Chapter 6 Blog

Blog Chapter 6

1.  Polls- are American news media too dependent upon polls?
 Is it appropriate for news agencies to create polls and then report on them?
 Why or why not?

a.     I think Polls are a good way to inform the public of the presidents rating of running our country.  The President looks at the polls, and if he wants a second term he may want to rethink on the mistakes he has made and find out what Americans want. We still have high unemployment and high foreclosures. Yes I think it’s appropriate for news agencies to create polls and give Americans a report on them.  I don’t think they are dependent on them. I think they are giving us information on what we want to know, or should know.

2.     How important is party identification to you as a democrat, republican or liberal? Was it more or less important to your friends? Why or why not?

a.     It used to be important to me; I was all democrat and wouldn’t vote for any other party. But now I’m changing my way of thinking. All of it is messed up. We need fresh thoughts of what Americans want. What they are doing now is not working. My friends are angry with the president and the government. They are not for any political party. They think that they have run this country in the ground and we may never recover from it.

3.     Do you feel that your opinion of politics is more influenced by economic issues or social issues? Why?

a.      Economics because of unemployment and the debt. If they cut government spending, it would be on the democratic side. Republicans won’t give in very much. They are for the wealthy and the Democrats are for the middle class and poor. And what happens when they raise the debt ceiling? They will just keep raising it and not pay it back.

Chapter 5 Blog

Chapter 5 Blog

The issue of race-

I think they have done what they could for racial discrimination. For some it will never be enough.  I have come across people over the years that think they are discriminated against in so many ways.  I think they have the same rights as we do the same chances that we do. But to some it’s not enough.

The issue of gender-

In the workplace women are discriminated against like equal pay in some cases. In factories and construction where it’s a male dominated work place. Some men think women don’t belong in some construction areas like bulldozing and welding. I think if a woman can do the job then she should be paid the same wages and be respected by others on the job.  And as for sexual harassment it isn’t as bad as it used to be. I’m sure it still happens but there is a lot of awareness about it posted on boards at work places. People can be cruel about it saying she wanted this or she deserved this. No one deserves to be harassed or be afraid to go to work because of harassment.

The issue of sexual orientation.

Gays in the military, don’t ask, don’t tell. I think it’s really stupid. Why should anybody care what your sexual orientation is.  People make a bigger deal out of it then they should. To me it’s like the right to privacy. It’s nobody’s business. Military or personal.  Gays should have a right to marry who they want. It shouldn’t make any difference to anybody what their sexual orientation is.

Chapter 4

               

Freedom of speech is important, but should be limited. If you have something to say about the government or the president , that would be ok as long as you don’t say something like I’m going to kill the president or bomb the white house.  To harm someone is very wrong, just because you don’t like the color of their skin or the things that they say.  The freedom of the press is good to because without them no one would know what’s going on around our nation or the world.  I think freedom of speech goes too far sometimes.  It should not be protected for anything that relates to degrading a person, mean comments to people with disabilities, bullying children, threatening someone either in person or on the internet.  To me it is unnecessary to purposely hurt someone with words of violence,  trying to start a war by rioting.  It’s okay to take a stand for what you believe, just not with violent words or throwing rocks, bottles or burning flags.

There should be a separation of church and state. I don’t think they should teach religion in schools.  There are a lot of people that don’t go to church but do believe in god. School‘s are suppose to teach children math, social studies, reading, and writing. Religion should be taught in church.  If you taught religion in schools, would it be all of them or just one type? I don’t know what it would be. I do know that it would be confusing to a child if that child never went to church or the school was teaching them something different then what they know from church.

                Accused criminals should have some rights until they are convicted. After that happens all their rights should be taken away. I do agree with the search and seizer laws, and the Miranda rights. However, I think police officials sometimes go through the Miranda rights so fast that the person being arrested truly does not understand or forgets what their rights are. There have been people arrested and interrogated for hours because they have not thought about getting a lawyer because they are too nervous and can’t think. I believe the Miranda rights should be given to a suspect twice. First, while being arrested and second before interrogations, so that a person really understands what they have a right to. The length of time of an interrogation that law enforcement uses is wrong in my opinion, I know they try and wear that person down to confess, but they should not be able to pressure that person for 12 or more hours or play good cop, bad cop. If they have evidence that proves this person did this crime then the interrogation should not be that long. Just put them in jail; let them have an attorney and wait for trial. 

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

1.  If the government and the states had equal share of power it would be a huge mistake. They all would be fighting against each other and us, as a nation, would look weak.

2.  Reagan didn’t like the government having all the power because he thought they were the problem. So he scaled them back and put blocks on grants so they couldn’t spend money on general revenue spending.

3.  I think the government should be in charge of education and funding and not the states so our kids in all states have a fair chance to get a good education.

Chapter 2 Blog

The Bill of Rights

The Bill of Rights is important to me and many others I assume because it gives us many rights, like the right to bear arms, freedom of speech, freedom of religion and the right to assemble. The ninth amendment says we have the right to education, employment, housing and medical care. People would be living in the streets and starving if we didn't have the right to employment and housing. Our right to privacy, 1973 Roe v. Wade case, it was ruled that abortion is a private matter and so it is protected by the constitution. Without the right to privacy anyone could come in our homes and use our names for their own purpose. The right to privacy protects you, your home and your belongings from being taken, your medical records and the mail you receive. It protects your personal information. The internet security you have on your pc or laptop protects your information from being hacked into and taken by someone to use to get credit cards. That would ruin you financially. It is so important to protect ourselves, and with the right to privacy to help us.

Democracy and ideology

I think Americans take democracy for granted because they were born into it, learned about it in school and brought up to believe in democracy. Americans have never experienced another type of government such as a dictatorship.  I think that separation of powers is crucial to our government system so that no one person has complete control over our nation.  The three branches of government are legislative, executive, and judicial. In these three branches officials are elected and appointed, to give Americans a voice in who runs the country in what we think is the best way. The ideology spectrum for me is moderate.  I see things on both sides that the government should and should not be involved in.  For example, the government should not be involved in privately owned businesses and people’s personal lives.  However, the government should be involved in airline safety and security, regulating banks and taxes.

saying hi

Hi, my name is Patty McLees I'm 56 yrs old. I have been married for 20 yrs, between us we have 5 children and 9 grandchildren. We have 1 dog, Abby and 3 cats, Samantha, Tabitha and Tabby. I was born in Detroit, Michigan and moved to Rockwood, TN in 1980. I went to massage therapy school but I no longer do this because of back and knee issues. I was babysitting my grandaughter and now she is in school. I wanted to go back to school for a new career. I'm new to the whole blogging, tweeting and college experience, but eager to learn.