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Election Primer 2012: Religion and Government

by Steve Hochstadt

Engraving of Roger Williams meeting with Narragansetts Indians, 1856.The religious beliefs of Mitt Romney and Barack Obama have persistently been a major talking point in this presidential campaign. Some Christians do not consider Romney’s Mormon faith to be truly Christian. Although Obama’s beliefs should be popular among American Protestants, a surprising number of them believe that he is secretly a Muslim, as they also believe he was really not born in the United States.As usual the media obsessively focuses on personal details rather than substantive issues. More important to this election are the parties’ views about the ideal relationship between religion and government.Since the European settlement of New England in the seventeenth century, two opposing ideas about government and religion have existed in America. The Puritans fled religious persecution in England. In Massachusetts Bay Colony, they created one of the earliest protections of individual rights in America, the Body of Liberties, which included the freedom of speech and the right to bail and a jury trial.

Where to Find America's True Democratic Spirit

by Mark Naison

Urban farm in Chicago, Illinois. Credit: Wikipedia.This fall, you won’t find the old democratic spirit in the activities of either major political party, each, in its own way in the thrall of Big Corporations and Big Money.But that spirit is alive throughout the country, on the ground, among people possessing a wide variety of experiences and political views.You can find it among housing activists and occupiers around the nation who are fighting evictions and foreclosures, organizing rent strikes, putting homeless families in some of the huge numbers of abandoned commercial and residential buildings that can be found all over the country, and forming residential communes and cooperatives among the growing number of Americans who can’t find decent-paying work.You can find it among the young Ron Paul supporters who are continuing their fight to reform draconian drug laws, shrink the prison-industrial complex, defend civil liberties, reduce the U.S. military presence abroad and expose the sweetheart relationship between government regulators and financial industries.

Deficit Disorder

by Scot Faulkner

U.S. national debt counter in New York City, April 20, 2012. Credit: Wikipedia.“We are heading for the fiscal cliff!” is the current warning in political circles. Unfortunately, Washington policymakers are like Wile-E-Coyote in the Road Runner cartoons. We are already over this fiscal cliff -- we just haven't looked down.How did the federal government end up in this situation? How can we scramble back to solid ground?Both answers are complex and long term.How did we end up over the fiscal cliff?

Paul Ryan's Hijacking of Natural Rights

by John Willingham

Portrait of John Locke, by Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1697.Surely one of the great ironies of American history is that the use of the word Creator in the Declaration of Independence has become the basis for arguing that the document, and the laws of Nature that it reveres, are particularly Christian in their origin.A more straightforward challenge to history is the current use of John Locke in sound bites and speeches, where he becomes the champion of absolute, God-given rights but not of the power of experience to shape and transform lives.Though both John Locke and the Declaration in fact combine a reverence for rights with the dynamism of nature and experience, Paul Ryan, the presumptive vice-presidential nominee of the Republican Party, is in the vanguard of extreme conservatives who want Americans to believe that both natural law and natural rights are ordained by the God of Biblical revelation.

On The Road To Ryan And Ruin

by Lawrence Davidson

Paul Ryan speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington in 2011. Credit: Gage SkidmorePart I: The Good Old Bad DaysIn the 132 years between 1797 and 1929, there was no effective regulation of the U.S. economy. No federal agencies existed to control corruption, fraud and exploitation on the part of the business class. Even during the Civil War, economic management on a national level was minimal and war profiteering common. As a result the country experienced thirty-three major economic downturns which impacted roughly sixty of the years in question. These included twenty-two recessions, four depressions, and seven economic “panics” (bank runs and failures).Then came the Great Depression starting with the crash of the New York stock market in 1929. This soon became a worldwide affair which lasted until the onset of World War II. Millions were thrown out of work, agricultural production partially collapsed, and the fear of rebellion and revolution was palpable both in the U.S. and Europe.

Todd Akin and Paul Ryan are American Salafis

by Juan Cole

Rep. Todd Akin apparently believes that women who are victims of 'legitimate rape' can't get pregnant. Biology proves him wrong.The troubles of Rep. Todd Akin, Republican candidate for the Senate in Missouri, derive from his absolute opposition to abortion, even in cases where a mother’s life is in danger or in cases of incest and rape.The ‘personhood’ bill he co-sponsored with Paul Ryan would have had the effect of making all abortions for any reason illegal. That bill spoke of ‘forced rape,’ which Akin says is what he meant when he spoke of ‘legitimate rape.’

