Chris Broussard

I have had it up to here with this daisy chain talk of a mandate. For the first few weeks after the election, I gritted my teeth as the word repeatedly dripped off the lips of the cable news shills, believing that good sense would soon set in and everyone would see how ridiculous it was. Unfortunately, things here in Wonderland are still upside down, as I heard the Mad Hatter use the term again just last week. Friends have spent the past couple of months in a daze, shell-shocked really, and now I feel that the inauguration has brought us a semi-closure, with the realization setting in that, yes, he really is going to be president for four more years. In the meantime, Democrats in Washington have cowered back to their local watering holes while Republicans have issued calls for unity and harmony (an aquiescent unity and harmony, mind you). See, we’re all one big happy family now. Right? Wrong. The American people are not in agreement with this whole mendacity. George W. B

When I was five-years-old, my favorite toy was a G.I. Joe, and I had all of the accoutrements that went along with it—the Jeep with anti-aircraft gun attached, the helicopter with missiles that fired and a candy-store assortment of guns and grenades. My mother and father had both served in the military, as had my grandfathers, uncles and cousins. As a child, I was taught to admire these men and women who had given their all to protect the United States from its murderous foes. When my older brother turned 18, he was encouraged to join the military to learn character and discipline. As I approached my 18th birthday, I was likewise courted by the different branches of the armed forces. I chose, instead, to seek peace. I have yet to meet someone who likes war. I have family members and friends who are currently in the military and they tell me that they are as much against war as I am, and see their mission as peacekeeping. When forced to fight, they will, but their goal is to wield mi