This Week in Politics (2/15- 2/20)
Date: February 20, 2016
This article represents one of the series I did on political events for my school community. Targeted directly at the student body, each article was a brief summary of the weekly events of the political atmosphere, in a style of writing meant to engage students and encourage greater political awareness. By taking serious news and presenting it in a conversational, joking style, the series became a popular source for students to learn more about current events. Within the article, there were hyperlinks to sources at CNN, ABC News, Fox News, and other major news organizations for students who were interested in exploring the issues. Many teachers credited the article series for allowing easier introduction of current events into the classroom so they seemed more like a tangent conversation rather than a lesson.
While the week leading up to the South Carolina Republican primary and the Nevada Democratic Caucus would be expected to be filled with political drama, the situation was only escalated by the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia last Saturday.
Antonin Scalia, AKA the OG of the Supreme Court Conservatives, was nominated in 1986 by President Reagan, and served for nearly 30 years on the Court. When it came to his vote, Scalia always asked "WWTFFD?"- "What Would the Founding Fathers Do?". This strict interpretation made him likely the furthest right of the conservatives on the Court, a staunch Republican. His death leaves a huge impact on the Court- while before it was 5 conservatives and 4 liberals, it's now evenly tied. Cue CHAOS.
So, usually, the President would just nominate someone new, and the court gets back at it. But Republicans in the Senate went "not so fast", and told Obama that they wanted the nomination to be put off another year so the next president (hopefully a Republican) would nominate a conservative, and maintain the majority.
A few hours later, in South Carolina, 6 Republican candidates took the stage in hope that maybe, just maybe, voters would swipe right on them in the South Carolina primary. While the debate lasted 2 hours, each candidate's arguments can basically be summed up in one sentence....
Donald Trump: "If the polls say so, it must be true."
Sen. Rubio: "I'm young, I'm conservative, and did I mention Ted Cruz doesn't speak Spanish?"
Sen. Cruz: "Lucha contra mí" (Fight me.)
Gov. Bush: "While Donald Trump was building a reality show, my brother was protecting AMERICA."
Gov. Kasich: "Oh, jeez, man, let's just calm down here."
Ben Carson: "I'm just happy to be here."
Further political shenanigans of the week:
Jeb Bush tweeting this:
Donald Trump being called out by the POPE.....and fighting back. When asked about Trump, the Pope, while visiting Mexico, responded that anyone who focused on "building walls instead of building bridges" wasn't a true Christian. In true Trump fashion, the Donald said that the Pope lives in a city surrounded by walls. American politics, everybody.
Just in case you are worried about the election results, a radio station offered those concerned about a Trump presidency a solution- move to beautiful Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. The website described the amazing culture, weather, and scenery of the island, and included "Muslim people can roam freely, and the only walls are holding up the roofs of our extremely affordable houses."
In between all this, the current government was, you know, still doing things. After the San Bernardino shootings last December, the FBI found an iPhone of one of the shooters, but didn't have the pass code to get in. Court warrant in hand, the government told Apple to make a "backdoor" that would let them into the phone. CEO Tim Cook responded "iDon't think so...", saying that compromising the privacy of one phone would risk the safety of Apple customers.
Also, President Obama announced he was going to Cuba next month, being the first president to do so since Calvin Coolidge visited the island nation in 1928. As usual, controversy has ensued.
Back to the presidential race (sorry, I know)- the week was topped off with the SC Primary and NV Caucus. In Nevada with the Democrats, Hillary Clinton edged out Bernie Sanders for the victory, leading many to question whether Sanders is electable outside of the early states.
In SC, as expected, the six Republican candidates (narrowed from the original 17 of last summer) were deep in the trenches.
Date: February 20, 2016
This article represents one of the series I did on political events for my school community. Targeted directly at the student body, each article was a brief summary of the weekly events of the political atmosphere, in a style of writing meant to engage students and encourage greater political awareness. By taking serious news and presenting it in a conversational, joking style, the series became a popular source for students to learn more about current events. Within the article, there were hyperlinks to sources at CNN, ABC News, Fox News, and other major news organizations for students who were interested in exploring the issues. Many teachers credited the article series for allowing easier introduction of current events into the classroom so they seemed more like a tangent conversation rather than a lesson.
