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About this Blog

During the semester, I shall post course material and students will comment on it. Students are also free to comment on any aspect of American politics, either current or historical. There are only two major limitations: no coarse language, and no derogatory comments about people at the Claremont Colleges. This blog is on the open Internet, so post nothing that you would not want a potential employer to see. Syllabus: http://gov20h.blogspot.com/2023/08/draft-introduction-to-american-politics.html

Saturday, November 28, 2009

vp biden explains the 14 districts in arizona "thank god it's not true, they said there were 14 congressional districts in arizona... imagine all those republicans!"- biden (move to 7 minutes 40 seconds or so)

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Secrecy in federal courts and issues with civilian oversight in covert operations

This article addresses the concerns that a civilian trial of KSM and other terrorist detainees will lead to the disclosure of classified documents.

This article discusses how Blackwater and other private security firms are potentially being used to get around restrictions on Congressional oversight of covert operations.

Both good reads for anyone interested in the legal issues involved in the war on terror.

Politics, Movies, and TV

Birth of a Nation (1915) -- the first movie to have a White House screening, sadly revealing Woodrow Wilson's writings and racial attitudes in the early 20th century.

Gabriel Over the White House (1933) -- a proto-fascist moment.

Mission to Moscow (1943) -- pro-Soviet propaganda (you read that correctly).

Duck and Cover (1951) -- civil defense documentary on saving yourself from the Bomb.

Red Nightmare (1962) -- DOD film asks: what if the Reds took over?

Fail-Safe (1964) -- after the Cuban Missile Crisis, a scary look at an accidental nuclear attack.

Dr. Strangelove (1964) -- a satirical look at an accidental nuclear attack.

Capricorn One (1978) -- in the paranoid 1970s, a fake Mars landing (start at 20 min.)

Finally, a British perspective:

The greatest television series ever: The Prisoner.

And a close second, Monty Python's Flying Circus

Monday, November 23, 2009

Rupert Murdoch attempts to monetize online news services

In reference to our earlier discussion of the news business, I present this article.

Partisanship in News Articles

Re: Partisanship of the news media

It can be difficult to keep one's biases from influencing one's written work. An opinion article by James Taranto in the Wall Street Journal discussing the recent hacking of a university scientist's global-warming related emails referenced one possible case of bias in the New York Times article "New Consensus Sees Stimulus Package as Worthy Step." Says Taranto:

"Consider the first three paragraphs of a New York Times article about economists' views of President Obama's so-called stimulus:

Now that unemployment has topped 10 percent, some liberal-leaning economists see confirmation of their warnings that the $787 billion stimulus package President Obama signed into law last February was way too small. The economy needs a second big infusion, they say.
No, some conservative-leaning economists counter, we were right: The package has been wasteful, ineffectual and even harmful to the extent that it adds to the nation's debt and crowds out private-sector borrowing.
These long-running arguments have flared now that the White House and Congressional leaders are talking about a new "jobs bill." But with roughly a quarter of the stimulus money out the door after nine months, the accumulation of hard data and real-life experience has allowed more dispassionate analysts to reach a consensus that the stimulus package, messy as it is, is working.

So there's one group of economists that thinks the stimulus was insufficient, another that thinks it was harmful, and a third that thinks it was both beneficial and sufficient. This is not normally what one would describe as a consensus.

But then, if you read that third paragraph carefully, you'll see that the Times is claiming a consensus only in the third group, i.e., "more dispassionate analysts," which seems to be defined as those who think the stimulus is working. It's a consensus by tautology!"

Of course, Taranto himself neglects to mention that the
Times article later clarifies that the word consensus is
used not merely for ideological reasons, but because "a broad range of economists" believe the stimulus bill to be effective. Partisanship seems to cut both ways.
The Fox network has an interesting schedule. In order to tell when you're watching news and when you're watching opinion, it seems like you need a flowchart.

News Media and Public Knowledge

What Americans know: evidence from Pew

Sunday, November 22, 2009

old news, but still humorous. good ol' bernie madoff

Saturday, November 21, 2009

http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/2009/11/21/fort-hood-shooting-splits-america-over-islamic-terror-motive/

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Doug Hoffman Un-condedes the NY-23 Race

An interesting update on that state of affairs in upstate New York.

