PBS Frontline: Top Secret America

10 Facts

1. Congress said to Bush he could have everything necessary he needed for secret war.
2. Coffer Black in charge of Anti-terrorism of CIA 
3. Black wanted to initiate war against Al 'Qaeda and created plans for war
4. Gray stone was the code name for a secret attack
5.  Bush signed an international war authorization.
6. Largest if not larger covert op since the cold war
7. Gray stone was well beyond the borders of Afghanistan
8. Possible terrorists with information were brought to secret CIA prisons referred to as black sites 
9. Created a special operation force with less regulation then the CIA
10. By the spring of 2003 America had attacked Iraq
11. There have been 5 DNI's within the 6 years it has existed

10 Questions

1. How does the CIA have checks and balances?
2. Was there any suspicion of attack before 9/11 if the CIA was already investigating them?
3. If the primary responsibility of the CIA lies with the president how is the power checked, and what branch does the CIA fall under?
4. Who creates the weapons for the CIA, is it all done in house?
5. Is the president the only one who can regulate whats going on with the CIA?
6. What happens if a country finds out the CIA has secret prisons in their country, how does it  effect relations with the U.S.?
7. How does the government create all of these new organizations?
8. Do you think the NSA (national security agency) has to much power, being able to tap phone lines, what else can they do?
9. How did they keep information from being leaked when they used private contractors?
10. What is causing all of our advanced technology to miss threats so that private citizens are the ones left to pick out terroristic threats?

Chapter 1 Interview

Today I interviewed my dad, on his opinions of the government. I began by asking him what political he cares about and he replied that he cares mostly the economy and the environment, but like me does not follow politics very often.  He agrees with me in the fact that he believes that most citizens are not smart informed voters, because most either don't care, don't have time to follow it, or just can't understand it. He said he believed that amendments should be made to the constitution over time because of the changes over time. He believes that the governments purpose is to create a good decent living for all of its citizens,and not everyone in America has a descent standard of living because wealth is concentrated to too few people. He agrees that with Obama's plan on putting more taxes on the wealthy for this reason.  Overall when i asked him about pro's and con's of the government, he answered that some pro's are checks and balances and that it's virtually impossible for a revolution to happen, and that some con's are that it takes to long for things to get done, and that there's too much fighting between political parties, and that is a huge problem that is limiting the ability to get things done in the government.

A People's History of The United States

The first part of this article mainly discusses the opinion of Charles Beard. He expresses his view that the wealthy , to protect their own interest have to in someway control the government. Beard also makes the point going back that the country was made mostly from wealthy men and their ideas. He also suggests the idea that the government out of greed when he states that most if the makers if the Constitution had economic interest in creating a strong federal government. Slaves, indentured servants, women, and men without property were not represented in the Constitutional Convention, so does that mean that he agrees that the constitution should and can be ratified? He also mentions that the founding fathers better understood economics because they were wealthy men? Some men that were wealthy did not support the ratification of the Constitution, however I still have to wonder if the founding fathers took poorer and the middle class into a lot of consideration. Do you think Jefferson would still agree with his opinion that a rebellion about every 20 years is healthy for the government today? Or are these rebellions more like peaceful protests which do happen in this time and age? Later in the article it says that Hamilton made the suggestion that the president and senators should serve for life. What are some of the advantages of having a president and senator serve for life? Also in Hamilton's plan he seems to give a lot of power to the state legislature, why didn't Hamilton think that the power was too great? It also said that a major problem at the time was the gap between rich and poor, it described that those who had land had wealth and power, while those who didn't own land were poor and didn't have a say. Do you think the founding fathers successfully took all classes into  consideration when creating the constitution? What are some con's to ratifying the constitution? In federalist paper #63 i was curious why it says that the senate will help people from their own delusions, which doesn't make much sense because what they were creating was a government by the people for the people, so who did they believe were delusional, poor people, people without land or wealth? It stated that only 3% of the population was considered wealthy, but that was who was creating the government so much of the majority wasn't represented. Why would the first amendment be abridged? How could 10 people be put in jail when  it was obviously unconstitutional, was a judicial branch fully formed at this point?  When people rebelled against the tax on liquor why did Hamilton set troops on them, did he not agree with Jefferson who believed that rebellion  every once in awhile is good?

