ipl-logo

Summary: The Audacity Of Hope

378 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Obama speech the audacity of hope

Nothing is this world is perfect. Our government that has survived over two hundred years and multiple wars but, it is far from perfect. It is full of flaws. Barack Obama makes these flaws apparent in his book, The Audacity of Hope. He states that the constitution is “a living document and must be read in the context of an ever-changing world.” (Obama, 90) Humans beings wrote the constitution and human beings interpret the constitution. The Founding Fathers had many different perspectives on how a government should be such as the “intentions of Jefferson were never those of Hamilton, and those of Hamilton differed greatly from those of Adams.” (Obama,91) The same dilemma is current to this day as republicans and democrat don’t share the same intentions. Proof of this is found in the use of filibuster and it’s use by both parties. “When the Democrats lost their Senate majority in 2002, they had only one arrow left in their quiver…filibuster.” (Obama, 80) Depending on perspective filibuster can seen as both good and bad. It can halt progress, or it can stop a defective bill from passing. However “filibuster was the South’s weapon of choice in its efforts to protect Jim Crow from federal interference.” “For many blacks in the South, the filibuster had …show more content…

“Most of the sins of politics are derivative of this larger sin — the need to win.” (Obama, 109) In any political campaign money is a much needed resource. “Money can’t guarantee victory”, however “without money, and the television ads that consume all the money, you are pretty much guaranteed to lose.” (Obama, 109) To gain the money to run a campaign in American many side deals have to be done with sponsors. Not the mention the time and effort put into gain such high amounts of money, it took three months for Obama’s campaign to raise just $250,000 and fall flat of their $500,000 goal. Our government is flawed but it manages to keep our country

Show More
Related
562 Words | 3 Pages

By means of a cloture vote sixty senators may end discussion and vote on the proposed bill. Without this precaution, a simple majority may pass legislation without considering the opinions of the minority. This is especially dangerous in the United States – a country historically dominated by only two political parties. Since a single political party seldom gains the necessary supermajority of sixty senators needed to move to direct vote, the filibuster ensures that the minority party retains a voice in government.

Read More
547 Words | 3 Pages

Modern congress and its members seem largely concerned and focused on partisan advancements. Though there are many reasons as to why the enormous division in congress is as it is, there is one factor that draws the most attention. Filibuster an action that is used by most congressmen and women to delay the passage of laws, has increasingly over the course of time become a negative action rather than positive. The use of mostly long speeches as ways to prohibit and hinder bills or laws is now being used by many senators to advance personal and party goals thus, it is crucial that the ban of filibuster must be considered and replaced with the simple majority rule. First and foremost, some reasons as to why filibuster should be exempted from

Read More
1150 Words | 5 Pages

He argued against the ratification of the United States Constitution as it would derange the distribution of power between the federal and state governments. Throughout the entirety of the essay, he discussed how “a country of such immense extent” could not operate as a single government. A free republic governing over the vast area would fail to “attend to the various concerns and wants of its different parts," while the people fail to come together to discuss, conceive and decide on their wills. The extent of the United States prevents satisfaction to the citizens’ wills, further complicating the duties of the representatives. Substantially, the number of citizens would increase over time, challenging representatives to “declare the sentiments of the people” without arousing conflicts.

Read More
480 Words | 2 Pages

In fact he explains to the people that without the constitution in play the very freedom they are enjoying due to their previous hard fight will be lost. He says that the only way to keep the branches of government separated to prevent one that is too powerful is to have a binding document such as the constitution. As

Read More
946 Words | 4 Pages

After a fiercely fought revolution, the newly independent American nation struggled to establish a concrete government amidst an influx of opposing ideologies. Loosely tied together by the Articles of Confederation, the thirteen sovereign states were far from united. As growing schisms in American society became apparent, an array of esteemed, prominent American men united in 1787 to form the basis of the United States government: the Constitution. Among the most eminent members of this convention were Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, James Madison, and Thomas Jefferson. These men, held to an almost godly stature, defined the future of the nation; but were their intentions as honest as they seemed?

Read More
165 Words | 1 Pages

Elie Wiesel's speech "Hope, Despair and Memory" uses all three types of rhetorical strategy. This speech was a powerful combination of pathos,logos, and ethos used to make people remember. Wiesel says "[We thought] It would enough to describe a death-camp "selection", to prevent human right to dignity from ever being violated again" to appeal to the listeners sense of compassion or empathy for those who suffered the atrocities of the war. This would also be called using pathos rhetorical strategy.

