Americans are messed up with privilege. There is no other way to begin this. This is the initial thought I conjured as I rattle through my pop culture-bred membrane as we discover detail after detail of the production of “Innocence of Muslims,” a film that has incited riots and a U.S. embassy attack which left an ambassador dead and three others wounded.
The first lesson you learned about honesty probably involved telling your kindergarten classmate that it was you who ate his pudding. What you won’t learn in kindergarten is the slightly more serious and considerably more cynical idea that honesty is not always the best policy. Mitt Romney and his now-infamous 47 percent speech exemplify this in the field of today’s competitive politics. Not to say that his statements were correct in any way, and not to say that they didn’t mark his entire political party with a label of disdainful arrogance, but it does say something about whether or not candidates should really be honest with the public. Is it in a candidate’s self-interest to divulge their real opinions?
In recent weeks, the city passed two ordinances aiming to improve Madison’s safety and comfort. One, supported by Mayor Paul Soglin, tries to make State Street a more comfortable area by outlawing panhandling, or begging, on its grounds. The other, which lacks the mayor’s support, allows cabs to pick up flagging patrons on the 500 block of State Street between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m.
American politics seems to have undergone a sort of implosion in recent years. No, I’m not referring to the increased partisanship and extremism that has dominated the news for the past few election cycles. What I’m worried about is a reduction in the scope of our concerns.
This past weekend I returned to my hometown, Milwaukee, Wis., to cross an item off my bucket list that’s been there since 2008: Watching President Barack Obama, the first African-American president and one of the best campaigners in recent history, speak in person.
This past weekend I returned to my hometown, Milwaukee, Wis., to cross an item off my bucket list that’s been there since 2008: Watching President Barack Obama, the first African-American president and one of the best campaigners in recent history, speak in person.
Let me start off by addressing the fact that solely by virtue of being human, every person throughout the world possesses fundamental, inalienable human rights. To quote John Locke, and later Thomas Jefferson, among these rights are “life, liberty and property” (or “the pursuit of happiness”). Just as human beings have these inalienable rights, nations too have rights that must be preserved and cannot be infringed upon. The Palestinian people are a nation. They have a history, they have a culture and they maintain the right to be a sovereign state. Regardless of Mitt Romney’s views, as a people they are not hell-bent on obliterating Israel, and their culture is not inherently inferior to that of the Israeli’s. Why then is this Israeli/Palestinian peace process such an ordeal? Why does it continue to remain stagnant? Why is there still such a great magnitude of animosity harbored on both sides?
On any given day, if you walk down State Street just past State Street Brats, you will undoubtedly see several homeless people begging for money. And, as awful as it is to say, you will likely ignore them or lie about not having any cash.
The selfishness, arrogance, and incompetence of the Roman emperor Nero is often encapsulated in the expression, “Nero fiddled while Rome burned.” Although President Obama cannot play a musical instrument, his actions during the violence-filled anniversary week of 9/11 demonstrate that Obama does not need a fiddle to neglect his duties as America’s head of state. On the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, gunmen struck the U.S. consulate in Benghazi with rocket-propelled grenades and killed four Americans, including Christopher Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya. The disorder spread to other Middle Eastern states, and American embassies in Tunisia, Yemen, and Sudan were assaulted by protestors. As the U.S. consulate in Libya smoldered and American embassies around the world were besieged by hordes of militant protestors, Obama enjoyed a campaign visit to Las Vegas, an appearance on the “Late Show with David Letterman” and a lavish fundraiser in New York hosted by pop stars Jay-Z and Beyonce. Prior the brutal attacks on America’s diplomatic missions, TV interviews were added to the President’s schedule, while national intelligence briefings were skipped. The President’s choice to scrounge for votes and stuff his election coffers, rather than review national security threats or strongly respond to Muslim extremism, indicates that the White House prioritizes re-election over the protection of U.S. institutions and citizens. The White House’s decision to serve its own political interests rather than serve the national interest should worry any American who feels that the defense of the American people - and not the electoral gain of a particular party or politician - is the principal duty of his/her President. John Rizner is a sophomore majoring in history and economics. He is a member of the UW College Republicans. Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
Do it, I dare you. Run into me one more time.
