Gary Johnson - Rogue Politician

It may actually be Gary Johnson, former Governor of New Mexico and Triathlete. Yes, that’s right: politician and triathlete. Seriously, who does that?  Sure, you’ve probably never heard of him, but he is one of the most refreshing politicians out there today. As the profile on him (link below) states, he is currently considering running for President in 2012. To some, he may be classified as a Ron Paul copycat with no chance of success, but realistically the man has some good ideas. Here are some highlights from the article:

“The fact that we are arresting 1.8 million people a year — and to what end? We have had virtually no effect on this in decades of pursuing current policy. I don’t know why we can’t accept marijuana use similar to alcohol.”

“It’s never been a consideration that I would enlist the services of a prostitute, myself personally,” he says. “But if I were to do that, where would I want to enlist that service? Well, it would probably be in Nevada, where it’s legal, because it would be safe.”

“I have not watched Glenn Beck. I don’t watch him.”

“Johnson laments that the nation is “bankrupt” and adds that the current level of national borrowing is “catastrophic.” He blames both parties for this sorry state of affairs. Johnson’ s prescription is plain: “slashing spending,” especially with regard to “the Big Four: Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and Defense.”

And the best quote of the bunch:

“I don’t think you’ll ever hear me invoking God in anything I do.”

This country, and the GOP particularly, need a leader who can unfetter them from the draconian members of the religious right. It also needs someone who can make the tough choices with regard to fiscal policy, and who will actually stand up and say that we are not going to expand the government. It needs someone without the ego of our last few Presidents. It needs “The most interesting politician… in the world.” Here’s to you, Gary Johnson.

Read more about Gary Johnson here.

Joseph C. Phillips had an interesting article tackling one of the most common myths the New Left pushes when it comes to conservatives:  the belief that conservatives hate change.

I don’t know how this label got started; either conservatives opposed the liberals’ wishes to increase government power in the ’30s and ’60s, or it is just another way to call the GOP a party of “old white men.”  All Republicans are not Conservative, and not all Conservatives are Republicans. I refer to myself as a Conservative in public because the GOP needs to revitalize their ideals.  The party needs a leader, and they don’t have one.  Although 41% or so the country identifies itself as conservative, only about 21% identify with the Republican Party.

Conservatives desire change:  tax reform, health care reform (just not Obamacare,) and basic limiting of the federal government’s power.

Who among us wouldn’t want the government to just leave us alone?

Lehigh values its aesthetic value as a beautiful campus. The excessive use of mulch on our highly sloped terrain, however, is futile and unnecessary. The rain carries a large proportion of this mulch away. Established growing systems of grass, trees and other plants have infused root systems allowing them to maintain their position through a variety of weather conditions. Lehigh could benefit from replacing mulched areas with living plants that are more resistant to erosion. This shift would act to save Lehigh on the immense upkeep costs while showcasing the natural beauty of our campus. Currently, Lehigh contracts mulch to be literally pumped through hoses from a truck onto campus. Mulch is simply not a necessary expenditure of the schools resources.

As Alice in Wonderland hits theaters, the Patriot would like everyone to reflect on our own Alice, and her adventures.

Trevor Drummond, ’10 wrote Alice in Blunderland in March of 2008. Many of the points raised still hold true today.

The health care summit between the president and Congress a few days ago was pretty much more of the same. The point of the summit is to make some ground on finalizing the health care bill, which is what Congress has been trying to do for months. Republicans want to start over, which gets annoying after awhile when that’s 80% of what they say. The Democrats keep saying the two parties are in agreement on certain things but don’t seem to understand the difference in how the two parties want to handle the problems. The media had a field day, which somehow involved puppets. And then there’s Jon Stewart.

We all know that Lehigh has secrets hidden all around campus. There are those many passageways and underground tunnels that you’ve heard about. There are the rooftop access points, hidden stairwells, and some of those rooms you never knew existed. Personally, I am still hoping to find Asa Packer’s secret bathroom before I leave Lehigh, but such a monumentous discovery  seems unlikely at this point.

Nevertheless, I was able to find something almost as good. There is, in an undisclosed but highly public location, a panel reading “Radiation Control Valve,” shown below (click on image to enlarge).

