Political Olympics

Sports have been a way for people to express themselves through physical activity since the dawn of time. They create a bond of unity, sportsmanship, and respect. The Olympics creates a venue for a time of peace that allows different countries from all over the world to compete and enjoy sports. But, the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea will probably be the most suspenseful world gathering since the Olympics after World War II.

With the unification of a North and South Korean hockey team for the Olympics and political tensions that the US faces domestically it will be interesting to see how this years Olympics unfold from a political standpoint.

The first thing to address is the joint North and South Korean team. The details why the two countries would create a joint team are very vague at the moment so information provided will be very limited. Firstly, the idea of a joint North and South Korean team is both a horrible and a great idea. It is believed to be seen as a bad move on part of South Korea because there is no transparent motive for the creation of a joint team. It is possible that this is a North Korean scheme to show face in order to gain more of an economic standing in the world through increased trade options with their Southern neighbors. With increased resources they would be able to build up their economy and military to become a bigger threat to the US and the world. On the other hand, it is a good idea because if the joint team is motivated by good intentions there is a possibility that relations with North Korea could greatly improve.

Secondly, is the internal distress that our country is facing during this years winter Olympics. The divide between Republican and Democrat has impacted the US so much since the inauguration of President Trump. With this divide many athletes, celebrities, and people of higher status have gone against our president to encourage change. From Lebron James calling the president a “bum” to Adam Rippon declining a meeting with the Vice President Mike Pence. Rippon had posted several tweets prior to this confrontation on the VP’s stance on the subject of gay rights. Pence saw these tweets, took them to heart and tried to set up a meeting with the winter Olympic figure skater. Rippon immediately turned down the meeting and has not been fond of Pence heading the US delegation to the 2018 Winter Olympics. “You mean Mike Pence, the same Mike Pence that funded gay conversion therapy?” Rippon said in a January 17 interview with USA Today. After Rippon declined the meeting, Pence’s communications director tried to deny that the meeting was ever made. “The USA Today report is false and should be corrected. The vice president’s office did not reach out to set up a conversation with Mr. Rippon. As we’ve said before, the vice president is supporting all the US athletes in the Olympics and is hoping they all win medals,” Agen said. Rippon’s agent later said that Pence did try to schedule a meeting.

Foreign and domestic conflicts will make it very interesting to seethe standings of the United States’ political landscape after the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Chaos In Paradise

On Saturday, January 13th, 2018 at 8:07 a.m. the people of Hawaii were shocked and stunned to see that their island had been targeted by a missile and had less than 20 minutes to find shelter and prepare for the worse.

This alert went uncorrected for more than 30 minutes before another notification was sent out to falsify the first one. Although it would seem as though this alert would be harmless, statistics gathered by Carla Herreria Russo of the Huffington Post say otherwise. In the 30 minutes that the alert was up there were 29 calls made to the local authorities when on average there are about 8 to 15. Four of these accidents were directly related to the false missile threat. This includes a collapsed 89 year old man in a care home, a motor vehicle collision, an anxiety attack that required the person to be taken to the hospital, and a 51 year old man suffering from cardiac arrest.

The panic from this alert was so distraught that people around the area turned to desperate measures. Hawaiian Governor David Ige had to come out and make a statement to the public saying “Children going down manholes, stores closing their doors to those seeking shelter, and cars driving at high speeds cannot happen again… We will do a better job of educating the public.”

In another article by ABC news by Steve Ganyard the question of whether or not our civil defense responses are effective comes up. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano says “Despite billions spent since 9/11, we are still not well prepared to react to disease outbreaks, terrorist attacks and natural disasters.” In her time in the position she has also criticized a $25 million national-security exercise the department had gone through in 2007 as too expensive, too unrealistic and “too removed from a real-world scenario.”

The main takeaway from what happened in Hawaii is that our country and individual states need to create a better response emergency situations. It is also important for our country that nuclear threats in this day and age are taken very seriously. The failure in Hawaii presents the perfect opportunity to create the proper procedures to be more well prepared for an actual emergency situation.

Racist President???

Current events have many people asking one big question about our commander in chief… Is he a racist?

The president is quoted saying “Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” while referring to African countries. This has been the center of attention on major media outlets such as CNN, MSNBC, Today, and CBSN.

Many of his supporters on Fox News and other Trump supporting channels defend the statement. But, there is no justification of this comment.. This country was built on immigration and the hard work of minorities from poverty ridden countries.

Norway was one of the countries that Trump was pushing for immigration. If that doesn’t go up as a red flag of racism after his comment I don’t know what is. Our president would prefer to accept immigrants from a pre-dominantly white nation over colored “shithole” nations from Africa and South America.

