Looking forward to thriving discussions

By: Ryan Kirby, Columnist 

Hello, everyone. Welcome back to Towson University! In the world of politics, this summer was, eventful, to say the least. I get to represent the donkey in this year’s edition of Roll Call and I look forward to the opportunity.

This year, I have the privilege to serve as president of the College Democrats of Towson University, so it is pretty safe to say that my party affiliation is rather strong. As democrats, we find ourselves in a time where we represent very few positions in the government, at both the federal and state level. This presents an interesting situation for our party in the task of governing.

How do we as a party work within the current system to try and pass our own agenda, which differs sinificantly from the current administration, while trying to stop what we view as taking steps backwards from the progress of the Obama administration? We as a party face an interesting paradox because we criticized the unprecedented obstructionism from congressional republicans during the latter half of the Obama administration.

Do we fight fire with fire and obstruct the current administration at every turn or do we take the, metaphorically speaking, high road and respect the “mandate” that the American people gave them? Unfortunately, this paradox seems to have no right answer. Hopefully, throughout the course of this year we can discuss the possible answers to this question and address major policies that affect the country as a whole, the great state of Maryland and even our beloved Towson University.

I will represent the progressive movement to the best of my ability on this column and I will call out policies on the “right” that I disagree with. It is not my goal to simply regurgitate the Democratic Party’s platform and leave readers with a piece of information they will soon forget. I hope that this year I can present a liberal’s perspective that leaves you slightly more informed about the issue. I seek to challenge conservative beliefs and ideology and show what I find to be flaws. I by no means claim to have a perfect set of rationale for every individual belief I have, but I welcome you to challenge it. As a passionate liberal who grew up in a very conservative Carroll County, Maryland, I was frequently challenged by my peers on my beliefs and I found that it forced me to truly understand why I believe the things that I do.

Some will find themselves in agreement with my thoughts and others will passionately disagree. It’s perfectly legitimate to respectfully disagree with me, and I welcome it, but it is important to understand why we believe the things we do. I look forward to passionate and thriving discussions this year, and I wish everyone the best of luck this semester!