Tired Grumblings of a Frustrated (but hopeful) Fan.

Worry not... the gravitas of political discourse is wearying even for myself, so I disembark from exhaustive venting about our irreparable system of government and speak instead on a matter to which I carry even LESS authority... sports - Particularly, the NFL, and my beloved Redskins.

I can't really explain to Tiffany the pull I feel for the Redskins. A woman (generally speaking) cannot understand the marriage a man feels in his heart to the group of men who hustle out onto a field of grass eleven at a time, strategically running, hitting, passing, catching, kicking, and/or tackling - all with the objective of moving one inflated, oblong piece of leather from one end of said field to the other. As humans, there is so much we see, feel, and experience in life that can't really be explained, and a man's affection for the athletic ability exhibited by someone else fits squarely into this category.

My father taught me deep love for these burgandy-and-gold clad men at a very young age. I hopped on the bandwagon just in time to witness the glory of the height of the Joe Gibbs dynasty, shortly followed by Gibbs' departure and the dramatic collapse. It has been since 1992 that I have watched my team languish under countless (well, not countless... I remember them all) failed administrations, scaling only to the upper bounds of mediocrity, never since again demonstrating greatness. Even the so-called "Return of the King" - the second coming of Gibbs - did not pull the Skins out of the lurch. All Redskins fans now watch with our breath held and our fingers crossed, hoping that the Zorn era will historically be looked upon as the end of a seemingly endless Great Depression.

We have watched every other team in our division play in the Superbowl many times since our last Lombardi Trophy, and frankly, it's getting old. I believe I speak for many Redskins fans when I say that our passion in recent years has not been solely in rooting for the Redskins, but also in rooting vehemently against the Cowboys, Eagles, and Giants (Trivia: It was not until the late '90s that the Arizona Cardinals were re-districted out of the NFC East... reaffirming my point that every one of our divisional and ex-divisional rivals have made it to the Super Bowl since our last trip), who seem to find themselves in the playoffs much more often than the Redskins.

All this having been said, it gave me great joy to see the Cardinals oust the Philadelphia Eagles, whose quarterback's mouth has earned the disdain of every listening Skins fan. Upon losing to the Redskins in their first divisional meeting this season, Donovan McNabb stated that there was no excuse for his teams loss - The Eagles were clearly a more skilled squad. One could argue this statement from many perspectives, but ultimately from this point on the Eagles' season was a roller coaster ride that ended on an incredible upswing, while the Redskins, who at one point reached No. 2 in the NFL power rankings, seemed to climb a proverbial slide before a heart breaking, precipitous decline. It was a small consolation to defeat the Eagles again in our second matchup late in the year, but the joy ebbed away quickly as the Eagles became the favorites to win the Superbowl after dethroning the Giants. As far as I'm concerned, Sunday's loss for the Eagles was a de facto victory for us Redskins fans, patiently waiting for next season to begin.

The Lesser of Two Evils: Why I Participated In the Sham of American Democracy Today

Dear Friends,

In light of today's historic events, i'd like to share with you the many things that went through my mind today as I cast my ballot in Federal and local elections.

- I cast my ballot for President for John McCain. You would not believe how difficult a decision this was for me. I think in the back of my mind i had known i would do this for quite some time, but I quite honestly still feel that in some way I have sold out my values by voting major party. 

It is my personal belief that the current state of government more closely reflects the strong centralized state preferred by Federalist founders such as Alexander Hamilton and Benjamin Franklin, who wished George Washington be referred to  as "His Majesty", if that helps you make an allusionary parallel as to what their political philosophies were. What i'm trying to say is that intelligent men - the great philosophical minds who understood the law of unintended consequences such as Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry - knew that strong centralized governments would equal less sovereignty to the state, thus equalling less sovereignty to the local municipality, thus equalling less sovereignty to the individual. Republicans and Democrats alike are running for office at the Federal level, attempting to affect change on issues that should truly be reserved to local governments and the governed. For example, both parties now propose and support vast legislation granting power to the Department of Education - an arm of our Federal government that does not have any legal right to affect policy under our chartering document, the U.S. Federal Constitution.

The 10th amendment states, "the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

Read our constitution. Pour over it. Understand it. Then, look at a vast majority of the hot items on the political landscape, cross reference that against the 10th amendment, and you'll see no merit for the degree to which our Federal Government controls us.

All of that goes to say that under normal circumstances, I would vote Third Party or abstain from voting all together.

I believed leading up to this election that I was going to make a point by casting my vote. Even entering the polling place, I had not yet decided whether or not I was going to pull the lever for the Libertarian candidate, Bob Barr. 

(Sidenote: Please, be furious when anyone insinuates that voting for someone other than a major party candidate is "throwing your vote away." As many as 50% of voters cast their ballot for the lesser of two evils, which indicates that third parties do not succeed for no other reason than the fallacy that third parties cannot win. Lincoln's Republican party in 1860 was one of four parties that received votes in the electoral college.)

Anyways, I was going to vote for Barr because he comes closer to representing my views on most issues, and I believe that neither Republicans nor Democrats are capable of enacting legislation ideologically consistent with the basic tenents of individual liberty, as promised in our constitution. The media, however, has correctly labeled this election in practical terms as not an election where Barack Obama, the Democrat, or John McCain, the Republican, will be voted for respective to their individual merits. It has much rather become a referendum on whether or not the country prescribes to Barack Obama's notion of positive change. I, decidedly, do not.

