The opinions presented below are solely the views of the author and do not represent the views of The News-Letter. If you are a member of the Hopkins community looking to submit a piece or a letter to the editor, please email opinions@jhunewsletter.com.
Opinions haven’t always gotten a good rap. Some 300 years ago, Voltaire argued that they’ve “caused more trouble on this little earth than plagues or earthquakes.” Not exactly a ringing endorsement.
Could Gary Johnson be a spoiler in the 2012 elections? This two-term governor and businessman from New Mexico was a GOP presidential candidate before dropping out of the race after polling around 2 percent in the primaries. Following his departure from the race, Johnson joined the Libertarian Party and eventually received its nomination for president.
On Aug. 31 the University launched the Roads Scholar safety campaign, a distinctive display of thousands of yellow and white shoes on the corner of 33rd St. and St. Paul St. This new addition marks one of Hopkins’s latest attempts to tackle the dangers pedestrians face when crossing roads near campus.
Since Student-Community Liaison Carrie Bennett retired last month, Charles Village residents and partygoers have witnessed an increase in the number of security officers on patrol. Bennett helped to shield Hopkins students from conflicts with Baltimore Police and Charles Village residents. In her absence, security officers and Baltimore Police officers have been appearing at off-campus fraternity parties for the first time in years. According to administration officials, a new student-community liaison has been chosen, but will not begin official duties until the end of the month.
During the last year and half the right has constantly leveled a barrage of disgusting attacks at President Obama. Former GOP Speaker of the House and possible 2012 presidential contender Newt Gingrich called liberalist “the secular socialist machine” and said it “represents as a great a threat to America as Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union once did.” Rush Limbaugh not only claimed that “Obama’s got a healthcare logo that’s right out of Adolf Hitler’s playbook,” he claimed that the Democrats’ social policies were similar to those of the Nazis. Right wing economist Thomas Sowell accused Obama of being like the Nazis because of the pressure he put on BP to create a $20 billion compensation fund for those affected by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Sarah Palin endorsed that editorial. Glenn Beck has claimed that progressives are similar to Mao Zedong, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Che Guevara. The list of conservatives who have accused Obama of being a social, communist, or Marxist is almost endless. Tea Party darling Rick Barber even created an ad that used a Lincoln reenactor to smear the Patient Affordability and Protection Act as “slavery,” followed by images of the Holocaust.
When Barack Obama was elected president in November 2008 I was elated. I thought his presidency would usher in an era of positive change our nation has not seen since the New Deal in the 1930s or the Great Society in the 1960s. For a while I thought I was wrong as it seemed Obama was failing to achieve anything of note. Now I can see that I was right to be excited.
On Independence Day in 1776 John Adams wrote to his way Abigail that “I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.”
In recent interviews with Rolling Stone, General Stanley McChrystal and his staff officers openly mocked the civilian leadership of the United States Government. While preparing for an event in Paris, McChrystal and his staff joked about how the general should respond if he was asked about Vice President Biden, who clashed with the top US commander in Afghanistan over sending more troops last year: “‘Are you asking about Vice President Biden?’ McChrystal says with a laugh. ‘Who’s that?’ ‘Biden?’ suggests a top adviser. ‘Did you say: Bite me?’”
On April 29, 2009, on his weekly radio show that he co-hosts with his wife, former Maryland Republican Governor Robert Ehrlich engaged in this conversation with a caller:
On June 5th an opinion by Kentucky Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul was published in The Bowling Green Daily News. In that opinion, Dr. Paul who is Ron Paul’s son, wrote that “If you watch any of my interviews, you’ll see I never stated that I did not support the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and I certainly never called for its repeal.”
