September 24, 2007

The American Government: A fair and just business

The Forefathers had the idea to create a fair and just government, reflecting the feelings and sentiments of the majority of the people. However, over time this ideal has become warped. Through profit motivation and greed innately present in human nature, the ideals of "fair and just" have not fully materialized. Recently, some actions of the government have reflected more like those of a business. This week I have entered the blogosphere to find some other relevant opinions on the ideas of government and business. I commented on two blogs, which referred to different news topics but which I related to a broader common theme: the American government often operates as an unethical business. Both blogs received high authority ratings from Technorati and also follow the IMSA criteria evaluation standards for blogs. Author Edward Morrissey, a conservative Minnesota radio host of a respected talk show, writes a stimulating post titled "Celebrity endorsements, Political Contributions, and Hsu" on his blog Captain's Quarters. Through this post, Morrissey explores how Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton (pictured above) used money from an unethical source in order to fund her political campaign. I also responded to a second post, titled "Feds Target Blackwater in Weapons Probe," from another conservative blog Texas Fred. I argue with this author in his post, where he comments on Blackwater USA (soldiers pictured with Blackwater weapons above), a United States military weapons contractor who is allegedly being investigated for illegally smuggling weapons into Iraq.

"Celebrity endorsements, Political Contributions, and Hsu"
Comment to Captain's Quarters:

Firstly, I find your post extremely thought provoking. Although you say that you believe Clinton must have known about Hsu's past, I believe that her knowledge of Hsu's illegal scam is practically irrelevant. Even if she did not know, it shows she did not care enough to deeply investigate Hsu, who was one of her biggest fundraising contributors. Her motivation was to get the money for her campaign; the work and time to look deeper into Hsu's background was clouded by the necessity to get campaign funding. I think it is really important to see that getting the people's votes in America has become a business, teeming with unethical interactions. Pretend for a moment that Hsu did not fraud $23 million from investors and did not have a shady past, Hsu was in charge of getting money for Clinton from investor groups for her campaign. For decades and possibly centuries, candidates have been garnering money from politically charged factions that later require some sort of favor. The accepted American system of electing members of government is not conducive to a just and fair way of governing.
As you stated, Hsu had celebrity endorsements: "Tobey Maguire got caught up in the spider web as well. Stephen Spielberg's close encounters with Hsu convinced investors that Hsu was on the level." These celebrities, who have general public support and are respected figures helped Hsu raise money. They too did not really have an idea who they were helping. However, when it comes to politics, it is obvious that getting elected has become a business. The candidate hires a "professional" like Hsu, they "find" money in order to make their product sell, even if the product could be our next just and honorable president.

"Feds Target Blackwater in Weapons Probe"
Comment to Texas Fred:

I agree with your support of the troops and your strong nationalism toward our government. However, I believe when profit is at stake, people will follow unethical and unjust means in order to accomplish their ends. That is why in this case, the United States Attorney General needs to conduct a deep probe into Blackwater USA. Looking at Blackwater's history, it does not provide a clean slate on which to evaluate them. I am looking at this situation from an business viewpoint, and when a contracted government company is perhaps violating ethical standards, a huge red flag needs to be waved. I am skeptical of Blackwater in general, who the Associated Press in an article titled "'Cowboy' Aggression Works for Blackwater" outlines its in depth involvement with the Republican party. The article says, and I believe you also say, that Blackwater has one task: to protect state department diplomats. As part of their contract, they do abide by this principle. However, does our country want such an organization that compromises ethical behavior in order to not only protect lives but also make money at doing so? Putting aside their recent media storm, at the beginning of last year, two former Blackwater employees pled guilty possessing stolen firearms. The firm is also entangled in GOP fundraising campaigns, giving more than $200, 000, which according to the AP article has allowed Blackwater to operate in a "murky legal world" during the Republican reign.
By using Blackwater, the government becomes twisted into their transactions. Hopefully this issue can be resolved as justly as possible, and the government will let the situation unfold and hold Blackwater accountable as the legal system outlines.

1 comment:

SJB said...

I would first like to complement your selections of articles you chose to comment on; both cases of political corruption were eye-opening examples of how far politicians will go to be in a position of power. In the first article, you raised an interesting point about Hilary Clinton: even if she denies knowing about Hsu’s illegal activity, she is still accountable because she is the one that hired him. It was her responsibility to do background checks and investigations on the person she chooses to fund her campaign. The amount of money raised for a campaign is one of the biggest determinants of its success, so cheating at this level, unfairly affects the entire outcome of the campaign. Also, you did a good job of not conveying a slanted view in your comments. Even though both articles you commented on were written by conservatives, you agreed with one and disagreed with the other, showing that your opinions are not solely determined by your political tendencies. My only suggestion is to pay closer attention to grammatical issues, as I came across a few minor mistakes. As a whole, I thought you provided good critique on intriguing articles.

 
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