Read More
1696 Words | 7 Pages

During this time, the Republican party was able to pass the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the Constitution which were added to permit recently freed African American slaves legal protection and civil rights following the war. But, the Democratic win in Congress strongly impacted and setback racial equality and civil rights established for freed Black men in America. Democrat Benjamin Boyers excerpt states, “[the Negro is] a race by nature inferior and mental caliber… the Negroes are not equals of white Americans, and are not entitled…participate in the government of this country.” (Document 1). Benjamin Boyer, the author of this quote, opposed the bill allowing black Americans the right to vote.

Read More
1500 Words | 6 Pages

Another major scholar concerning slavery and the Civil War, Foner, in his book, argues that Reconstruction constituted a major period in American history, a time period that was the “beginning of an extended historical process: the adjustment of American society to the end of slavery.” This adjustment varied on a number of levels, most notably seen in the south, but Foner argues that it was the northern ideals found in the United States government, specifically Radical Republicans, that deserve the blame for the failure in Reconstruction. One of the strongest ideologies that Foner recognizes as present among congressmen was the free labor ideology, and Foner argues that free labor ideology after the Civil War failed on account of political action to empower African Americans was largely ignored. Foner argues that it was this failure and “erosion” of free labor ideology that had previously united Republicans “to remake Southern society in accordance with the principles of free labor and legal and political equality… made possible a resurgence of overt racism that undermined support for Reconstruction.” It was this empowerment taken on by the federal government that led to the growth and expansion of radical movements in the south who took more autonomy and favored less government involvement.

Read More
1586 Words | 7 Pages

In recent years, the U.S. Senate has been embroiled in a countless number of filibusters which have a long history in the U.S. Congress. To supporters of the filibuster, such political procedures play an important role in a democratic society. They believe that the filibuster embodies the spirits of democracy to protect the minority from oppression in the United States. Reformers or skeptics of the filibuster, on the other hand, believe that filibusters sometimes severely hinder the operations of the government. Although people have witnessed many filibusters in history, the number of filibusters in the past few years surprised and infuriated many in America.

Read More
645 Words | 3 Pages

But, when these officials were elected to Congress, they passed the “black codes” and thus the relations between the president and legislators became worst (Schriefer, Sivell and Arch R1). These so called “Black Codes” were “a series of laws to deprive blacks of their constitutional rights” that they were enacted mainly by Deep South legislatures. Black Codes differ from a state to another but they were stricter in the Deep South as they were sometimes irrationally austere. (Hazen 30) Furthermore, with the emergence of organizations such as the Red Shirts and the White League with the rise of the Conservative White Democrats’ power, efforts to prevent Black Americans from voting were escalating (Watts 247), even if the Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S constitution that gave the Blacks the right to vote had been ratified in 1870.

Read More
491 Words | 2 Pages

“The purpose of the United States Constitution is to limit the power of the federal government not the American people.” – The Federalist Papers. Our government is not the exact same way it was from the very beginning of its creation. It has changed dramatically over the course of about two-hundred years, as said in the video, “The Constitution must change for challenges in the future.” Truthfully, it has been changed and adapted to meet the ever changing needs of our society.

Read More
1742 Words | 7 Pages

It is also characterized by the support for it, the nuclear option to limit it, and the potential reform to fix it. EXPLANATION OF THE FILIBUSTER The Government in America college textbook defines the filibuster as “a strategy unique to the Senate whereby opponents of a piece of legislation use their right to unlimited debate to prevent the Senate from ever voting on a bill. ”2 In other

Read More
2506 Words | 11 Pages

An ideal government would be a government which understands the cause of the current global crisis and works on connection between all the countries in the world without taking advantage of each other’s situation. A government which works for the benefit of society and wellbeing for all people by providing them all basic needs like food, shelter, education, health program. Instead of power and money they could

Read More
317 Words | 2 Pages

Today we would symbolize the constitution with freedom and diversity. Maybe not a thoughts, if you ask some people, but of race and culture. That is what the Constitution stands for to the people alive today, it means that there is hope for a better tomorrow. He goes on to state, “Much pains will be taken, many artifices employed to weakening your minds the conviction of this truth; as this is the point in your political fortress against which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and actively (though often covertly and insidiously) directed, it is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national union to your collective and individual happiness.” Constitution day is not only about freedom and prosperity, in the the combined past-present form of the constitution, but about individual prosperity over national.

Read More
1040 Words | 5 Pages

What is a perfect government? Is it an ideal place for any person? A utopia? Throughout the history of the world, there have been several different forms of government, ranging from monarchies, dictatorships, republics, and even anarchy. Respectively each of these types governments have their best and worst decisions.

Read More

More about Summary: The Audacity Of Hope

Related Topics

Open Document