S456 ARCHIVES: The 2012 Presidential Election - An Overview

~~ the following is a piece I did for the 2012-13 year of "The Ram Pride," Ringgold High School's school newspaper ~~

The 2012 presidential election is quickly approaching, and the question on everybody’s mind is simple: Who should we vote for? Should President Barrack Obama be reelected, should the Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney get the job, or should we throw our votes at someone else like Gary Johnson, Ron Paul or Rocky Anderson? Let’s take a closer look at these gentlemen.

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Barrack Obama is the current president of the United States. Barack Obama is our first president to officially back Gay Marriage. On abortion, he is adamant in securing a woman’s right to choose with his pro-choice position. Obama’s health care plan is very controversial, especially with the insurance mandate which came along with the Affordable Care Act. On taxes, Obama believes in the rich paying more than they currently do and the middle class paying less, respectively. Obama had Osama Bin Laden killed and brought the troops home from Iraq, which is a part of his fight against Al Qaeda. The national debt has increased by approximately five trillion dollars since Obama took office. His VP choice – and current Vice President, of course – is Joe Biden.

Official Website: http://www.barackobama.com/

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Mitt Romney is the official Republican nominee running against Obama. Mitt Romney believes strongly in “traditional marriage.” On a federal level, Romney wants Gay Marriage to be outlawed. On abortion, he believes in overturning Roe v. Wade and making abortion a state’s rights issues. He is personally pro-life and is against any federal funding towards abortion. When it comes to health care, Mitt wants Obama’s health care smacked down on a federal level in exchange for policies that, as his official website reads, “give each state the power to craft a health care reform plan that is best for its own citizens.” He wants the federal government’s only roll in health care to be helping to secure a “level playing field for competition,” his website also reads. Romney wants more money going to National Defense. Mitt believes in tax rates much more similar across the board than what Obama wants. He is running with his VP pick Paul Ryan.

Offical Website: http://www.mittromney.com/

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When it comes to third-parties, Gary Johnson is probably the most well-known. Gary Johnson is a Libertarian with the basic belief structure built around limited government and liberty. He believes in non-interventionalism, meaning he only thinks that military actions should be taken when absolutely necessary. When it comes to the economy, he wants spending to be cute and taxes to be cut. He thinks that removing Obama’s proposed insurance mandate and focusing on competition is the solution to America’s health care problem. He is in favor of ending America’s strong efforts to incriminate drug users and wants marijuana prohibition to cease. He is very similar to Congressman Ron Paul, who is more popular but has ended his campaign.

Official Website: http://www.garyjohnson2012.com/front

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Though not as popular as Gary Johnson, at least from my observations, Rocky Anderson is another third party gaining traction. On health care, Rocky takes a more far-left approach to health care, standing for the single-payer approach that Canada takes, or at least something similar. Rocky Anderson wants Minimum Wage to be raised to “no less than $10.00 an hour,” as to help fight disparity amongst the economic branches. Anderson wants America to end its financial and diplomatic support for Israel. Anderson is against the death penalty and thinks that life sentences bereft of parole may be a better option. Rocky is firmly against Guantanamo Bay, wanting it shut down, and for fair trials for terrorists to fill the void. He is a part of the Justice Party.

Official Website: http://www.voterocky.org/

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I asked around and students of Ringgold High School certainly have things to say. I do not have enough data to give an approximation of where Ringgold stands as a whole, but I can give you some individuals’ opinions.

Students like Sam Allman (11^th) and Jonathan Layton (11^th) support Barrack Obama. Liz Gearhart (12^th) and Aaron Turkovich (11^th) are willing to throw their hats in the ring with Mitt Romney, even though only the former is of age to actually vote. Nate Petrosky (11^th) supports Gary Johnson, while Alex Ferguson (10^th) sticks with his support for Ron Paul. Yet still, students like Eric Rosenburg (10^th) don’t particularly care, and students like Alex Stumpf (11^th) don’t really like anyone.

As for me? Well, before I wrote this I half-heartedly was rooting for Obama, but after writing this, I have to say, I’m quite smitten by Rocky Anderson. 