Read the article here.

Geography Awareness

In honor of Geography Awareness week, National Geographic has an online feature showing Senators' drawings of their home states. I know from personal experience that Americans aren't the most geographically aware. I once handed out a survey to Juniors and Seniors at my high school that asked, among other things, for a basic drawing of the world; at least five people put Antarctica at the top of the map. But these were high school students; you would assume our U.S. Senators would do a better job. Most of them did, but I'd recommend looking at Senator Saxby Chambliss's drawing of his state of Georgia, which looks more like Mississippi:

The Brown Recordings

The Wall Street Journal reports (full text here) on a story that we shall discuss on Monday. An aide to California state attorney general Jerry Brown -- a former governor who is running to get his old job back -- recorded conversations between Brown and several reporters without telling them. The staffer quit, but the recordings have become public. They offer a window on how politicians deal with the press. At certain points, Brown is explicitly trying to shape coverage. See this exchange with Bob Jabro of AP:

BJ: Anything else, sir?

JB: No, I think. They’re a little more inflammatory than I am so they get higher up on the damn story. So I gotta say something like “shocking.”

BJ: You’ve been around this job too long!

JB: What should we say? Shocking and…

Gerber: To me it was “smoke and mirrors” was the quote.

BJ: Smoke and mirrors is good, right. Well, thank you sir, I appreciate it.

JB: Play with it and if you need any more rhetorical fusillade, call me, will ya? Because I don’t want this to be an unbalanced story. I want equal firepower on both sides.

BJ: Thank you sir, I appreciate it.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Interest Group Politics

Thank You for Smoking:




The real MOD Squad
The NRA is a conglomerate, consisting not only of the NRA (a 501(c)(4)), but also:

The Armenian Embassy & Diaspora Groups

Tips on lobbying

More on the trial of KSM

Once again, Jon Stewart delivers news and commentary in ways more enlightening and fact-based than anything the network media has done in decades. Watch the clip comparison to see how little spine Rudy Giuliani has in the face of the Republican base.

Monday, November 16, 2009

GOP Candidate buzz for 2012

Hey everyone,
I was wasting time on gallup today and noticed this public opinion poll from a couple weeks ago regarding the likely candidates for the GOP ticket in 2012, you can see the info for yourself here. Looks like Huckabee has the most support so far, amongst the general populace and the republicans. I thought this was especially interesting since we have been discussing the American South and how many presidents have come from that region.

On Greeting a Foreign Head of State

Re: Protocol when the President meets a foreign head of state, Obama's bow to Emperor Akihito

Miss Manners writes:

"Heads of state are the symbolic embodiments of their countries, and the greeting gesture is itself symbolic...When Miss Manners sees American citizens delighting in bowing or curtseying to royalty, she tries to remind herself that they are just being silly, not treasonous. When an American official does it, we can only hope it was because he was noticing that his own shoelace was undone -- and not that he recognizes the divine right of kings in general, or the authority over us of that king in particular."

She notes that the traditional American handshake reflects the values of our country:

"Because we officially consider all people to be equal and equally worthy of respect, the same gesture, the handshake -- simple, dignified and egalitarian -- [works] for all."

In summary: Obama was symbolically subservient to the Japanese emperor. The bow was a bad idea.

Political Parties


Party in Government and Party Organization

.........................Legislative............................Executive
Party in Gov.....House Dem Caucus................POTUS
........................
House GOP Conference
........................
Senate Dem Caucus
........................
Senate GOP Conference

Party Org........
DCCC, NRCC, DSCC, NRSC......DNC, RNC

Party in the Electorate

Trial of KSM in New York Court

Thoughts on this article and the decision in general?

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Lobbyists and Speeches on the House Floor

Lobbyists' most important job is to supply information to lawmakers. Sometimes they supply legislative language. And as The New York Times reports this morning, sometimes they supply speeches:

In the official record of the historic House debate on overhauling health care, the speeches of many lawmakers echo with similarities. Often, that was no accident. Statements by more than a dozen lawmakers were ghostwritten, in whole or in part, by Washington lobbyists working for Genentech, one of the world’s largest biotechnology companies. E-mail messages obtained by The New York Times show that the lobbyists drafted one statement for Democrats and another for Republicans. The lobbyists, employed by Genentech and by two Washington law firms, were remarkably successful in getting the statements printed in the Congressional Record under the names of different members of Congress.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Ballot Design

Re: The complexity of ballots in the United States

This interactive ballot "identifies common design problems" and allows readers to see the alternatives recommended by the United States Election Assistance Commission.