Is Paul Ryan Jack Kemp, Model 2012?

by Nicole Hemmer

Jack Kemp, his wife Joanne, and daughter Judith in 1980. Credit: NARA/Wikipedia.“It all began with Buckley’s column.”So declared Jack Kemp during the Republican National Convention in 1996. The Buckley in question -- William F. Buckley, Jr., founder of the National Review -- had dedicated a column to praising Kemp’s vision. “Here is a fresh view,” Buckley wrote, “filling the lungs with hope and excitement.” He then urged Bob Dole, the GOP nominee, to put the former quarterback on the ticket. Eight weeks later, Dole did just that.

Ryan's Hope: A Vice Presidency in the Tradition of Dick Cheney and Joe Biden

by Timothy Walch

Joe Biden and Barack Obama await updates on the Navy SEAL raid to kill Osama bin Laden. Credt: White HousePaul Ryan for vice president! Really? Who's Paul Ryan? A recent CNN poll indicated that more than half the country doesn't know enough about him to form an opinion. This anonymity is quickly evaporating, however, as the Internet and airwaves are filled with stories about this energetic young congressman from Wisconsin. We'll all know a lot about Paul Ryan by Election Day.But what about the job? Americans have never known much about the responsibilities of the vice presidency. Even our first vice president, John Adams, referred to it as "the most insignificant office ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived." We can only wonder if Ryan knew much about the job before accepting Mitt Romney's invitation.

The L-Word: Libertarianism

by Robert Brent Toplin

Rep. Paul Ryan shortly after the official announcement of his selection as Mitt Romney's running mate. Credit: Flickr.The night before Mitt Romney announced that he had chosen Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan as his running mate, Michael Gerson, an op-ed columnist, identified Ryan as "the intellectual leader of his party." The next day pundits echoed Gerson's judgment. They called Ryan an up-and-coming "superstar," the G.O.P.'s premier communicator of big ideas.What are those ideas? Which values shape them?Paul Ryan's position on government's role in the economy principally reflects a libertarian point of view, but that influence receives very little attention in the media's reactions to his emergence as a GOP vice-presidential candidate. Commentators are reluctant to use the L-word. Instead, they focus on details about Paul Ryan's budget proposals. They discuss Ryan's interest in changing Medicare, cutting taxes for wealthy citizens and corporations, and reducing federal spending on social programs.Yet the libertarian ideas that justify these policies have become influential in modern GOP politics.

What Al Smith Can Teach Mitt Romney

by Michael R. Whitaker

Al Smith 1928 presidential campaign button.Those following Mitt Romney in the news may have noticed the frequency with which the former Massachusetts governor’s name has been linked to former New York governor Al Smith.Eighty-four years ago, Smith was the Democratic candidate in the 1928 presidential election, which he lost in a landslide to his Republican opponent, Herbert Hoover. Looking forward to this November’s contest, more than a few historically-minded journalists have suggested that Smith’s miserable showing might augur something for Romney when he challenges Barack Obama for the presidency in a few months’ time.Why the comparison is relevant is that it allegedly set the precedent for first-of-their-kind religious outsiders seeking the Oval Office, and Smith, the first Roman Catholic in American history to headline a major party’s presidential nomination, saw his campaign wilt under a glare of virulent anti-Catholic hysteria. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (better known as the Mormons), Romney may have to endure something similar, and, we are told, is probably doomed to suffer the same outcome as Smith.

Did Monica Lewinsky Really Save Social Security?

by Eric Laursen

Bill Clinton delivers his 1997 State of the Union address. Credit: NARA.After Bill Clinton was reelected president in 1996, he was looking for a domestic-policy issue that would cement his legacy and seal his comeback against a conservative Republican leadership in Congress. The issue he settled on was Social Security. Encouraged by the unexpected shrinkage of the federal budget deficit soon after his second inauguration, he quickly negotiated a bipartisan Balanced Budget Act that aimed to eliminate deficits entirely by 2002.

Protections for the Working Class Have Vanished in America

by Jerome Braun

Abandoned storefront in Washington D.C. The partially obscured graffiti on the door reads "Don't Just Vote Get Active." Credit: WikipediaIn the midst of the political season leading to the 2012 presidential election, it is striking how little discussion there has been on working-class issues, other than the too often banal discussions of how the unemployment rate is too high.. Usually the only solutions offered are that this problem will resolve itself, or a plan to apply the band-aid of unemployment compensation and other palliatives in the short-run, and nothing in the long-run.

How Does Obama's Personality Stack Up Against FDR's?

by Andrew M. Obritsch

Credit: HNN Staff/Wikipedia/FDR Library.In today’s society, it is common to anoint “the next.” The media has been searching for years to find the “next” Elvis Presley and the “next” Michael Jordan. One such comparison that has arisen in the last few years is the comparison of Barack Obama to Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Defunding Mass Transit is Not Good for the Tea Party, Whatever They May Think

by Tammy Ingram

MARTA train in Atlanta, Georgia. Credit: WikipediaThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s July 31st headline, “Tea Party notches a big win in T-SPLOST loss,” credits the conservative group with the defeat of a ten-year, one-cent sales tax that would have raised an estimated $7.2 billion ($8.5 billion after inflation) for transportation initiatives in metro Atlanta. The article does a better job of inflaming election-year divisions, however, than explaining the reasons behind the failure of the transportation tax.

