Brett Heitzman
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By The Issues of the 2008 Election
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Some are calling this the most important presidential election in recent history. Most people are sick of the failed policies of the last eight years. Issues of this election are very important to people; therefore, everyone should know what the issues are, and what they are all about. The first issue and probably one of the most important, is the economy. Whoever wins the presidency will need to make this one of their top priorities. They will need to figure out what to do, and how to implement their plan. Another one of the issues that should be top priority is the Iraq War. Whether anyone believes the United States Armed Forces should be in Iraq or not doesn’t matter. What everyone can agree on would be the loss of life is very significant. The next commander-in-chief would have to be able to not only cross party lines to hear everyone’s opinion, but also listen to what the American people want. Another thing everyone can agree on is the amount of money spent overseas is unbelievable. Energy will be another issue that the next president will face. Clean energy is very important, especially now when there are significant amounts of pollution and global warming is getting worse. The president would have to consider all options of energy including nuclear, wind-powered, clean coal, renewable fuels, and other safe and clean sources of energy. They will also have to increase fuel economy standards and develop more fuel-efficient cars such as hybrids, and electric cars. The United States also needs to lead the way on climate change, because if other countries see the U.S. developing new ideas to decrease carbon emissions possibly other countries would do so as well. Ethics are something that also needs to be cleaned up in D.C. The next president needs to stop corporate lobbyists from influencing and even corrupting some government officials. Also the government has to allow the American people to know what is going on with our country. Americans want to know what is happening and why it is happening, because it affects them. American citizens need to be brought back into the government so there is not so much secrecy. Education is another huge issue in the country. The next president needs to help out college students with the skyrocketing costs of tuition. They would also have to reform the No Child Left Behind Act. Officials have said that the act would work very well if it did everything it says it would. But there are also problems with it. Instead of punishing a school for having low-test scores and taking money away from the school, which is happening now, the schools with low-test scores should be supported with more money to better improve their education. If you can vote, and you go to the polls, you will have to consider these issues. When you are considering who to vote for, ask yourself, will it be good for the United States.
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| Saturday Night Live skits offer satire of candidates
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The very popular variety/sketch show “Saturday Night Live” has been, in recent months, spoofing, a.k.a. making fun of, the candidates and their running mates. Recently, Tina Fey has rejoined the cast of SNL to be Gov. Sarah Palin. Many people believe that Fey looks just like Gov. Palin, with her hair, glasses, and personality. If you would put their pictures side-by-side, you probably would not be able to tell a difference. Sarah Palin is not the only one they have been making fun of; others like John McCain, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Hillary & Bill Clinton, the list goes on. The actors/comedians work very hard to get these lampoons to be as funny, and realistic as possible. If a candidate does something stupid and or funny, they will put it together and have it ready for Saturday night. The candidates themselves have even said that they thought some of the skits were very humorous, but John McCain recently has said that the writers might be getting a little to personal when referring to Governor Sarah Palin in some of the skits. A couple of the candidates have even appeared on the show as themselves, which enforces the idea even more that they do think what SNL is doing is, in fact, funny. This show thrives on people in the public eye doing funny, weird, or stupid things. They even get actors, or actress’s who look like the person they are spoofing, some of them look more like the person than others. Saturday Night Live has been doing these shows since October 11, 1975, and always has a guest host and musical act. It is filmed in New York City at the GE Building, on Rockefeller Plaza. The show is one of the longest running network T.V. shows in American television history. The show was created by Canadian Lorne Michaels who writes and produces the show, and is SNL’s executive producer. This show has had 34 seasons in the last 33 years or so, and is also one of the most popular sketch comedy/variety shows on television. Each show starts with a cold open, in other words the viewer is thrown directly into the sketch before the title credits are shown. After the piece is done usually one of the characters from the skit yells, “Live from New York, its Saturday Night!” and the show starts. This show reaches millions of Americans who watch it, and they might even be basing their votes on this show. But, it will probably always make people laugh.
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