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March 2nd, 2011 GRAMPY / FARK.COM
Deficit Derangement Bringing the federal budget back under control Christopher Slijk Staff Writer
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conomist Milton Friedman once said, “If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in five years there’d be a shortage of sand.” After hearing Doug Holtz-Eakin, the former director of the Congressional Budget Office, speak at Cornell on the current state of the US budget deficit, this idea feels more prescient each day. After all, it doesn’t take an expert economist to see that the US is in dire fiscal straits: with a national debt of over $14 trillion that continues to grow unchecked due to ever-expanding entitlement and stimulus programs, a real long-term plan to fix the budget deficit and finance our debt must be implemented before our creditors come to their senses and realize that their money will otherwise never be returned.
INSIDE
Who to vote for? SA ELECTION LINEUP
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Mr. Holtz-Eakin presented a troubling picture of how a combination of crippling corporate taxes and trillions of dollars in annual deficit spending would not only cause another deep recession but could easily cripple the US economy in the long term. His overall message warned of the dangers of myopia in the economic stability of our country, saying that “we are letting the past budgetarily crush the future.” He began by commenting on President Obama’s newly released budget, saying that “...much to my surprise, the President put out the exact same budget as last year.” Nothing in the new budget takes into account the rising costs of entitlements or reduces government spending to anywhere near where it needs to be in order to close the budget gap. Despite proposing a plan to cut several trillion dollars in spending over the coming years “we would,
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New feature: TEACHER'S LOUNGE Quotes and happenings.
9 * WARNING: ACTUAL PERFORMANCE MAY VARY
Unions and Immigrants as Bedfellows Joseph Bonica Executive Editor
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n an environment where government battles with unions consume the bulk of news broadcasts and public attention, the Cornell Insitute of Public Affairs brought in Ana Avendano, who handles immigration policy with the powerful AFL-CIO and formerly worked on the appellate court branch of the National Labor Relations Board. Avendano addressed a crowded room with a discussion on how United States immigration policy affects the labor movement negatively, necessitating reform at the federal level. The challenge facing immigration reform, said Avendano to an audience that identified themselves as composed of many immigrants, is that “people don’t react rationally to immigration; they react to gut feeling”. This knee-jerk reaction to the country’s undeniable immigration issues, she said, makes meaningful
dialogue and progress towards reform very elusive. This visceral as opposed to logical view of immigration is nothing new; every single wave of immigrants in American history has been met with resistance from those already here. The fact that it has lasted so long, said Avendeno, has interrupted reform efforts and led to the broken system we have today. The chief sign that the current American immigration system is broken is the presence of an estimated 20 million undocumented immigrants currently in the United States. Avendano then made the bold (and considering the current evidence to the contrary, rather baseless) claim that this enormous number is in spite of the fact that the border is operating the best it ever has in American history. A large part of this, she says, is due to the outdated visa system for immigrants coming to work. Currently, 75% of all
visas to the United States are given to families, as has always been the case. Five percent of the visas go to refugees, and 15% of the visas go to workers. This number for workers, however, is based on an arbitrary cap that is decided not by worker demand but by “negotiations between congressional staffers that decided on a number.” Since these workers fail to get documentation, they “live in the shadows”; they are unable to get driver's licenses and thus travel easily. They cannot travel on a plane, and in many instances their children who were born here have to take care of many important duties. Of most concern to Avendano, however is how lack of documentation interferes with the labor rights of immigrant workers, and thus all laborers' rights. Immigrants who are undocumented and are known to be undocumented by employers are often afraid to speak out about Please turn to page 4
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Our Friend Marx
Humor
Return of ROTC
Planned Trafficking
Africana activists tweet about Marxist revolutionary
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New SA seat for women's issues? Uh, there's other underrepresented groups.
Other Ivies ponder ROTC (finally)
Planned Parenthood complicit with fake underage sex ring
Blog page Down and down goes the proportion of conservatives in academia.
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Campus
March 2, 2011
Africana Panel on MLK Gets Political Local activists who organized the panel also support violent Marxists on Twitter Michael Alan Staff Writer
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hat do Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the violent Marxist revolutionary known simply as “Subcomandante Marcos” have in common? You’ll have to ask the organizers of “MLK Community Build,” a group formed by several local activists, including Africana Studies library director Eric Acree, in May of 2008 to distribute 10,000 copies of King’s Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? throughout Tompkins County. The group, which touted their creation of lesson plans on the book for Ithaca City Public Schools and includes several members of ICPS leadership, maintains an active Twitter feed that is displayed prominently on the organization’s website under the handle “MLKbuild.” In addition to quotes from King’s 1967 book attacking both poverty and the Vietnam War, the Twitter feed features several controversial posts that were displayed on the main page of the organization’s website. These include a call to “kick that black woman bragging about her DeBeers diamonds in her ass with a booted foot” and, most recently, praise of the aforementioned Marxist leader’s call for revolution on the eve of his movement’s 1994 terrorist campaign that included the razing of seven Mexican cities. If the organizers of the February 15th panel intended for it to Continued from the front page workplace violations because their employers can threaten them with deportation. In industries where immigrant labor is a major constituency, this also infringes upon the
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Ana Avendano
advance the political agenda outlined on their website, they were most likely not disappointed. To start off the event, Acree quipped that it was “quite brave” of his group to distribute the book because of “its challenge to both white liberals and black progressives.” He also astutely observed that, “In Ithaca, I think most white residents consider themselves liberal.” Following Acree’s opening was an undergraduate introduced by Africana Center Director Dr. Robert Harris as, among other things, a leader of Black Students United, Tia Hicks ’11. In the interest of full disclosure, it should be noted that Hicks is no fan of the Review. In 2008, Hicks wrote in the Cornell Daily Sun that, “articles in the
“In Ithaca, I think most white residents consider themselves liberal.” Cornell Review were racist . . . [and] bigoted.” During the panel discussion, Hicks lamented the “coopting rights of documented or natural born laborers, because a large part of the workplace would be unwilling to sound the alarm on violations of labor law. The best way to care for this problem, according to Avendano, is to legalize those immigrants who are here now, and then reforming the system so as to make it easier for workers to be legalized. Despite “Fox News people who want to criminalize lack of documentation”, she claims that amnesty is the most popular solution to the problem, and would immediately solve the labor relation crisis with immigrants. However, legalization is not the only avenue for reform. Avedano said that the cap for work visas must be increased to much more than the current 140,000 workers per year in order to meet the demands of the American economy; that being said, it is also important to not simply leave open the border and allow criminals and those trying to take advantage of the system into the country.