When Chief Justice John Roberts ruled the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s mandate provision could be construed as a tax—even after President Obama denied that the mandate was a tax, and even after Congress explicitly removed all language that would indicate that the mandate could be construed as a tax—I was, like most Americans who actually bothered to read the decision, baffled. Roberts’ use of doublespeak to redefine the word “penalty” by denying its dictionary implications of violation of law was remarkable.
The night after the Packers won the Super Bowl in 2011 my palm was burning from all the high-fives I got during and after the game. State Street was awash in Green and Gold fans celebrating in the temperate winter conditions. I remember watching the Wisconsin vs. Ohio State game where J.J. Watt and company steamrolled the No. 1 ranked Buckeyes. The city erupted, students and visitors crammed the bars and the streets until the early morning.
Paying for college is rough. That’s not a surprise, and because it can be so expensive, people have to turn to less-than-favorable means of earning money to get through it. Madison even boasts its very own plasma center, where donations are compensated in cash.
Looks like the Orpheum Theater, an icon on the 200 block of State Street, will soon be shutting its doors after being mismanaged straight into the ground. The details of the demise of the Orpheum aren’t exactly clear to me, but I know that a lost liquor license, shoddy booking and inconsistency in every other aspect of running the company surely didn’t help. This is an open letter to whoever sinks the time and money into the next iteration of the Orpheum theater, conveniently organized for you, future owners.
Late last week Judge Juan Colas struck down major portions of Act 10, the law that severely curtailed how public employees can collectively bargain. Judge Colas argues that the implementation of the law violates the constitutional rights of state employees, specifically the rights of free speech, association and equal representation under the law. Colas views Act 10 as illegally denying public employees the rights afforded to workers who earn their wage in the private sector.
We have all heard the stories of the extremes members of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have gone to in order to turn heads and call attention to incidents they determine to be animal cruelty. So upon learning of PETA’s accusations that a UW-Madison animal research lab violated animal welfare laws while using cats to perform brain experiments, many of our initial reactions were to question the legitimacy of the claims. But while the group is controversial and sometimes disruptive, we welcome its insight onto our campus.
There are two holidays that I absolutely love, that I eagerly anticipate each year: Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July. This past summer was the first time in my life that I was not able to celebrate the American Independence Day within United States’ borders. As a second semester junior, I chose to study abroad. After a long and careful search for the right program, I discovered that the Hebrew University of Jerusalem appositely fit all of my wants and needs. Consistently esteemed in world rankings, in the heart of a land that I love and a region I wanted to learn more about, and equipped with easy access to Europe for vacation getaways, H.U.J.I. appeared as an easy choice for the place I would spend my semester. But as my travels there extended until July 9, I was forced to celebrate the Fourth of July there.
As students at UW-Madison, time spent on State Street is a large part of the Badger Experience. Students working, living, and enjoying themselves on State will carry those experiences with them for the rest of their lives.
China and Japan might go to war. A few days ago, Japan purchased some islands off the coast of China. These islands are disputed territory between the two countries. Yesterday and the day before, Chinese streets were filled with hundreds of thousands of protesters. Japanese stores have been looted. Japanese people living in China have fled. The protesters are demanding that China declare war.
The battle over collective bargaining continues. Dane County’s very own Judge Juan Colas declared aspects of Act 10, Gov. Scott Walker’s baby, unconstitutional last Friday in a case brought by the Madison Teachers Union and Public Employees Local 61. Colas based his ruling on the discriminatory nature of the law, which caps union workers’ wages but leaves their nonunion counterparts totally untouched, among other things.
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