Why I Detest Anne Coulter

            Unfortunately for those of us who are rational and are not racists, Anne Coulter had to open her mouth over the World Cup. As a soccer fan, there are few times when I can enjoy the sport with others in the United States and discuss strategy, gameplay, skill, and the competitiveness. But according to Anne Coulter, the interest in the sport is a symbol of the moral decay in America.

            I have little doubt that she wrote this opinion in order to elicit a response and gain notoriety once again after failing to keep up any semblance of existence within the Republican Party or Conservative news. However, I was scared to see that many came out in support of her claim and charged that soccer is “un-American” and that watching the sport and enjoying seeing the U.S team advance is “unpatriotic”.

            To sum up Coulter’s statement, she claimed that no one with a long line of family history in the U.S (which by her standards means having your great-grand father born here) was watching the world cup. She also made a slightly less offensive argument that soccer is anti-American because it is not individualistic.

            For one, I love watching the U.S team advance and I hope they win the world cup because I enjoy soccer and international competition. I know many others who have turned into soccer fans as they realized that the sport itself is pretty exciting despite the possibility of a zero-zero tie.

            Second, I am truly upset that many still come to the defense of an obviously racist and idiotic opinion that anything that is from another country is un-American. To Coulter and her disciples, if someone’s grandparents were born in East Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, or Africa and the grandchildren were born in the U.S and are citizens, they would not be as “American” as someone whose lineage traces back another generation.

            I take this offense to heart. Not only did my great-grand parents suffer much to escape the Progroms in Russia to come here, but my girlfriend was born in China and wants to become an American citizen. There are many restrictions that could prevent her from doing this. She must find work that sponsors her visa. She must continually apply for citizenship and be allowed within the quota. She must renew her visa in China every year. And yet I see little Anne Coulter has done to earn her citizenship besides being born in the U.S and having her great-grandfather born in the U.S.

            I would very much like to see another immigrant become a citizen and Coulter get deported or have her citizenship revoked if it is necessary and possible. Coulter and her followers seem to take advantage of their citizenship by looking down on others who strive for years and sometimes decades to earn what these people were given to at birth. Being American does not mean rejecting others because they don’t have a long family lineage in America. It does not mean becoming xenophobic. That is why I had a sad day when I saw Anne Coulter and her followers actually stand up for what is nothing more than racism and ignorance.

The Conservative Push and Why it is Doomed to Fail

            To say that the Conservatives in the United States are upset and unrelenting is an understatement. The recent destruction of Eric Cantor’s bid for representing the Republican Party is evident of that. A seat which appeared to be a safe victory for Cantor was taken out from under him by David Brat, the perfect epitome of far-right conservatism and how it is swarming the political field.

            The midterm elections of 2010 brought about a fervor within the Republican Party. The Tea Party installed multiple candidates in key positions of government and elected many to Congress. Most of these candidates won based on their promise to do one thing: say NO!! The anti-Obama sentiment was already in full swing by 2009 and the build-up of anger and resentment against any and all of Obama’s policies (despite the actual nature of the policies) still resonates today, with alarming thunder. That is how Eric Cantor lost his seat and it is also how the Republican Party is failing.

            When I say the Republican Party is failing I do not mean by some obscure standard of moral integrity. I say they are failing to recognize and adapt to the new political demographics. This Conservative Push which has picked up the Republican Party and set it down further to the right is not going to win it elections or help their approval. Instead, it will build a larger base of voters who will either turn Democrat or will enter as Democrats in their first ballots (often a symbol of ballots to come).

            Let us take David Brat as our example. He repeatedly promised to vote against raising the debt ceiling. While many may still believe this is an actual legitimate option they would do well to inform themselves over what the debt ceiling actually is. He also criticized Cantor on voting to end the government shutdown which practically crippled all decision making and made a mockery of us as a nation. To take it a step further to the left, he advocates interpreting economics through a Christian perspective and believes that it is Protestantism which helps refine capitalism. He, of course, opposed same-sex marriage, abortion, and Obama Care because where would the Tea Party be if not for these issues?