of King’s rhetoric on the content of character throughout the debate on affirmative action” and said such references were “evidence of the white backlash that came out of the civil rights movement.” Audience member Abdul Gulu Nanji, a senior lecturer in Swahili language, echoed Hicks’ remarks, adding, “Conservatives say they want us to judge people by their character? Whose character? Gingrich’s character?” The ongoing controversy surrounding Provost Kent Fuchs’ moving of the Africana Studies program to the College of Arts and Sciences, where it gained a new doctoral program and additional funding amidst
supporter of ethnic studies,” but that “the Right has King on lock.” Vernon Mitchell grad agreed, adding, “We need to organize to retaliate and answer [these] conservatives.” Finally, the left-leaning economic positions King took in Where Do We Go from Here were certainly not ignored by the panelists. Professor Locksley Edmondson, Africana Studies, took a shot at the current president, noting that “Obama is representing the system’s flaws, while King represented opposition to the system.” Adrian Deese grad took this a step further, remarking that, “white supremacy is the biggest obstacle to the restructuring
Reverend King and Subcomandante Marcos: Separated at Birth? Maybe if you asked the organizers of MLK Community Build.
University-wide budget cuts affecting nearly every other department, was also present at the panel. Harris’ question regarding “the mainstream media not challenging or disgracing the coopting of King’s rhetoric on ‘the content of character’ in the debate on banning ethnic studies in Arizona’s public school systems” was met with nodded heads and approving chatter throughout the room. Panelist Candace Katungi grad said that she “thinks Dr. King would be a
of the economic system” and that “white backlash [to the civil rights movement] exists today in the form of the tea party movement trying to take the country back from socialists, Mexican immigrants, and minorities.” I wonder if that was in the lesson plans.
Additionally, businesses must be held accountable if they choose to hire undocumented workers; stricter punishments than those levied now must accompany a violation of these new laws. The ultimate way to draft a set of reforms like this, she said , is to set up a committee that would determine the need for immigrant workers in the United States based on real labor data. It would be optimal if
this commission were independent of the government, as the aforementioned knee-jerk reactions to immigration policy would get in the way of efficient data collecting. If this is not done, the nation’s immigration crisis will not slow down; it may even intensify in the near future.
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Johnson believes in these ideas and has been consistent in applying them on the state level. As he explained to me, the concept of a smaller lean government has “just made sense” to him from the time he was in grade school. My only concern is that, frankly, by the standards of the Republican establishment, he may not have screwed up enough to be in the run for 2012. Kathleen McCaffrey is a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences. She can be reached at kam424@cornell. edu.
life he ran one of the biggest construction companies in New Mexico, Big J Enterprises, which started with only one employee: Johnson himself. He grew the business from the ground up, becoming a multimillionaire by the time he sold the company. (Again, nobody lost their job in this transition.) He also boasts participation in multiple Iron Man contests and, though this probably doesn’t impress any resident of Ithaca in the winter, has climbed Mt. Everest.
Michael Alan is a freshman in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. He can be reached at mja93@ cornell.edu.
Joseph Bonica is a junior in the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences and can be reached at jmb582@cornell.edu.
The Cornell Review
Founded 1984 r Incorporated 1986 Ann Coulter Jim Keller Jerome D. Pinn Anthony Santelli, Jr. Founders
Oliver Renick Editor-in-Chief
Dennis Shiraev Editor-at-Large
Joseph Bonica Executive Editor
Lucas Policastro Managing Editor
Raza Hoda President
Hannah MacLean News Editor
Kathleen McCaffrey Campus News Editor
Lucia Rafanelli
National News Editor
Anthony Longo
Treasurer, News Editor
Contributors
Michael Alan Rob Morrissey Peter Bouris Alfonse Muglia Brendan P. Devine Sam Pell John Farragut Chris Slijk Noah Kantro Gregory Stein Karim Lakhani William Wagner Tianye Liu
Board of Directors
Christopher DeCenzo Joseph E. Gehring Jr. Ying Ma Anthony Santelli Jr.
Faculty Advisor Michael E. Hint
meh26@cornell.edu The Cornell Review is an independent biweekly journal published by students of Cornell University for the benefit of students, faculty, administrators, and alumni of the Cornell community. The Cornell Review is a thoughtful review of campus and national politics from a broad conservative perspective. The Cornell Review, an independent student organization located at Cornell University, produced and is responsible for the content of this publication. This publication was not reviewed or approved by, nor does it necessarily express or reflect the policies or opinions of, Cornell University or its designated representatives. The Cornell Review is published by The Ithaca Review, Inc., a non-profit corporation. The opinions stated in The Cornell Review are those of the individual author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or the staff of The Cornell Review. Editorial opinions are those of the responsible editor. The opinions herein are not necessarily those of the board of directors, officers, or staff of The Ithaca Review, Inc. The Cornell Review is distributed free, limited to one issue per person, on campus as well as to local businesses in Ithaca. Additional copies beyond the first free issue are available for $1.00 each. The Cornell Review is a member of the Collegiate Network. The Cornell Review prides itself on letting its writers speak for themselves, and on open discourse. We do not all agree on every issue, and readers should be aware that pieces represent the views of their authors, and not necessarily those of the entire staff. If you have a wellreasoned conservative opinion piece, please send it to thecornell.review@ gmail.com for consideration.
Editorial
March 2, 2011
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A Sustainable Craze for Control By Dennis Shiraev
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t the National Press Club presentation for his book, “Blue Planet in Green Shackles,” Czech President Vaclav Klaus outlined the basic questions central to the global climate change debate. Do we live in an era of a statistically significant, non-accidental and non-cyclical climate change? If so, are the causes of this climate change man-made? If they, should such a moderate temperature increase bother us more than many other pressing problems we face and should it receive our extraordinary attention? If we want to change the climate, can it be done? Are current attempts to do so the best allocation of our scarce resources? Those who dissent from the climate change agenda believe that there is reasonable room for debate
on these topics, particularly the third and fourth questions. The environmentalists disagree. They believe that these questions have already been answered, and anyone who disagrees with the conclusions needs to get their head examined. It would be disingenuous of me to accuse the SA supporters of the recent “sustainability” resolutions of being deranged climate alarmists, using Cornell as an experimental ground for their eventual Kyoto 2.0 national initiative. Yes, the enactment of the proposed measures does assume particular answers to the aforementioned questions. But that’s not what I think “sustainability” is really about. Just like last year’s controversial Resolution 44, Resolutions 37 and
The Women's Issues Seat
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he initiative to create a women’s issues seat on the Student Assembly fills a gap in Cornell’s student government by addressing both the lack of female representatives on the SA as well as a lack of progress on key female issues. We applaud the SA’s efforts to create this at-large seat, but we do not think that their efforts go far enough. Other constituent groups on campus still lack much needed SA representation. Consider the following. World of Warcraft players. Remember those guys in your freshman dorm who never left their rooms because they were working 14 hours per day to level up their Orc characters? No? Exactly. WoW players need a voice on campus. A WoW representative would lobby the SA for higher internet speeds in Cornell dormitories and lower fines for bandwidth overuse—LAN parties could also be proposed as a potential alternative to mixers during the dry weeks of the pledging process.
