Political Philsophy Still Debated in United States

1. Supreme Court decisions are always shrouded in controversy, but few decisions can fuel a 36-year debate. The ruling made in the Roe v. Wade case of 1973 was one of those decisions. The decision was "that a woman's right to abortion was protected by the right to privacy under the Constitution's 14th Amendment," (1) and it made abortion legal in the United States. Ever since the justice's gavel fell on that historic day, groups have been actively advocating both for and against the right of pregnant women to have an abortion. Recently, on January 22, the anniversary of the infamous ruling, a large-scale anti-abortion rally was held on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The citizens and politicians who participated in the rally believe that abortion is not just a privacy issue, but a natural rights issue. If you ask an anti-abortionist, as an Iowa Representative did when he spoke, " 'At what instant does life begin?' " they will always answer, " 'Conception!' "(1) They hold the belief that the inalienable right to life that all Americans enjoy also applies to unborn fetuses.
   
   


2. Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has received more attention in the month since his impeachment than in his entire political career thus far. Although it may be overkill, the coverage of his story points out the role of Classical Republican ideas in the modern United States government. Blagojevich was ousted because of several charges of corruption, particularly "engaging in 'pay-to-play' politics"(2) in an attempt to sell the Senate seat left behind by Barack Obama. The complaint was filed "after listening to wiretaps of the governor's phone conversations."(2) In recent years, the government's habit of eavesdropping on Americans' telephone conversations has been a hot topic. During the presidency of George W. Bush, such practices were used in order to find and track suspected terrorists within and outside of the U.S. The government's use of wiretapping is a clear connection to the ideas of Classical Republicanism lent to the Constitution by the ancient Greeks and Romans. They believed that the good of the state as a whole was more important than the rights of the individuals. Sometimes, individuals must give up rights for the safety and security of the state. This is clearly what is happening today. The government has decided to infringe on American individuals' right to privacy, supposedly in order to protect the nation from terrorist attacks. Evidently, the same technology and practices are now being used to protect the state of Illinois from corruption. And, just as with Bush's NSA wiretapping, Rod Blagojevich's right to privacy was limited for the good of the citizens he was elected to serve.



3. Barack Obama should not be labeled a Federalist just because he has been elected as the president of a federalist government. And, although the original Anti-federalists were opposed to having any form of central government, it is important to remember that Federalist and Anti-federalist are relative terms. Basically, federalists believe that the national government should be strong and have power over the state governments, anti-federalists believe that the national government should not have as much power and should be more limited in their strength. Based on this definition and the few significant actions which Obama has carried out since his inauguration, I would say that our new president is an Anti-federalist. One of the most important decisions that he has made so far was to end "the 'war on terror' as former President George W. Bush defined it." (3) Obama believes that the federal government should never be able to "circumvent longstanding U.S. laws," (3) even when the country is at war. Clearly, Barack strongly feels that the powers of the federal government should be more limited than they have been in recent years, so he is an Anti-federalist.

   
   
   Sources
   

   (1) http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/22/obama.abortion/index.html?iref=newssearch
   
   (2)http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/08/illinois.governor.impeachment/index.html?iref=newssearch
   
   (3) http://www.courant.com/news/nationworld/hc-gitmo0123.artjan23,0,498089.story