Democratic Debate

After two republican debates that resembled a food fight, many were interested to see what the Democrats had to offer in their first debate on Wednesday. The first Democratic debate had a very different tone than the Republican debates. There were far less arguments and more of a discussion on issues concerning the American people. Not surprisingly, there were also about ten million less viewers than the Republican debate. Although it sounds horrible, people do not want to hear the news or issues going on around them. Ordinary citizens would much rather watch Donald Trump scream at Jeb Bush for speaking Spanish in his home (around his Spanish-speaking wife and son) than they would listen to candidates discuss fiscally-responsible ways to address the issue of mass pollution or how to fix Social Security without taking away benefits from retirees.

The night of the debate was full of fake smiles and phrases that candidate’s staffs have most likely tested with poll groups weeks before the debate. First off, watching the debate one wonders why candidates such as Jim Webb and Lincoln Chafee are doing on stage, as they couldn’t even be president of a club at ALHS, let alone the country. The 2016 election cycle has changed around politics. Establishment politicians and experience are out, and being able to separate Siamese twins is now an ample qualification to be president (I’m looking at you Ben Carson).  Although there are general trends in the new age of politics, the Republican and Democratic debates couldn’t have been more different. The Democratic debate was much more issue-driven and soft-spoken than the Republican debate.

Hillary Clinton clearly won the debate, and not because she had the most energy, or the best lines of the night, but because she didn’t lose. In order to “win” the debate all Hillary had to do was not crumble under the pressure of her scandals and be able to relate herself to the public. Hillary’s hardest challenge going forward will be to get the American people to trust her and the easiest way she can do that is by being herself.

Although Bernie Sanders is incredibly idealistic, he has a foolproof way to campaign. He is genuine and doesn’t filter his words in a way that many politicians do. He received a standing ovation with the phrase “The American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails.” He isn’t afraid of identifying as a socialist and makes a good case for progressive policies to be incorporated into the system. Bernie seems to attract many young voters with his ideas. His biggest issue is focusing on income inequality and equal opportunity for Americans, whether you’re born as one as one of Donald Trump’s children or in the areas of the country that have been hit hardest by the recession. The idea of rising from the bottom of the economic latter to the top is something uniquely American. Bernie has been able to attract huge crowds for his events with the idea that we should all have an equal opportunity to succeed. Bernie is the left’s best shot at having a president who fights for it’s values in a similar manner that FDR did.

After years of Europeans critiquing our political system as dominated by rich boring old white men, we have made a change. After watching the first three debates I think everyone can agree that our rich old white men have stepped up in the entertainment category. We did it America! Our politicians may still be white, rich and usually male, but at least we’re not boring. Take that Europe.

Guns don't kill people.... Blogs do

I was planning on writing my blog this week on gun control. The day that I started this blog there was a mass shooting at a community college. The details are the ones we’ve heard over and over again. Young, white, intelligent, estranged, an outsider. For the majority of mass shootings, these are the adjectives we hear from the news describing the killer.

For the next few weeks, you’ll hear the same talking points. It’s too early to start talking about gun control, stronger background checks from the Dems. People like Gov. Bobby Jindal will tell you its mental health, yet they cut mental health funding.  However neither side will present legislation to fix the problem whether it is mental health or guns.

 Guns don’t kill people and automobile accidents are more frequent than guns. However, when we send off our soldiers to war to kill people, we send them with guns and bullets, not cars.

The thing is, this is the 15^th mass shooting that Barack Obama has had to talk about during his term. Mass shootings are thought to occur in the United States every day. However, only the ones with the most gruesome detail become big news stories.

I can only think that the next mass killer is out there, watching the amount of coverage this killer has received and planning out his day of fame. The shooter’s picture is on the news all day long. Media outlets cover the person as if they were a celebrity.

To fix the problems of mass shooting I believe we need a multi-step approach. First off, we must stop nurturing a culture in which people killing people is an option. The United States has the most violence in our video games, movies and TV shows.

Second, we must stop covering these people as if they were some sorts of demi-god. Killing a school full of children with a gun is nothing to be famous for. It’s a cowardly act, and should be treated as such. The gunman should only be referred to as what he is a killer.

Lastly we must find a way to limit the access to deadly weapons. Whether that is background checks, giving the FBI full access to receipts, closing the gun show loophole there must be some way. Partisan politics should not matter in these situations. One person tries to blow up an airplane with his shoe and we must all take off our shoes during screening, multiple people use loopholes, and we don’t do anything to restrict gun access.

Further Reading:
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/08/25/3694369/conservative-gun-free-zones/