Cleveland Cavaliers fans. First Lebron left, then the Cavs set the NBA record for most consecutive losses—the least we could do is give these guys an SA seat. This representative could also lobby for the creation of a resource center where Cavaliers fans can commiserate with fans of other despondent sports clubs like the Pittsburgh Pirates, Detroit Lions and New York Islanders. Guidos. With Jersey Shore moving to Italy for the fourth season, demand for Guido representation is at an all-time high. A Guido atlarge seat would ensure that the interests of both Guido and nonGuido Jersey Shore fans would not go unheard: no bar deals that are only available on Thursday nights between 10:00-11:00, no prelims on Friday mornings after Jersey Shore episodes, Beat Dat Beat being played at least once per hour at Dino’s, and a bus trip to club Karma organized by one of the Class Councils.
50 would have established more control over student groups and given the SA more power to preside over the activities of Cornell student organizations. The right
Dennis Shiraev Editor-at-Large thing was done—neither resolution passed—but the SA should always remind itself that in some cases, the best government is the one that governs the least. Dennis Shiraev is a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences. He can be reached at des255@cornell.edu.
Homeless people who collect cans from fraternity dumpsters Okay, so maybe these guys aren’t technically students, but they play a pivotal role in Cornell-Ithaca relations. Plus their recycling habits go a long way in reducing the carbon footprint of the Cornell Greek system. The guy who yells “It’s closing time!” every night at Olin Library. Around 1:45 AM, this dude travels to every floor, every desk, and every basement (?) just to deliver a simple but urgent message: closing time in fifteen minutes. The library closes in fifteen minutes. Time to wrap it up. Get your s*** and get the f*** out. Sure most everyone knows that the library closes at 2:00, but for the student who can’t read, “It’s closing time!” guy provides an invaluable service. He deserves a medal. And if not, at least a f***ing at-large seat. The women’s seat doesn’t go far enough. Until these underrepresented constituent groups are given a voice, we respectfully dissent from this initiative.
SA Election Lineup
The Review thinks you should vote for these candidates:
Executive VP President Natalie Raps Alex Pruce
A&S Rep Jon Rau
Minority Rep Roneal Desai
The Cornell Review meets regularly on Mondays at 5:00 pm in GS 162. E-mail messages should be sent to
thecornell.review@gmail.com
Copyright © 2011 The Ithaca Review Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The Cornell Review P.O. Box 4654 Ithaca, NY 14850
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March 2, 2011
Deficit
Continued from the first page under [this] budget, never see the deficit fall under 4% of GDP.” With no eye towards a balanced budget, let alone the necessity of eventually paying down our accumulated debt, this plan is far too little, far too late. Holtz-Eakin continued on to explain what he believes to be the two largest sources of this grief: Medicare and Medicaid. Ever since their implementation in the 1960s, healthcare costs have continued to rise faster than the growth of the rest of the economy while quality has remained largely stagnant. Rather than streamlining medical care amongst the poor, Holtz-Eakin sees “...Medicare [driving] the fragmentation of healthcare in America” in such a way that consumers no longer have any concept of how much everything costs. He believes the easiest and most sensible solution would be to cap taxpayer liability in funding Medicare and Medicaid and to replace the current system of direct payments to hospitals and doctors with a voucher system. Not only would this cut out much of the needless bureaucracy in the health care system, but by making customers see how much they are paying for their medical care, it would cause them to make rational choices when visiting the doctor. After all, its easy to buy something when you don’t know the total cost and aren’t even paying for most of it out of your own pocket. Ultimately, he believes that this would quickly lead to a better coordinated and more efficient healthcare model, which in turn would stop the out-of-control rise in the cost of healthcare to the federal budget and the taxpayer. Continuing on, Holtz-Eakin turned to the growth problems presented by the US tax structure, calling it “a tax system that is deeply
Campus unfair...terrible for international competitiveness.” With the highest corporate tax rate in the developed world, it isn’t difficult to see why outsourcing and headquartering overseas has become so popular amongst businesses.However Holtz-Eakin sees hope in reversing this trend if we are willing to guide all future federal economic policy by one simple question: “Will this or will this not enhance the incentives for businesses to hire new workers?” Cutting taxes, offering a more business-friendly environment, and ensuring that the private sector ex-
“We are letting the past budgetarily crush the future.” pands faster than the public is the only way the federal government will eventually be able to accumulate enough revenue to begin paying down our massive debt. Holtz-Eakin closed with a frightening remark, saying that at our current pace “...We will be a country that looks like Greece and acts worse.” How long can our government continue to wallow in debt before it collapses under all the weight? Will we see our financial system grind to a halt, perhaps this time with no hope of recovery? Or will our elected leaders finally begin to understand that this unsustainable mountain of debt is a real and growing threat to our very economic survival? Christopher Slijk is a junior in theSchool of Arts & Sciences He can bereached at cps95@cornell.edu.
