The Party Line

By Mitchell Chan, Deputy Director of Public Relations and PPU Press Secretary

The past week was perhaps the busiest to date of GPA’s existence. For some of us, midday exhaustion, rich dark coffee, and days that dragged later and later into the night became reliable companions. But Penn breeds strong, hearty students, and nothing does that better than government and politics.

Monday, March 23: Former U.S. Congressman Rob Andrews

On Monday night, GPA hosted Rob Andrews, former congressman from New Jersey’s 1st congressional district. Andrews’ former constituency included Philadelphia’s trans­-river neighbor Camden.

No stranger to controversy, Andrews proposed a bill to enhance sanctions against Iran in 2007. During his presentation, Andrews spoke briefly about the latest round of Iranian nuclear negotiations. He was particularly critical of the Senate Republicans’ now­ notorious letter to the Iranian government. Andrews views foreign policy (especially diplomatic negotiations) as the President’s prerogative. Congress’ responsibilities with regards to foreign policy are to oversee and finance; the Senate letter did neither. Whatever his views of the incumbent president, Andrews has great respect for the office of the Presidency (and all it entails). That means supporting the President (or at least not publicly undermining him).

Andrews also spoke about the nationwide decline in political participation and civic engagement. Social media and the Internet, Andrews believes, are the future of American politics. To get more people involved in politics, both the Democrats and the Republicans will have to figure out how to use social media to target specific groups with specific views. The days of primetime TV campaign ads are ending. Strategic online campaigning is rapidly taking its place.

(Read the Daily Pennsylvanian’s article here. View pictures from the event, taken by Deputy Director of Public Relations Melissa Tustin-Gore here.)

Tuesday, March 24: D.C. Power Attorney Benjamin Ginsberg

On Tuesday, GPA and College Republicans co-­sponsored a presentation by Benjamin Ginsberg, law partner at Jones Day. Ginsberg, who graduated from Penn in 1974 with a major in history, is a highly respected conservative jurist and recognized as one of Washington’s most powerful attorneys. His clients have included state legislatures, congressional campaigns, PACs, numerous elected officials, and the Republican presidential campaigns of George W. Bush and Mitt Romney. He was a key figure in the aftermath of the 2000 Florida election recount that led to the Bush v. Gore ruling.

Friendly and conversational, Ginsberg spoke at length about the experiences that led him to becoming a top elections lawyer. Having been active on the DP while at Penn, Ginsberg had initially embarked on a post­-graduation career in journalism. He did not decide to get a law degree until he ended up in a workplace situation where knowledge of the law would have been beneficial. He does not regret this indirect path to becoming a lawyer; he feels he got much more out of working his way to that point instead of just going blindly to law school for lack of alternatives. He encouraged all present who were interested in law school to only consider it if they knew that it genuinely was what they wanted their futures to be.

He had plenty of interesting stories to tell, especially about the 2000 Bush­-Cheney presidential campaign. He explained the restlessness in the campaign office as vote totals were gradually announced, the initial dismay when networks began calling for Al Gore, the excitement when they began calling for Bush, and the worry when the networks went silent as votes in Florida got closer. In an especially memorable anecdote, he said that he had joked earlier with several campaign staffers about how it might feel to walk up the steps of the Supreme Court to present a high­-stakes case. Weeks later, that’s exactly what he was doing.

Ginsberg concluded his presentation with an interactive game in which the audience determined which Republican presidential campaign he should work for in 2016. He had quite a few things to say about various potential candidates (note: Lindsey Graham is not his favorite). He observes that never in history have there been so many Republican candidates gunning up for one primary season. The order of primaries (especially South Carolina’s) will be especially important this time.

(Ed.: This event was immediately followed by a student debt workshop co-sponsored by GPA and Penn Democrats. The workshop, led by a representative from Philadelphia’s own Clarifi, served as a primer to the personal finance workshops the following Friday, which were open to all students who registered.)

Thursday, March 26: Selling Sexual Solace, yay or nay?

On Thursday, the Penn Political Union held its sixth session. The question on the table was the proposed legalization of prostitution. Oh lord.

Opening statements proved the resolution to be divisive. The Liberal and Progressive Caucuses both supported it, while the Conservatives and Libertarians generally opposed (albeit not particularly passionately). Unsurprisingly, the Independents themselves were split down the middle.

