A Blog on McConnell Center Life

Jared Thomas Class of 2020 Despair is the sound of a heavy, clicking subway door, followed by a violent cackle of laughter from the other side of a glass pane that, for the first time in your life, you wish was just a few inches thinner. It’s watching smudged faces blur away into the long dark of a city you’ve never been with a phone rapidly approaching one percent in a three piece suit with a tie you can’t lose, slumping into a violently plastic subway seat and waiting in indignant vain for the next stop. Let me start by saying that I am not stranger to being lost. In fact, in some respects, I’d call it one of my strengths. Give me time to walk around, to wander, to lose myself and I will. I’d like to think it’s for some romantic reason, like that I love the architecture or that I get a little too steeped into the soul of the city, but that’s not the case. The truth is that my sense of direction is my father’s and my desire to explore is my mother’s and these tend to mix in ...

Evan Wright Class of 2020 As you probably know President Trump and President Bush haven’t always agreed, and when it comes to foreign policy, it seems to get even uglier. Trump has said that the Bush administration lied about the reasons to invade Iraq and called the war a costly failure for the U.S. Some have even said that Trump pressured members of his cabinet not to hire those within the Bush administration that opposed him during the general election. Bush, on the other hand, refused to endorse Trump in the general election a very strong message coming from a former Republican president. Many say that Trump has rejected the Bush Doctrine, an unofficial name for the foreign policy of the Bush administration, and has embarked upon a new course of American Isolationism and withdrawal from the world. However, I believe that Trump's foreign policy is such a break from the Bush Doctrine as most might think. The Good the Bad and the Ugly is the name of one of the greatest w...

Eric Bush Class of 2020 Last weekend, I sat at my desk and did something I’m extremely good at: scrolling through my Facebook feed to avoid doing my homework. I came across a video of what is supposedly the world’s largest paintball game with more than 3,000 players. The tournament simulated the Normandy invasion and each team represented one of the nations which participated in the battle. By no means am I an avid paintball player, but I’ve played a few times and enjoyed it. At first glance, I thought this seemed pretty cool and maybe even something I would do. As I continued to watch the video, I thought back to my trip to Europe last summer. I visited World War II battle sites, including Normandy on June 6 th , the anniversary of the Allied Invasion. I imagined 72 years earlier when courageous soldiers, many of whom my own age, stepped off boats into intense gunfire knowing their death was imminent. I will never forget the site of thousands of neatly aligned crosses at th...

Garrett Kasey Class of 2020 While unsuccessfully thinking about what to make the topic of this blog post, I had one of those “Aha!” moments. Writer’s block. It is a disease that has plagued me for years, and one that I haven’t quite solved yet. I’m getting better though. Clearly. I have a topic for this blog now. Since I have now begun to solve the enigma of the writer’s block problem, I am going to give you the gift of my best tips and tricks for getting over the bumps in the road of writing.  1. Daydreaming-- I have found that some of my best ideas come to me when I am thinking of nothing in particular. I believe that this occurs because the subconscious mind is a powerful tool. Sometimes it is best to just free myself for a while and let the ideas come to me.  2. Taking a break-- When I get stuck on a section of a paper or assignment, I have noticed that taking a break from the work is quite effective. Once I’ve been able to focus my mind on something else f...

Celia Cusick Class of 2020 How are you?   A standard when it comes to beginning a casual conversation. Most of the time, we are not genuinely concerned with whether the person on the other end is actually okay. This common courtesy has now fulfilled a daily quota of pleasantries and we can move on to our daily routine. In a time where communication possibilities are virtually endless and instantaneous, the quality of our conversations are severely lacking. Small talk dominates the majority of our interactions with each other. Meaningful conversations are few and far between, which have left our exchanges with others uninspired. Nice weather we are having.   Is the weather outside really nice, do people actually care about the weather we are having? Let’s talk about something meaningful. What’s something you love to do? Any books that shook your world recently? These are the conversations we should be having, especially now when the social and po...

Evan Clark Class of 2020 Out of all the talented speakers who have presented their ideas to McConnell Scholars this semester, one of my favorites has been Mr. Gene Healy.  In his presentation, Healy explained his view of the American presidency, a view he expressed in the thought-provoking book, The Cult of the Presidency: America’s Dangerous Devotion to Executive Power .  He argued that the modern American presidency has morphed into an overly powerful office that far outstrips the limited role the Framers of the Constitution designed for the president.  In addition, he pointed out that executive power continues to grow at an alarming rate, especially during the administrations of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and now Donald Trump. Healy discussed how two particularly concerning areas in which presidential power has grown tremendously have been in war powers and in the use of executive orders.   He referenced that the authorization for the use of military ...