(04/04/13 11:16pm)
Last week, Voice For Life (VFL) was denied official group status by the Student Government Association (SGA). Despite the number of students who consider this a free speech issue, let us set the record straight. Hopkins is a private university and thus operates under a different set of rules from public universities. Even if this is not a free speech issue, I feel that there has been a lot of information being misunderstood on both sides of the pro-life and pro-choice debate. Therefore, let us dissect some of the arguments in favor of and against VFL.
(11/09/12 1:14am)
On Tuesday, the country missed the opportunity to vote for real change – actual, real and tangible transformations to our country. Change will come when we stop passing and renewing laws such as the Patriot Act and the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which egregiously violate the very basic principles this country was founded upon. It will come when we stop calling the dead children from the drone strikes in Pakistan “collateral damage” and actually put a face to these people who are no different from the rest of us.
(02/29/12 5:00am)
America is founded on the notion "that all men are created equal," and that they are "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights." The founders added to the Constitution the Bill of Rights for the sole purpose of defending these rights from an encroaching federal government. Worried about the possibility of a future autocracy in America, the founders made it clear that there are certain rights that can never be repealed or abridged by government. These limits on government, they presumed, would ward off any chance of federal abuse and would ensure the protection of personal liberty. Since 9/11, though, these rights have increasingly come under attack from the federal government under the guise of homeland security. George W. Bush had a terrible history of violating civil liberties, from the Patriot Act to Guantanamo Bay, waterboarding to illegal wiretaps. But the list doesn't end there. The U.S. government has consistently abridged civil liberties in its use of extraordinary rendition, torture and indefinite detention. It endlessly violates habeas corpus and then hides its iniquity from the public, citing the need for state secrets. The government, thus, has the ability to infringe those rights protected by the founders without anybody even knowing about it. If there was anything the founders were worried about, this is it. Barack Obama ran on protecting civil liberties and repealing the Bush-era war on the American public. Obama promised to close down Guantanamo, reduce drone warfare and stop illegal wiretaps - to name a few. While Obama spewed these talking points to the public, though, he was secretly making backroom deals to continue Bush's policies. Not only did Obama not close down Guantanamo, but he has also continued most of Bush's policies of demolishing civil liberties. Not only did he re-sign the Patriot Act, but he also signed the National Defense Authorization Act, which allows for the indefinite detention of U.S. citizens by the military. This doctrine ultimately culminated in Obama's order to authorize the killing of U.S. citizens without trial through drone strikes. In September of last year, Obama okayed plans to assassinate Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born Yemeni cleric. Two ensuing drone strikes killed Awlaki and his 16-year-old son, another American citizen. He even refused to prosecute officials from the Bush administration for violations of U.S. laws. There is clear evidence that officials under Bush's command authorized the torture of detainees held by the United States. It's estimated that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the supposed mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, was waterboarded 183 times. Waterboarding is considered a form of torture and is, thus, outlawed throughout the world in the Geneva Conventions, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and even U.S. law. Obama, however, has done nothing. He has allowed those who have probably committed atrocious crimes to avoid standing trial and being held accountable. Moreover, he increased the drone war and continues to kill innocent civilians around the world. Recently, Congress has even pushed for drone surveillance on the American public. Many of the Bush-era policies are still in place, including military commissions, extraordinary renditions, state secrets and egregious dismantling of habeas corpus. Perhaps most importantly, however, is the fact that the public seems to be warming to such rights infringements. Recently, a poll was conducted on whether to keep Guantanamo Bay open: 53 percent of self-identified "liberal Democrats" and 67 percent of "moderate or conservative" Democrats favored keeping Gitmo open. A staggering 77 percent of "liberal Democrats" support the use of drone strikes, 58 percent of Democrats and 55 percents of "liberals" support drone strikes on American citizens, without due process or trial. We are clearly seeing a widespread dismantling of civil liberties, supported by a majority of those in both parties. This blatant disregard for civil rights is no longer strictly right wing ideology. What's more, it seems liberals are okay with their own hypocrisy: If Obama says it's okay, liberals seem to profess, then we should all be in favor of stripping civil rights. We Americans need to realize that our natural rights do not come from political parties or the government. They were endowed to us by our Creator, and they cannot be taken away. It is time to take a stand for them. It is time to defend what our forefathers considered our most sacred rights and liberties. We need to stop playing party politics and ensure our own safety from the encroaching federal government our founders so utterly feared.
(02/12/12 5:00am)
Last week, President Obama delivered his State of the Union speech, and at first blush, it seemed like a delight to hear. America's economy is on the rise, and the wars overseas are finally ending. Although it is true that Bin Laden is dead, the U.S. military has withdrawn from Iraq, and the unemployment rate has fallen to 8.5 percent, the brunt of Obama's speech seems grounded more in election rhetoric than in fact.
(11/17/11 5:00am)
I, like many of my liberal friends, do not agree with the actions of Karl Rove, this week's MSE speaker, during the Bush presidency. I will even contend that some of his actions would warrant arrest and incarceration should he be proven guilty in a court of law. The fact that some people decided to heckle and protest Rove's speech, however, is simply reprehensible and disruptive. I will attempt to explain why in this situation, the protesters, who were from Occupy Baltimore, were in the wrong.