Do you think rebellions are the same as they once were?

Even though we live in a capitalist country most people stay in the same class of wealth, what do you think can be done to help the poor and middle class to succeed?

Political Cartoon

Do you think that unnecessary arguing between democrats and republicans is keeping the government from finding solutions to the unemployment crisis?
Do you think that many of these families that have fallen under  the poverty line will stay there for generations to come or will return to the middle class once the crisis is over?
Where do you think you find most of the people living in poverty? Do you think trends can be found by ethnicity, age or location?

Reading Questions

1. Are there better ways to get people more familiar and involved with voting and government issues?
2. Is there a point when democracy is so slow that it becomes unproductive?
3. What are some standards that people need to live up to in order to immigrate to the US?
4. Are there some countries, such as countries that we are at war with that the US does not allow refugees to come from?
5. Do you think that putting a hold on Visa's and doing more extensive background checks just for countries that are predominantly is ethical?
6. Should there be more serious charges for people who overstay their Visa's?
7. Have immigration laws been changing too quickly?
8. Should there be a more civil way to deport illegal immigrants?
9. Should more Mexicans be allowed into the country?
10. What toll would there be if too many immigrants came into the country at the same time?
11. What do you have to do to get a student Visa?
12.How can census' have consequences?
13. Before 1980 why wasn't self classification used?
14. How can you include all of a persons heritage if he or she is mixed race?
15. Should colleges be required to have a certain amount of diversity or admit students blindly from race?
16. What is the Tienanmen square massacre?
17. Why do poorer Americans tend to vote less?
18.How is American politics effected by diversity in the U.S.?
19.Should colleges have to meet a certain requirement or diversity?
20. Why don't we see many minorities involved with politics?

Political Issues I Care About

     There are many ways in which the government effects my life everyday. Most of which I do not notice and do not think about. I don't think about the water that comes through my faucet every day, or trash pickup. What i do notice are things such as taxes, pat-downs at the Airport, and serious environmental issues that always seem to be on the back burner. I think about the things that are televised on the local news network, and issues that are worked into various prime-time sitcoms. I take most of the things that the government provides me with for granted and I should care about more of the things that the government does; however when i think to myself what political issues do i care about I think of the big issues that are found throughout the media such as gay rights, environmental issues such as deforestation and pollution, and the success of local small business owners.
    Taking the environmental issues, one reason I believe they are important to me is because that's how I was and am raised. My father is an Arborist and my mother has a degree in Horticulture. Ever since I was little I remember the gardens we had in our yard where i helped my parents to plant flowers and trees, and they taught my the importance of recycling at an early age. As I grow up i realize the impact that it has had on my life. I found myself in Haverford Aware (an environmental club) and reading a book on soil and organic gardening because I found it interesting. Now when I watch the Good Morning America every morning in the kitchen when I hear a segment about the environment it catches my attention.  I care about deforestation and preservation of forests and parks because when I visit a national park during the summer, it is so beautiful that it is hard to imagine it is worth the cost of tearing down that forest to but another apartment complex, or outlet mall in.
      The reason I am concerned with the success of small local businesses is because i work at one. My uncle is the owner of a local bicycle shop in Bryn Mawr and every time I am there I see a parent come in, look at the price of a bike for their child, then head off to the nearest Walmart of Target where they buy the bicycles in such large quantities that they can sell them almost for the price that my Uncle buys them from the companies for. Though quality and service is lost it is extremely hard to compete when price, ultimately, is the deciding factor. I care what the government does to help support small business owners, because I would be heartbroken to see his business fail after years of hard work, time, and money. 
    Overall, i would have to say that I care most about the issues that the people I am around care about. It is because I see these people really being effected that I pay attention to the news and occasionally pick up a magazine or paper that features something about it.