Obama: 'We handled it the way it should have been handled’

In this article about Obama’s end of the year speech written by David Jackson and Gregory Korte, Obama speaks about the Russian hacking of the Democratic National Committee. Theses hackings were the main reason for the exposure of emails produced by the DNC and Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Obama indirectly questioned Republicans who believe Russian president Putin over American officials who are seen as favoring Democrats. This is shown in a poll that Obama brings up that say’s, “37% of Republican voters approve of Putin, a former KGB official”. Trump is one such Republican that chooses to ignore US intelligent agencies in favor of believing Russia. Trump believes the Russian hacking story has been promoted in order to de-legitimize the election. Obama strongly believes the US needs to put Russia in its place by saying “They are a smaller country. They are a weaker country. Their economy doesn’t produce anything that anybody wants to buy, except oil and gas and arms. They don’t innovate. But they can impact us if we lose track of who we are”. Obama ended his speech by saying he believes they handled the problem in the best way possible with the circumstances they were given.  

Questions:

1. Do you think Trump will acknowledge and support Obama's opinion on how to deal with Russia, even though he has shown support towards Russia?
2. Do you believe Obama handled it in the correct manner? Why or why not?
3. Do you believe these hackings changes the election and in what ways?

Link:http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2016/12/16/obama-year-end-news-conference-trump-russia-hacking/95515212/

Donald Trump Responds to Winning Time's "Person of the Year"

Trump Named Time's "Person of the Year"

At a recent rally to get out the vote for Republican Senate hopeful John Kennedy, Trump references his recent win as Time's Person of the Year, claiming the title should revert back to 'Man of the Year.' Prior to this statement, he discussed the benefits that Kennedy's win would bring him--Trump believes Kennedy will help him build the wall. Kennedy's likely win would give Republicans a 52-48 Senate majority. Trump later discussed some of the promises he made during his campaign, including renegotiating trade deals. He also brought up the Boeing situation and his disgust with people that burn the American flag, even mentioning the tweet he recently posted about the topic. At the end of the rally, when Trump argued that 'Person of the Year' is too politically correct, supporters of the President-Elect--who had waited four hours to hear him speak--heartily agreed.

Questions:

1. Do you think the term "Person of the Year" is too politically correct? Why or why not?

2. What do you think Trump's "Person of the Year" win will do for his popularity?

3. If Kennedy does win, how will the 52-48 Republican Senate majority help advance Trump's agenda?

‘Forced busing’ didn’t fail. Desegregation is the best way to improve our schools.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/10/23/forced-busing-didnt-fail-desegregation-is-the-best-way-to-improve-our-schools/?utm_term=.23babff09f7e

This article, which was written by George Theoharis, states the overall impact that busing had on test scores and the widening gap in test scores since the end of forced busing. By using facts in this article, George is able to show that his position on this subject is true. Even though we may not see this widening gap in Burlingame, "U.S. schools have become more segregated since 1990, and students in major metropolitan areas have been most severely divided by race and income, according to the University of California at Los Angeles’s Civil Rights Project." This shows that in times where many of us from the Peninsula believe that the segregation and education difference between schools is close to non-existent, it is actually something that still widely affects the lives of so many students who are trying to learn, mainly those in the Northeast. The times of desegregation of schools in the 70s and 80s actually saw steady gains of school integration and also the significant improvement in educational equity. However, "since 1988, when education policy shifted away from desegregation efforts, the reading test score gap has grown — to 26 points in 2012 — with segregated schooling increasing in every region of the country." George Theoharis believes that the integration of schools was the best way to help those students who do not have the best educational opportunities to learn and receive the best education available. We can’t continue to ignore the growing hold segregation has on our schools


Would the integration of schools help bring equality or Would it cause more separation through boycotts and riots?

Is the author correct in his statement that "Forced busing didn't fail"? Why or why not?

What has changed, since the 1970s and 1980s, that may prove a different outcome in the integration of schools today in cities that are widely separated by race and social class?

On Campus, Trump Fans Say They Need 'Safe Spaces'

Students protest the election of Donald Trump.

After Donald Trump became the 2016 president elect, many students at universities across the nation protested the results of the election. This election has affected the environment at multiple universities, affecting both liberals and conservatives. Conservative Amanda Delekta, a student at the University of Michigan and political director of the College Republicans celebrated Trump's win, but was disappointed in her university. Delekta claims that the university president catered to the liberal majority, because he sent out an email publicizing a vigil in reaction to Trump's win, and listing counseling resources for students. Many conservative students at numerous universities believe believe that they need a "safe space", a term more often used by the left, because they feel their opinion is not respected. LiberalIbithal Makki, a student herself, stated that "“To turn around and say that they need safe spaces after their candidate won I think is ironic and hypocritical. ” She also believes that conservatives do not understand the need for safe spaces, "because they never needed it, because they don’t have any of the identities that made them feel that way.” Many conservative students across the country felt offended by many university' officials assuming that everyone on campus was unhappy by the election results. Many conservatives feel that they are being ostracized for their supporting of Trump, and many liberals feel that their civil liberties may be taken away under Trump's presidency at these colleges.