The thing I love the most about President Trump’s attempt at recruiting Norwegians is the polite decline. Torbjoern Saetre, a Conservative Party politcian in a Oslo tweeted “on behalf of Norway: Thanks, but no thanks.” CNN.com (http://www.cnn.com/travel/article/worlds-happiest-countries-united-nations-2017/index.html) lists the happiest nations in the world with Norway coming in at #1. This is due to a state funded welfare which is supplied by large reserves of natural gas and oil.

So why would they want to come to a country that is now being labeled as racist? The answer is that they don’t.

This makes the attempt at the recruitment from the president even more racist. But yet he still tries to deny it.

The other half of this story relates to DACA and how the president says that democrats fight him on it. But, the truth is that he is fighting them. The bill was passed in 2012 by former President Barack Obama and in my opinion has done a lot of good for our country. Those under the protection of DACA have helped our economy and have been given a better chance to become the best they can be while being given time to actually obtain citizenship.

Why our president is so hell bent on ending this bill is a wonder to us all. But, it is starting to look a lot clearer because of his recent racist comments. Many people have taken direct offense from this comment, including Trevor Noah.

Below is a short video by the New York Times on Trump’s comment and also Trevor Noah’s reaction.

https://static01.nyt.com/video/players/offsite/index.html?videoId=100000005662443

The Influence of Economic Success

The Economy is a very influential factor in the lives of citizens and the credit for this said economy usually goes to the leader of the country. But, does the state of a country’s economy really define a great leader? Or is it just another vessel to control the population? If we look back in history, we see the rise of infamous figures during times of economic prosperity. The greatest example to use in defense of this idea is that of Adolf Hitler.

Adolf Hitler was a man who came up from the ranks of the military to come into power of Germany. Although Hitler deceived his way into power, the economic success that he had achieved was unmatched during the time of a worldwide economic depression. By following John Kaynes equation for economic success Hitler was able to increase demand within Germany. Hitler began a huge program for infrastructure development which, in turn, would create jobs. This meant that more people would be spending money and boosting GOP. At the beginning of the Great Depression Germany was the hardest hit but by the end was seen as the least effected in comparison to other European powers.

Now to answer the real questions… Does economic prosperity define a great leader? The answer is yes and also no. If we look more contemporary, as in 2017 we see a President of the United States who has created a lot of economic prosperity but lacks the skills needed to handle a lot of the social and political issues that come with being a politician.

Before we criticize the President any further it is important to highlight his own personal economic and business success. In 2016 Donald Trump was deemed #2 on Forbes.com for being the most powerful people in the world. He was only second behind Vladamir Putin. He is also listed #544 on the billionaires list for Forbes.com. The main reason many people voted for Donald Trump is for the economic prosperity of our country. A fellow student who chooses to remain anonymous says “I think that the economy will do great under Trump because of he has proven himself as a business man.” Despite these highlights and assumptions, the United States economy is too complex to have been changed by one person. There are just too many factors to include into the equation. Not to mention the economic growth that Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama created. Jobs are up by 1.7 million and rising according to The Washington Post. A lot of which Obama contributed but the continued economic success that we see today is largely a part of Donald Trump’s economic policies and approach.

Nevertheless, the fact of the matter is that Donald Trump was a business man prior to becoming a politician and still in yet… He is not a politician. Trump is still that same business man focused on doing what business men do: network and make money. Yes, this will have consequences without a doubt because as the saying goes “money is the root of all evil.”  When Donald Trump was elected many people expected the positive boost in our economy but never would have predicted the damage he could do to the political and social landscapes of our country.

The White House since the inauguration of President Trump can be compared to a reality television show nowadays. Whether it be FBI investigations on the President to the appointment of Ajit Pai to head the FCC. The President has managed to infuriate much of the younger generations because of and apparent lack of empathy and certain moral characteristics.

So is Donald Trump a good Leader? No. Does economic success define a good leader? Not in the slightest, but it definitely influences constituents who only see one thing…  Money. The economy is only a piece of the pie that makes up our country. It dictates and impacts the lives of so many people but distracts many from the struggles of those next to them. Without a focus on the many important aspects that makes the USA the greatest country in the world, we start to lose focus on the foundation of values that allows our country to stand on such high ground.

A good leader is able to draw attention to these uncomfortable issues in order to create balance and inspire change. A balance that impacts all kinds of people no matter their background, color, or class. Obama came very close to this idea but failed because of too many road blocks… These roadblocks include opposition from congress and opposing parties. Despite these roadblocks he was able to spark inspiration within younger generations, minority groups, and the socially conscious to make a change in areas that will ultimately decide the future of our country. That is something money will never be able to do unless the American spirit is lost and its people become slaves to the almighty dollar.

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