Bethanne Kim

The Electoral College

It comes up every four years: we do not directly elect the President of the United States. The winner of the election can be the loser of the popular vote. Both John Quincy Adams and George W. Bush lost the popular vote and still won the election. (Interestingly, they were also the only two Presidents […]

Executive Actions

In writing this blog, I focus on facts and historical information. In recent months, I have regularly seen articles about President Obama signing “Executive Orders” on a variety of topics, including immigration and gun control. Upon further investigation, many of these are actually Executive Actions, which are different. It is extremely difficult to find the […]

Featured General US History and Constitution

Common Sense? Where?

There is a reason for government regulation, at all levels, but I think we can all agree that there are limits to what the government should be regulating. (Do you really want them telling you what to eat and the style, brand, and color of your underwear or when to sleep? If not, then you […]

“News”? What Happened to “Journalism”?

I know that the news media has to at least be reasonably close to breaking even, if not making money, to survive, but they have done it in the past. Why not today? According to dictionary.com, “news” is “a report of recent events; intelligence; information.” “Journalism” is “the occupation of reporting, writing, editing, photographing, or […]

My (Female) Perspective on The Second Amendment

I’m female and I have young children. Perhaps that skews how I look at the objects governed by the second amendment. Firearms, weapons, guns, whatever it is you choose to call them, size doesn’t matter terribly much to them. The size of the person wielding it doesn’t matter, and neither does the size of the […]

The Speaker of the House

The highest ranking member of the House of Representatives is the Speaker of the House. The Congress specifies that the House “shall choose their Speaker and other Officers.” It does not specify that they must be a member of the House of Representatives, but every one so far has been. The simple fact is this: […]

Electing a Ticket / the 12th Amendment

The epic battle that led to Thomas Jefferson being elected as our third President with Aaron Burr as his first Vice President is the reason we have the 12th Amendment, and the reason we elect a “ticket” with a President and a Vice President. Before the 1800 election, Burr agreed to be Jefferson’s VP. At […]

Supreme Court Justices

We all like to believe that justice is blind, meaning it it not influenced by anything but the facts presented to it, and that judges are wise and impartial. Above all, we hope for this from our Supreme Court. Yet, we also know that the Justices are human, and they are chosen and confirmed by […]

What is an Executive Order?

What is an Executive Order? President Obama just signed one to allow young illegal immigrants to remain in the country, but do you really know what one is? They are much like a law written by Congress but do not, of course, require Congressional approval. This means that the President, one person, can do things […]