Good Night and Good Luck

To the kind friends who’ve taken the time to visit my site…
I’ve decided to discontinue this blog for now. Sorry, but I haven’t been putting much effort into writing posts since I returned from Europe. You’ve probably noticed that lately it’s just been the occasional update on the presidential race, which is not [...]

Democratic “Debate”

Well, the CNN Democratic debate last night was nothing special, mostly repetition of all the things we have heard ten times over in the past few months.  The only new issue was Clinton’s recent charge of plagiarism.

Hillary decided to go sentimental in her closing remarks, mentioning that she was honored to [...]

Doublespeak & Political Framing

In George Orwell’s 1984, we read of a totalitarian state where the government monitors all aspects of the citizens’ lives. The world of Big Brother introduces the reader to an entirely new vocabulary, including:

Doublethink – the power to hold two completely contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accept both of them.
Newspeak – a [...]

Invasion of Iraq

The supposed ‘war on terror‘ took a severe misstep with the US invasion of Iraq.
The groundwork for the preemptive invasion of Iraq was laid out by the National Security Strategy of 2002, which refined the concept of preventive war to say that the United States reserves the right to attack any country with the “intent [...]

Politics of an American Family

I have often found a clash in the political views of my family. Occasionally, there may be a light argument between myself and my parents or sisters, but nothing too drastic. Out of curiosity, I had my each of my family members participate in an online political test to see where their views [...]

Focus

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is James Patrick Taylor. I grew up outside of Chicago in a town called Naperville, the only boy in a family of six children. I did well enough in school to go off to college in central Illinois. It [...]

Introduction

I am establishing this web log to keep people informed of America’s place in world politics. I know most people work hard just to keep their families fed and secure; most do not have the time or interest to pay attention to world affairs.
Those that do make an effort to stay informed still have [...]