Chris Broussard

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Did you hear the one about the economy that’s “turned a corner”? It’s a really bad joke that President Bush has been using sporadically the past few weeks. Mr. Bush seems to think that if he says something often enough, it will become true. Probably part of his annointed man of God schtick. Problem is, it doesn’t work. Weapons of Mass Destruction. Saddam Hussein behind 9/11. It’s the annoying facts that keep tripping the Bush administration up. The economy has made some miniscule gains, it’s true. At the same time, unfortunately for most of us, wages have fallen and the Bush Administration has decided to change the rules, denying overtime to 8 million Americans. Some new jobs have been created, but most of those jobs both pay less and require less education. Poverty is increasing at an unhealthy clip and bankruptcies are right behind. It makes me wonder if that corner we’ve turned doesn’t lead up a dark alley. According to the New York Times, since the last quarter of 2001,...

Boy, it’s a good thing we have a president who won’t stoop to ill-advised (albeit sound bite rich) policy decisions just to win re-election. Oh, wait a minute. On August 16, during a campaign speech, President Bush announced election-year- worthy plans to recall between 60,000 and 70,000 troops from Europe, South Korea and Japan. The president said that the realignment would allow the military to "be more effective at projecting our strength and spreading freedom and peace" and save taxpayers money. This is a very bad idea. The plan, if enacted, would further strain already tenuous relationships with traditional American allies. Not to mention the fact that it runs completely counter to our strategic, economic and military interests. Currently, the U.S. is fighting two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The military has been forced on numerous occasions to extend deployments, recall retired reservists and rely on private military. Moving troops from Europe to the U....

In the 1980 election cycle, Ronald Reagan asked the now famous question, “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” If you weren’t, the implication was that you should vote for him. I’d like to pose that question to voters today. Are you better off today than you were four years ago? A large number of conservatives vote Republican for one reason only: Abortion. Since President Bush has had a Republican congress, has significant progress been made in this arena? Not really. There have been, based on averages and estimates from the Center for Disease Control, 5.5 million abortions in the United States since Bush took office. To which my conservative readers will object, “that’s because we need a few more Supreme Court justices appointed by a Republican president!” But, here’s an interesting tidbit for you to chew on: Did you know that of the 7 Supreme Court justices who voted in favor of Roe v. Wade, 5 of them were appointed by Republican presidents? Of the 2 di...

I was in a Christian bookstore with my 7-year-old daughter recently when she picked up a cross with the American flag emblazoned across it, literally covering every inch of its surface. She stared at it for a moment, turned it over in her small, innocent hands and then looked up at me with a puzzled look on her face. "What does Jesus' cross have to do with the American flag?" she asked me. Indeed. She's extremely bright, my daughter. So, after we got home I asked her to explain what she had meant in the bookstore. "Well," she began, "Jesus died for everyone, right?" "Right," I answered. "Not just Americans?" I could see where she was going with this, and I could see she had a point. "No, not just Americans." She looked at her feet, thought for a second and then looked up. "Are there crosses with other people's flags on them?" I doubted it, but told her I wasn't sure. ...

Boy, the tone sure has changed in Washington, hasn't it? If you remember, changing the mean-spirited tone on Capital Hill was one of the goals Dick Cheney set for this administration back in 2000.But, times change, I understand that. Besides, I think Mr. Cheney is getting nervous. It's not easy for war profiteers his age to start a new career. The war in Iraq is getting nastier by the day, a second term is starting to look like a fantasy and then there are those pesky congressmen murmuring about war profiteering. Thus, the "F word." According to Reuters, Vice President Dick Cheney blurted out the "F word" at Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont during a heated exchange on the Senate floor. Cheney ripped into Leahy for the Democratic senator's criticism this week of alleged war profiteering in Iraq by Halliburton, the oil services company that Cheney once ran, telling him to either "'F' off" or "go 'F' yourself....

It was bound to happen. As I've mentioned before in this space, my faith has frequently been called into question by those who believe that it is not possible for a Christian to be a Democrat. Last night, at our weekly fellowship meeting, I was asked why, if I was so smart, I was a liberal? Now, I have never claimed to be liberal. But, I am a Democrat. So, I thought it might be a good time to explain to those who know me, as well as those who have emailed me about my previous columns, why I am a Democrat. Before I do, though, you should understand that as a child, I saw the incongruity of the faith/politics question. My understanding was that if you chose to follow Christ, you did not have the option to follow some of his teachings while ignoring others. It was all or nothing. Yet I experienced racist churches, scornful pastors and fire insurance Christians with a hateful streak. Almost without fail, when the conversational paths of faith and politics cross, abortion is...