            These candidates do not help the government run, they do not help our perception on the global stage, and they certainly do not reflect the changing demographics of our nation. As more and more of this country becomes Hispanic, East-Asian, Black, and South Asian, there is little resemblance of these changes within the Tea Party and even within the Republican Party. But the Republican Party, or rather the Republicans running for their primaries, cannot afford to even acknowledge this. They drift further to the right by promising an end to illegal immigration, mass deportations, a repeal of Obama care, an end to abortion, an end to same-sex marriage, and lower tax rates for the wealthy.

            The Conservative Push is not only daunting for the Republican Party, it is daunting for the U.S. For without any chance of cooperation and agreement, the government cannot function. As Abraham Lincoln wrote “A House divided against itself cannot stand”. Well now have a house where one beam refuses to stand up, and is determined to sit until all others sit. I’m not a carpenter but I am pretty sure that doesn’t work for a house.

Borders and Why They May Need to Change

          My last blog detailed my opinion on the Crisis in Iraq and Syria. In short, the situation has deteriorated to the point where the borders are meaningless. That brings me to a very large, yet utterly overlooked, issue of our time: borders.

          Those of us who live in the United States view borders as set in stone. Our borders have not changed much in the last century and there is no risk of invasion or attack from another country. America has also asserted its strictly defined borders in matters of trade with Mexico and Canada and so despite NAFTA, these are enforced regularly to define where those countries end and the U.S.A begins.

          For Americans, borders are as much of a given as Turkey on Thanksgiving. However, this is not true for much of the world and especially not for the Middle East. The borders of the Middle East were drawn up by imperialist powers who sought to establish the greatest possible control over resources and waterways. They were made without regard to people their differences.

          Thus the situation that lies before the US today is the inevitable result of enforcing and trying to maintain these phony borders. Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, and Pakistan are all prime examples of countries whose borders are completely arbitrary. Constant flows of refugees are fleeing these countries and trying to escape to areas where there is some semblance of safety. Amongst the flow of people there is also a flow of fighters, militias, and terrorists. A militia that asserts control over a town will be more likely to cross a border to enter a neighboring village than it is likely to drive for an hour to reach the closest town within the country.

          When civil war erupts and government order is weak, borders become unenforceable and allow the easy transport of armed fighters. But trying to maintain these borders does not help! Rather, it only furthers the continuation of conflict. To force the Kurds (who have been seeking independence for decades) to accept the power of an Iraqi or Syrian government would be a terrible decision. Not only would it serve to dismantle a more stable and peaceful group, but it would guarantee fighting in the region.

          For the United States government to maintain Middle Eastern borders (as a priority) is utterly ridiculous. The reality is that the borders are meaningless. They are lines that are drawn in sand and sand moves with the wind. The fighters of ISIS do not see the lands in Iraq and Syria as different and neither do the Kurds, the Sunni militias, or the many other groups participating in the fight.

           A new map must be drawn up, one that is not to be set in stone but rather drawn with a pencil. As we know, nothing can exist forever, and certainly not lines, which divide people or push them together.

The Crisis In Iraq and Syria: How It Could Have Been Stopped

            It was not even a year ago when the Syrian Civil War was in full swing with the Free Syrian Army fighting Assad’s forces to a standstill in most of the southern major cities. The Kurdish forces had control of much of the north and it appeared as if Assad would have to either resign or enter into a power-sharing agreement. This would have been the result with U.S intervention. Soldiers on the ground were not necessary. Coordinated airstrikes and logistical advice for the rebels would have pushed Assad to the point of surrender. A new formation of borders would have been implemented with possibly three separate nations (one by the Assad loyalists, one by the Free Syrian Army, and one by the Kurdish forces).

