Question of the week #4: Holiday Memory

My favorite holiday memory was when I was in 7^th grade and my sister was in 3^rd  grade. Her teacher had given her a bag filled with “reindeer food”, that she was to spread on the front lawn. Every year we go to my Grandparents house in Indiana. My sister took extra care to put the reindeer food into the car the morning we were leaving for Indiana.

            On Christmas Eve our entire family (extended included, usually around 10 people), goes to my Grandparents church for a service. On the way there my dad turned on Christmas music and right as the song “Let it Snow” came on, it began to snow. By the time we arrived at the church the ground was fully covered in powdery, fluffy snow. We were not allowed to play in the snow before the service, but as we sat down in the large auditorium, we noticed that the entire side was made of glass window, and we could watch the snow fall throughout the entire service.

            At the end of every service the room’s lights are turned off and everyone receives a candle. The first candle in each row is lit. A statement is read saying “friendship and love are best to be shared, however, they cannot be forced upon each other, like the flame of a candle, one must wait for a friend to take the light. If you force it upon them you risk losing the friendship.. and dripping hot wax on their lap ;)”. As the flames pass across the room, everyone sings “Silent Night”. Finally the room becomes lit up, and the snow outside is seen with a gentle yellow glow.

            After the service, we walked outside and found almost 2 inches of snow were on the ground. We drove home carefully, marveling at the beautiful Christmas lights and listening to Christmas music. When we arrived home my sister dashed into the house and came emerged with the “reindeer food”. All of us kids (age 13 to 9) spread reindeer food across the lawn. We then went inside to check the Santa Tracker online, which showed us where Santa was already delivering presents in the world. Finally, we each had a glass of hot chocolate, brushed our teeth and jumped into bed, ready for the next morning of fun.

Political Cartoon #4

This political cartoon was written by Scott Stantis for the Tribune Media Service on December 2011. This cartoon is showing Obama reading a bedtime story to an unknown person under the covers. The story is titled the Iraq War. There is a hat usually warn by Uncle Sam hanging on the bed post and an American Flag inscribed on the foot of the bed. Obama is wearing a suit without the jacket, and is reading the last line of the story “…The End”. The figure under the bed is saying “THANK YOU”.

The artist is using caricature to show the end of the war IN Iraq through a cute, wholesome scene of the president reading a bed time story to a figure in bed. The issue this article is dealing with is the troops finally being pulled out of Iraq, after over 10 years. The cartoon’s message is that America has been waiting a long time for this to happen, and when it finally happens, it is a very patriotic, heart felt moment, and is thanks to Obama. The cartoonist’s point of view is in support of the troops being pulled out and seems to be pro-Obama. This is not a cartoon meant to make fun of or show flaws, but simply to represent a happy event.

Question of the week #3: Obama Approval

Obama has an approval rate for his jobs of 42% and a disapproval rate of 51%. He has one of the lowest approval rating in December of a presidents 3^rd year in office, since Dwight Eisenhower. This is also one of the lowest point of his own presidency. His rating do seem to be rising slowly but it’s not definite whether it will continue rising, or if it will make any difference.

He seems to be at the area where presidents do not win reelection, based on approval. He has constantly been in the 40% rate, and this does not bode well for him. He will have to either get his approval rating up, or make sure that the Republicans have an even lower approval rate. Newt Gingrich has accumulated the greatest approval of all of the other candidates, including Romney in the past month. If he wins the nomination he will face strong opposition from the Democratic Party and probably attacks on his approval, in order for the Democratic Party to attempt to get Obama reelected. Obama could still win the election with such a low approval rate because rating is not everything. If Obama faces a weak Republican candidate or can undermine the Republicans, he may still have a chance. However, based solely on approval rating, it is not looking too good for Obama.

Political Cartoon #3

This political cartoon was written by Mike Keefe for the Denver Post on 11/18/11. This cartoon is showing people on a plane getting ready to take off. A man titled Newt (“Newt” Gingrich) is attempting to shove a HUGE suitcase into the luggage holder. The flight attendant looks very annoyed, along with the other passengers. The flight is apparently going to “the nomination”, and Newt is crying out “I’m on my way to the nomination!” and the peeved flight attendant is responding “Not unless you get that thing stowed”. This is symbolizing Newt Gingrich’s large amount of “baggage” he is trying to enter into the Republican primaries with. Some of the examples are ethics charges government shutdown and adultery. He cheated on his wife who was fighting cancer. Not a good way to start off the primaries.

This cartoon uses satire, turning Newt Gingrich’s “baggage” into an actual, ridiculously large luggage bag which is stopping his plane from taking off toward the “nomination”. This issue is dealing with all of the scandals Newt Gingrich has already committed before even acquiring the nomination, however, he and Romney seem to be one of the few left standing in the running now, and it is beginning to concern a lot of democrats and even some republicans that he might actually get the nomination. The message of the cartoon and of the cartoonist is that he definitely has baggage, and it could very well inhibit him from acquiring the nomination. However, if he is able to stow it away, it is still possible he could receive the nomination. 

Want to see the website?: 

http://www.denverpost.com/keefe/ci_19358713

Question of the week #2: Mitt Romney

Romney has been doing fairly well since the beginning. He raised four times more funds in the second quarter of 2011 than his opponents. He has been opposed since September by Rick Perry. He has been doing fairly well through the entire race, Republican voters are waiting to see if anything dramatic happens

One reason why Romney could win is he hasn’t yet been marred by outrageous scandals like Cain, or made embarrassing errors in remembering his own policy plans like Perry. He has fairly moderate views so he would not scare off the middle voters by being an extremist.

This is America, where people claim it is an equal state and no one will be judged by their religion, race or background. However, one reason why Romney could lose is that he is Mormon. He is white, even though American Democrats just proved they would break that stereotype by voting in Obama, and he is male, which America has still not proven they will vote against, by not voting for Hilary Clinton. However, he is not a Protestant, or even a Catholic, he is Mormon.  Mormonism is considered part of Christianity by some groups, however, the Christian church does not recognize it as a denomination. Could America ever have a non-cookie cutter Christian for president? Even more importantly, would Republican voters ever vote one into the race for presidency? These questions may very well determine Romney’s success.

Political Cartoon #2

This political cartoon was written by Mike Keefe for the Denver Post on 11/17/11. This cartoon is showing a happy father and son walking through a field with the family’s dog. It appears that the father is simply telling his son that he can do anything he wants when he grows up, for example he can become president because ANYBODY can become president. Next to the word “anybody” however, there is an asterisk symbol. At the bottom of the cartoon, the word “anybody” is defined as being a person “who is aligned with a Superpac, owned by corporate America and blessed with a personal fortune”.

This is a cartoon that uses satire to make a mockery of the American belief that “anyone can become president if they work hard in life”. This cartoon comes at a time when Republican candidates are fighting to win the Republican nomination to run in this fall’s election. However, as people enter the race the question arises as to how they were able to enter into this position, what types of backgrounds they have and what kinds of connections they have/ are utilizing. The author is basically saying that not everyone can become president, basically only a person who already has political ties with Superpacs or corporations or a person who has a lot of personal funding to start off with. This is a rather negative, sarcastic cartoon mocking the American ideals that anyone can aspire to anything they want, when in reality, people must have connections. 

 This picture came from the Denver Post:

http://www.denverpost.com/keefe/ci_19349148