Janine+R’s+Final+AmEx+2013+Speech

=Politics These Days=

Politics these days. We live in a place and time when it is apparently okay to attack people of an opposing political party for no other reason than that: they are the members of the opposing political party. Most nights when I watch the news I’ll see stories like the recent Boston Marathon bombing or Obama’s Memorial Day Address. However, when I heard about the recent IRS scandal having to do with the attacking of conservative groups in particular, I couldn’t help but wonder, is this really what American politics is coming to? Although I may not agree with some of the political policies of said conservative groups like the Tea Party, it doesn’t mean I am not completely offended by these attacks. It seems like all we hear today is *insert snooty voice* “The //Republicans// believe we should do this *scoff*” or “The //Democrats// want this to happen*scoff*”, instead of just stating both side’s views on a certain policy and debating accordingly without all the cheap tricks, accusations or name calling. It makes me feel as though I am more mature than some of the highest leaders in our government. I know political opposition started with Jefferson and Hamilton, and I encourage it! We should be questioning each others ideas so that Americans can fully understand which stance they would like to take on a certain topic, especially the most controversial, like abortion. But there comes a point when both Conservative and Liberal groups alike seem to be putting their own political agendas ahead of what’s best for America and its citizens. I’m sorry but when did the idea of compromise gets thrown out of the window? Last year in Florida, many new voting laws were pushed by Republican legislatures, such as reduced early voting hours, voter purges, and voter registration restrictions. Later, “several prominent Florida Republicans” admitted that these changes were an attempt to suppress minority and Democratic votes. Are you kidding me? Have we really stooped so low? But no, it doesn’t stop there. As I was researching for this speech, I came across a “Stop Republicans Now” website that stated “The Republican Party, or GOP, represents only a few corporate families who want all American wealth for themselves” and “Far right wing extremists & their unjust, freedom-hating laws”. Now some people may agree with the man who made this website, but is it really so black and white? Do people honestly believe that just because someone belongs to the Republican Party they are rich “freedom-haters”? I know many Republicans including my father, and I can assure you, they are not all rich. If they were you wouldn’t be able to hear my car from a mile away when I accelerate. Secondly, I find it very hard to believe that all Republicans are so-called freedom haters or “mini communists” ( a term I found on another website)(By the way the Stop Republicans Now website is accepting donations for the Barack Obama campaign if any of you are interested). Now I understand this man is probably a left-wing extremist, but that doesn’t mean this isn’t happening to a lesser extent in some of the big news corporations, in Congress, or even the White House. We all know Fox News is run by conservatives, at least they admit it. But what about the other big time news stations like NBC or CBS News? They claim to be nonaffiliated but most of the time they share the liberal side of the news in order to gain liberal support. I’m not saying there is necessarily a problem with these news corporations sharing their liberal or non-liberal beliefs, as long as they admit to it so their viewers can understand the bias involved. I am personally more liberal in my views on most cases, but like I said before, that doesn’t mean I am not offended by the one-sidedness of the news these days. Is it too much to ask for a little more variety and equal representation of both liberal and conservative viewpoints in the news? And if that is too much to ask, then can these news stations simply state the news without any political affiliation whatsoever? It seems to me that many of these news stations, and no Fox News is not exempt from this accusation, are more interested in getting voters on the side of their preferred political party rather than actually citing the news to their viewers. What’s my point in all of this? I am sick and tired of hearing about this deceit and crookedness in American politics. At least we know Jefferson and Hamilton had their country’s best interest at heart. Now, I’m not so certain that’s the main issue in the minds of many leading politicians. Of course I don’t really think that our government is intentionally trying to screw us, I know many conservatives and liberals alike think they are doing good by America and us citizens, but is having one political party in control really what America needs? A Dominant-party system? It seems as if that is the goal these days! To get either the Democrats or Republicans in complete control of the House or Congress or both! All I’m saying is that old fashion competition and the challenging of both democratic and republican ideals is a good thing, but it goes too far when mud-slinging starts and the idea of possibly seeing “eye to eye” sinks away. It seems as though to a lot of people aren’t as concerned about who’s in office, so long as that person belongs to the “right” political party. No matter what your views as a politician or even a regular everyday person are, you should at least try to cooperate with those whose political views you don’t agree with instead of casting them as ignorant evil “freedom haters”. Please, for the sake of our country, get over it! Do not stoop to near barbarian schemes just to get voters on your side! Now on to my next issue. Don’t worry I’ll try to make this short and sweet, but why do some of the politicians in office think that laws or just plain old ethics don’t apply to them? From violating state ethics laws to lying about the Benghazi attacks, all I can say is that it makes me feel ashamed of my country when I hear that the people we are supposed to trust, the people in charge, are using their power for their own benefit (or in case of the Benghazi scandal for their political party’s benefit). From bribery to having inappropriate sexual relations with someone in their office (no, that does not only apply to Clinton), it’s astonishing to find out just how much this kind of misconduct happens. Take former Senator John Edwards for example: not only did he have an affair with one of his campaign employees that resulted in a child; he tried to convince a former political aide to claim he was the father of said child and used much of his campaign money to hush the whole thing (which is illegal as many of you probably know). Meanwhile he also received over a million dollars from two campaign donors to help pay off his mistress and several other people in order to keep his political career alive. All I have to say is this: YOU ARE EMBARRASSING! How many public officials is it going to take for the rest of them to realize 1) You aren’t going to be able to keep your affair a secret no matter how hard you try, and 2) You are not going to get away with embezzling millions of dollars! In the America I grow old in I want to see less mud-slinging politics, less barbarism (although I would like to add that America //is// one of the least corrupt countries in the world, so at least we have that to be thankful for), and honestly just more common sense in the minds and actions of our representatives. Thank you.

=Cite Your Sources= uhhhh........ http://stop-republicans.com/ http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/11/26/1234171/florida-republicans-admit-voter-suppression-was-the-goal-of-new-election-laws/ MY MIND http://www.diffen.com/difference/Democrat_vs_Republican