Welcome to The Forum

Hello! Welcome to The Forum, the official blog site of the Michigan Political Union. The Michigan Political Union is a student organization dedicated to providing University of Michigan students with a nonpartisan forum for debate. We’ve partnered with the folks over here at the Michigan Review to encourage more open and honest discussion on political issues ranging from abortion to global nuclear proliferation. Here, you’ll find blog posts urging you, the reader, to weigh-in on some of the most controversial issues of our day. You’ll also find remarks given by actual U-M students at our biweekly MPU debates. Whatever the case may be, we welcome all points of view. We hope you will join us as we transform The Forum into the central location for campus-wide discussion, debate and dialogue. For more about MPU, check out our website: http://www.michiganpoliticalunion.com.

Resolution: the U.S. was justified in its killing of Anwar al-Awlaki

by Michigan Political Union

Resolution The United States was justified in its extrajudicial killing of Anwar al-Awlaki.   MPU Vote In Favor: 7 Opposition: 9 Abstentions: 1 Resolution Fails   Speakers in Affirmation Matthew Skiba: Anwar al-Awlaki was responsible for the deaths of many American citizens and did not comply with the legal system the United States attempt to [...]

Resolution: all forms of speech valuable to U-M students

by Michigan Political Union

All forms of speech presented at the University, no matter how controversial or offensive they might be, are valuable to the education of Michigan students.   MPU Vote Affirmation: 12 Negation: 5 Abstentions: 2 Resolution Pass or Fail: Pass   Speakers in Affirmation Andrew: Michigan students can use experiences with minority views to assess their [...]

Keeping Abortion Legal

by Katie Diekman

Abortion in Kenya is legal only when it is necessary to save a woman’s life. This unreasonably strict law forces women to obtain back alley abortions, which cause one-third of maternal deaths in Kenya. In order for a legal abortion to be obtained, it must take place in a hospital, with three medical practitioners certifying [...]

Roe v. Wade Violates the Purpose of Law–to Protect the Lives of the People

by Elise Aikman

In 1973, Roe v. Wade opened the doors to a new set of laws – laws that legalize abortion.  But why do laws exist in the first place? Isn’t one of the most basic purposes of law to protect people’s lives? I will highlight three reasons why Roe v. Wade should be overturned: First: Like [...]

Resolution: The Supreme Court should overturn Roe v. Wade.

by Michigan Political Union

MPU Vote The Union did not vote due to the special nature of this event; this debate featured collaboration with members from Students for Life and Secular Students Association. Speakers in Affirmation Student for Life Debaters Brian Koziara – Honors International Studies, French and Music Composition (2013) Joe Lipa – Classical Studies (2014) Elise Aikman [...]

Israel Palestine Remarks

by Angela Brazil

The resolution under discussion this week was whether or not the US should support Palestine’s bid for UN statehood.  It is a difficult issue for many members to take a firm stance on, perhaps because of all the uncertainty surrounding it.  We heard good arguments on both sides of the issue about the possible repercussions, [...]

MPU says U.S. should support Palestine

by Michigan Political Union

Resolution The U.S. should support Palestine’s bid for U.N. statehood. MPU Vote Affirmation: 9 Negation: 7 Abstentions: 5 Resolution Pass or Fail: Pass Speakers in Affirmation Sonya: A two state solution is inevitable. Palestine’s choice to go to the U.N. does not represent a lack of cooperation but a willingness to continue bargaining even though little [...]

Did Obama fail? On foreign policy, yes.

by Alex Cook

As I’m sure many of my conservative brethren will attest to, limiting a speech detailing the failures of the Obama Presidency to fewer than five minutes is nearly impossible.  Even those listening who are of a more liberal mindset will certainly find themselves compiling quite a long list of inadequacies and hypocrisies. Let me begin [...]

Did Obama fail?

by Chris Shu

Though it seems like a straightforward yes or no question, upon deeper examination, it is extremely complex. Though some might argue from a political, social or economic point of view, what needs to be addressed is what it means to “fail”. After all, how can one start to argue about whether or not Obama has [...]

Barack Obama a failure?

by Noel Gordon

With his poll numbers dipping and the GOP primary shaping up to be two-man race, many are wondering whether President Obama has failed as President of the United States. The Union will tackle this question at our next Full Union meeting scheduled Monday, September 26th, from 7-8:30 p.m. in the Kuenzel Room of the Michigan [...]

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