Shouldn't this be a little more secure? And NOT WIDE OPEN?

What is Lehigh planning? There are a few possibilities:

1. Becoming Green – building a nuclear reactor would make Lehigh carbon-emission free, which would definitely make them stand out among peer institutions.
2. Preparing for the apocalypse – We know the Mayans were on to something going down in 2012, and Lehigh is making sure that its equipped to protect its students, and fight off any zombies that may come calling during the apocalypse.
3. Balancing the budget – Spending $51,00o of tuition per student each year is a challenge. That is, unless you build a nuclear reactor on campus just for kicks.
4. Mislabeling – unfortunately, it is possible that this panel hides a radiator control valve, and that all the valve does is control the heat in the undisclosed building.

Have you found any of Lehigh’s secrets? If so, submit photos or stories to editor@LehighPatriot.com, and let your fellow students know about what Lehigh is hiding. Particularly, if you do hear rumors of Asa Packer’s secret bathroom, please let us know immediately.

Title IX does it again. In a misguided attempt to make college sports more accessible to female student athletes, legislatures in Congress passed this bill that made it mandatory for schools to spend equally on both men’s and women’s sports. Seton Hall University, which HAD a reputable track team just announced that both the men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track teams would be dissolved in order to make way for women’s golf. This was done as a cost-saving measure, but really Seton Hall? You are leaving numerous students who once had track scholarships out to dry all for the sake of establishing a women’s golf program. Title IX’s irrationality can be seen on our own campus where the men’s crew team is literally given money by the women’s team because of unequal and misappropriated funding. Why go through this hassle? Why not simply provide the right teams with the right funds? I am all for women’s athletics. They are an indelible part of any university system. Why should they be at the expense of men’s sports, though?

Read the article here.

Recently, a group calling themselves “Students for Workers” has surfaced here at Lehigh. Under that name, they submitted a letter to the Brown and White which looked to galvanize support amongst Lehigh students for Sodexo employees to join the SEIU (Services Employees International Union).

Who are these students? Well, it’s tough to tell from the letter. One thing we do know though – these students obviously think that they are quite important. Despite having absolutely no role in the Sodexo-Employee-SEIU triangle, they felt it was appropriate for them to make demands of the other bodies. To quote:

“In order to improve the situation, we wish to hold a meeting in which students, faculty, staff, and workers can speak openly without Sodexo management present. We feel that their presence would only serve to intimidate workers. We request that you issue a written statement to all Sodexo workers at Lehigh, informing them that in the interest of upholding free speech on our campus, you endorse campus workers’ right to discuss their working conditions at our open meeting. Due to the severity of the problem, we implore you to take action quickly. We respectfully request a response to this letter within the coming week.”

There’s no doubt that these students feel righteous in their support for the abused and alienated workers that Sodexo employs. And that’s great for them. However, it creates several issues which need to be addressed.

First, the condescension of these students is insulting to Sodexo employees, and should be insulting to the rest of us, as fellow Lehigh students.

Once the letter was published, several Sodexo employees immediately commented online. One employee, identifying himself as Paul wrote:

“WE, the general employee staff at Lehigh, are sick and tired of Austin (that’s the little twerp bothering people everywhere on campus) and his pathetic gang constantly badgering us about union this, union that. Enough’s enough. When is it going to end?”

While this is just one example (there are others in the same comment section), it highlights an important and obvious fact: these students have little idea what they are talking about. Employees live their lives everyday, and many of them have been doing so since long before any of us arrived at Lehigh. They know how things work, and some like it, some don’t. You will find that at any job, but with all students having seen some of the same smiling faces this year that we saw as freshmen, it should be apparent that working at Sodexo isn’t that horrible.

Ultimately, it is up to the workers to decide that. From the responses so far, it is apparent that the “Students for Workers” organization wanted to see an inequity, found one, and started a crusade. In the meantime, they are completely disregarding the (quite valid) opinions of Sodexo employees such as Paul who don’t want the SEIU butting into the conversation, let alone a gang of ignorant students. It is quite evident from this is that these students feel that they are more competent not just to act for Sodexo employees, but to think for them as well.

