. This takes us to some of Warren’s infamous quotes: Did you hear that Warren called homosexuality equal to incest and pedophilia? In fact, Warren only argues that sodomy is equivalent to homosexuality in the context of them both changing the 5,000-year-old definition of marriage.
Although Warren is by-no-means the most politically correct or salient speaker, his comment remains factually correct. Warren also comments later, via an off-the-cuff youtubescue video, saying that he by no means believes incest and homosexuality equal. Thus, to argue his prejudice against gays using one comment out of context, while simultaneously disregarding his clarification of that comment later, seems illogical. I can understand why homosexuals may disagree with Obama’s choice; obviously they would much prefer a pastor who believes the Bible doesn’t forbid homosexuality, but the outrage shown by so many people remains unwarranted. Warren has also been charged with the crime of comparing abortion to the holocaust. Although taken out of context as well, the main problem with this argument is that it forgoes the main premises of pro-life advocacy.
“Don’t tell me it should be rare. That’s like saying on the Holocaust, ‘Well, maybe we could save 20 percent of the Jewish people in Poland and Germany and get them out and we should be satisfied with that,’” Warren said. “I’m not satisfied with that. I want the Holocaust ended.” The context shows that the holocaust was used only as a popularly understood event of mass murder; such an analogy could easily be interchanged with many others. In addition, most pro-lifers believe that abortion IS murder. Although one may disagree with such an assertion, the analogy above simply defines a holocaust as mass murders, and thus abortion is like a holocaust and ought to be stopped. Once again, you may disagree with him, but there is nothing extreme or logically fallacious with his comment. Once again, although politically incorrect, the remark remains factually correct if taken from a pro-life viewpoint.
Accepting all the points made above, one may still disagree with Obama’s choice of Warren, but to argue that it was “wrong” or to be particularly outraged would be too strong of a response. The question then remains whether this was politically wise. I would personally say it was. Although I can see why many would disagree, Warren is probably the most popular moderate evangelical leader in the country.
If Obama needs a pastor (Wright won’t do), and wanted to reach across the aisle, Warren undoubtedly is the best choice. As seen over his presidential campaign, Obama is clearly shrewd. But how shrewd? Shrewd enough to lean away from his party to make himself more favorable to evangelicals particularly? I think so. In the end, you must admit that this issue, once Obama takes office, will be completely forgotten by liberals. They will go back to worshiping the ground he walks on once he shows he can at least properly invade countries without warrant (a remark on President Bush’s incompetence). Evangelicals, on the other hand, are still wary of Obama and feel lost in today’s Republican Party. I would argue that the Democratic outrage regarding this “issue” only better serves Obama’s strategy, since Obama now looks like he is a moderate, cares about evangelicals, and will even stand up to the “far left”. Since evangelicals are the only ones who may remember this event, why not concoct such a strategy? Regardless of whether it was planned or not, this could turn out well for the President.
In the end, “Warren-Gate” is not newsworthy. In the absence of any real news, the media enjoys creating drama in their own image. Homosexuals and Democrats can disagree with the decision, but don’t act like this is a big deal when people around the world are dying from crimes against humanity (I haven’t heard this much outrage about Darfur)! This petty bickering and inability to form priorities remains one of the foremost problems facing our political system. We just elected an African American Democrat as President during a financial crisis and we’re really spending time on this? Despite being a big supporter of Obama’s, I’m all for keeping our politicians accountable. However, this borders on the absurd, and remains quasi-hypocritical. We can’t ask that our politicians work with opposing parties while excluding those who have different opinions! It’s ironic how intolerant we viewed conservative Christians when they ridiculed Warren for inviting Obama to his Church, and yet we see no hypocrisy in this situation? As Obama has already pointed out in his talking points, Warren has done much for social justice issues as well as AIDS/HIV.
Rick Warren is not an extremist, nor is he intolerant. He simply disagrees with most Democrats on some social issues. I seriously question who is being more intolerant in this situation. Conservative Christian moderates like Rick Warren ought to be encouraged. Obama is acting in a bipartisan manner, like he said he would, while still legislatively pursuing the Democratic issues he promised. And we wonder why politicians lie to us?