Due to the highly sensitive nature of the issue, Speaker Britt Marsh warned she would not tolerate crude, offensive, or inappropriately provocative rhetoric. As a whole, the Union complied. It was, in the words of Klaudia Amenabar, “a professional, nuanced debate.”

Two dominant lines of thought emerged. First, there was concern for the working conditions of prostitutes and other sex workers. On this, there were was virtually unanimous agreement that the status quo was unacceptable. Even the conservatives, who tend to oppose increased government regulations, recognized the need for reform on behalf of sex workers’ safety, if not their survival. Second, there was talk about the appropriate actions to take in order to protect sex workers. This is where the disagreements began.

The entire evening was subject to live-­tweeting on the PPU Twitter page (@pennunion if you’re interested­­–follow it!). Some choice tweets that will forever immortalize both the wisdom and cautious humor of Thursday’s debate:

• Speaker Marsh will be tolerating: laughter, passion
• we shouldn’t punish people for being good at sex
• I can’t choose words today
• I can show you the citation if you want.
• a great philosopher once said that great sex is not possible without great books

Later in the evening, the Liberal Caucus introduced an amendment to legalize the sale, but not the purchase, of sexual favors. Caucus chair Kyle Grigel and caucus member GPA President Sarah Simon both summarized the amendment as essentially replicating the successful Nordic model of prostitution reform in the United States. This raised concern from the Libertarian and Conservative Caucuses, who were unconvinced that a system designed for small, largely homogenous Scandinavian countries would work in the 300-million-person, multi-­ethnic United States of America. Even a few members of the Progressive Caucus concurred with this point.

The amendment passed with 14 ayes to 13 nays, courtesy of a certain misspoken near-­last vote. Nine people abstained from voting on the amendment (yes, the abstinence joke was made). Ultimately, the resolution to legalize prostitution (with the amendment attached), passed with 22 ayes to 10 nays and 4 abstentions.

As an ending note, special thanks to both everyone who attended all of this week’s event and those who had a hand in planning them! You all deserve hard-­earned praise for endurance.

Now stop reading and go to bed!

Oil, Polar Bears, War, and Plumbing: A Productive Thursday Evening with the Penn Political Union | 2/22/2015

Gavels, screams, and enormously explicit conservative caucus wall banners…the Penn Political Union’s fifth session on Thursday was arguably its most memorable to date. The evening—hectic even by PPU standards—saw the passage of the resolution at hand (take that Congress), a near-death scare for the Canadian polar bear population, an homage the A Song of Ice and Fire series, and oh so much more.

The session began with the first Speaker election in PPU’s history.  After many months of dedicated and wholehearted service, the Union’s inaugural speaker Gabe Delaney peacefully passed the robe of office (figuratively and literally) to his popularly elected successor, Brit Marsh, PPU founding member and until then chair of the independent caucus.  Many in the Union (including Marsh’s gracious opposing candidate, active conservative caucus member Mitchell Chan) look forward to the experience and personality that Marsh will undoubtedly bring to her new position.

The centerpiece of the session’s debate was PPU Resolution #5, a legislative proposal to build the Keystone XL Pipeline.  For a PPU debate, the arguments were quite predictable.  Pro-pipeline supporters highlighted the project’s potential to create jobs, the pipeline’s technological superiority relative to other forms of modern energy transport, and the Canada tar sands’ ability to significantly reduce American dependence on Middle Eastern oil.  The anti-XL crowd worried about wild discrepancies in job creation projections, environmental risks, and the rights of local Plains Indians, who were largely not consulted in the matter. Eminent domain was briefly a hot topic for discussion until the idea was shut down.  The resolution passed with an overwhelming majority of 25 ayes to 8 nays.

With the night still young, the Union proceeded to debate another resolution presented by Polybian Consul and progressive caucus member Eli Pollock.  More comedic fun than sound government policy, the resolution dismissed mere access to the Canadian tar sands and instead called for a full military invasion of Canada (using polar bears, no less).  The reintroduction of Sean McGeehan into the progressive caucus was snuck in as a last-minute rider.