Cornell Law School Team Extends a Helping Hand to Train Liberian Lawyers and Judges Hannah MacLean News Editor
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his past November, the Avon Global Center for Women and Justice at Cornell Law School and Lawyers Without Borders joined forces with professors, attorneys, federal judges, and other legal professionals for a program in Liberia aimed at raising awareness about human trafficking and training lawyers and judges in trial techniques so that they could effectively prosecute trafficking in accordance with international human rights standards. The Liberian government passed an act to ban
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trafficking in 2005, but limited resources to enforce it have created some problems for prosecuting the crime in Liberia, where many trafficking victims are "forced to work as domestic servants, street vendors, beggars or prostitutes, and are also found working on rubber plantations or in diamond mines," according to the Avon Global Center's website, which describes trafficking as "a form of modern-day slavery." The program was led by Lawyers Without Borders, an organization that works to "provide legal support to Rule of Law projects and initiatives in the human rights and global capacity building sectors" with the
ROTC: Return to the Ivies? Karim Lakhani Staff Writer
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nlike those of its Ivy League sisters, Cornell’s Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) programs have always endured and continue to stay strong. Since the repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” (DADT), the White House and many people across the nation have asked universities which had previously rejected ROTC programs to welcome them back. Whether or not this will happen is still in question for all other schools in the Ivy League. For example, Columbia University withdrew its ROTC program in 1969. After multiple failed attempts at bringing the program back, the university’s Senate has begun to hold “town hall” meetings in which students can express their minds regarding this issue. At one meeting, Columbia freshman and Iraq War veteran Anthony Maschek said, “It doesn't matter how you feel about war, it doesn't matter how you feel about fighting. Other parts of the world are plotting to kill you right now. It's not a joke....When you decide you want to exclude ROTC from Columbia, you are discriminating against people who want to do great things for this country.” At Brown University, after the repeal of DADT, the university created a committee to discuss the potential return of ROTC programs. Members are scheduled to hold ten 90-minute discussions and eventually provide the university with a recommendation on the issue. Whether these and other Ivies will welcome back ROTC programs is still unsure. Unfortunately, however, the larger problem may be the military’s limited funds to develop new ROTC units. Thus, the United help of many volunteer lawyers from several legal sectors, according to its website. The program was made possible by a sub-grant to Lawyers Without Borders from World Hope International under a grant from the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking of the US Department of State. Cornell Law students Jennifer Holsey ('12) and Melissa Koven ('12), who were both students of the International Human Rights Clinic last fall, were part of the program and were very enthusiastic about their experience, which started with heavy preparation well before the November program. They helped primarily with the international
States military will have to effectively analyze numerous potential opportunities for ROTC expansion and find locations in which they can maximize their impact. So even if other universities do welcome back these programs, it is still uncertain that the necessary funds will be allocated for their development. The brave men and women that defend our country’s freedoms and ideals deserve the support of our universities. As Maschek said at Columbia, serving in the military allows Americans “to do great things.” Our country is constantly under attack from those who cannot accept our freedoms, who are jealous of the greatness we have achieved, and who detest the immense po-
The brave men and women that defend our country’s freedoms and ideals deserve the support of our universities. tential we have for the future. In order to strengthen our nation and ensure a bright future for students graduating from colleges or universities across the US, we must reinstate ROTC programs, and allow our country’s greatest students to develop the skills needed to lead our military efforts into a new generation of increased danger and exceeding hope. Karim Lakhani is a freshman in the School of Hotel Administration. He can be reached at kml248@cornell.edu. aspects of the agenda, but were involved in other parts as well. Prior to the start of the program, the two students created an over 150-page table illustrating the effects of international law on trafficking-in-persons prosecutions in Liberia, as well as two memoranda related to trafficking. They also prepared take-home guides for the program. The first day of the actual program, Holsey and Koven attended training sessions and met the country's Chief Justice, who Holsey said "closed the entire court system of Liberia for the week so that judges and lawyers from all across Liberia could participate in the training," Continued on the right
Campus
Katzenstein Warns of Simplification I
n American politics, it is a common tool in political rhetoric to claim one’s ideas are correct, while the other side of the aisle is just too closed-minded to see the same truths. There is a temptation for intellectuals of every flavor to imagine dissent from their ideas as the product of daft logic on the behalf of their critics, and to create camps that oversimplify “the others”. Not everyone resorts to this, of course, but it is quite easy to fall into the trap. The most effective exchanges are ones that logically account for all groups’ separate assumptions and lines of reasoning, not ones that posit “us versus them” attitudes, as popular as these may seem in our 24-hour news cycle. This tendency is not inapplicable to political science and international relations and issues either. One of Cornell’s most famous professors, Dr. Peter Katzenstein, presented a lecture on February 22nd entitled “Civilizations in World Politics: Beyond East and West”, in which he discussed the tendency in popular political science to clump groups together, or to create a “unitary” framework. The opposite of this is Continued from the left illustrating the significance of the program. The 5-day training was divided into large and small sessions. During the large sessions, judges and lawyers taught various litigation techniques, including direct- and crossexamination of witnesses, admitting exhibits as evidence, and impeachment, as well as opening and closing arguments. After these large group presentations, the participants would split into smaller groups, during which the participants were filmed as they practiced using the recently learned techniques. Immediately afterward, they watched themselves on video and received feedback from the trainers. All role play was based on a fictional human trafficking case. There were also two panels conducted about trafficking law presented by Cornell Law School Vice Dean and Professor Barbara Holden-Smith and Avon Global Center Associate Director and Adjunct Professor Elizabeth Brundige, among other trainers. Holsey and
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unitary understandings breed the same sort of lazy “us versus them” mentality that makes careful thinkers cringe when it shows up in our own political discourse. A mark of good scholarship will be wary of the shifts in values and culture, rather than power, that distinguish plural-
Huntington’s rather arbitrary and broad concept of civilization functions more as “state.” Katzenstein
also noted (and this is important) that our world is “characterized by intercivilizational encounters and transcivilizational engagements, and only very rarely by transcivilizational clashes.” By speaking in such broad strokes, Katzenstein seems to indicate he believes that supporters of unitary frameworks will subscribe to a mindset which supposes a core set of agreed values, instead of a rich discourse, at the basis of every region’s culture. To any regional studies major, Katzenstein’s pluralism seems right: an account of any national political history is mired in subtleties, an array of trajectories, competitions, cultural variations, and charismatic leaders that play into national consciousness. Katzenstein seems to argue that by subscribing to a unitary view we are committing the fallacy of secundum quid, or making an inductive generalization based on insufficient evidence. While he conceded that the unitary method was inevitable in times of war and for shorthand, its place in policy appears to be grossly overrepresented, since the clashes people like Huntington describe are rather infrequent. While Katzenstein did not explicitly say this, one can infer that
Koven were also involved in the role playing as trainers; they often played witnesses and thereby helped demonstrate the importance of the litigation techniques taught in large sessions. On its website, Lawyers Without Borders says that forty-five to fifty legal professionals pre-registered for the program, and an additional fifteen to twenty attendees came to participate soon after the training teams arrived to Liberia, totaling more than 60 participants. The participants were very open, willing and even eager to take advantage of this opportunity. Holsey said she "felt very welcome in Liberia", noting that "the Liberian lawyers and judges [she] met showed incredible perseverance, strength, and kindness as well as a steadfast commitment to justice in Liberia." Koven echoed this observation, also testifying to the remarkable "positivity and perseverance" of the participants. Koven went on to write that "while the participants acknowledged the troubles that Liberia has faced in the past and remained aware of the
obstacles that they will inevitably continue to face in the near future, they seemed determined to confront challenges with enthusiasm and hope." Both law students seemed to get out of the program at least as much as they put into it, lavishing the program with well-deserved praise. Holsey reflected, "Participating in this program was easily one of the most remarkable experiences of my life." She recounted meeting the Chief Justice of Liberia as well as four United States federal judges, the US Ambassador to Liberia, and many skilled litigators from the US and the United Kingdom. She admitted that watching the litigation technique sessions were helpful for her because some of the trainers "were among some of the best litigators [she] has ever met," and "to see them demonstrate one of the things they do best — litigate — was very inspiring and useful." Koven, called it "an amazing experience" and "enjoyed researching international law and how it applies to the trafficking situation in
Liberia", though she admitted that "having the opportunity to actually attend the training and see [her and other trainers'] work put to use proved even more rewarding." She particularly enjoyed watching the participants become more engaged in the training program. Even though it was a relatively short program, she noted that the participants went from being nervous about roleplaying in the beginning to being "much more comfortable […] and increasingly eager to participate." Asked if they would consider doing such a program again, Koven wrote that she "would love to one day return to Liberia or to participate in another training program." Holsey expressed similar sentiment, stating, "It would be my honor to participate in a program like this in Liberia or somewhere else in the future."