Some of the problems noted include "misleading page design," "complex language" and "confusing images." Presumably these problems are made worse by the number of candidates and issues on most American ballots.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Felons and Voting Rights

Our discussion in class reminded me of an interesting opinion article I read in The Economist last week. I always like The Economist because it offers an international perspective on many of the things we take for granted in the U.S.

The most interesting part of the article, I thought, was the closing paragraph:

"Serving prisoners are not numerous enough to swing many elections. But once a government uses disenfranchisement as a sanction, it is tempted to take things further. Consider those American states where the suspension of prisoners’ votes has morphed into a lifelong ban: in Republican-controlled Florida, for instance, nearly a third of black men cannot vote—enough to have swung the 2000 presidential election. Even those who don’t care much about prisoners’ rights should be wary of elected officials exercising too much say over who makes up the electorate."

You can read the entire article here.

The New Mickey Mouse

Re: Disney's Political Interests and Powers

The New York Times reports that Mickey Mouse is undergoing a makeover and being "[re-imagined] for the future." They describe his appearance in the video game Epic Mickey as "cantankerous and cunning."

A picture of the updated mouse is below. I think the new Mickey better represents the (lobbying) power of Disney:

Electoral Process

Complications

Air Midterm

Relax. This “air midterm” does not count toward your grade; do not even turn it in. Instead, use it to appraise your own progress in the course. Try out this test, either in your head or on paper. If you flounder, then you should take more care with class sessions and assigned readings.

I. Identifications. Explain the meaning and significance of the following items. What is fair game for an identification?

  • Items that we have discussed in class or on the blog;
  • Items that appear in bold or italics in the readings;
  • Items that cover several pages in the readings.

  1. Dual federalism
  2. “Energy in the executive”
  3. Markup
  4. “Selective incorporation”
  5. Self-evident truths
  6. “Brutus”
  7. Moeurs
  8. Spaghetti chart
  9. Ninth Amendment
  10. Federal Register
  11. The Three-Fifths Clause
  12. The Supremacy Clause

II. Quotations. For each of the following passages, note the source and explain its meaning within the context of the course.

  1. “Now I confess myself as belonging to that class in the country who contemplate slavery as a moral, social, and political evil, having due regard for its existence among us and the difficulties of getting rid of it in any practical way, and to all the Constitutional obligations which have been thrown about it...”
  2. “[A]nd to render them, by different modes of election and different principles of action, as little connected with each other as their common functions and their common dependence on the society will admit.”
  3. “The President of the United States possesses almost royal prerogatives which he has no occasion to use, and the rights of which he has been able to make use so far are very circumscribed; the laws allow him to be strong, but circumstances have made him weak.”

III. General Essays

  1. According to Tocqueville, what are the main causes that maintain a democratic republic in the United States? Explain.
  2. Is federalism beneficial? Explain.

IV. Bonus questions (one point each)

Jay Topkis, Jim DeMint, Christopher Brundage, John M. Harlan, Janet Napolitano

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Civil Rights and Citizenship

Review some major civil rights statutes.



  • Several years ago, President Bush signed an executive order to provide for faster naturalization of noncitizens serving in the military.


Elections and the Constitution

As you read chapters 11 and 12 in Amar, think of the linkage between constitutional amendments and elections:

Amendment XVI

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census or enumeration. Taxes are a major issue in campaigns.

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each state, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each state shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the state legislatures.

When vacancies happen in the representation of any state in the Senate, the executive authority of such state shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, that the legislature of any state may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.

This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.

Senate elections have unique characteristics. Also note the provision on appointments. Currently, six senators (Bennet of Colorado, Burris of Illinois, Gillibrand of New York, Kaufman of Delware, Kirk of Massachusetts, LeMieux of Florida) hold office as a result of gubernatorial appointment to fill a vacancy. All except LeMieux are Democrats. Only Bennet and Gillibrand are seeking election in their own right.