A thunderous (and completely frivolous) assortment of clever-tongued quips and crafty rhetorical antics as PPU revealed itself to be as pro-American as it was anti-Canadian.  Liberal caucus chair Kyle Grigel employed international relations theory to justify the use of hard power against the Canadian geopolitical threat.  Sarah Simon lamented that the McGeehan rider rendered the resolution unconstitutional, thus preventing an otherwise desirable invasion of Canada.  Sujay Dewan accurately pointed out that Canada was “hovering over us” (on the map anyway).  A particularly fashionable member of the conservative caucus eyed Canada as a source of the wonderful white fur that polar bears provide so much of (“taking them to a better place,” as he described it). Speaker Marsh herself expressed interest in hearing proposed military strategies for actually conquering Canada.

But all arguments in favor of annihilating the Canadian state were shut down by what should be named the Pop Culture Reference of the Season.  In analyzing the costs of invading such a large territory, Those in the Libertarian Caucus (aka Mr. Hunter Pearl) reminded listeners that the U.S. and Canada share the world’s longest fortified border.  One stretching for hundreds of miles in the bitter North, protecting the south from those free folk who live beyond.  A true castle of black, built from volumes of ice and (metaphorical) fire. Yes, you guessed it. The Wall.

(One could almost hear Ygritte scolding the Union for its red-hawk hastiness. Apparently PPU, like Jon Snow, knows nothing.)

The final vote on Canada was 15 ayes, 8 nays, and 7 abstentions. So much for Canada being America’s best friend. Maybe next session will feature a budget increase for the United States military, because marching into the vast Canadian expanse in this weather is not going to be cheap.

GPA hosts prominent Taiwanese diplomat at his alma mater, followed by another heated evening at the Polybian House | 2/15/2015

By Mitchell Chan, Deputy Director of Public Relations

Last Thursday saw a visit from Penn alumnus Dr. Shen Lyu-shun (AM ’79, PhD ‘81), current Republic of China Representative to the United States. Representative Shen, who came with his wife from Washington, D.C., spoke for an audience of nearly 150 Penn students, faculty, and members of the Philadelphia community. The visit came exactly one week before the upcoming Chinese New Year.

One of Taiwan’s most respected and longest-serving diplomats, Shen Lyu-shun completed his undergraduate education at the prestigious National Chung Hsing University in Taiwan before receiving a master’s degree and doctorate in international relations from Penn. In his presentation, Shen repeatedly credited Penn for teaching him to think about issues, especially those relating to his homeland, from many different angles (in his own words, “[he] had seen the trees, but Penn allowed [him] to see the forest”). For example, he recalled one of his professors asking him why Chiang Kai-shek had lost Mainland China; no Taiwanese academic would ever ask that question so explicitly.

Shen’s diplomatic career has taken him to posts around the world, including Belgium, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the Taiwanese missions in Kansas City and Washington. He was appointed to his current position by Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou and assumed the post on April 1, 2014. Shen has a long history of working closely with the United States government (especially the U.S. Congress) to accomplish Taiwan’s diplomatic goals. He has dedicated much of his career to working around the disadvantages posed by Taiwan’s lack of formal diplomatic ties in most of the world.

His diplomatic stature and responsibilities grew over the years in tandem with the rise of Taiwan.  Despite its relatively small size and population, the island country (or province, depending on who you ask) exerts disproportionately strong influence in world politics and trade.  Shen notes, for example, that Taiwan is one of the largest buyers of American grain imports, referring to his time at the Taiwanese mission in Kansas City, where he oversaw Taiwanese purchases of Midwestern wheat for use in Asian flour mills.  He also discussed at length Taiwan’s growing importance to the economy of the People’s Republic of China, which has recently granted Taiwanese shippers unprecedented access to dozens to Mainland Chinese coastal and river ports.  He describes the current direction of China-Taiwan relations as one of integration, with the two entities becoming increasingly economically dependent on one another despite standing political tension between them.

As one listens to him speak, it doesn’t take long to understand why this man has had such success as a diplomat and international negotiator. His affable, warm personality evokes images of a Chinese gentleman telling stories to his grandchildren. He refers, for example, to his audience as “my dear friends.”  While not boastful, he is proud of his many years of diplomatic service to Taiwan. However, as he made clear when addressing a particularly contentious question targeting Anthony Cruz’s opening introductions, he is equally proud of his Chinese ethnicity and cultural heritage. In his view, the people of Taiwan and the citizens of the People’s Republic of China share a common history and are inexorably tied to each other.

