Fides

• Welcome President Obama

  I'm at the Presidential Inauguration in D.C. this week. It's been a once in a lifetime experience, and I didn't even vote for the guy. Here's what I saw today:
  
  The National Mall was packed with people from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial over 2 miles away. Most [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: January 20, 2009, 5:10pm EST
  

• A Year for Books

  Last year, around this time, I wrote about the 21 best (and worst) books I read in 2007. This year, it looks like everyone is getting into the act: Peggy Noonan at the Wall Street Journal wrote her list this morning, and my good friend Christina finished [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 26, 2008, 6:17pm EST
  

• Shaping China's Future Choices

  This morning, I wrote an article covering an excellent talk by Tom Christensen. He's a China scholar at Princeton who just finished two years working as one of the top U.S. diplomats on China issues. It's posted online at the link below:
  
  [wws.princeton.edu] [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 18, 2008, 2:28pm EST
  

• An Unresolved Proposition

  Last week, California voters passed Proposition 8, which changed California's constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman. It marked the second time this year that the state's marriage laws have changed. The debate over same-sex marriage has roiled politics in California and around the [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 12, 2008, 7:49pm EST
  

• Election Night Coverage

  Earlier this week, I wrote an article covering the school's election night party for the WWS Magazine. It's been posted online at the link below:
  
  [wws.princeton.edu] [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 09, 2008, 3:18pm EST
  

• A Few Questions for the President-Elect

  Today, I submitted a few final thoughts on the election to the Center for the Study of Democratic Politics blog:
  
  [blogs.princeton.edu]. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 06, 2008, 5:43pm EST
  

• Paying The Man To Serve

  For the first time ever, the presidents of Iowa's three public universities will receive bonuses for achieving specific objectives. As the Des Moines Register notes, the practice is common at corporations and increasingly accepted at universities. However, it will bring both new possibilities, and new dilemmas. to the administration [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: October 23, 2008, 8:32pm EDT
  

• The Last Debate

  Last night, I wrote my thoughts on the last presidential debate for the Center for the Study of Democratic Politics blog:
  
  [https:] [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: October 16, 2008, 3:15pm EDT
  

• Another Debate, Another Blog

  Last night, I wrote another post-debate blog for the Center for the Study of Democratic Politics:
  
  [https:]. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: October 08, 2008, 5:41pm EDT
  

• Life in the Real World

  Last night, I shared my thoughts on the state of the economy with Christina, one of my close friends. Here is the link:
  
  [christina-lexa.blogspot.com] [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: October 06, 2008, 12:42pm EDT
  

• Biden, Palin, and The Tone

  Early this morning, I wrote about last night's vice presidential debate for the Center for the Study of Democratic Politics Election 2008 blog. Here's the link:
  
  [https:] [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: October 03, 2008, 12:44pm EDT
  

• Big Ten Politics

  Though it may be a bad season for Big Ten football, it will be an excellent season for Big Ten politics.
  
  According to a recent poll by the Big Ten Network, seven of the eight states where Big Ten universities reside are closely contested in this year's presidential [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 20, 2008, 4:31pm EDT
  

• McCain's Vice President

  Senator McCain has chosen Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. The political world is afire, mostly because none of them saw it coming. Experts hate to be wrong.
  
  Even though it didn't make any of my posts, it's a great selection. It reinforces McCain's campaign theme for [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 02, 2008, 3:09pm EDT
  

• Keep On Keepin' On

  Lately, the debate over the means to combat underage drinking on college campuses has taken a different turn. The proposed solution? Define it out of existence.
  
  The force behind the new push to lower to the drinking age is the Amethyst Initiative, a collection of college presidents who [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: August 27, 2008, 10:14am EDT
  

• Can You Feel The Winds of Change?

  Every year, an outfit called The Princeton Review ranks the colleges and universities in America. This year, The University of Iowa scored highly, which, in this case, is not to be confused with scoring well.
  
  According to The Princeton Review, Iowa is the #12 party school in the [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: August 14, 2008, 7:24am EDT
  

• Deep Fried Goodness

  Lucky John McCain: he spent his Friday afternoon at the Iowa State Fair in sunny Des Moines. He sampled the savory pork on a stick while making his case for the presidency to the gathered onlookers. In his speech, he defended free trade, a move both principled and savvy. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: August 09, 2008, 11:25am EDT
  

• What A Pity

  Some things are too important not to write about. Today's New York Times editorial on Postville, Iowa is one of them.
  
