Facts and Questions from PBS Frontline Program

Facts:

1. After the occurrence of 9/11, secrecy was a key factor in the governments new plans.
2. The reason the U.S. government were keeping secrets was probably because the people wouldn't approve of the actions.
3. The government's plan to capture and kill Osama Bin Laden was known as "Greystone."
4. Over 3,000 people were killed at the attack of the Twin Towers and almost 200 people at the Pentagon.
5. The U.S. fought a "secret war" in 12 different countries.
6. Top prisoners of the war were kept in "black sites."
7. Lt. Gen. Michael Delong believed war was necessary and compared it to a person going to a store, and buying some eggs, because 'it's something we have to do.'
8. The CIA was ordered to use enhanced interrogation techniques (torture a suspected terrorist or anyone with information related to terrorism).
9. The White House agreed to create a secret international prison system to isolate the dangerous people.
10. The President called for the National Security Agency (NSA), the largest, most secret agency of the United States.

Questions:

1. What were the reactions of the people when the government allowed themselves to reach into communication networks?
2. After 9/11, how soon did the U.S. government think we may be attacked again (if they did think we would be attacked again at all)?
3. How did the Taliban/ Afghanis prepare for U.S. attacks?
4. Does the government still feel as extreme to find terrorists today, as they were immediately after 9/11?
5. How did the government react to the people who believed it wasn't fair for them to use the majority of national spending in the military?
6. Would/Did terrorists recruit people of countries to try attacking the U.S., since we mainly accuse Middle Eastern people of being a terrorist?
7. What type of children does al Qaeda look for to recruit?
8. How much does the government spend to fund secret agencies? Is it worth it?
9. How would the people act if we knew what the government's secret plans were?
10. How did Middle Easterns feel when Bin Laden was killed? 

Interview

          For this interview, I decided to interview my older sister. To start off, I asked her what political issue she is concerned about. In response, she believes the national debt and national spending are major problems of our country. The national debt not only affects our economy, but also people's everyday lives and unemployment. She believes the government is spending money unreasonably because it is not fairly distributed towards . The majority of government spending goes towards the military, however, she believes more should go towards funding for education and helping creating more jobs for the unemployed. When I asked her what the purpose of the government is supposed to be, she proposed the government is an organized system created by the people, for the people. She understands that the government has a great impact on our daily lives, even in matters you may not think they could be involved in.
          Next, I moved onto the topic of the Constitution and the setup of the government. I questioned my sister on how well she thinks our government works, and she feels having an indirect democracy is good because the people are able to express their political beliefs by voting on a representative on their behalf, even though not all people vote. However, when I asked her about what she thinks about the setup of our government, she had some mixed feelings. She thinks it is beneficial to share the power between three branches, so that we are not ruled by mainly one group or person. However, having three branches in government is also inefficient because there may be disagreements between each of the branches, so nothing gets accomplished or passed (if they are debating about adding a new law, etc.). When I asked for her opinion on the Constitution, she claimed people take it too literally. The Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution based on historic events of their time period, but the world is continuously changing. She believes the Constitution is outdated and that we should revise it with much consideration, just not too often, since the Constitution has only been revised a few times over the past few hundred years.
          In conclusion, I agree with many points my sister has made about the government, such as how the national debt is major crisis that affects everyday people and that the Constitution should be updated to fit our modernized society. Interviewing my sister, and taking other people's opinions in consideration in general, allows me to think about all factors politicians may have had to consider in the past. This has helped my expand my knowledge and learning of government and the big ideas we learned in our first unit.

"A People's History of the United States"

In this section of "A People's History of the United States," many controversial points of the Constitution and government are discussed. However, everyone has their own perception of what they believe should be changed in the Constitution, or the U.S.'s government, especially those of different social classes and range of knowledge. As human nature, people usually want to have an advantage against others or be the "top dog." Because of this, it may be obvious that the wealthier class would like to create laws that are more beneficial for them, and the poorer/ middle class would like laws for their advantage. Thus, the Founding Fathers, and other political figures throughout history, would have to keep this in mind to satisfy the majority of the population. Even though the Constitution and Declaration of Independence were written long ago, I believe the Founding Fathers did a good job writing these documents because it is still apart of our government today. Although there are always the skeptical ones who argue that the Constitution violates a person's right(s), a great number of citizens have followed, and continue to follow these laws today.

Questions: Charles Beard was one of the historians the author mentioned in the reading. He criticized the Founding Fathers for writing the Constitution "to benefit groups the Founders represented, the 'economic interests they understood and felt in concrete, definite form through their own personal experience,'" though I wonder what class he is in? (since it may affect his belief about this).

Did these critics take in consideration that the Constitution has only been amended a few times throughout history?

Were there any riots or radical groups that wanted was so against the Constitution and wanted to get rid of it?