After the event’s conclusion, dozens waited to speak to or snap photographs with the representative before he left. View some images taken by Deputy Director of Public Relations Melissa Tustin-Gore here.

This insightful speaker event was followed by the weekly Polybian symposium, this time discussing the state of American higher education. Between the fact that the discussion involved college students talking about college and the general atmosphere of the room at that particular time, it really did not take long for tensions to run high.

Much of the debate centered on reasons why the American college mentality exists the way it currently does. Some Polybians questioned why there is so much emphasis on the idea that going to a good college gets you a good job. Some talked about acquaintances for whom college would have been a waste of four years. Others talked about family and personal values that painted college as the all but default life step after prom and graduation. Naturally, the conversation was personal for many (or at least, for those sitting in the Polybian House who happened to be college students). Somebody recounted memories of friends melting into nervous breakdowns over a single rough midterm that was droplet in the grand scheme of life.  Somebody else indignantly wondered why anybody would want to go to college just for a successful career and rewarding future.

Of course, for the Polybians, who in general tend to be in better control of their lives than most eighteen/nineteen/twenty-year-olds, a dose of “get out of the Penn bubble” was in order. In a perfectly valid argument, several people pointed out that not everybody has the intellectual inclination to read volume after volume of Aristotle, Nietzsche, and Francis Fukuyama, nor does everyone have the luxury to. Students at Penn and other top-tier universities spend most of their lives insulated in an educational bubble where dreams of becoming a financier, banker, lawyer, doctor, engineer, consultant, journalist, or academic range from desirable to expected. But outside of the world of Ivy League schools lies a wealth of career opportunities and futures besides those things. Granted, not everyone places “plumber” at the top of their career lists, but it is important to remember that for some people, the right career doesn’t require a college education. Is there a place for them in higher education? Depends on who you ask.

So there we have it, folks—two exciting, unforgettable GPA events in one evening.  Politics never rests, and neither do we.

Polybians mull over the meaning of patriotism | 2/7/2015

By Mitchell Chan, Deputy Director of Public Relations

The latest Polybian symposium brought another sizable crowd to Baltimore Avenue on Thursday. The question of the hour revolved around patriotism, long a polarizing and complex subject for political thinkers and social commentators alike. Predictably, it didn’t take much to get the discussion off the ground.

A significant block of discussion focused on actually defining the word “patriotism.”  To some, patriotism is simply acknowledgment one’s country of birth.  To others, patriotism involves a deeper emotional investment in the affairs and values of that country.  Still others believe that patriotism has more to do with loyalty to a living community of individuals than to any geographic location.  The picture becomes even more complicated when ethnicity, immigration and emigration, partisanship, and sports teams (2014 World Cup, anyone?) enter the equation.

In typical Polybian fashion, much debate centered on an analogy.  At least six people reiterated the comparison between patriotism and loyalty to one’s family, an idea first introduced by Questor Kyle Tebo.  Granted, it’s not the most clean-cut parallel, it’s probably not a coincidence that it often doesn’t take much to identify Americans traveling in foreign lands as such.  Culturally speaking, Americans kind of are one big (if slightly dysfunctional) family.

It therefore wasn’t surprising that American exceptionalism came up repeatedly, especially in the later stages of the debate. American history is sprinkled with highly-memorable examples of patriotic expression, from the raising of the American flag on Iwo Jima to images of George W. Bush standing courageously atop collapsed skyscrapers with his megaphone after 9/11.  As one Polybian aptly pointed out, even the soldiers who first fought for independence during the Revolution referred to themselves not as “Americans” or “The Anti-Brits,” but as “Patriots.” Being patriotic has often been seen as a central tenet of what it means to be an American.

By the end of the evening, only one concept seemed universally accepted—patriotism is as sensitive, multi-faceted, and brain-energizing a subject as politics itself.  Nobody broke out into a loud “Helan Går” rendition, but I’d say it was a productive Polybian evening indeed.