When John Ashcroft announced the appointment of the team to restore Iraq's criminal justice system last year, he said, "Now all Iraqis can taste liberty in their native land, and we will help make that freedom permanent by assisting them to establish an equitable criminal justice system based on the rule of law and standards of basic human rights." With images of the Iraqi prison abuse still in our minds, maybe now would be a good time to listen to human-rights observers who have been telling us for years that inhumane behavior toward prisoners is routine in America. Experts tell us that prison rape by guards and other inmates and so-called gladiator fights are widespread behind American bars. In fact, the same Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International reports that condemned Saddam Hussein also condemned the American prison system. In the past week we've heard the same litany from our leaders: "We're better than this," or "This is not...

I think all of us at one time or another have watched an event with complete incredulity, jaws dropped, wondering why those around us don't see that event in the same way we do. Admittedly, I have had that experience more during this presidency then at any other time in my life. But the situation in Iraq these past few months - especially this last week - have left me disoriented and ashamed. But I seem to be in the minority. Locally, I've heard some outrage, but I've heard just as much, if not more, affirmation of the abuse. Comments have ranged from, "War is hell," to "If you want to make an omelet, you've got to break a few eggs." Nationally, it's been a little better, with some notable exceptions. At the Senate hearings probing the scandal on Tuesday, May 11, Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Inhofe expressed outrage at the outrage: "These prisoners, you know they're not there for traffic violations," Inhofe said. ...

Another election year is upon us, and already the Republicans are pulling out the trump card that has worked for them time and time again throughout the last few election cycles. Fundamental Christianity. I worked for a man last year who was also a friend from my church. During a conversation about politics and God between this friend and another worker (a conversation I was desperately trying to stay out of), the other worker turned to me and asked me what I thought. When I gave my answer, he asked if I was a Democrat, and my friend said, "Of course he's not a Democrat, he's a Christian.' With books on the best-seller lists like "The Faith of George W. Bush," and "A Man Of Faith: The Spiritual Journey of George W. Bush," we are yet again presented the notion that the Republican Party is "God's Party," and that George W. Bush is a man of God on a mission for God. During a presidential debate in the 2000 election, Mr. Bush was ...

With the number of well-educated minds in Washington, D.C., the level of confusion there is very unsettling. For instance, I'm no economist, but I knew that cutting revenue while increasing expenses was going to lead to a huge deficit. I've seen this concept at work in my own household. I'm not a military strategist. I've never even been in the service. But I knew that sending American soldiers to "liberate" a country without that country's permission was going to lead to an increase in flag-draped coffins. My foreign relations experience is limited to - well, OK, I have no foreign relations experience, either. Yet I knew that if we went to war with a small nation's Keystone cops military in the Middle East, against the wishes of the United Nations, we would suffer increased tarnishing of our reputation. I'm not a historian, but it was painfully clear to me that Iraq had nothing to do with Sept. 11, contrary to the beliefs of most Ameri...

This is a piece I wrote while covering a high school football game for the Columbia Daily Herald in Columbia, Tennessee. It was published on October 19, 2003. ----------------------------- The St. Andrew's-Sewanee Lions were clearly no match for Zion Christian Academy as the Eagles dominated the field and won their homecoming matchup, 31-15, Friday. The Eagles improved to 5-2, while extending their winning streak to five games. Zion also became eligible for a bowl game thanks to the victory. "It's pretty exciting," Zion Christian head coach Paul Brenner said. "The kids keep getting better every week." Senior Steven Shoup was the star of the game, gaining an impressive 195 yards on 26 carries, scoring two touchdowns, a field goal, a two-point conversion and three extra-point kicks. "He really played well," Brenner said. "He's like a rocket, he runs hard and it takes a lot of to stop him." The Lions (1-7) started the game with possessio...

This is a story I wrote while covering a high school football game for the Columbia Daily Herald in Columbia, Tennessee. It was published on October 12, 2003. --------------------- CHAPEL HILL - Chapel Hill's Forrest Rockets got a seven-yard touchdown run from Matt Byrd with 1:27 left to edge Columbia Academy, 21-14, Friday night for a spirited homecoming victory. With the stands overflowing despite steady rainfall, Chapel Hill improved to 3-4 overall and 3-3 in Region 6-1A. Columbia Academy falls to 1-6 and 0-6 in the league. The two teams were closely matched, with both teams struggling in the past few weeks. The Rockets came to the field with a four-game losing streak, while the Bulldogs had lost their last five contests. Several fumbles by each team marked the first quarter, as the rain made gameplay difficult. The Rockets lost three of their four fumbles in the contest, while the Bulldogs lost their lone fumble. The first touchdown came with 3:30 left in the first quarter, whe...