1. Do you believe that a "safe space" is needed for conservatives/Trump supporters, liberals, both, or none at all at college campuses?

2. What do you believe the future will look like in terms of political polarization/the ability to discuss politics at universities across the country?

3. What do you think will be needed to create unity at college campuses?

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/08/us/politics/political-divide-on-campuses-hardens-after-trumps-victory.html

How Ben Carson Could Undo a Desegregation Effort

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/23/upshot/how-ben-carson-at-housing-could-undo-a-desegregation-effort.html?action=click&contentCollection=Politics&module=RelatedCoverage&region=Marginalia&pgtype=article

Throughout the Obama Presidency, there have been active efforts to promote oversight of the 1968 Fair Housing Act, which attempts to allow equal housing opportunities to all people across the country. Nearing the end of his second term, the initiative is still working to turn out success reports of desegregation in American cities and suburbs. "In 2015, his administration rolled out a rule requiring local communities to assess their own patterns of racial and income segregation and make genuine plans to address them." Until this action, the 1968 law had gone relatively unrecognized and disrespected by urban planners in functional cities looking to avoid connotations with racial violence and inevitable poverty. Just as the Obama Administration started to make headway in the civil rights matter, a new, ignorant shadow looks to be ominously threatening any and all progress made thus far.
As Ben Carson was just nominated by President-Elect Donald Trump as the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), some predict that his inexperience and misunderstanding of the necessity to uphold laws will lead to a demise of the progress made to reverse the entrenched American segregated housing. As many of us know, Ben Carson grew up impoverished, but ended up as a successful surgeon and recent Republican Presidential candidate. He has absolutely no professional ties or experience in the field of urban development and housing, which is the specialty of the department he is expected to head up in January (pending Congressional approval). This immediately raises red flags in the eyes of any Americans who had hopes for the desegregation initiative, and has them hoping that the first round's success can miraculously sway the opinions of the Republican dominated government before the inauguration of the next President.

1. Do you think that the Trump Administration will continue the work to desegregate American housing? Will Congress defund the project?

2. Do you think that housing segregation is inevitable? Is it unnatural to place people and families in inorganic communities or is it time to force integration?

3. Will Ben Carson be very effective if he is confirmed for the HUD position? Why or why not?

Judge Maryanne Trump Barry

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/03/08/meet-donald-trumps-sister-the-tough-federal-judge-ted-cruz-called-a-radical-pro-abortion-extremist/?utm_term=.0498cf0338ec

President Elect Trump, has a lesser well known sister named Maryanne Trump Barry. While Barry may be more removed from the media's spotlight, she is still a renown and experienced judge. She serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit, and embodies the same straight forward attitude as her brother. Unlike Donald however, Maryanne Trump is greatly more liberal in her political views. While some of her peers such as Judge Mathew Stiegler have characterized Judge Barry as a moderate-conservative Republican, her pro-choice and economical rulings have suggested other wise. Early in his campaign Trump voiced his opinion that she was a "great" judge and joked about appointing her to the High Court. Due to this, other candidates such as Ted Cruz took advantage of that statement and used it against Trump during his campaign.

1. After reading about her previous involvement and convictions as a judge do you believe Maryanne Trump to be a moderate-conservative or more liberal?

2. What do Donald Trump and Maryanne Barry have in common? How do they differ both politically and socially?

3. What are the chances that Trump nominates his sister for the High Court (especially after already involving his immediate family in political affairs)? If Maryanne was nominated how would that affect his approval rating and chance for reelection?


Zachary Israelit

Trump Threatens to Revoke Flag Burner’s Citizenship

In the early morning of November 29th, Trump tweets “Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag- if they do, there must be consequences- perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail”. Trump proposed the idea that any Americans who protest against government policies such as burning the flag could lose their citizenship (along with other rights such as voting rights) as punishment. The tweet quickly spread throughout the internet and people were furious by his quote. Opposing views asserted that First Amendment allowed flag burning as a form of political expression. Flag burning has been a controversial action since the mid 1900s. In 2005, there was an attempt to pass the Flag Protection Act, however it was denied because some argued that it interfered with the freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights.

Questions:

1. What does Trump’s tweet reveal about his knowledge regarding the Constitution?
2. Why is Trump’s tweet so controversial and infuriated many people?
3. Should burning flags be banned ? Why or why not?
4. The Congress almost passed the legislation on banning flag desecration in 2006 (was one vote short), do you think the legislation will ever be passed in the future? Why?

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/29/us/politics/trump-flag-burners-citizenship-first-amendment.html?_r=0