There's No Basis for the Claims that John Punch was "Indentured" -- Or That His Fellow Escapees Were "White"

by Jeffrey B. Perry

Graves dedicated to Jamestown settlers who died in 1607. Credit: WikipediaSheryl Gay Stolberg's article in the New York Times on President Obama's  ancestor John Punch contains important inaccuracies. Ms. Stolberg wrote "In 1640, Mr. [John] Punch then an indentured servant, escaped from Virginia and went to Maryland. He was captured there and, along with two white servants who had also escaped, was put on trial.”There is no basis for the claims that John Punch was "indentured" and that the other two servants were "white."Ancestry.com (in the article Stolberg discusses) cites the following paragraph from the Journal of the Executive Council of Colonial Virginia, dated July 9, 1640, as “the only one surviving account that certainly pertains to John Punch’s life”:

John Punch Wasn't the First Slave in America -- Just the First Slave in the English Colonies

by Pearl Duncan

Contemporary artist's depiction of African slaves in Virginia, 1670.Since I am completing a book about the ancestry of my blended ancestors from America, Africa and Europe, I was intrigued by the announcement about President Barack Obama’s mother’s American ancestry. So I pause to make one small correction in that story. I am also completing a manuscript about the colonial merchant cargo ship discovered a few summers ago in the foundations of the World Trade Center, so stories of lost, blended colonial ancestors are still vivid in my memory.

Whatever Happened to Good Old-Fashioned Customer Service?

by Richard Striner

A call center in Bogotá, Colombia.Years ago, furniture stores used to ship what you purchased to your home -- completely assembled. What you often buy now is a box full of parts that you will use to complete the assembly that used to done routinely on the factory floor. And it is up to you to pick up the box (as often as not at a remote warehouse), unless you wish to pay extra for delivery. If you want someone else to assemble the furniture, the store will refer you to a different vendor. You will often have to deal with this other vendor on your own.What happened?

It’s Time to Impeach Justice Scalia

by Alan Singer

Antonin Scalia in 2010. Credit: WikipediaIn April 1970, Gerald Ford, minority leader of the House of Representatives and future Vice President, then President, of the United States, demanded the impeachment of Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas. Ford told the House, “An impeachable offense is whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers it to be at a given moment in history; conviction results from whatever offense or offenses two-thirds of the other body [Senate] considers to be sufficiently serious to require removal of the accused from office.” Ford justified his demand for Douglas’s removal by stating “I think it is fair to come to one conclusion, however, from our history of impeachments: a higher standard is expected of federal judges than of any other ‘civil officers’ of the United States."

Barack Obama’s “Slave” Ancestor and the Politics of Genealogy

by Honor Sachs

Left to right: Stanley Dunham, Ann Dunham, Maya Soetero, Barack ObamaOn July 30, the New York Times broke a story about the Obama family’s ties to slavery. Not Michelle Obama. Her family connection to slavery has been extensively covered by the Times and documented in Rachel Swarn’s American Tapestry. Rather, the story revealed the history of Barack Obama’s ties to slavery through his mother’s side. The article announced that genealogists have traced the family history of Obama’s mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, to seventeenth-century Virginia, where they claim it is possible she may have descended from an African servant named John Punch. Using ancestral databases and DNA evidence, researchers have linked Dunham’s history to the “mixed-race Bunch line,” a family who became wealthy colonial landholders and were racially considered white despite their ties to Africans like John Punch.

Too Many Monsters in Our Closet

by Richard Striner

Mug shot of James Holmes, the alleged Colorado shooter.Amid the national and international horror at the slaughter in Colorado, attention once again has been rightly focused on our weak gun laws and the odious influence and power of the National Rifle Association. But there’s another issue that seldom if ever gets raised on occasions like this: characters like James Holmes, the accused mass murderer, should not be allowed to run loose, at least if they exhibit the kind of behavior that reveals their mental state before they kill.In the case of Holmes, the evidence is not yet in: we will have to wait (perhaps a long time), to know the full truth about the “Batman” butcher in the days before he terminated the lives of all those helpless people.But consider the following gruesome cases, presented in reverse chronological order.Item: On November 11, 2011, one Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez fired shots at the White House. Ortega-Hernandez -- who, according to press accounts, has a history of “aberrant behavior” -- says that he is Jesus in his second coming.