Opinions

Referendum 74 is a hot issue on the ticket this election, plastering our LGBT friendly community with green Washington United For Marriage “I DO” bumper stickers and yard signs beaming with their slogan: “Equality for all loving couples.” But outside of our impenetrable bubble of open-minded academia, there exists a dark word of discriminatory, antiquated religious fanatics and anti-marriage equality bigots; namely, The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) and The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle. It may come as no surprise that both of these organizations are religiously based groups,...

There is a problem with our media. I’m not speaking of the blind obsession with balance—as if such a thing were possible. Nor am I speaking of the media’s advertising-based focus on sensationalism, violence and voyeuristic news. I am speaking of the media’s pathological need for objectivity at the expense of informational broadcasting. This bastardization of the fourth estate has resulted in a political climate supporting misdirection, falsehoods and a refusal to establish any sense of context. Any fact-checking is decried as an inherently biased activity, and so the media...

Last week Ann Coulter made an appearance on the ABC News show “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” in order to discuss her new book, “Mugged: Racial Demagoguery from the Seventies to Obama.” Unsurprisingly, Coulter made more than one controversial remark in “Mugged.” Stephanopoulos pointed out one statement in particular: “Various groups feminists, gay rights groups, and those who are defending immigrants have commandeered the black civil rights experience.” Her attack on these “various groups” is an attempt to belittle the causes that have recently come to the forefront of social...

A few weeks ago, New York City banned sales of soda in containers larger than 16 ounces in an attempt to curb the city's obesity problem. The law was passed by the city's Board of Health, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg widely praised the move. Most bottled sodas come in containers 18 ounces or larger. In August, Australia passed a measure which relegates cigarette packaging to generic, olive green boxes featuring pictures of rotting teeth, heart surgery, and other graphic images. The cigarette brand name will be printed below the images...

The passing of Initiative-200 in the year 1999 abolished affirmative action throughout Washington State. Section 1 of the Initiative states that "The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting.” The question now is whether or not Washington state should propose a new initiative to reintroduce affirmative action. This is a highly debated subject throughout the country. There are those who believe affirmative...

One need only listen to the news for minutes before hearing a newscaster, blogger or radio host deplore the mainstream liberal media. This overwhelming liberal bias is mentioned in every source of media in the country on a regular basis. Yet here we run into a conundrum, because the “existence” of liberal media bias is a propagandistic lie. In refuting claims to the contrary, I will do my best to avoid making jabs at those responsible, but such criticism will be impossible to avoid in its entirety. The critique of a...

The compulsory Presidential Debates are on the horizon with the first debate kicking off this Wednesday, October 3rd. It is a custom of our presidential election season, in which both the Republican and Democrat nominees’ standoff with proctored questions and address important issues at hand. It is a de facto aspect of the election procedure, without any constitutional mandate outlining the events. The debate is a great opportunity for voters to hear the nominees perspectives and even have personal questions answered; the only issue at hand is the exclusivity of...

GOP Seeks Eradication of Equitable Voting Rights Recent Voter ID laws have been enacted around this country that complicate the voting process and disenfranchise minorities. Since 2006, GOP legislatures in 33 states have passed laws requiring some form of identification be presented upon casting a ballot. Seventeen of those states have passed even stricter laws requiring a government-issued photo ID. If one were to believe the GOP and media propaganda, these laws were put into place to combat the serious problem of voter fraud. Regrettably, that story fails to hold...

The Presidential campaign in 2008 turned out historical numbers of youth and minority voters. A tremendous achievement for our nation! Engaging a record numbers of citizens in voter participation—assumedly a cross-party victory, right? Think again. Since President Obama’s election in ’08 many state legislatures, (cough, G.O.P politicians), have proposed and passed new voting laws requiring all voters to present state-issues photo id. The Brennan Center for Justice reports during this past year alone, more than two-dozen new voting laws have passed in 19 states. Ostensibly harmless laws; however, restrictions that have...