Another year of political speakers at Penn begins with former Congressman Jim Gerlach | 2/2/2015

Former U.S. Congressman Jim Gerlach (R-PA) gave a well-attended talk during his visit to Penn last Thursday.  The event was co-hosted by GPA, Penn College Republicans, and the Penn Political Review.  Nearly all of the 88 seats in the room were filled.

Getting the guest of honor to Huntsman Hall took longer than originally expected, allowing the assembled audience to fuel up on freshly-baked pizza from Zesto Pizza & Grill; few in the room seemed to mind the shortage of paper plates when there was so much food to go around.  When the congressman finally arrived, everybody was full, energized, and paying full attention to the speaker of the hour.

Congressman Gerlach represented Pennsylvania’s 6th congressional district (an area that includes parts of the Philadelphia Main Line and other Philadelphia suburbs) from 2003 until January 3 of this year.  His district is one of the most competitive in the country (its most recent Cook Partisan Voting Index was R+1).  Despite representing many Democratic constituents, Congressman Gerlach has long been respected in his district as a moderate Republican.

Gerlach’s congressional service included a stint on the House Committee on Ways and Means and membership in the German-American Caucus, which he co-founded with fellow Pennsylvania congressman Tim Holden to promote greater transatlantic ties with Germany.

The congressman spoke about his 12 years in Washington with a mix of pride and nostalgia.  The secret to his electoral success: he listens to his constituents.  Gerlach viewed his time in office as a mouthpiece for his constituents’ political voices.  His constituents, he explained, were both his best sounding board for legislative actions and his go-to source for reelection campaign financing.  In one of his more memorable anecdotes, he claimed that the Republican leadership in the House always gave him the partisan flexibility to vote in accordance with the views of his district.

In person, Congressman Gerlach fills the room with a loud, confident voice.  However, he is affable and friendly with down-to-earth demeanor, even in front of eighty-plus college students.  Despite his many years as a politician, it isn’t difficult to catch a trace of the town lawyer and ordinary neighbor that Jim Gerlach was before all this began.

When asked why he chose not to seek reelection in 2014, Congressman Gerlach cited personal reasons, including a desire to spend more time with his children.  Despite his exit from office, he clearly maintains active interest in and connections to Washington, where many of his former colleagues remain.

Gerlach is also friends with former U.S. Congressman Jon Runyan (R-NJ), who spoke at Penn in October.

Thursday night’s event, which was overall a success, is the start of what its host organizations hope will be another great year of political speakers at the University of Pennsylvania.

2015 State of the Union inaugurates another year-long political feast for Gpa-ers to devour | 1/22/2015

A warm comfy parlor, friendly political jabs, and bountiful refreshments—Tuesday night’s State of the Union watch party could easily have been any other exciting night at the legendary Polybian House. But that night, we had a special guest of honor (or shame, depending on whether you like elephants or donkeys). Joining us (albeit on screen) was the 44th President of the United States of America, Barack Hussein Obama.

All branches of the Government and Politics Association—the Penn Political Union, the Polybian Society, and The Spectrum staff—were well-represented in the turnout, as were event co-sponsors Penn College Republicans, the Penn Political Review, Penn Environmental Group, and Penn for Hillary.

In typical Polybian fashion, the living room was so packed that many sat shoulder-to-shoulder on the floor (no room for Amy Gutmann to lie down here). After a series of technical difficulties getting Sarah Simon’s Macbook to behave, our audience, armed with plenty of cold pizza, went momentarily quiet as President Obama ascended his podium in the Capitol.

Predictably, Obama’s address received a mixed reception from the Polybians.  Some of us cheered Obama on as he mapped out America’s journey since the 2008 recession and the official end of the Iraq War. Others winced in pain as the president all but ordered Congress to approve a laundry list of new tax hikes and costly government programs. Aiding POTUS was a wonderful White House slide show filled with pie charts, key presidential remarks, and photographs of Obama chatting it up with kids, veterans, and neighborhood moms named Rebekah.

Live-tweeting the entire SOTU was Penn College Republicans. In true conservative fashion, the CRs’ Twitter page blew up with choice presidential utterances and equally tangy responses from the CR leadership. Some of the lucky winners:

• “and grew the debt by $10 trillion”
• “and here comes more tax credits with unknown funding”
• “Now that he has no power in Congress, Obama says he’ll work with Republicans”

But the audience’s liberal members were equally vocal. Led in no small way by the fearless Klaudia Amenabar, liberal-leaning Polybians and other audience members made clear their continuing support for their president and his vision for America’s future. And they certainly turned out in large numbers; the amount of cheering and applause in Obama’s favor was substantial. Obama may be unpopular, but not with this crowd.

