Barack Obama has a reputation as a skilful and fluent public speaker. His address to the nation on the occasion of the inauguration of his second term in Presidency underscores this reputation. But style is one thing and substance is another. The crux of his message was for American people to expect no radical changes…
Tag: President Obama
President Obama should discontinue President Bush’s electronic suveillance policies
When Barack Obama took over the reigns from George W. Bush, he was expected to make significant changes to the policy framework. But already into the second year of his Presidency, it is fair to say that Obama’s performance has fallen short of expectations. On the negative side, the ‘surge’ in military operations in Afghanistan…
The USA PATRIOT Act and issues of privacy
The twentieth century has been a transformational period for human societies. As the process of industrialization advanced during this period, more people moved away from rural to urban settings. As a result major cities became overpopulated and towns expanded into cities. The meaning of ‘public space’ got expanded and redefined during this process. And when…
Logical fallacies in an editorial piece: A case study
Print journalism has a long and rich tradition, reaching back more than two centuries. The content disseminated by newspapers can be divided into two classes: reports and opinion. While reports are expected to adhere to objectivity and neutrality, opinion editorials have no such restrictions. As a result, the latter can at times come across as…
Is ‘nationalization’ of banks a better option than bailing them out to the tune of a trillion dollars?
The ideal remedial action from the government would have been to press forward with nationalization of banks. But unfortunately, the political pressures faced by President Obama and the stimulus announcements made in Europe had ended those hopes. President Obama was careful not to alienate the conservative sections of the House of Representatives by acting against…
Compare and contrast: The causes of the Great Depression and the 2008 economic crash
The Great Depression is one of the most significant periods in American history. This period of economic recession began in 1929 and continued for another ten years. Today we are in the midst of another economic recession, one that was triggered by the sub-prime mortgage crisis of 2008. The intensity and scale of the present…
A Critique of President Obama’s First Inaugural Address
President Obama’s historic inaugural speech on20th January, 2009was powerful and persuasive. Coming at a time when the nation was confronting the worst economic slump in seventy years, the speech contained within it the necessary reassurance and the promise of change that were so desperately needed. To his credit, the new President was mild in his…
Overturn of “Gag Rule”
President Barack Obama recently struck down the Bush Administration’s ban on giving federal money to international groups that perform abortions or provide abortion information-the so-called “gag rule”. President Obama’s ruling has elicited both joy and consternation within US. Do those very different reactions indicate something about where people stand on issues of moral relativism? If…