Short Writing Assignment #3

The first article I chose was from FOX news and it was called “Bush Assures Iraq President U.S. Not Mulling Pullout” the website address is http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,221298,00.html. The first blog I selected was the Huffington Post. I looked at the article “Iraq is the beginning. Iran is the end.” The web address for it is http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-thill/iraq-is-the-beginning-ir_b_32020.html. Then the second blog I used was Eschaton and the article “War.” The address for it is http://atrios.blogspot.com/2006_10_15_atrios_archive.html.
When looking at the two types of media you notice that there is a slight difference between what types of political stories that are covered. The mainstream media source tries to cover a broad range of stories. They try to include lots of different things so that more people are satisfied with the coverage. The include sports, health, business, politics, world, and U.S. news. There is an article that covers just about anything you might be interested in. The political blogs don’t necessarily cover lots of different areas. It is basically just what they feel like talking about. So whatever is their favorite area of news is what is mostly covered on their blog. A lot of times the blogs also talk about some of the most debated issues. The mainstream media and the blogs may have some of the same stories, but that is because the mainstream source covers just about everything.
When looking at the mainstream media source you can tell that it is more objective than the blogs. The Fox news article includes facts and quotes from interviews that have been researched and carefully reported. The mainstream media tries not to print anything that would be false or that would misrepresent what was really going on. They try to inform the public the best they can of the truth and facts of the events they cover. The blogs contain more biases because it is basically someone’s opinion about what is going on. The blogger may have researched the topic and know some of the facts, but they are still just sharing their opinion. The blogger will be one sided most of the time, while mainstream media tries to show the story from all points of view.
The three articles that I looked at play certain roles in our society. The FOXnews article first of all plays the role of the “common carrier.” The article is linking us to the government by telling us what is going on with President Bush and the war in Iraq. It is keeping us updated on what is going on in the government. It also is kind of playing the role of “watchdog” because it is keeping us aware of what our President is doing. If we never knew anything about our President and the actions he is taking then we would never be able to see if he is doing his job. We have a right to know what is going on with our President and how he is running the country. The first blog from the Huffington post also serves as a “common carrier” informing us about Iraq and why they think we are really there. It also serves as a “watchdog” by telling us that we may not be getting the truth about why we went to Iraq. The second blog is a “common carrier” as well that lets us know people’s opinions about the war and that the support is starting to dwindle.

Short Writing Assignment #2

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2428968
ABC News
September 13, 2006
State lawmaker Keith Ellison is campaigning to become the first Muslim in Congress. He gave a liberal message on Tuesday calling for peace, withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, and universal health care. Ellison told supporters at an Egyptian restaurant, “You’re not on your own. We are with you. We do these things together, y’all and we don’t let nobody break us apart.”
Ellsion is a 43-year-old criminal defense lawyer who converted to Islam as a college student. He compared himself to the late Sen. Paul Wellstone and many voters responded. It is clear Ellison will be a favorite in the November election when he will face Republican Alan Fine and Independent Tammy Lee.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/09/AR2006090900493.html
Washington Post
September 9, 2006
President Bush is hoping to revive his plan to overhaul the U.S. Social Security retirement program. He plans to do this if his Republican party can keep control of the Congress. Bush is pretty confident that this will happen and the there is not going to be a shift in power.
Bush thinks that next year would be a good time to reintroduce this issue because he could “drain the politics out of the issue.” He did not bring it up in 2005 because Republicans thought it would jeopardize their chances in this year’s elections.



http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/12/washington/12cong.html?_r=1&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fOrganizations%2fC%2fCongress%20
The New York Times
September 12, 2006
In this article it talks about how even though September was a sad day to remember the attacks on the U.S. politics still seemed to emerge. Members of Congress stood on the steps of the Capitol on Monday in a ceremony. The tragedy of September 11th could only go so far in uniting the two parties eight weeks before Election Day.
Inside the Capitol, Republicans and Democrats began to argue over the wording of the September 11th resolution. They both acknowledged that it was a bid to gain political advantage. The Democrats and Republicans both had their side to bring to the table. Congress has passed a resolution every year and in non-election years it has simply noted the valor of rescue workers and extended sympathies to families. But in election years the House has included heralding accomplishments in the war on terror. This time it applauded the reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act as well as the immigration bill. The House voted on the resolution on Wednesday.

Short Writing Assignment #1

1. President, George W. Bush, Republican
Vice President, Richard Chaney, Republican
Cabinet members-
Department of Agriculture: Secretary Mike Johanns
Department of Commerce: Secretary Carlos Gutierrez
Department of Defense: Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
Department of Education: Secretary Margaret Spellings
Department of Energy: Secretary Samuel W. Bodman
Department of Health and Human Services: Secretary Michael O. Leavitt
Department of Homeland Security: Secretary Michael Chertoff
Department of Housing And Urban Development: Secretary Alphonso Jackson
Department of the Interior: Secretary Dirk Kempthorne
Department of Justice: Attorney General Alberto Gonzales
Department of Labor: Secretary Elaine Chao
Department of State: Secretary Condoleezza Rice
Department of Transportation: Deputy Secretary Maria Cino
Department of the Treasury: Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr.
Department of Veterans Affairs: Secretary Jim Nicholson

2. Supreme Court Members:
Chief Justice of the United States- John G. Roberts, Jr.

Associtate Justices-
John Paul Stevens
Antonin Scalia
Anthony M. Kennedy
David H. Souter
Clarence Thomas
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Stephen G. Breyer
Samuel A. Alito, Jr.

3. U.S. House Leadership
House Speaker- J. Dennis Hastert, Republican
House Majority Leader- John Boehner, Republican
House Majority Whip- Roy Blunt, Republican
House Minority Leader- Nancy Pelosi, Democrat
House Minority Whip- Steny Hoyer, Democrat

U.S. Senate Leadership:
President of Senate- Richard Cheney, Republican
President Pro Tempore- Ted Stevens, Republican
Majority Leader- Bill Frist, Republican
Majority Whip- Mitch McConnell, Republican
Minority Leader- Harry Reid, Democrat
Minority Whip- Dick Durbin, Democrat

4. Kentucky’s U.S. Senators:
Jim Bunning, Republican
Mitch McConnell, Republican

Congresspersons:
A.B. Chandler, Democrat
Geoffrey C. Davis, Republican
Ron Lewis, Republican
Anne Meagher Northup, Republican
Harold Dallas Rogers, Republican
Wayne Edward Whitfield, Republican

5. Mayors:
New York City: Michael R. Bloomberg
Chicago: Richard M. Daley
Los Angeles: Antonio R. Villaraigosa
Lexington: Teresa Isaac
Louisville: Jerry E. Abramson

6. Kentucky’s Governor: Ernie Fletcher
Senate President: David L. Williams, Republican
Majority Floor Leader: Dan Kelly, Republican
Minority Floor Leader: Ed Worley, Democrat

House Speaker: Jody Richards, Democrat
Majority Floor Leaders: Rocky Adkins, Democrat
Minority Floor Leaders: Jeffrey Hoover, Republicans

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