Amendment XVIII (Prohibition) and Amendment XXI (Repeal) were big issues in their day.

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. Ponder the gender gap.

Section 1. The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.

Section 2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.

Section 3. If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice President elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified.

Section 4. The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the House of Representatives may choose a President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may choose a Vice President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them.

Section 5. Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of October following the ratification of this article.

Section 6. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several states within seven years from the date of its submission.

This amendment greatly shortened the "lame duck" period after the presidential election, which was a huge problem in 1933.

Section 1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.

Section 2. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several states within seven years from the date of its submission to the states by the Congress.

From Reuters:

Former president Bill Clinton said Monday that, without term limits, he would have stayed in the job "until I was carried away in a coffin, or defeated in an election."

Amendment XXIII

Section 1. The District constituting the seat of government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as the Congress may direct:

A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a state, but in no event more than the least populous state; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the states, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a state; and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment.

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

A solid three electoral votes for the Democrats

Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Poll taxes had disenfranchised the poor and minorities.

Amendment XXV further raised the prominence of the vice presidency and thus, vice presidential candidates.

Amendment XXVI

Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States, who are 18 years of age or older, to vote, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of age.

Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Look what happened to voter turnout when the amendment became effective.

No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.

Congressional pay is a hardy perennial among election issues.


The Results are In...

Re: Races to Watch, November 2009


NJ - Democrat Governor Corzine loses races to Republican Christopher Christie.

Virginia - Democrat R. Criegh Deeds loses to Republican Robert F. McDonnell

NY-23 - Democrat Bill Owens wins over Conservative candidate Douglas Hoffman.


Analysis/Spin:

From the New York Times:

How the Republicans campaigned - "Mr. Christie and Mr. McDonnell won after decidedly playing down their conservative views on social issues. Their relentless focus on jobs and the economy — voters in both states listed those as their top issues in exit polls —appeared to blunt the effort of Democrats to undercut the candidates by pointing to their history of conservatism on social issues."

The potential impact of the Conservative loss in NY - "The critical question after this setback is whether the conservative groups who had clearly signaled that they intended to press their advantage and challenge other Republican candidates they considered too moderate would now have the impetus or support to continue down that road."

White House view - “If there is a big backlash against Democrats, why did we just pick up a Democrat in a district [NY-23] that hasn’t elected a Democrat in 150 years?” asked David Axelrod, a senior adviser to Mr. Obama. “The real story here is, I think this thing is ambiguous. Yes, Democrats lost in New Jersey and Virginia, but if you look at those races, the factors were locals.”


The Headlines on the Results:

Los Angeles Times: "Votes Give GOP a Lift; Democrats a Warning"

New York Times: "A Year After Dousing, Republicans Hope Rekindled"

Wall Street Journal: "GOP Wins Key States"

Washington Post: "GOP Wins Reveal Cracks in Obama Coalition"

Monday, November 2, 2009



Followup

Here is a video relating to Nick's question:



Alyssa mentioned Brandenburg v. Ohio. You may find a case summary and oral argument here. The short form:
The Court's Per Curiam opinion held that the Ohio law violated Brandenburg's right to free speech. The Court used a two-pronged test to evaluate speech acts: (1) speech can be prohibited if it is "directed at inciting or producing imminent lawless action" and (2) it is "likely to incite or produce such action." The criminal syndicalism act made illegal the advocacy and teaching of doctrines while ignoring whether or not that advocacy and teaching would actually incite imminent lawless action. The failure to make this distinction rendered the law overly broad and in violation of the Constitution.

Civil Liberties & Civil Rights


The Bill of Rights

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

Amendment III

No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.





Amendment V

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.



In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.



Amendment VII

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

---------------------------------

Civil War Amendments

Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Section 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several states according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a state, or the members of the legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such state, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such state.

Section 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any state shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.

Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.



Sunday, November 1, 2009

New Issue for SCOTUS

This NY Times article points out some interesting issue raised by a Washington State referendum over gay rights. Do petition signatures count as public records? Or does publishing them violate the right to privacy implied by the Bill of Rights?


Does anyone know of any previous cases that have taken on the issue of public disclosure contending with privacy rights?