S456 ARCHIVES: Mitt Romney has Already Lost

~~ the following is a piece I did for the 2012-13 school year of "The Ram Pride," Ringgold High School's school newspaper ~~

For whatever reason, the loud and proud Herman Cain, the liberty-loving Ron Paul, the "Strong" Rick Perry, the Chick Fil-A chomping Rick Santorum and the feminine Michelle Bachman did not clinch the Republican nomination. None other than Mitt Romney claimed the spot in the ring against Barrack Obama. If you ask me, I would say that he got the nomination because he was perceived as the least controversial and therefor the safest bet to getting Obama out of office. But, now that he has had some time in the limelight as the Republican pick, and now that the Republican and Democratic National Conventions have ended, it's apparent that Romney is not doing the job that so many conservative Americans want him to do. It seems like he does a new dumb thing every day, I can't imagine he's very appealing to minorities and moderates, and the RNC and DNC made the Democrats look a whole lot better than the Republicans. Mitt Romney has already lost the 2012 Presidential Election.

Romney and his VP pick Paul Ryan say that they're going to remove certain tax loopholes as an alternative to President Obama's proposal of taxing the rich more, but when asked which bracket will receive these tax cuts, Romney and Ryan didn't have any answers and Mitt took the opportunity to make Democrats out to be bullies for pressing him. Another day Romney made it a point to say that airplane windows really need to open, and that it's, as Huffington Post reports, "very dangerous," that they don't, making Americans collectively giggle and sigh a depressing sigh. He may have been kidding, but this flub, no matter how much of his words he meant, hit the internet hard and made him look less than intelligent. The Stranger reports that, when asked, "Is $100,000 middle income?" Mitt said, “No, middle income is $200,000 to $250,000 and less." Now, 250,000 is the maximum amount to be considered middle class under our current president's tax plan, as the same source points out, but Romney shooting down the questioner's "$100,000" to say "$200,000 to 250,000" is misleading when, to quote this same source again, directly, "median household income in this country is $50,000." Romney just keeps saying things that makes the general public view him as an out of touch aristocrat that doesn't care about them.

Besides white, heterosexual, rich men, who is really going to connect with Mitt Romney? Are the gays, who he wants to make sure can't marry on a federal level, going to be slapping ROMNEY/RYAN bumper stickers on their car? Will all of the Americans that make critically-acclaimed films like Milk so successful be okay with this stamp on LGBT rights? I say no to both. Similarly, I can't imagine enough of those who don't place themselves clearly on the left or right of the political spectrum would throw their vote at Romney instead of Obama or even a third party. Romney may catch their eye when he promises to be more fiscally responsible than Obama, but they'll probably be quite turned off when they hear him go on about how he wants federal protection of abortion to cease, and when they hear him talk about his opposition to contemporary demands of the gays and when they hear him say that he will smack down all of Obama's progress on healthcare. Who exactly does Romney speak to that's going to net him a place in the White House? He's not even likable compared to his opponent, as a Gallup poll reveals.

The Republican National Convention did a good job of making their party, and Romney along with it, look oh-so-very silly. At the RNC, Clint Eastwood, speaking very poorly, might I add, reprimanded an invisible Obama like a painfully annoying Jeff Dunham (or more painfully annoying, depending on your opinion of Mr. Dunham) talking to a puppet. Also at the RNC, the room was filled with applause and shouts of glee as they shouted "We built it!," a response to a version of Obama that is socialist and doesn't value an individual's hard work; such a man Obama clearly is not. At the DNC, we see a beautiful, glorious, inspiring, hour-long speech from Bill Clinton that really makes Obama out to be quite the promising candidate and makes the Republican plan out to be foolish. And he does so with facts. And logic. And rhetoric that's not misleading. Not with invisible politicians and aggrandized slogans that aren't even rooted in reality.

I can't see Romney winning this. The polls agree, the latest from the Huffington Post [as of 8:00 PM, September 30th, 2012] placing Obama at 48.8% vs. Romney's 44.4%. Unsavory sentiments fall out of his mouth like snots from a child's sick nose. His backwards-approach to social issues is hardly going to help him get moderates and minorities on his side. His party looks bad, as the RNC and DNC exemplified. I don't think that it is too early to say that Mitt Romney has already lost the 2012 presidential election.

