Benjamin Mao

Pd.6
3/5/14
Articles #2
Feckless- lacking initiative or strength of character
Diffident- shy
In Obama, the feckless tyrant (March 3, 2014), Dana Milbank blasts Republicans for
calling Obama weak and indecisive on foreign affairs. Senator John McCain of Arizona stated
that in his opinion Obama has, a feckless foreign policy where nobody believes in Americas
strength anymore. However, Obamas also been criticized for being too tough on Syria by
drawing red lines that he wasnt prepared to enforce. The same Republicans that criticize
Obama for his inability to think up consequences for Russia invading Ukraine have themselves
been unable to come up with consequences. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida has vowed to
boycott the G-8 summit in Russia, but that isnt much of a difference from Obamas call to
cancel planning for the summit.
The article could be used to promote the idea that all politicians are hypocrites. As long
as the President of the United States is of an opposing party, the other party will mock all
of his decisions, even if it were one that their own party supports.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dana-milbank-obama-the-feckless-
tyrant/2014/03/03/73470bdc-a320-11e3-84d4-
e59b1709222c_story.html?tid=pm_opinions_pop

In Rand Paul Blasts Obama on Civil Liberties (March 7, 2014), Patrick
OConner reported on the CPAC meeting for Republican presidential hopefuls in 2016
and Rand Pauls bashing of Obamas policy with regards to civil liberties. If you have a
cell phone, you are under surveillance. I believe what you do on your cell phone is none
of their damn business, says the senator from Kentucky. He also quoted 18
th
century
French philosopher Montesquieu and made clear that, in his opinion, America has failed
to live up to the rights guaranteed in the Constitution. Furthermore, he warned, if we
continue down this path of loose constitutional interpretation, we risk going back to the
days of Jim Crow Laws and unjust internment of Japanese Americans

This article could be used as a rallying cry for conservatives seeking the White House in
2016. Obama has failed to protect civil liberties, according to them, but Republicans will.
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2014/03/07/rand-paul-blasts-obama-on-civil-
liberties/?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsForth

In The New SAT: America Treats Its Language like Garbage (March 6, 2014),
John McWhorter lampoons the decision by the College Board to remove big words
from the SAT, among other changes. He claims that it removes all relevance from our
language and shows that we Americans dont love our language. Even uneducated
Benjamin Mao
Pd.6
3/5/14
people from long ago seem more educated than the children of today. Most youths at
seventeen or eighteen years of age take a pride in boasting of their amours, of their
dissipations, and of their wild exploits; I have, however, no taste for such exposures,
said one store clerk from the 1830s, who had only an 8
th
grade education. Would the
children of today know what that sentence meant?

This article could reverse the changes the College Board made. Once the College Board
sees that we actually appreciate our language, they might again add words like
antediluvian.