Tonight, 48 hours since we first heard Obama’s memorable “Fifteen years into this new century” opening, the 2015 State of the Union remains fresh in our minds. It looks like a stormy year ahead in Washington. But rest assured, the GPA ship is well-anchored and positioned to watch the fun.

CELEBRATING 2014 | 12/29/2015

Dear reader,

We are pleased to introduce our redesigned website, which contains The Party Line, GPA’s new blog for recaps of our events, membership features, and issue spotlights. Thanks for taking the time to check it out! Stay posted here for highlights from our upcoming year. As we look forward to 2015, GPA wants to reflect on the past year and celebrate our successes in 2014. 

Over the past year, GPA hosted three members of the U.S. House of Representatives (Connie Morella, Bart Stupak, and Lou Barletta) along with the longest-serving Republican Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert. We organized professor and speaker panels on topics ranging from immigration to organized labor, from public education to local politics. We hosted over 75 events that catered to the different interests of GPA members, whether large events of over 150 attendees, or more intimate gatherings of a few people, usually gathered at the Polybian House for a heated debate — or maybe just a round (or twenty) of Mario Kart.

GPA’s branches grew in size and strength over the past year as well. The Polybian Society enjoyed its first calendar year of existence and nearly tripled its membership in just a year — but as we’ve grown larger, we’ve grown closer and stronger. Polybian has gone from a small group of friends who got together on Thursday nights for fiery debates on politics to a large, yet still tight-knit organization with a mentor-mentee system, housing for members, small themed discussion groups, coffee chats, and much more.

The Penn Political Union also had an incredibly successful first semester. In our three sessions on tax reform, U.S. intervention in Syria, and universal preschool, we’ve seen raucous debate, cloakroom dealings, epic live tweets, close wins, and even some compromise. After three sessions alone, we have over 100 members, and the caucuses show no signs of slowing down. The PPU is gearing up for a passionate debate about election reform on January 22nd and will continue to grow in the coming months.

Finally, The Spectrum celebrated its first print publication in Fall 2014 and will be producing another publication for Spring 2015. Our columnists produced work on diverse subjects, foreign and domestic, political and social, intellectual and philosophical. Members of Polybian and the PPU also posted content regarding the topics of their debates in the popular Face-off and Last Word columns. With over 15,000 views and 20 columnists in 2014, The Spectrum will continue to be the place where, if you have a thought, you can publish that thought.

Overall, GPA had a incredibly successful 2014, and if you like the programming and events we’ve done over the past year, have no fear — none of it is going away. As we move into the New Year, GPA is committed to doing what we’ve always done, but doing it better, bigger, and faster. Our new website is just the first of these changes. Over the coming semester, Polybian will continue to host its popular symposia on the first, second, and last Thursday of each month, and as always, membership in Polybian is open to all Penn students. The newly-elected Polybian board has plenty of fresh ideas of ways members new and old can get involved in the Society.

In addition, we hope to strengthen the PPU’s relationships with other political and activist groups on campus in the coming months, making PPU the hub for campus activists to produce legislation on their passion, have their voices heard, and create real change in local, state, and federal government. Finally, we have an exciting lineup of speakers coming to campus this semester — more to come on that later. You can hear more about those events as they approach through our new website, our Facebook page, and our listserv.

Finally, we want to thank everyone who has made the first two years of GPA possible, including (but certainly not limited to) Imran Cronk, Liam Bobyak, Michael Sklar, Joe Kiernan, Jing Ran, Sasha Klebnikov, Sean McGeehan, John Zeng, Casey Libonate, Nick Zarra, Daniel Colson, Varun Menon, and Louis Capozzi. None of this would be possible without all of your dedication and diligence, and the new leadership of GPA promises to continue your hard work as we look forward to 2015.

Sincerely,
The Executive Board of Penn GPA

P.S. Hope to see you at our State of the Union Watch Party on January 20th! More information can be found on our Events page.