The Vanderbilt Torch

Hate the fed player, hate the feds' game

Angry mobs of the country, unite! Take up your pitchforks, your torches, your clubs, and assemble in hatred against the greedy executives who, only concerned with their own personal welfare, wasted millions of dollars and brought a nation crumbling to its knees.

No, I’m not talking about AIG, or Citi.  I’m talking about your own government. Keith Olbermann, in his special report from March 19, spewed his outrage against the “naked unhindered robbery” being committed by banks and multi-national corporations.  One group Olbermann leaves out of his indictment?  The federal government.  Despite the recent furor that Congressional leaders, media talking heads and American citizens alike have directed towards the payment of millions of dollars of bonuses to executives at the insurance company, the real injustice has gone for the most part unnoticed.

Friday the 13th: Nightmare in D.C.

Have you ever turned in a paper without proofreading it? There is always a little uncertainty… like you might have missed something big, or maybe left in a few unfinished sentences or half completed paragraphs. But it couldn’t be that bad, right? The professor will still understand what you mean. After all, you did turn in something.

Congress feels the same way, apparently. On Friday, February 13, the House of Representatives passed, by a margin of 246-183, a $787 billion economic stimulus package totaling almost 1,100 pages. Soon after, the Senate passed the same bill 60 votes to 38. Due to the time frame of the legislation, not a single member of Congress could have possibly read it in full.

U.S. defecit means rocky road ahead

The biggest challenge the new Obama administration won’t be the economy, the war in Iraq, or even the rising costs of healthcare.  In fact, amidst the economic crisis, plans for a national bailout, and concerns over foreign policy, the media isn’t taking the issue any more seriously than the majority of the American public.  However, this issue will encompass – and quite possibly even dictate – the solutions the new president crafts to deal with the rest of the nation’s problems.

Torch Debate: Mo' Guns, Mo' Problems

Would you feel safer sitting in class with a firearm in your backpack, purse, or strapped to your belt?  What about if you knew that sorority sister or Blair student sitting on the other side of the room was packing heat? 

The right to own a firearm is protected by this nation’s constitution in the Second Amendment.  However, there are widely recognized limitations on that right that have been legislated throughout the nation.  Gun control rights vary from state to state, and with good reason—the environment in Huntsville, Alabama is different than the environment in New York City, and therefore, a citizen’s right to bear arms must be tailored to fit those different cultures and situations.  A university campus is no different.

Tennesseans Whining For Wine

It’s common knowledge that whenever you read The Torch, you want a nice glass of red wine by your side.  Conservatism and cabernet?  Sign me up.

Unfortunately for Tennessee residents, you can’t drink whatever wine you want to, thanks to a state ban on the direct importation of wine from out of state wineries.

Over the past several years, two oenophiles have fought to get these laws overturned.  On April 29, 2008, Tennessee residents Frederick Jelovsek and Martin Redish and Indiana based winery S.L. Thomas Family Winery, Inc. argued in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals against Phil Bredesen, the Governor of Tennessee, the Attorney General, the Executive Director of the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission, and the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of Tennessee.  At issue were Tennessee’s laws governing the direct sale of wine from wineries to consumers and several special rules that favor Tennessee wineries over out of state competitors.  On October 24, 2008, the Sixth Circuit Court announced its ruling.

Why I Sold Out to the System

Over the past few weeks, I have expressed, to anyone who would listen, no small amount of displeasure with our government, the pervasive attitude that “something must be done!”, Senator Barack Obama and those who support him so rabidly, and yes, even Senator John McCain.  I was fed up, and I was going to write in Ron Paul on my Ohio absentee ballot.

Despite the fact that Dr. Paul told his supporters specifically not to take such action, and instead support candidates from other third parties, why not vote for the man who you think really should be president? Isn’t that what democracy is about?  (Never mind the fact that I had no idea who I would write in as Vice President – there is a man who hangs around Harris Teeter who claims to be running for president with Jerry Rice as his veep… that sounds good enough for me.)

$700 Billion Bailout Blues

The End of the World?

“The economic situation in the United States hasn’t looked this dire since the 1970s.”

“If the government doesn’t act now, we’re going to see the second Great Depression.”

“The economic crisis in our country is unprecedented.”

You’ve probably heard statements like these many times over the past few weeks, and while they always sound imposing and somewhat gloomy, you might find yourself questioning whether or not things really are that bad.  Sure, we all have a conception of when things in the American economy are going wrong—there are easily noticeable and widely publicized signals that tell us this.  However, there is far more to this current economic crisis than some headlines can successfully convey. We have a feeling things are bad, but the best antidote to fear is information, and often, even the most respected newspapers and media sources only focus in on a few of the issues, leaving the reader to hunt around for the answers to some of their other questions and the codes to some seemingly undecipherable financial riddles.  Unfortunately, the recently passed government rescue plans favored by both political parties’ leadership, the financial world, and even our president is not what America needs.

Time Brings Victory to Anbar

Seven years after the attacks of September 11, 2001 and the beginning of American involvement in Afghanistan, five years after the beginning of the Iraq War, the country is now two months away from making what is usually understood to be an extremely important foreign policy decision.  For the past several years, the Democrats have almost universally cried for timetables and withdrawal from Iraq but failed to put their plans into action. President Bush and the Republicans still in line with him have continuously insisted on staying in Iraq until victory is achieved.  American soldiers have fought and died, and Iraqi civilians have seen their country torn apart and slowly, in fits and starts, built back up, brick by brick.  The war is by no means a victory, and Iraq far from rebuilt.  Yet.

Leading the Way to Ideas

On February 27, conservatives lost an icon – arguably, the founder of the modern conservative movement, and the “scourge of liberalism.”  More importantly, however, America lost, in William F. Buckley, was a great American thinker, who, from an age not more advanced than our own, began to shape the intellectual, cultural, and political dialogue of this country.

Addicted to Anonymity

What if you could say anything you wanted, to anybody you wanted, without anyone knowing it was you who was speaking? What would you say? Who would you say it to?

The concept of anonymity is one found throughout our society in many different forms. You can call an anonymous tip line to aide law enforcement in reporting a crime, or attend an anonymous help group like Alcoholics Anonymous to seek assistance with a problem you might be ashamed of. If you are Catholic, you might confess your sins to a priest from behind a screen. We walk through crowds in big cities as just another face in that crowd—no one watching really knows who we are. To the person across the room from you in your economics lecture, you might just be that guy who wears the same sweatshirt every day to class.