Just last Sunday, I had the opportunity to set foot on the set of Meet the Press w/ Tim Russert in the NBC-4 Studios in Washington DC. For me, this was something that has probably changed my life in more ways than I can possibly imagne. Not one to really watch Sunday morning political shows, sitting down and actually seeing the things that go on in this atmosphere were the impetus for me to watch an episode of Meet the Press one day. My father, a watcher of The McLaughlin Group has often tried to make me watch those kind of shows with him, saying that I needed to know what was going on in my world. Now I really know what he was talking about. If I am going to succeed as a journalist, I need to watch more news and political oriented shows. If I was to choose which show I would watch, I would most probably watch Meet the Press because of the absolute objectivity he offers on the issues. He gives his guest a chance to talk and he gives me a chance to form my own opinion about political issues.

I got to do just that as I heard Sen. Russ Feingold( D-Wis) criticize President Bush about his controversial wire tapping program. For one, I agree with Senator Feingold. While wiretapping is not "a more impeachable offense" than that of Nixon or Clinton, George Bush does need to be held responsible for his actions. The Supreme does need to scrutinize the issue in a matter that makes a solution that all can be satisfied with. Feingold does not support impeachment and I do not either. The nation does not need that and what we need to do is work together and find a way for our troops to get out of Iraq. Timetables offered by General Casey and by Feingold appear the same, so why not use it. Its time to get the troops out and Bush needs to be in a state where he is not impeached so he can clean up his own mess. Let's let the president rectify the situation he has gottn this country in so that we can move on and work to get the real terrorist such as the person holdng the seat of government in Somalia. Trivial things such as wiretapping and the Iraq thing all serve no purpose and instead of giving the president the satisfacton of not having to clean it up by impeaching him is wrong. Instead let hm do it himself and let him see what he did.

Al Gore Running Again?

In my journalism workshop, Ms.Cimons, my instructor brought up something important that sparked many thoughts in my mind. The second term of the infamous Bush presidency is going to end and an election has to happen so a successor can be elected. There were many names thrown out for possible candidates but no one mentioned Al Gore. With the new movie and book out right now, its obvious that he is trying to get his name out in the public eye again. The question to answer is if he will try his hand at running for the presidency or if this is it for now.

I was not at all surprise that my instructor, a journalist, thought of something like that and hopefully there will be more speculation. Thursday, Kerry's running mate in the previous election is coming down to AU, the place of my workshop, to talk to the press and I for one want to hear about his plans in the future in terms of politics. An interesting team for the election could be Gore and Edwards. Who knows?

Hey ladies and gentlemen,

I'm back!!! I must say that I happy to be back to the site that gives me the opportunity to express all my thoughts. First off, I just want to say that I completed my last exam today and I am officially a senior so I have one more year of high school then I'm off to college to further my education. As for my plans now, in addition to writing more in this blog, I hope to write articles for Young DC and DC Teen Magazine. While I'm doing that I will also be attending a journalism workshop program at American University and hope to write some sort of literature this summer. I have not thought of what I am writing but I'm sure that some idea will come to me soon.

As for books, one book I definitely recommend people to read right now is We Are All the Same by Jim Wooten. This is a book that revolves around the effects of imperialism and apartheid in South Africa and mainly looks into the life of a young South African boy with AIDS. So far, from what I have read, it seems like a book that is deep and has a lot of thought. This is something that I hope to accomplish in my writing, but we'll see.

In the months ahead, viewers will see more political things especially my thoughts on the upcoming event in Washington supporting the abolishment of the death penalty in addition to my opinions about things that might interest me in the news. For now, I"m just going to enjoy my summer and come in to drop some more knowledge and insight from a "young political mind".