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Tell me why my opinions aren't quite good in the comments below.

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Sources:

"Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan Can't Say Which Tax Loopholes They'd Plug (VIDEO)": http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/09/mitt-romney-paul-ryan-tax-loopholes_n_1868444.html

"UPDATE: Mitt Romney Wonders Why Ann Romney's Airplane Windows Don't Roll Down": http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/24/mitt-romney-airplane-windows_n_1910930.html?utm_hp_ref=travel

"Romney Stresses Opposition to Marriage Equality in South Carolina": http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2012/01/17/405115/romney-stresses-opposition-to-marriage-equality-in-south-carolina/?mobile=wp

"Poll: Americans pick Obama over Romney on likability, but Romney wins on economy": http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/245243-poll-americans-pick-obama-over-romney-on-likability-but-romney-wins-on-economy

"Mitt Romney Thinks America's 'Middle Income' Is $200,000 to $250,000": http://www.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/09/14/mitt-romney-thinks-americas-middle-income-is-200000-to-250000&view=comments

"Clint Eastwood speaks to an invisible Obama: Twitter mocks 'gran turdito'": http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/us-news-blog/2012/aug/31/clint-eastwood-invisible-chair-twitter

"‘We Built It’ Resounds at RNC’s First Night": http://frontpagemag.com/2012/joe-kaufman/we-built-it-resounds-at-rncs-first-night/

"2012 General Election: Romney vs. Obama": http://elections.huffingtonpost.com/pollster/2012-general-election-romney-vs-obama

"Transcript of Bill Clinton's speech at the DNC": http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/05/transcript-bill-clinton-speech-at-dnc/

"Values" [Romney's official position on abortion is detailed on his official website here]: http://www.mittromney.com/issues/values

"Healthcare" [Romney's official position on healthcare is detailed on his official website here]: http://www.mittromney.com/issues/health-care

A Perspective on the Morgan/Mock Debacle

I really do like Piers Morgan. I think he can be prudish, dismissive, and embarrassingly ill-tempered, but I really do like Piers Morgan. He seems like a well-intentioned, passionate, and generally kind person. I especially admire his strong passion for gun control advocacy, even though I have issues with some of his approach on that issue.

Whenever I saw this tweet, I was puzzled:

What did I miss? I thought. Don't tell me he's transphobic...

And then I saw this tweet:

Oh boy. Is he joking or is this for real? What the heck happened?

Eventually, I got myself educated on this controversy Morgan had stumbled into. Janet Mock, a trans woman and trans rights advocate, was recently on his CNN show to discuss her new book Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More. His interview was very supportive of her and her cause, and the two had a friendly discourse about mostly her growth to her current state as a fully-transitioned woman.

It turns out, this exchange of their's caused some controversy; most notably from Mock herself in these tweets:

After the drama on Twitter, Mock was invited back on the show by a disgruntled and slightly vindictive Piers Morgan:

"I'll deal with you." Yeesh.

You can watch the videos here and here to catch up for yourself if you are not already caught up.

Overall, I'm very disappointed by Piers Morgan. My central problem with how he handled himself is that he did so very much in a fashion that showed much more concern for saving face than actually caring for the struggles of the trans community. He brought up his support of the gay community, as if that somehow gives him a pass on offending a different group of people. He brought up an old article in which she seemingly labels and characterizes herself just as he did, when in actuality, that article wasn't something she was responsible for, as she wrote about at the very beginning of her book, according to her.

It seems very obvious to me that he made a mistake when describing her life, and is too obsessed with maintaining his righteous self-image to admit to his mistake. He's missing the distinction between gender, something very nuanced, and sex. It's not appropriate to call her "formally a man" and "born a boy" because ever since she was able to fathom such a thing, she didn't identify as a boy, despite her sex and assigned gender.

She also makes the point that focusing on her transition in relation to her very committed relationship with her boyfriend "sensationalizes" her life history in a way that cheapens the struggles of the trans community. While I don't blame Piers for spending a lot of time on this, because it is very interesting and new to so many people, I certainly get her point. Framing this as her being a "former man" certainly takes that discussion to a bad place, and there are a lot of meatier, larger issues that could have been discussed. For example, check out these statistics in this screen cap from a "Pantheos" article:

Piers Morgan's main critique of Mock seemed to be that she did not call him out and correct him for his apparent mistake, to which she replied that sure, she probably should have, but that she didn't because she was afraid. I think this fear is obviously understandable. If this fear wasn't understandable, the argument between the two over Morgan's [mis]representation of trans people wouldn't have happened.