a “pluralistic” account, where vague terms like “East” and “West” are not as readily employed because the distinction between civilizations is accounted for in conversations that preserve the distinctions between cultures. To exemplify a unitary understanding, Katzenstein referenced The Clash of Civilizations, a wildly popular book by Samuel P. Huntington that claims, more or less, that the “West” will fall behind if it does not recognize the nature of cultural conflict. Katzenstein made the case that
Our world is “characterized by intercivilizational encounters and transcivilizational engagements, and only very rarely by transcivilizational clashes.”
CORNELL
Kathleen McCaffrey Campus News Editor
March 2, 2011
ist accounts of modern civilizations from unitary. Kathleen McCaffrey is a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences. She can be reached at kam424@cornell. edu.
Hannah MacLean is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at hem47@cornell.edu.
The Review welcomes and encourages letters to the editor. Long, gaseous letters that seem to go on forever are best suited for publication in the Cornell Daily Sun. The Review requests that all letters to the editor be limited to 350 words. Please send all questions, comments, and concerns to thecornell.review@gmail.com
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March 2, 2011
Politics From Above
The Cornell Review Political Maps Series
Collegetown
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Collegetown Bagels Spendthrift liberals who aren't from New Jersey or Downstate New York thriftily waste their parent's money on "the best bagels ever."
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A guide to liberal hotspots and conservative strongholds
Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts Acting. Enough said.
Politics From Above
March 2, 2011
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By Anthony Longo and Tianye Liu
Last semester, the Cornell Review laid bare Cornell's politics in map form. Now, we are proud to present our guide to Collegetown.
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Aladdin's Natural Eatery Besides the fact it sells "natural food," the main problem is that it's called an "eatery" instead of a "restaurant."
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Kraftees
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Big Red Barber Shop
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The Nines
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The Four Seasons
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Stella's
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Stone Arch Bridge
Nothing says "I'm a greedy capitalist" better than themed T-shirts.
Besides its propensity for "ginger mess ups", it's only conservative every other month when Cornell Review writer Bo Jonica goes there.
The only restaurant in a five block radius that doesn't feature starving liberal artists writing novels on their Macbook Pros. (Macbooks Pro?)
Despite the name, it is not associated with New Jersey or its recent conservative surge in politics.
If you prefer the cafe side, it's liberal. That's it. If you actually go to the restaurant part and perhaps taste even taste a morsel of meat, then it's conservative.
Recently ruined by liberals with the erection of eightfoot fences. Nanny school?
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March 2, 2011
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Undercover Video at Planned Parenthood Creates Scandal
“Honestly,” she said, “I think this sex-scandal really shows why the federal government needs to give more money [and] attention to programs like Planned Parenthood and other reproductive services.” Abby Johnson directed a Planned Parenthood clinic in Southern Texas, until she was asked to assist in an ultrasound-guided abortion. She saw the fetus struggling to get away from the doctor’s knife, and she was forever changed. She currently works as a pro-life speaker and is a vocal opponent of Planned Parenthood. She believes that sex trafficking cover-ups are routine: “It happens all the time, it happened at my clinic . . . I let it happen.” Johnson offers several explana-
Planned Parenthood clinic posing workers had reported the situation as a 15-year-old girl whose 27-year- to the FBI. (Planned Parenthood old boyfriend got her pregnant. The did refer the situation to the FBI, ome recent undercover videos Planned Parenthood worker said her but they did so a week after the sting filmed at Planned Parenthood clinic would be happy to give Rose operations occurred. They fired the clinics ignited controversy through- an abortion, provided she didn’t tell New Jersey worker while maintainout the country. The scandal caused the doctor her boyfriend’s age. ing that the Virginia staffworker the House of Representatives to strip Just recently, Rose’s organization “acted professionally.”) Planned Parenthood of its federal has released three new videos. In I asked Lindsay Myron, an emfunding last week. The Senate will these videos, a man and a woman ployee at the Cornell Women’s Resoon vote whether to adopt the same posing as a pimp and a prostitute source Center, what she felt about measure. Pro-life advocates are ec- targeted three Planned Parenthood the recent scandals. The Cornell static, pro-choicers are shocked, and clinics: one in New Jersey, one in Women’s Resource Center supports everyone else is left wondering what Virginia, and one in the commotion is about. New York. In each of According to its website, “Planned the videos, the “pimp” Parenthood Federation of America and “prostitute” want is the nation’s leading sexual and re- to give contraceptives, productive health care provider and STD testing, and aboradvocate.” 