One Swoosh, Two Swoosh, Black Swoosh, White Swoosh
PC: washingtontimes.com
What’s been happening in politics lately? Firstly, the nation honored Senator John McCain who passed away from a brain tumor on August 25. He’s remembered by his time in the Vietnam War, his P.O.W. years and upstanding character during the election campaign against Barack Obama.
Before he died, he requested that Obama and George W. Bush (both were McCain’s political opponents) speak at his funeral, but President Donald Trump wasn’t even invited and that pretty much sums up Trump’s character.
The next newsworthy event involves a protest of Nike’s newest ad featuring Colin Kaepernick. To protest the brand people are cutting the swooshes off their clothes and burning their shoes. Yes, the clothes and shoes they’ve already bought and paid for. Nike’s really going to be bummed by that.
To review: Kaepernick started kneeling during the national anthem at NFL games to respectfully protest racial inequality in America. Most people ignore that Kaepernick asked a veteran how to respectfully protest the flag, and the vet told him to kneel. After all, kneeling is usually a sign of respect: we kneel to propose, to pray, sports players kneel on the field when a team member is taken off the field etc.
Arguably the biggest event is Trump’s nomination for a new Supreme Court Justice. What makes this a big deal? Well, each Justice serves until retirement so their views and opinions can influence generations. The sitting president chooses a replacement for the retiree that aligns with his political views.
This nomination is especially important because Anthony Kennedy, the retiree, was the tiebreaker for many of the rulings, meaning his replacement could shift the court a lot further to the right rather than its current, mostly balanced state which Republicans love.
Trump’s nomination, Brett Kavanaugh, is a right leaning judge with a few controversial opinions: his stance on Roe v. Wade, the case that ruled on abortion (he says he will uphold the case but has previously contradicted himself) and believing that sitting presidents shouldn’t be under any sort of legal scrutiny (important because Trump could be indicted).
Essentially, Republicans like Kavanaugh and Democrats are fighting to keep him out even though he’ll probably be appointed. Though it may not be a good idea to trust Trump’s judgement given the New York Times op-ed piece on his administration that just came out. According to this anonymous senior official, there’s a resistance brewing in the White House. I’ll keep you posted on the hearings as the process continues.
Ashley Bower is a junior studying english language arts education.