Stage 4: Blog Critique

On April 26, 2017, a prominent political blogger Ann Coulter wrote an opinion piece titled

Not Building the Wall IS a Government Shutdown. Her blog post was a response to various news media, reporting that top Democrats are accusing Trump of derailing last-minute funding talks meant to avert a government shutdown by pressing for border wall funding. Her main argument was that by not building a wall is a government shutdown. She reasoned that the government's job is to protect its citizens and the nation, hence failing to close the border is a government shutdown. She also mentioned that one of the main reasons that people elected Trump was the promise that he built the border wall, and by not building it, he will be breaking his promise and betraying the American people.

I personally disagree with her first argument that by building a wall, that it will be enough to stop the " drugs, gang members, diseases and terrorists pouring across our border." This is because statistics have shown that undocumented people and immigrants are less likely to commit crime than people who are born in the US.Therefore, I find it unfair that she is generalizing people who are crossing the borders as gang member, terrorists. Furthermore, it has been shown that a lot of undocumented people overstay their visas. Hence I doubt the efficiency of the the wall itself in preventing people with legal visas passing through the border and overstaying.

However, I agree with her second argument that Trump should push for the construction of the wall because that was one of the promises he made. Throughout his campaign, one of the most consistent and clear promises that Trump made was that he will build a wall if he was elected President. Hence, I assume that those who voted for him wants the wall. Since Trump won the presidency, it safe to say that a significant number of people wants the wall to be built. I feel that as politicians are suppose to represent and enact the wishes of its citizens, it is important that they keep their word and deliver whatever they promised to the best of their ability. If they are unable to do so, how will regular citizens be able trust the government to represent them?

Therefore, while I think a border wall is not a good idea, I think that Trump should try to push for the wall just because that was the promise he made to the American people.

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Stage 3 : New York Times commentary

Ariel Davis On July 18 2017, the New York Times published an opinion piece written by Farhana Khera and Jonathan J.Smith. The title of this piece is How Trump is stealthily carrying out his Muslim Ban. The writers' argument was that while Trump has not explicitly enacted a Muslim ban, he is trying to do so subtly by issuing orders that targeted Muslims. These orders, as pointed out by the writers,include increasing administrative hurdles and cementing or even expanding the current travel restrictions that are not under review in court. The writes of this piece are members of Muslim Advocates, a civil rights organization group. As the organization name indicates, it most likely focuses on the welfare of Muslims. Therefore the writers are probably trying to draw attention to the plight of Muslims trying to travel to the United States. By writing this article on the huge platform like the New York Times, I feel that the writers also want readers to be aware...

Stage 2: The Washington Post Polling

On July 16 ,2017, The Washington Post published an article titled Poll finds Trump’s standing weakened since springtime . This article states that the poll done by Post- ABC News Poll found that Trump's overall rating fell from 42 percent in April to 36 percent. The polls also showed that almost half of all Americans, 48 percent felt that the country's leadership has weakened since Trump's inauguration compared to 27 percent who felt that it is stronger. The article also mentioned the polling results regarding American attitudes towards healthcare, with many preferring Obamacare (50 percent) compared to the Republican led plan (24 percent). The polls also showed that most people (63 percent compared to 27 percent) believe that it is more important for the government to provide health coverage to low -income people rather than cutting taxes. This article is important as it shows how the general public 's attitude about their own government over time. It als...

Stage 7 : Trump's proposed transgender military ban is hurtful to the American society

On July 26, President Trump caught everyone by surprise, when he tweeted his intentions of banning transgender people from serving the military. Trump's reasoning for his decision was that it was too expensive to pay for transgender troops' healthcare and the potential disruptions it might cause. While I do understand the President's concern, I feel that his actions will bring about greater harm compared to the benefit of reducing the cost of the military spending. President Trump reasoned that the cost of transition related treatment will be "tremendous." A study done by the Rand Corporation shows that the costs of such treatment will add between 2.4 million and 8.4 million dollars to the military's annual budget. While the number may seem high, this will only increase the military spending by 0.017% . This cost is pretty insignificant compared to the potential cost of retraining troops to replace transgender troops. Furthermore, some trans gende...

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