Media Politics and Stories Relevant to the Course in General

See my media page for many links.

See John Kerry's Iraq gaffe in Pasadena (Sabato reader, pp. 161-162).

George Allen's "Macaca" gaffe (Sabato reader, pp. 159-160, 179) circulated on YouTube and became a MSM story in The Washington Post. Reporter Mike Shear is a CMC alum (class of 1990). Mike recently videotaped a controversial remark by Fred Thompson and posted it on the Post website.

Some other recent items relevant to the course:

• When you read of Speaker Pelosi's complaints about the Senate, think of Madison's observation in Federalist 51: "to divide the legislature into different branches; and to render them, by different modes of election and different principles of action, as little connected with each other as the nature of their common functions and their common dependence on the society will admit. "
• The civil religion remains close to the headlines, as we can see in a recent flap over the inclusion of God on congressional flag certificates.
• Religion keeps popping up elsewhere. Speaker Pelosi has spoken about her prayers. An AP story mentions the role of religion in the campaign: "The night also featured an Obama video and a campaign altar call — an invitation to become a "congregation contact" and rally support for the candidate."