  On May 12, immigration officials raided a meatpacking plant in Postville (population 2,273) and arrested 400 illegal workers for violating immigration law and falsifying Social Security numbers. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: July 13, 2008, 5:00am EDT
  

• Summer Lovin'

  I apologize for the long delay in posting. For the summer, my classmates at Princeton and I have started a class blog to keep in touch on our travels and share our wonderful experiences. I've had some incredible ones already, mostly at home in Iowa.
  
  If you'd like to [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: June 16, 2008, 8:33am EDT
  

• Doing Not So Well By Doing Not So Good

  Define irony: in pornography, women become commodities, but on the internet, pornography itself becomes the commodity.
  
  From the supplier's perspective, this is wretched news. Commodities have low profit margins. In a competitive market, each individual producer is unable to differentiate his or her product from all the rest. With [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: May 14, 2008, 2:28pm EDT
  

• Of Methodists and Jews

  Before Pope Benedict's visit to the United States last month, Gallup polled Americans to find out what they think about Catholics. As it turns out, they think quite highly of them. 20% of Americans view Catholics "very positive" and 25% view them "somewhat positive".
  
  Fortunately for those of [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: May 10, 2008, 7:19pm EDT
  

• Barack Obama Is An Elitist

  This is unsurprising. But it may also be irrelevant. With a comfortable lead over Senator Clinton, it may not cost him the nomination. With an unpopular Republican president, it may not cost him the presidency. With a history of aristocracy in the White House (for example, him and [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: April 19, 2008, 5:42pm EDT
  

• One Step Forward

  A constant refrain from Democratic presidential tickets is the war in Iraq is failing. To be more precise, the strategy that required 30,000 extra soldiers for counter-insurgency operations (the "surge") is failing. It is a military success, they say, but a political failure.
  
  Well, maybe not. On February [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: April 15, 2008, 6:47pm EDT
  

• What Does Iowa Have In Common With Brazil, Qatar, and Australia?

  The past few months have brought warmer temperatures, cooler economic forecasts, and a puzzle.
  
  Problems with mortgage repayments in the United States begat problems with the financial products designed around those mortgages, and the international character of the financial companies trading those financial products meant that their problems did [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: April 03, 2008, 7:04pm EDT
  

• Iowa's Musical Legacy

  Quick quiz:
  
  1. The state bird of Iowa is the _______.
  
  A. Bald Eagle
  B. White-tailed Pheasant
  C. Western Goldfinch
  D. Eastern Goldfinch
  
  2. The state flower of Iowa is the _________.
  
  A. Cedar Lilly
  B. Golden Sunflower
  C. White Rose
  D. Wild Rose
  
  3. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: March 27, 2008, 8:08pm EDT
  

• Free Trade Helps Iowans

  Today's Des Moines Register reports that Iowa's exports have doubled since 2003. Approximately 2,300 companies are expected to ship $10 billion worth of manufactured goods around the world this year, a 14.3% increase in value since last year.
  
  And the cause of this good news? A decrease in [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: March 09, 2008, 7:25pm EDT
  

• On Michigan, Florida, and Superdelegates

  In his Second Inaugural Address, Lincoln said:
  
  "On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it, all sought to avert it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: March 08, 2008, 6:46pm EST
  

• McCain's Vice President, Part II or III

  George Will weighs in on McCain's options for choosing a running mate. As usual, my attempts (available here and here) at the same subject have left me unfit to tie his sandals by comparison. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: February 24, 2008, 3:40pm EST
  

• Ideas Matter

  The McKinsey Quarterly interviews Richard Haass, President of the Council on Foreign Relations, this month. Haass' main point, that successful business leaders must understand the economic and political environment in which they operate, is a strong one, especially for my colleagues in private business.
  
  When mired in the [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: February 22, 2008, 1:04pm EST
  

• Miracles, Providence, and Governor Huckabee

  Religion is both irrelevant and, at the same time, wholly relevant to politics. While this may sound like a contradiction, it is actually a necessity. As for religion's irrelevance to politics, the Constitution demands it, Jesus commands it, the apostle Paul observes it, and St. Thomas Aquinas [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: February 16, 2008, 7:45pm EST
  

• The Challenger

  Come November 4th, Republican nominee John McCain will face a Democratic challenger whose identity remains unknown to this day. There has been much speculation about whether Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama is in a better position to beat McCain.
  
  Clearly, the Democrats have overlooked their strongest candidate.
  
  [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: February 09, 2008, 10:10am EST
  

• McCain's Vice President

  In a follow-up to my item last Saturday (right), the Wall Street Journal ran a op-ed today from former Pennsylvania congressman and current Club for Growth President Pat Toomey that analyzed McCain's options for Vice Presidential candidates.
  
  You may remember the Club for Growth from its [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: February 08, 2008, 8:21pm EST