A Mock Rebuttal

Junior Aine Kern Responds to Staff Writer Jacob Mock’s “Trump’s First 100 Days.”

Hello Sage,
After reading Jacob Mock’s article published yesterday, I thought an opposing viewpoint could be beneficial to write (at least personally). 
I disagreed with Mock politically, but I tried to exclude personal bias from my essay in response to “Trump’s First 100 Days”  (I fear I might still sound a bit partial to a particular side, but hey, so does Mock). My goal was to utilize facts, statistics, and logical conclusions as the battering ram in my writing. 
Whether or not my letter is published isn’t my priority here (though I would be honored), but according to the About Us page on your site, The Sage values feedback and, well, I had a lot to say.
I poured an abundance of research and analysis into this essay, so I hope it can be appreciated. Thank you!

29 March 2017

In response to “Trump’s First 100 Days” by Jacob Mock.

The past few months have proved that no matter one’s political affiliation or party loyalty, people can be astoundingly narrow-minded and blind to differing opinions and viewpoints.

Democrats and Republicans were in a spitting-mad shouting match throughout the entire 2016 presidential race, citizens and politicians alike, and tensions certainly haven’t diminished since November. Powerful party divisions are defining and consequential, impacting nearly every aspect of society from environment to free speech to national defense; one can practically hear George Washington hissing “I told you so” under his breath from the grave. The words “Democrat,” “Liberal,” “Republican,” and “Conservative” have become weapons capable of tainting one’s perspective of a fellow classmate or  acquaintance before even getting to know them. I cannot plead innocent to this crime myself.

Mock described Trump’s win as “a breath of fresh air” for Republicans who had disagreed with Obama’s policies for the past eight years― an ironic choice of words, given Trump recently rolled back Obama-era regulations of carbon dioxide emissions, but his point was obvious: this election would mark a turning point in America’s policies. Indeed, the new president has been erasing many of the bills created in the years before his presidency began, such as the prohibiting of private prison management, barring of mentally ill from buying guns, and banning of lead shot and tackle. Mock wasn’t wrong when he said Trump “hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down,” but we have to consider the direction in which Trump seems to sprinting: forward or backward? Progressively or degeneratively?

For all of Trump’s efforts to remain true to his promise to “make America great again,” he sure does seem to be suffering a lot of criticism from talk show hosts and celebrities, as Mock pointed out. Almost as much condemnation as Obama experienced throughout his term from rioters questioning his American citizenship,  and boasting posters of nooses labeled “hang in there Obama.” Almost as much condemnation as Hillary Clinton received for use of an email server (an investigation that resulted in not a single reprimand or criminal charge). Almost as much condemnation as LGBT people, African Americans, and all minorities face on the streets every day. Must be difficult for Trump, the only president to ever be denounced, having every single one of his decisions scrutinized and “crucified.”

Mock continues to defend Trump’s reputation against all the feminists, liberals, queers, and African Americans who are “taking shots at our president;” here stands another ironic turn of phrase, seeing as Trump is the one who refuses to condemn the shooting of two Indian engineers by a man who simultaneously yelled “get out of my country.” His condescending tone toward feminists raises concerns that Mock may not believe the new president values equality of the sexes, not to mention that the Black Lives Matter movement (existing long before the election) is not an attack on Trump or on Caucasian people at all, but an awareness campaign to end police brutality, especially violence with racial overtones or proven bias.

America has “enough problems as it is. . . to be picking up even more weight on our shoulders,” Mock inputs, in regard to the border wall and travel ban so emphatically emphasized in Trump’s pre-election campaign. America has been known as the “land of the free,” the light of opportunity at the end of a tunnel, the chance to make an honest living for millions of immigrants from all over the world since the 1700s. Besides the inherent prejudice of it, Trump’s ban jeopardizes the lives of hundreds, even thousands, of refugees by barring their only possible escape from abusive detention camps and burning homes, while ignoring research that proves crime rates among immigrants is lower than the general population. How ironic that by burdening the backs of laborers with bricks for a wall, keeping Central American immigrants from entering, and separating countless families, in the name of “preserving the American dream,” the president slams the door on innumerable opportunities for new immigrants and for America to participate in humanitarian assistance and global expansion, even environmental improvement considering the devastation in war zones.

Now, if encasing America in an Iron Curtain of our own means every veteran is picked up off the streets and dropped neatly into new homes with profitable jobs, then that is another matter. Probably not one warranting the exclusion of thousands of innocents, but another matter, indeed. However, Trump has yet to acknowledge homeless veterans in any of his policies. And what about the scores of deserted, homeless teenagers and children? The thousands of single mothers with their children on street corners every week? We see no acts or bills or propositions to help them. Not even grand, if empty, speeches in their favor. One may argue that accepting so many refugees would only worsen the homeless crisis in America, but one will have a much harder time arguing that wasting enormous funds on a wall (the most expensive and least effective defense strategy) is more beneficial than redistributing that money towards actually helping the people whom Trump claims to sincerely care for.

Oh, the hypocrisy of people voting for Trump for his businessman status (a lackluster one at that) only to ignore the costly wastefulness of his beloved wall.

Now, most of what Mock writes about in his opinion article could be accepted as a simple pro-Trump viewpoint, especially regarding border policy, gun laws, and environment prioritizing, since the various parties all entertain drastically different platforms on each controversial matter.

However, near the conclusion of his piece, Mock decides that the statement “this may be a nation of immigrants, but our grandparents carried passports, not gang violence” was acceptable. Not only is it ignorant and woefully inaccurate, but the blatant racism reinforces offensive and extremely harmful stereotypes about many of the people in our southern California school and community, not to mention entire civilizations and races that hold a more historically accurate claim to the land on which Mock squats than Mock himself or any Caucasian citizen. On another note, India and China are the leading countries in immigration to America since 2013, not Mexico, and while their numbers might not be as numerous as those from Central America, thousands of Caucasian immigrants are unauthorized as well. While politicians may be fretting about foreign terrorist threats, and  ISIS is a daunting global threat, the domestically-based security threat is growing right under our noses with nearly half of all hate crimes in 2015 being committed by Caucasians, people not stereotypically considered “violent” or “illegal;” neo-Nazi, Confederate-loyal Dylann Roof or home-grown terrorists Glen Crawford and Eric Feight can be counted among them.

All political bias and historical context aside, Mock presented a damaging sentiment that I did not want to see reflecting Sage Creek High School uncontested. Being open to reading and acknowledging political views and policies that contrast with personal beliefs broadens perspective and fosters compassion, vital components in editorials and opinion pieces if writers want them to hold weight or sway. Global perspective and compassion were two characteristics I found Mock to be lacking.

–  Áine Kern

 

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