97% of its patients seek tions to 13-year-old sex contraception and STD testing while slaves they have imported from overseas. All three clinics turned a blind eye to the immoral and illegal behavior, and some clinic workers even gave the pimp professional advice. When the pimp in Virginia said he manthe other 3% seek abortions. Even aged a sex ring, the staff so, Planned Parenthood is the lead- worker said, “We see ing abortion provider in the Unit- people from every walk ed States, performing several hun- of life, so . . . no judg- Live Action employees infiltrate a Planned Parenthood in New Jersey. dred thousand abortions every year. ment, no sharing of inIt also offers adoption referrals, but formation, like, uh, nothing here.” In Planned Parenthood for the support tions for Planned Parenthood’s acit performs 120 abortions for every New Jersey, the worker showed the and information it gives sexually ac- tions. One is that Planned Parentone adoption referral. Although it pimp how to circumnavigate statu- tive women. Myron was not aware hood wants “to tolerate all these is a nonprofit organization, Planned tory rape laws: “As long as [the girls] of the Live Action videos, but her ini- lifestyles, and all these different Parenthood makes an $85 million just lie and say, ‘Oh, [my boyfriend’s] tial reaction was that “Planned Par- walks of life for their clients; they profit each year. A large percentage fifteen, sixteen’ . . . as long as it’s not enthood is a very large organization forget to protect . . . these women of this profit comes from abortions, too much of an age gap then we just . . . and I would hate to believe that that they’re there to help.” She which cost between $350 and $950 kind of like . . . just kind of play it is representative of the organization also hints that money is a factor: in the first trimester. Many oppo- stupid.” When the pimp asked the as a whole.” If she discovered that “Planned Parenthood’s mission . . . is nents of Planned Parenthood argue same clinic worker what he could do the problem was widespread, she to increase their abortion numbers that it has a vested interest in in- with the sex slaves who were recov- would support “greater transpar- and in turn increase their revenue.” ering from abortions, she replied, ency and self-regulation” within the creasing the number of abortions. Mary Anne Tissot is a pro-life ad“Oh, waist up . . . Or just be that extra non-profit, but she would not want Enter Live Action videos. Sevvocate in Ithaca. She consistentaction walking by.” to defund it. “It has already estab- ly holds prayer vigils outside local eral years ago, Live Action presiPlanned Parenthood’s response lished itself across the country, and I dent Lila Rose caught Planned ParPlanned Parenthoods for an end to don’t know of any organizations that abortion. After the Live Action vidcould take over for it.” She sees its eos came out, she decided to hold services as necessary and beneficial a prayer vigil on Valentine’s Day to women. to raise awareness about the scanNeesha Regmi Schnepf, class dals. She put on the vigil because of 2013, is an active member of she believed most people “don’t see the Green Party on campus. She the whole picture” about Planned thought that the Planned ParentParenthood. She was joined by her hood employees should not call the daughter and grandson, and another FBI on those involved in sex work: family was also there. They prayed “Just as the Red Cross helps casualfor the clinic workers and clients, so ties of both sides of a war, PP should that, in Tissot’s words, “they would be there to help people of all walks find another health center that of life with whatever situation they find themselves in.” While she be- would serve their needs with love, lieves that no 13-year-old should not exploitation.” As the nation’s leaders debate be forced to have an abortion, she thinks the Planned Parenthood about whether to defund Planned workers were placed in a “sticky Parenthood, Live Action sting vidsituation.” She sympathizes with eos have engendered outrage, disPlanned Parenthood workers who cussion, and calls to action in the Mary Anne Tissot (far left) leads a pro-life vigil outside Planned Parenthood. would perform an abortion on a Ithaca area. Sam Pell is a sophomore in the was anything but edifying. First they 13-year-old sex slave, because such a enthood covering up an alleged dismissed the videos as a hoax. Then girl “has very limited resources” and College of Arts &Sciences. He can be statutory rape. She called a reached at sep87@cornell.edu. they said the Planned Parenthood “still is a child.” Sam Pell Staff Writer
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RACHEL TISSOT
LIVE ACTION.ORG
“Oh, waist up… or just be that extra action walking by.”
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Campus
March 2, 2011
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TEACHER'S LOUNGE HEARD
BY OLIVER RENICK
Robert C. Hockett, Law Professor Feb. 14, 2011 On the G20 finance ministers meeting: “The mid-February meeting of G20 finance ministers will be addressing an issue whose time definitely has come — reform of the international monetary system.”
Trevor Pinch, Professor of science and technology studies Feb. 15, 2011 On people’s choices in smartphone applications: “You can have smartphones with you all the time. You can sleep with the thing if you want. These apps capture people’s imagination and add mobility. There is nothing inevitable about the path technology takes. We need more research on how people and technology together can produce meaningful change in our lives.”
Harry M. Kaiser, Professor of Applied Economics Feb. 15, 2011 On the impact of rising global food prices: “Recent food price increases are not due to recent actions by the Federal Reserve or current fiscal policies by the U.S. and other countries. The increases in prices for commodities such as corn and wheat are primarily due to poor or extreme weather events in major food supply regions, continued demand increases in China and India, and the demand for biofuels which use crops such as corn.”
Brady O'Hanlon, doctoral student in electrical and computer engineering Feb. 17, 2011 Discussing the effect of solar flare activity on GPS: “These recent solar events are notable because they herald the increased activity we can expect over the next several years as the sun approaches the peak of its 11-year activity cycle. GPS usage has become ubiquitous over the past several years, a period which happened to coincide with extremely low solar activity. Expect to see periodic disruptions in GPS service over the next several years.”
GIVEN Robert and Anne Everett donated $2 million to endow the Robert and Anne Everett Professorship in Dairy Cattle Genetics, the first endowed position in the Department of Animal Science. Robert, a CALS Emeritus Professor, studied as a post-doc in 1966 and worked as an assistant professor in 1968. He taught until 2008, when he retired after four decades of leading research in dairy cattle genetics. His wife Anne said the donation was a long-time goal of Robert’s. “My husband always valued the innovation that occurred at Cornell University, and he was so proud to be part of this special institution,” she said in a Cornell University press release. “Endowing a professorship was truly a dream we had for many years. Fulfilling this dream brought Bob great happiness.” Everett created the Test Day Model, a management tool that allowed dairy farmers to use data to document operations and evaluate genetic improvements in the livestock.