While the week leading up to the South Carolina Republican primary and the Nevada Democratic Caucus would be expected to be filled with political drama, the situation was only escalated by the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia last Saturday.
Antonin Scalia, AKA the OG of the Supreme Court Conservatives, was nominated in 1986 by President Reagan, and served for nearly 30 years on the Court. When it came to his vote, Scalia always asked "WWTFFD?"- "What Would the Founding Fathers Do?". This strict interpretation made him likely the furthest right of the conservatives on the Court, a staunch Republican. His death leaves a huge impact on the Court- while before it was 5 conservatives and 4 liberals, it's now evenly tied. Cue CHAOS.
So, usually, the President would just nominate someone new, and the court gets back at it. But Republicans in the Senate went "not so fast", and told Obama that they wanted the nomination to be put off another year so the next president (hopefully a Republican) would nominate a conservative, and maintain the majority.
A few hours later, in South Carolina, 6 Republican candidates took the stage in hope that maybe, just maybe, voters would swipe right on them in the South Carolina primary. While the debate lasted 2 hours, each candidate's arguments can basically be summed up in one sentence....
Donald Trump: "If the polls say so, it must be true."
Sen. Rubio: "I'm young, I'm conservative, and did I mention Ted Cruz doesn't speak Spanish?"
Sen. Cruz: "Lucha contra mí" (Fight me.)
Gov. Bush: "While Donald Trump was building a reality show, my brother was protecting AMERICA."
Gov. Kasich: "Oh, jeez, man, let's just calm down here."
Ben Carson: "I'm just happy to be here."
Further political shenanigans of the week:
Jeb Bush tweeting this:
Donald Trump being called out by the POPE.....and fighting back. When asked about Trump, the Pope, while visiting Mexico, responded that anyone who focused on "building walls instead of building bridges" wasn't a true Christian. In true Trump fashion, the Donald said that the Pope lives in a city surrounded by walls. American politics, everybody.
Just in case you are worried about the election results, a radio station offered those concerned about a Trump presidency a solution- move to beautiful Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. The website described the amazing culture, weather, and scenery of the island, and included "Muslim people can roam freely, and the only walls are holding up the roofs of our extremely affordable houses."
In between all this, the current government was, you know, still doing things. After the San Bernardino shootings last December, the FBI found an iPhone of one of the shooters, but didn't have the pass code to get in. Court warrant in hand, the government told Apple to make a "backdoor" that would let them into the phone. CEO Tim Cook responded "iDon't think so...", saying that compromising the privacy of one phone would risk the safety of Apple customers.
Also, President Obama announced he was going to Cuba next month, being the first president to do so since Calvin Coolidge visited the island nation in 1928. As usual, controversy has ensued.
Back to the presidential race (sorry, I know)- the week was topped off with the SC Primary and NV Caucus. In Nevada with the Democrats, Hillary Clinton edged out Bernie Sanders for the victory, leading many to question whether Sanders is electable outside of the early states.
In SC, as expected, the six Republican candidates (narrowed from the original 17 of last summer) were deep in the trenches.
- Donald Trump came out on top, with just over 30% of the vote.
- For second place, a close face off occurred between the two remaining senators in the race- Cruz and Rubio. Barely, Marco Rubio recovered from his 5th place showing in New Hampshire last week, and came in second with 22.4%.
- Cruz earned a bronze medal with 22.1%, and agreed with Marco Rubio (a rare instance), in saying the race is down to three.
- Poor, sweet Jeb Bush earned only 8% of the vote, despite funneling millions of dollars into the campaign and even bringing his more popular family members, Former President George W. Bush and his mother, Barbara Bush, to talk to voters. At the end of the night, he suspended his campaign, leaving the presidential race.
- John Kasich, who vowed to keep the good vibrations in the race, and keep it positive, despite earning only 7%.
- In last, Ben Carson said you don't end the baseball game after "2 or 3 innings" and decided to stay in the race another week.