Campaigns and Politics class blog

  The reason that the filling of Justice Ginsburg's seat on the Supreme Court is one of both very complicated and uncomplicated political fallout.  The complicated bit is that an election year SCOTUS nomination actually happened in recent history, and was a high point of controversy during the Obama presidency. While historically there have been contentious senate confirmations, this was unique. Primarily how Senate Republicans did not allow for the confirmation process of Obama nominee Merrick Garland to begin at all. At the time the excuse publicly given was that it was not in American political tradition for an outgoing president to select a Supreme Court member. Texas Senator Ted Cruz is quoted saying "There is a long tradition that you don't do this in an election year." While (the now) Senate Judiciary Chair Lindsey Graham said "I strongly support giving the American people a voice in choosing the next Supreme Court nominee by electing a new president,” T...

While we here in California and the western United States have dealt with some of the worst wildfires in recorded history. We are far from the first peoples, or even Americans to deal with the complex science of forest management and wildfire. Which should have meant we had generational and institutional knowledge on how to prevent and curb wildfires. Instead, most of us in the general public and society have decided to be “idiots” on the topic, as our natural beauty has become kindling.   There are wide range of views on the role of fire in the natural order of the world. Because while yes our super fires here in California that are swallowing entire rural communities whole, are in some cases a byproduct of climate change. Not lost in this fact is that we have to remember fire, and specifically forest fires are also natural. In fact some native American tribal traditions (notably in the Sierra’s,) natural fire another integral part of nature's process. In this NPR articl...

  The film Idiocracy, by Mike Judge features many humorous and scarily accurate assessments of American Democracy. Like most Utopian or dystopian tales, the story largely reflects on the time it was written/made, which in this case was during or in the immediate fall out of the Bush V Kerry election. While understanding of the 2004 election has grown in the decades following, at the time of the film one of the major talking points of the race was the “electability” of George W Bush, with much emphasis put on his someone “you'd want to grab a beer with” persona.  What stemmed from that persona was an assumption (and was hoped to be an overreaction) that the American people wanted someone like them to be president.  A horrible idea when one considers that America is one of the most unhealthy, overweight, and poorly educated nations on earth, but a perfect setting for the film Idiocracy.  One of the cornerstones to George W Bush's electable persona was his plain spok...

  Since we are not having regular discussion in the class, I wanted to say one thing first. I think it is totally fair and healthy to admit when you have a hard time understanding something. For example the style of writing found The Republic is definitely a challenge for me, when it comes to being able to digest it in large chunks. Even if the subject matter was not so complex and nuanced, the verbiage and the style itself would be hard to comprehend. Combine the deep concepts of Plato with long bygone style, and I certainly struggled in reading huge chunks at a time. However I do want to hit on a few key points that were present in both sources. Message from both: “Buyer Beware of Democracy” Aristotle: In the article from prospect, the writer makes it clear that while Aristotle's views on a variety of subjects are out of date, he had visionary warnings about democracy. The viewpoint seems to indicate that Aristotle had worries about democracy that have come to prove themselve...

  Hi all, my name is Elijah King and I am very happy and honored to be returning to NDNU for this last year. My mom is actually an alumni of NDNU and the history poli sci department, so as a family we have a deep love for the school. That being said, it makes it that much more sad having this last year not on our beautiful  ocean scented campus. In my “free time” I actually work on campaigns locally, until recent health setbacks have forced me to withdraw from that. Before my setbacks I worked for a supervisor campaign in Santa Clara County, which was the experience of a lifetime and really affirmed my life's goal to work in politics. Before that I had done just some small scale campaign work for local ballot measures and fund raising causes. This summer I got to work on almost every side of the campaign, which allowed me to learn so much. In a national political sense I am undoubtedly unquestionably a democrat. Being an African American Jew with family that are Latin-X, Asia...