For me, this election forced me to pit my pragmatic self against everything in me that is intellectual, ideological, and idealistic. I don't believe that America will be well served by an Obama Administration, least of all with Democrats having a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate and a larger majority in the House of Representatives as well. Barack Obama has stated that he wishes to bring fundamental change to American government and the American way of life. Please, please, please Obama supporters, look up the word fundamental. 

I admit, i'm playing devil's advocate in the sense that I believe we need fundamental devolution, where power is stripped from the Federal government and sent back to local government, and in some cases, eliminated altogether. But seriously, what kind of fundamental change is he seeking? Mainly, he wants to restore the graduated income tax (which is horribly invasive, unfair, and should be eliminated altogether) to levels where people making large sums of money are being penalized for their success, paying an even greater percent of their earnings to the Federal government to finance liberal democrat's many pet projects. For example, Barack Obama has proposed a "global poverty initiative", through which American tax money is used to finance an international welfare system (http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=5152). 

If you don't understand what a government is supposed to do, I suppose this must sound appealing to you. I'm asking you, however, think with your brain. Don't merely feel with your heart. When taxes go up, investment goes down. This is basic economics. When you have less money, you spend less money. While Barack Obama is giving the poor who don't even pay Federal taxes a $500 tax credit, employers will consciously make decisions not to make new investments, because more money earned will merely mean more money taken. In otherword,s the poor will stay poor. They will get a $500 handout from the Federal government every year, but this is coming at the expense of those evil people making over $200,000 per year - the people who invests, build businesses from the ground up, and create jobs. Long story short, the last time we had a President this liberal elected during an economic crisis, the economy experienced stagflation. (http://economics.about.com/od/useconomichistory/a/stagflation.htm)

John McCain will not be a much better President. He will sign into law "cap and trade" carbon reduction policies, which will make energy more expensive and business in the United States less profitable, thus inviting the ever-dreaded vacuum of out-sourcing. He will enact more Wall Street regulation that will only make the fierceness of business cycle fluctuations worse (Don't believe me? We passed the Federal Reserve Act in 1914 to end bank runs. Anyone know what happened in 1929? Check this link out: http://mises.org/story/672)

Regardless, this is like taking an amputated leg versus and amputated lower-body. Economically, America will continue to suffer and contract. Our days as sole global super power are limited. In the future, I might vote for a candidate who, although he has no chance of winning, reflects what I believe in. For now, I have to think about the fact that I have mountainous debt and my entry into the workforce is eminent. I think, therefore (at least for now) I must vote Republican.

Your Friend,

Andrew T. Clark

P.S. - If you read all of this, I applaud you. Sorry I didn't touch up on social issues or foreign policy. Those each merit as much time and effort in writing as the economy, but the economy is really what swayed my vote.

Muddled Transcriptions of a Murky Mind.

Greetings, reader. If you were wondering what may have caused me to assume the role of active blogger, I'd have to give you a multi-faceted answer:

First, I want you to think I'm smart. I am constantly and irreparably, subconsciously in the pursuit of being perceived as smart. This might be one of my least favorite things about myself. I don't know where this originated, or from whom I inherited it, but this desire is innate in me, as strongly as my needs to eat, breathe, drink, and sleep. Coupled with my silver-tongued ability to present myself well verbally, I figured this would be the proverbial equivalent of me playing my cards wisely. Since the blogosphere has become the waxing-point for nearly all intellectual minds, I decided to make my attempt at hopping on this oddly inclusive and accessible bandwagon.

Second, I'm 1/4 Italian. For those of you who have ever interacted with an Italian, you probably observed that even for those of us whose offspring will represent diminishing italio-genetic returns in an increasingly racially unaware culture still believe that we are entitled to pronounce our opinion on everything, even if we are remotely or not at all involved. I'll try to stick to topics I have a stake in, All I ask of you is to kindly remember that I am genetically predisposed to stray from time to time... consider this a fair warning.

Third, Writing is cheaper than therapy. I am an extrovert with several introverted tendencies. Sometimes when the stew cooks too long the vegetables get mushy. With a desire to irradicate mushy thoughts from my mind, I hereby solemnly swear that I will attempt to transcribe my thoughts before they become indiscernible and distorted, confusing everyone including myself. I'll keep my thoughts on the vine until they're as matured as they're going to get, and then attempt to purvey them to you before they start attracting fruit-flies.

Fourth, and finally, I'm a student of history - Why wouldn't I want to leave a library of primary documents for my future biographers? In this day and age, you never know what the academic will study next. Should I stumble upon greatness between now and death, thus necessitating mention in some history's survey, or less gloriously, should some psychology grad student choose to write their dissertation on "Young Adults exhibiting self-agrandizing behavior utilizing emergent technologies in the 21st Century," I will have contributed either to making my life more accessible for my future biographers, or merely presented myself as a moderately interesting case-study.

I hope I find some level of satisfaction in addressing these four goals of mine. If not, you'll likely hear less and less from me on this medium until it becomes yet another abandoned corridor in the vast housing of the world wide web.