Janet Mock came off as a coolly intelligent and warm woman. She didn't handle the situation absolutely perfectly, but her failings were not only understandable, she also personally admitted them. 

With all of that being said, one of the main reasons I found this controversy so fascinating was that I really identified and sympathized with Piers on an emotional level. I identified and sympathized with him not because I feel I would have also misrepresented trans people in an offensive manor (although, to be clear, I would be open to the possibility of this article showing some kind of ignorance on my part), but generally because I could picture myself putting my foot in my mouth in a similar way. 

I sometimes say things that are ignorant, or offensive, and my ignorance/offensiveness should be apparent to me. But it isn't, because of a kind of worried attempt on my part to make myself seem morally and intellectually righteous at all times. It can be tough to admit you screwed up.

I really think I know the mental process he went through when the controversy started on twitter. The rapid dash for sources and arguments backing up his claim that were attractive for simply confirming his opinion rather than for their credibility, as her counter-argument in the second interview showed; the bringing up of other, clear moments of moral/intellectual righteousness, that really aren't relevant but absolutely are to him, in his deluded state of mind; etc. He just knew he was in the right, because he just knows he's a good, smart guy. 

I get it. I feel bad for him. He made an unfortunate, offensive mistake in discussing a complex issue. While labeling him transphobic may be a stretch, he's in the wrong here, folks. I only wish that he quits being bullheaded and admits that he goofed.

Top Ten Favorite Games of 2013

2013 was an absolutely phenomenal year for video games. It is absolutely the best year for games out of all of the years I've been the kind of gamer to follow new releases like I do now. Despite the launch of two brand new platforms in the form of the Playstation Vita and Wii U, both of which I picked up, 2012 was quite underwhelming for me. We did have the emotionally-gripping Walking Dead game, and the totally fun Playstation All-Stars, and the gleefully ridiculous Lollipop Chainsaw, but not much else really stuck out to me. This year, I have a strong list of ten video games. These ten video games are only my personal favorites; this is in no way a list of the top ten best games. Entirely subjective reactions to these games - such as a game being better than I expected, or a game having personal nostalgic value to me, etc. - are taken into consideration.

This is just a list of the top ten games I enjoyed the most, for my own personal reasons, ranked from least-loved to most-loved. Let's begin.

Frozen (Film) - Review

I was taken by surprise at the decent acclaim that Tangled garnered, and so too was I taken aback by the response to Frozen. The trailers make Frozen out to be nothing too special, but that isn't the case. This is a special movie that will almost certainly go down in history as another Disney classic. With Frozen, Disney has crafted a self-aware, forward-thinking, and also very enjoyable film.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (Video Game) - Review

When The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds was first announced, many reactions were quite skeptical, including mine. A handheld, button-controlled, top-down Zelda instantly sounded like a good idea to me, but I was unsure about its decision to harken back to A Link to the Past as strongly as it seemed to be. As more information about the game creeped out, I continued to fear that the game would be overly dependent on the past. The game is out, and sure, I wish it didn't borrow as much from A Link to the Past as it does, but that doesn't come close to stopping it from being the absolutely fantastic and innovative game in the series that it is. 

Jett Rocket II: The Wrath of Taikai (3DS) - Review

2010's Jett Rocket went under the radar when it released on the WiiWare service from Shin'en, but it did receive positive reviews. It was a 3D platformer that sparked comparisons to Super Mario Galaxy, despite it not including any gravity-based gimmickry.  I never got to play this game even though it always interested me, so when I saw its sequel, dawning the quirky subtitle The Wrath of Taikai, while randomly deciding to browsing the 3DS's eShop, I decided to give the 3D trailer a watch. The trailer very much impressed me, so I went ahead and bought the game that day and was overall pleased with what I played. Jett Rocket II: The Wrath of Taikai is a good little game.