            Yet the United States did not intervene. No airstrikes were used, no advice was implemented, and no weapons were given to help fight back against Assad’s new offensive. This offensive effectively broke the Free Syrian Army and reduced the moderate faction of the opposition to a mere portion of its former self. The Islamic Front (more moderate than others yet more radical than the FSA) is now the predominant group with the Army of the Mujahedeen forming their own base of fighters. The once seemingly reasonable opposition has turned into a mix of revolutionary groups that will fight each other as much as they will fight against Assad’s forces.

            Then there is ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) which has broken onto the news and scared watchers and Wall Street Brokers enough to warrant immediate attention. The group broke off from Al Qaeda for being “too extreme” in their desire to create a caliphate. With motivated and well trained fighters, ISIS has taken up huge swaths of Syria and began a surprisingly successful offensive in Iraq. Mostly made up of Sunni militants and now being joined by Sunni militias who feel abused by Prime Minister Maliki’s government, ISIS has been drawing closer and closer to Baghdad as thousands of government troops have fled.

            The sad truth about this crisis is that it could not have been prevented, but it could have been contained and on a lesser scale. The Syrian Civil War became the perfect breeding ground for Islamic fundamentalism (especially amongst the oppressed Sunni population). Facing Assad’s Alawite Islam administration in Syria and the new Shia government in Iraq, Sunni forces felt pressed, attacked, and abandoned. Thus ISIS was able to recruit trained and dedicated fighters who would end up blowing past the weak-willed Iraqi government forces.

            If the U.S had intervened and had forced Assad to broker a deal with the FSA, then the Islamic fundamentalism would have been checked and the rampant growth of ISIS would have been stalled if not reversed. But the U.S government was afraid of partitioning Syria’s borders and felt compelled to keep the imperialist-created borders.

            The truly ridiculous thing is that these borders serve no real purpose. They were designed out of negotiations between European imperial ambitions and grouped together many ethnic and religious groups which then were pitted against one another. To keep the borders as they are currently does not promise stability, it actually may pose the greatest danger to it.

            The current decision of the U.S government regarding the crisis will have resounding effects for the formation of future Middle East politics. Let us just hope it will be a good one.

The Political Arena

            The post is detailed the Political Arena because the setting of politics has become exactly that: an arena. It has become a boxing match without the bell to end a round and so the fighters have been stuck in the first round for over five years. In fact, Round one began during the 2008 Presidential campaigns and ever since the political parties have been hitting each other (often below the belt) in order to gain some upper hand in a fight that won’t end.

            The 2008 Presidential election campaigns began these battles as the charismatic Obama began sweeping support out from Republican strongholds. Virginia, the Carolinas, and even Georgia and Texas showed significant shifts to the Democratic Party. During the campaign, the Republican Party reacted by ferociously shifting to the far right. While many would debate this and claim that the Democrats had shifted far to the left, they would find it difficult to back up this claim with solid facts and examples from the last 5 years of the Obama administration. Obama has, in retrospect, been a right-to-moderate president who started off with moderate-to-left campaign promises.

            The fear and angst with which the Republican Party responded to Obama’s growing popularity brought about an inevitably endless struggle: the struggle to prove that they were right. Posters were flung up which promised a communist dictatorship if Obama won. Political analysts who were usually respected as moderate-to-right commentators ended up claiming that an Obama presidency would create a mire of American freedom and would push America into an inescapable crevasse of socialism, communism, reverse racism, and generally every weird change one could think of.

            The sad truth for most Republicans was that this did not occur. Their predictions fell short and the Obama presidency began with modest success and no radical change in policies. This became a double attack against Obama and his administration. Rather than gain the support of moderates, the far right began to attack everything Obama did and pressure any and all Republicans to reject any proposals. The left (and I avoid saying “far left” because that is sparse in America today) began to feel betrayed by Obama’s constant consideration of the Republicans.

            The result is what lies before us today. A Congress that is more unpopular and ineffective than ever before and an administration that keeps trying to gain a majority of annoyed and upset Americans. This battle has become our past and our present. Let us hope that it does not become our future.