PUBLISHED ‘Ordinary Egyptians’ explores the modernization of Egypt’s national identity. Ziad Fahmy, Cornell University assistant professor of Near Eastern studies, knows that while the timing was unpredictable, the revolution in Cairo this year was inevitable. Fahmy’s new book, “Ordinary Egyptians: Creating the Modern Nation through Popular Culture,” available in May, examines how the history of that nation’s common Creating the Modern nation through PoPular Culture folk can help explain the recent stirring of the urban masses. “Today’s revolution was planned and carried out in every sense by ‘ordinary Egyptians’, which is what made it unexpected by many observers and even by the regime itself,” Fahmy told The Review via email. “Ordinary Egyptians gives an excellent historical introduction of early Egyptian nationalism, providing an almost direct link with Ziad Fahmy the events taking place today.”
ordinary eg yptians
Sally Klingel, director of ILR’s labor management programs Feb. 18, 2011 On Mayor Bloomberg’s announcement of teacher layoffs: “Budget reductions and layoffs in education divert attention and scarce resources from the task of improving the reliability and fairness of systems for ongoing teacher evaluation and improvement, more selective hiring and better teacher preparation, rigorous evaluation for gaining tenure after a probationary period and the mentoring of new teachers by experienced teachers.”
Steven Kyle, AEM Professor Feb. 25, 2011 Reflecting on the impact of the current oil price spike: “The good news is that even though governments may be unstable in the Middle East, they will need the money so they will continue to export the oil. Thus, barring any concerted effort to wreck oil infrastructure such as what has occurred in past Gulf wars, any new government will resume production in short order if it even gets interrupted at all. The bad news is that we are looking at a long-term rise in oil prices regardless of these short term perturbations.”
In his book, Fahmy introduces the idea of “media-capitalism,” which extends the analysis of nationalism beyond print alone to incorporate more modern technologies and communication methods. It was through these various media that Egyptians of different classes were able to form a cohesive ideology and form a collective camaraderie, from which the Egyptian national identity emerged. Fahmy earned his doctorate in history from the University of Arizona, where his dissertation, “Popularizing Egyptian Nationalism,” was awarded the Malcom H. Kerr Dissertation Award. At Cornell, he teaches a range of subjects from women’s roles in the Middle East to the influence of mass media on Arabic cultures. He is also currently working on a second book with the working title, “Listening to the Nation: Mass Culture and Identities in Interwar Egypt.”
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March 2, 2011
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Too Competent for Comfort in the RNC A
Mob Activity Heightens Port Security Concerns Lucia Rafanelli Staff Writer
A
massive Mafia takedown in which the FBI charged a total of 127 suspects, including an alarming number employed by New York and New Jersey’s branches of the International Longshoreman’s Association (ILA), has raised a red flag about a highly under-publicized potential threat. A significant portion of ILA members work the ports of New York and New Jersey, a fact that has caused some to question whether such a mob presence among its ranks constitutes a danger to national security. The fear is that a corrupt member of the ILA who may already be involved in mob-related activity, such as drug trafficking, could make the jump to smuggling nuclear or other hazardous material across national borders. There are two major competing theories on this subject: one that says mobsters manning port checkpoints is no more a national security threat run-of-the-mill street gang drug deals, while the other says the mob would not hesitate to compromise our country’s security for the right price. Union County Chief of Detectives Robert Buccino holds the former position, asserting that the mob has traditionally stayed out of homeland security affairs. In an Associated Press article, he is quoted as saying, “They do raise the American flag in front of their house…I hate to say it, but they are patriotic, and they believe in the American way.” NYU Law professor James Jacobs agrees, claiming that, while the corruption of port-workers is surely a problem “it’s not the same problem as al-Qaida terrorism.” On the other hand, Joseph King, who teaches terrorism and organized crime classes at John Jay College, sees no reason why members of the mob would stop just short of committing crimes relating to national security.
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According to King, the mob should be seen as a nefarious business organization– and a resilient one at that. The mob, he says, has survived decades of persecution and has reinvigorated itself even after seemingly devastating takedowns. Further, King argues, the mob would by no means refuse on principle to give terrorists access to US ports, or to help them smuggle hazardous materials into the country, if they were compensated appropriately. “They’re in business,” he said, “they don’t care what it is, they’re looking for money.” Moreover, the ILA is certainly not banking on King’s suspicions about the mob being misguided. Even before the most recent bust, the ILA implemented an ethics code, established ethics oversight positions and an anonymous complaint hotline, and adopted harsher disciplinary procedures for dealing with workers charged with crimes. Stephen Taylor, New Jersey’s criminal justice director, supports the ILA’s apparent concern about corruption and port security, asserting that the staggering amount of material that passes through US ports annually is “not only a target for terrorists, but certainly a target for more traditional types of criminals.” This is a valid point, and it does seem that concern over port security is warranted. While it may be true that the mob has not traditionally taken part in acts that threaten homeland security, we should recognize that the set of dangers to national security is a dynamic one, particularly now, as we face new types of enemies in the War on Terror. Thus, we should applaud the ILA for their aggressive stand against corruption and should join them in recognizing that the presence of any corrupt officials at our ports is a hazard to us all. Lucia Rafanelli is a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences. She can be reached at lmr93@cornell. edu.