Students at large should also be insulted by these “Students for Workers.” The unionization of Sodexo employees would likely drive up operating costs for Sodexo, and in the process drive up Lehigh’s already questionable dining prices. While these students may be willing to pay more to dine, they are campaigning for everyone else at Lehigh to do the same.

All of this is being done in the name of the typical liberal mantras of unionized workers creating a paradise for the working class and finally having a society with “social justice.” What they miss though, as usual, is reality. Unions are the same overbearing oppressive entities that liberals see corporations to be. Unions create agendas, bring politics into the workplace, and in general create more problems than solutions for everyone involved. They drive up unemployment by restricting the labor supply through their demands for higher wages.

Are unions worth it? That’s a case by case decision, and everyone has his or her own opinions. Specifically with Sodexo and the SEIU, neither you nor I knows if it is a good fit for a union. Ultimately though, it must be the employees choice to take action. By “intervening,” the “Students for Workers” organization has displayed both condescension and ignorance. Sodexo employees are more than capable of taking care of themselves, or asking students for help if needed. Unsolicited “help” which openly disregards some Sodexo employees’ wishes is extremely disrespectful to our dining staff, and a disgraceful display of arrogance by these supposedly intellectual students.

February 22nd saw the passing of the 1000th American serviceman in Afghanistan since the United States began combat operations nine years ago.

How many of us have looked up from our daily lives and took note of the ongoing conflict? Despite your opinions on the war, most can agree that our troops should be supported.

While the politics of the war can be debated endlessly, the fact remains; hundreds of thousands of men and women our age have been sent overseas to fight and die for our ability to live free.

Remember the troops.

Our world today is much safer than any that has existed in the history of humanity. We have immunizations for a variety of viral infections, antibiotics, cars, clean food and water, a dearth of localized warfare and violence and even government-funded student loans. We have it good, especially when compared to the billions who existed before us. Most of history has comprised of a shortage of resources, perpetual hunger, brutality, violence and a life expectancy that rarely exceeded 50 years.
Industrialization brought us clean living conditions and protection from some serious diseases but it also brought us weapons of war. The World Wars were devastated occurrences that shaped our world today and took the lives of millions of people. Politically, however, we are much safer today than we have ever been. The mayor of the town over from us won’t raid and pillage our homes and Germany isn’t going to invade any time soon. Although we do have worries with respect to international relations, especially with the threat of nuclear war, we have the sense that widespread destruction is unlikely in our generation, or at least at this time. This lack of threat from a world war is probably in large part due to those very same weapons of mass destruction that cause so much fear. Terrorism is a threat that we must all live with and it is our generation’s great battle. Random acts of terror, however, pale in comparison to what generations previous have dealt with. We are not asked to charge the trenches or invade Europe. Nations that were once willing to lose 50,000 men in a single battle are now cringing at the thought of losing 100. This is a very positive development for humans but we don’t seem to be at ease with our new-found sense of well-being.
Even though our life expectancy is greater than it has ever been and we are not facing the constant threat of death, as most of humanity has, we still feel the need to craze ourselves with fear. We live comfortable, cushy lives but we also have the myopia of seeing our moment in time and our generation as THE generation that will have to battle THE issue of the century. Undoubtedly these moments have occurred. We often have a gross misunderstanding of history. Our lack of perspective leads us to pessimistically believe that our generation will suffer greatly at the hands of a foreign power, or economic devastation will result or an awful virulent disease. History tells us that we won’t be fighting a world war in the foreseeable future, that we are richer and more prosperous than we have ever been (considering that a hundred years ago the average person would be considering poor in today’s standards) and swine flu isn’t the black death which was actually something to be concerned about. (Swine flu has killed a paltry number compared to the bubonic plague’s reaping of a third of Europe).
The news is full of it. Scary stories about crime going up, the economy faltering and bin laden coming to get us. Let’s take a moment to question why. Why do you feel the need to scare ourselves when all the evidence shows that we are living at the best moment in human history? So next time you hear that big, bad story about the next big thing to be afraid of just remember: You are not going to get the plague, you’re not going to be sold as an impoverished slave anytime soon and you’re not going to be bombed by the Russians.