Florida Pipe Bombs Sent to Various Democrats and Tump Critics

Pipe bombs threaten to derail GOP midterm messaging

Suspicious packages containing pipe bombs were found throughout the week starting on Monday the 22nd of October up until Friday the 26th.  Partisanship definitely played a role and political violence is a suspected motive as only known Democrats around the nation, including CNN offices, received such suspicious packages originating out of Southern Florida.  Thankfully, no one was injured as all of the packages were intercepted before they reached their targets.  Democrats immediately began blaming Trump for creating a violent political climate and inciting such violence whereas Donald Trump immediately pointed his finger at the "fake news" media.  He blames them for the current hostility and division of today's politics in America.  Donald Trump's call for unity on Wednesday the 24th led nowhere and simply furthered attacks regarding his questionable rhetoric.  As for the upcoming midterms, analysts suggest that stories like these undercut from President Trump's "Jobs not mobs" campaign message.  Others say that this could motivate his base to vote.  If one thing is for certain, the two parties continually refuse to unite, even under circumstances such as these.  My guess is that, like many other news stories, this will seemingly disappear and we will soon forget any of this ever happened, but I could be wrong.

1. How do you think the attempted bombing will affect the midterm elections?

2. What will it take for our current political climate to "ease up" and become less polarized?  Who is at fault and what needs to change?

Poltical Rhetoric in Connection to Pittsburgh Shooting

https://www.newyorker.com/news/current/trumps-response-to-the-pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting-and-his-obsession-with-the-word-frankly



After the synagogue shooting that took place in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, Trump received backlash from the American public, blaming him for his careless and caustic use of rhetoric. During a speech to the Future Farmers of America on Saturday afternoon, Trump indicates the event as a "wicked act of mass murder". While this event is a horrible thing to happen within our country, Trump adds phrases such as "If there was an armed guard inside the temple, they would have been able to stop them,"..."Maybe there would have been nobody killed except for him, frankly". The president's use of the word "frankly" is perceived to be lighthearted by many Americans, as if he was deeming the word's relation to themes of violence and tragedy as both a serious topic and a joke. The significance of "frankly" signals to some Americans as Trump desensitizing the situation because of the vague emphasis that the word places. In addition, Trump's rhetoric during these speeches makes him seem as if he is unveiling a new truth to the American public, while in reality, this type of violence and hate has been going on for years. People are upset at the president's careless use of words and inconsistencies regarding his attitude toward the situation. As the president of the United States, people want to hear what is the truth and a call to action. However, people do not need Trump to be frank about something that has been obvious for a while now. Because we are approaching the midterm, there is more attention to the campaigning of the candidates. Trump's response to the shooting was seen in the spotlight of criticism because people are going to be judging the strategies in order to secure votes. With this recent happening, the smallest aspects of campaigning and public appeal have become critical, and in Trump's situation, a defining factor for the midterm. This raises the question:

1.) How should POTUS properly address events such as this in a manner that is both respectful and gives consolidation to the public to a degree?

2.) To what degree do you believe such rhetoric is a defining factor of POTUS' campaign, specifically for this midterm?

Voter Laws; Correct or Too much?

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/north-carolina-voter-id/

Recently, North Carolina passed a bill that banned Sunday voting. Their reasoning? The people who vote on Sundays are disproportionately African American and they disproportionately vote Democrat. 

The Republicans, argued that this bill prevents voter fraud. The Democrats, argued that the bill suppressed voters based on their race. Continuing on, the 4th Circuit ruled that this bill was unconstitutional because of statutory prohibitions on intentional discrimination.

Finally, the Supreme court agreed with the ruling of the 4th Circuit, handing the victory to Democrats and civil rights groups, and leaving Republicans angered. 

This is relevant because in our AP Government class we have been studying voter behavior (Chapter 9) and this ties in with how different races tend to vote. Also, this article ties in with federalism (Chapter 2) because the article talks about how the state tried to contradict federal law and how the government exercised its power.

1) Is voter fraud an actual issue?

2) Can Republicans and Democrats ever find a compromise on the issue of Voter ID Laws?

BrettKavanaugh.com is a forum for sexual assault survivors

BrettKavanaugh.com is a forum for sexual assault survivors

link:  https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/11/politics/brett-kavanaugh-domain-name-trnd/index.html

At the beginning of the month of October, someone bought the URL BrettKavanaugh and turned it into a forum to help sexual assault survivors. Rather than seeing photos of the new Supreme Court Justice and information about him you are greeted with the photo above when you first open the website. A picture with the quote saying, "We Believe Survivors" and below the photo are links to resources to help survivors and victims of sexual assault and abuse. 

The URL was bought by a nonpartisan Court reform organization by the name of "Fix the Court". They have a goal of trying to make the Supreme Court have full transparency or at least more then they have now.

The domain name for this website was actually bought about three years ago by the Fix the Court Executive director while he was researching potential nominees for the Supreme Court in the future. He also is the owner of the domain names MerrickGarland.net and JudgeGorsuch.com. His reason for buying these domain names being he "knew that justices were 75 years or older or could retire and the upcoming president would need to pick new ones. So [he] thought of people who could be in line for the job." -Fix the Court director

Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed on Saturday, October 6th with a Senate vote of 50-48. With 50 votes saying confirm and 48 saying not to, Kavanaugh proceeded to get a spot in the highest court in the nation. The process of confirming judge Kavanaugh was elongated when allegations against the judge came out by several women, one by the name of Christine Blasey Ford. Despite the serious allegations of sexual assault and misconduct made by the victims the Senate still proceeded to confirm him as Supreme Court Justice to replace former justice, Anthony Kennedy.

The blog was officially created by Gabe Roth after listening to president Donald Trump say that he apologizes for "the incredible pain and suffering" Kavanaugh and his family were "forced to endure" during the process of his confirmation. Roth was frustrated that Trump totally did not acknowledge the pain and suffering the victims had to endure during this process and also the terrible pain they must feel now that he is confirmed. So he published the website.

Roth hopes his website can help survivors while also helping to start the conversation about more transparency in the court.

Roth also went on to say he would not turn down the Courts if they asked him to take down the website and replace it with the original Fix the Court website. He is planning to do so in the future anyway.

1. How do you think the survivors of sexual assault such as Christine Blasey Ford and others reacted to the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh? Do you think their voices will still be heard?

2. Do you think a website like this could potentially help the sexual assault epidemic?