mbrose Bierce defines politics as “a strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.” The last two decades of politics have seen a bloated budget, crazed spending, diplomatic crises, a total change of hands in Washington, and … lots of politicians. The names have changed, but the expanding structure of our War on Drugs-ing, healthcare-reforming policies from bureaucrats on Capitol Hill have stayed very much the same. In recent history, the government has consistently spent far more than it has taken in. The far left and the far right find common ground in a principle that allows the government to legislate away too many tax dollars on pet issues. The only debates seem to circulate around which issue gets priority in the hemorrhaging of tax dollars. To make matters worse, the big players in the Republican lineup for 2012 have been tainted by policies and decisions that call their integrity into question. Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, and Mike Huckabee, all have a plethora of baggage, including failed healthcare plans, collaborations with Al Sharpton/ Arne Duncan, and tax hikes. (This, of course, goes without mentioning the alternative.) One person who I’m not ashamed to see in the race, however, is Governor Gary Johnson. In the past few weeks, the media have covered Mitch Daniels and Chris Christie as part of a new wave of competent governors. However, amidst this craze it would be foolish to forget Governor Johnson, who established himself as one of the most successful advocates of liberty over the past two decades as Governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003. As Governor, he slashed the size of government, left a surplus, led the nation in vetoes (more than any of the other forty-nine governors at the time combined), cut taxes fourteen times, never raised taxes, cut 1,200 jobs without firing anyone, and staunchly advocated school vouchers. It’s also clear that Johnson doesn’t
innovators like himself, acknowledging the failure of the War on Drugs, reviewing the Fed, and creating feasible solutions for illegal immigrants. He runs government “like a business,” one he made profitable before with a state surplus. Similarly, he claims to view politics as “an entrepreneurial endeavor” with a focus on enhancing competition for the consumer. Governor Johnson doesn’t allow just any excuse to war-
Gary Johnson Initiative
Kathleen McCaffrey Campus News Editor
rant the expansion of government: he takes citizen’s labor, time, and money seriously, and it shows. In a state that was 2:1 registered Democrat, his stewardship of tax dollars earned him re-election, twice. Other than his impressive num-
“Governor Johnson established himself as one of the most successful advocates of liberty over the past two decades as Governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003.” fancy himself some sort of panacea of answers; to hear him speak is to listen to the voice of practicality. His priorities lie in making the government lean, making the economy hospitable to entrepreneurs and
bers, the most endearing aspect of Governor Johnson is that politics is a relatively new addition to his résumé. For the first part of his adult Please turn to page 2
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March 2, 2011
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CORNELLINSIDER.com
a blog by the writers of the Cornell Review
"Statistically Impossible Lack of Diveristy"
Posted by DENNIS SHIRAEV
That’s how UVA Professor Jonathan Haidt described the grand total of 3 self-identified conservatives at a 1,000 person social psychology conference. From the NYT article: “This is a statistically impossible lack of diversity,” Dr. Haidt concluded, noting polls showing that 40 percent of Americans are conservative and 20 percent are liberal. In his speech and in an interview, Dr. Haidt argued that social psychologists are a “tribal-moral community” united by “sacred values” that hinder research and damage their credibility – and blind them to the hostile climate they’ve created for non-liberals. “Anywhere in the world that social psychologists see women or minorities underrepresented by a factor of two or three, our minds jump to discrimination as the explanation,” said Dr. Haidt, who called himself a longtime liberal turned centrist. “But when we find out that conservatives are underrepresented among us by a factor of more than 100, suddenly everyone finds it quite easy to generate alternate explanations.” In his speech, Dr. Haidt also revealed email correspondences from non-liberal graduate students who discussed the pressures and biases they felt from their liberal colleagues. One email read: “I consider myself very middle-of-the-road politically: a social liberal but fiscal conservative. Nonetheless, I avoid the topic of politics around work… Given what I’ve read of the literature, I am certain any research I conducted in political psychology would provide contrary findings and, therefore, go unpublished. Although I think I could make a substantial contribution to the knowledge base, and would be excited to do so, I will not.” The Cornell Review devotes many of its pages to reporting the harmful effects of liberal bias on campus, among students and with professors in the classroom. As any Cornell conservative – or for that matter, open-minded liberal – knows, a liberally-biased professor takes away from an enriching learning environment. Alternative historical perspectives are often not discussed, pro-market arguments are overlooked, and conservative political figures are treated with scorn and ridicule. But Haidt believes that the negative consequences of a liberal academe extend far beyond the classroom. Take, for example, the tens of millions of dollars that universities spend on research and diversity programs based on the assumption that women face systematic bias and discrimination in the academic workplace. Research contradicting this assumption, like a recent study by Cornell Psychology Profesors Stephen J. Ceci and Wendy M. Williams, is ignored, and universities continue to invest valuable dollars into misguided efforts:
“Thus,” [the Cornell researchers] conclude, “the ongoing focus on sex discrimination in reviewing, interviewing and hiring represents costly, misplaced effort. Society is engaged in the present in solving problems of the past.” Instead of presuming discrimination in science or expecting the sexes to show equal interest in every discipline, the Cornell researchers say, universities should make it easier for women in any field to combine scholarship with family responsibilities. Perhaps equally outspoken academics like Dr. Haidt can continue to bring attention to and eventually mend – or at least ameliorate – the problem of underrepresented conservatives in academia.
Partisan Debate on The Diplomacist
Posted by DENNIS SHIRAEV
Today the Diplomacist blog debuted a new feature, Partisan Response, which provides contrasting partisan commentary on international affairs issues from the Review and Progressive. Here’s Executive Editor Joe Bonica’s response to the article titled “The Reality of Cuba’s Reforms”: Though President Raúl Castro has acted on behalf of his Fidel brother to “liberalize” the economy by reducing Cuban state employment and allowing limited entrepreneurship, much more needs to be done to truly facilitate this transition, including allowing free access to information. Unfortunately, the Castro regime has a terrible history of real reform. The position of the United States should therefore be one that is firm but non-interventionist at the same time, being especially steadfast in the need for information to flow freely in the country. Cuba is off to a fairly good start with its current liberalization reforms; the United States should encourage continued liberalization of the economy as the best engine to lift Cuba out of its terrible doldrums. However, the United States should also inform the Castro government that a liberal economy functions best when full information is available to the purchasing public. It would also be hugely positive for the Cuban economy to allow free trade in the region. Perhaps, then, a deal could be worked out between the U.S and Cuba: if Cuba promises to vastly increase the flow of information to their own citizens, then the United States will either greatly modify or completely eliminate the decades-old embargo on the country. Whether or not this realpolitik will work waits to be seen, but if the Castros truly intend a liberalized Cuban economy, this will prove a very telling test.
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Wisemen & Fools I’m going to get into the black SUVs with the state troopers, go back to the governor’s mansion, go upstairs, open a beer, order a pizza, and I’m going to watch the Mets. Chris Christie on how he would react to a government shutdown Man up and say I'm fat. Chris Christie They've compared me to Julius Caesar, Napoleon Bonaparte and all those great leaders of the past that I love. Chris Christie
not an impediment. Napoleon Do you know what teabagging is? It’s when my ball bags go down your nose. Pro-union protester to a 17-year old boy handing out Constitutions in Wisconsin I believe that everything in government should be a cost-benefit analysis. Gary Johnson Tide goes in, tide goes out. Can’t explain it. Bill O’Reilly We are an exceptional nation and we plan to keep it that way! Mediocrity is not in our DNA. Herman Cain, Republican 2012 hopeful
In politics, an absurdity is
If the Republican Party doesn’t get it right this time, I may leave. Sen. Jim DeMint And now, introducing the next president of the United States—Barack America! Joe Biden What is leg? Watson There is no right to strike against the public safety anywhere, at any time. Calvin Coolidge The Muslim Brotherhood is a fairly secular organization. James Clapper Director of National Intelligence Take me now, Jesus! Glenn Beck on hearing the above
We have a Republic, if we choose to keep it. Benjamin Franklin What I cannot create, I do not understand. Richard Feynman I am an international leader, the dean of the Arab rulers, the king of kings of Africa and the imam of Muslims, and my international status does not allow me to descend to a lower level. Muammar Qaddafi Change change change change change change change change change change change change change change change change change change Barack Obama
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