Blog #2

It would be too broad to make the statement, “everyone over exaggerates” in today’s world. While this may not be the case, it could definitely be said that certain articles, online and in print, would make this statement seem like a feasible reality. One of the many social disputes in America today is the pros vs. cons of Planned Parenthood. It seems like everyone has a side, either you’re for it or against it. I, for one, am for it. But while this is the case, I have come across some articles prompting me to support Planned Parenthood with some pretty ridiculous claims that may or may not have anything to do with what this organization actually does. In this blog, I will be looking at 28 Reasons Real People Support Planned Parenthood—And You Should Too, written by Elizabeth Enochs for bustle.com.

The whole basis of this article is to look past what Planned Parenthood says that they do, and focuses in on why normal, everyday people support them with pictures to show what people have written on dry erase boards and the faces behind the comments. While it was nice seeing both men and women supporting Planned Parenthood, it was difficult to find anyone who looked or seemed as if they came from a low-income household. I took a tally of race and if the people seemed poor, wealthy (or well off), or if it couldn’t be distinguished. 22 people out of the 28 pictured were white and 15 of them I considered wealthy, based on what they wore (i.e. name brand purses, name brand shoes, Beats headphones, etc.). 13 of those people I considered unknown as they didn’t look as if they came from a low-income household but had no indicators specifying that they were well off financially. If most of these people talk about Planned Parenthood greatly supporting those who come from a low-income household, why wasn’t anyone from that demographic there?

Some of the comments made by these participants struck me as statements that didn’t mean much in light of what Planned Parenthood actually does. Right out the gate, Jeremy (age 27) wrote, “The PP kept me clean.” Clean from drugs? Clean from STIs? Marcia (age 26) wrote, “My friends NEED Planned Parenthood.” My question is why? It is highly possible that her friends have used PP in the past and she can’t talk about their experiences, but she looks like she comes from a financially stable home. Again, where are the low-income citizens?

The comment that really got me was written by Kate (age 40), “Because Pro-Choice is Pro-Life.” By definition, pro-choice is, “advocating legalized abortion,” and pro-life is, “opposing abortion and euthanasia.” These are on two opposite side of the abortion scale. Sorry Kate, but this does not inspire me to support PP.

Many of these people talked about sexual education in high schools, but I have never heard this claim before nor have I seen it first-hand. Sex Ed in my high school was taught in health class by my teacher. Nobody from PP came in and talked to us about safe sexual practices or what PP stands for. Perhaps this has changed in the almost 4 years since I’ve been in high school, but it still doesn’t seem like PP is actively engaging in the lives of these teenagers.

One of the comments written by Cass (age 32) said, “Being self employed without benefits, Planned Parenthood allowed me to have access to women’s health without insurance.” Had there been more comments like this, I would be more inclined to whole-heartedly vouch for PP.

This article doesn’t do Planned Parenthood justice. While it is uplifting to see why others support PP, it also deters me from wanting to engage even more. Some (very few, really) of these people are undereducated with what PP does and does not do, and that strikes me as odd. For those who aren’t well informed or “in the know” about what PP does, how would they look at this article? What would their thoughts be?

Response #1

I find it interesting that Trump wouldn’t largely broadcast his statement about former President Obama being a legitimate American citizen. Interesting, yet I see why he did it. Being President is a tough and stressful job, being the leader and face of an entire nation. Whether it was to make things easier for him in the long run (thinking into the future concerning the media’s possibility to bring up his claims against Mr. Obama) and slightly (I use that term loosely) solidified the fact that he isn’t some whack-job who believes in conspiracy theories. Nobody wants that characteristic in the leader of the free world.

While it was mentioned in the comment that Trump “was simply one of the highest-profile individuals to have involved himself [with the Birther movement]”, I still hold firm to the belief that this was the face of the movement that devout believers were looking for. As I mentioned in Blog #1, the Birthers most likely consist of older cis-white males who may be Islamophobes. This is not to say they all are, but the vast majority of them appear to be, which is why they were pitted against Mr. Obama. Trump is a largely wealthy cis-white male who stands for the “old” way of living in America. And he did nothing to stop himself from leading the charge in the movement, which shows that he accepted the role he was thrust into, gracefully and with honor.

I wholeheartedly agree with the statement that, “it can be dizzying to try to keep track of the way the press covers Trump.” I also think that he does not wish for that to change. Moving towards the comment of the “shiny object” that Trump throws into the path of the media, I truly believe he wishes for everything to be chaotic as to not make everything so serious, as the role and duties of a President should be. His supporters do in fact take him seriously, as I have seen in my own personal life. There are some that are quite devout to the bills, laws, ideas, and vision of Trump and take him seriously 100%. I am in the category that takes him seriously and literally, and don’t like any of it. Based on what I have read, watched, and talked about amongst my classmates, he appears to be serious in the accusations he makes, the political nonsense he spews about various topics (one of them being that Mexico will help build the wall), and his vision to “Make America Great Again” (which in my mind looks like the 1950s all over again). I think he believes in himself, but when things get too difficult, he throws those “shiny objects” into the media. I can only think of one situation at the time of writing this, but I will not mention it so I will not offend or discredit the event that happened. Horrible things happen in this world, and Trump used one of them to his advantage, wringing out every drop of sorrow, misery, and the good old American spirit until it because overused and forever associated with his early presidency.

Overall, Trump is a difficult person to track. That makes it unfortunately difficult for the American people as we are in even more trying times. I hope that Donald Trump will become clear, concise, and deliberate in his endeavors and speech in the near future.

Blog #1

Donald Trump has been the center in a powerhouse called "Fake News" ever since he started his election campaign. Whether he wishes to be the center or not, many illegitimate news sources create articles, fabricate stories, and spread out-and-out lies with his name in the headline, just to make a buck or to stir the public. So far, some of the news stories have worked. But what happens when Trump is the one creating fake facts (alternative facts?)

According to alternet.com, Donald Trump became the “voice among the Birthers, a group of racists and Islamophobes desperate for any reason to delegitimize the first black president.” This was an easy role for him to settle into because most Birthers seem to be white men, and Donald Trump fit that label. Not to mention he is wealthy (which leads to an image of power and knowledge) as well as persuasive to some people.

Trump was known to have bouts of rage and a need to vent his thoughts onto twitter. On August 6, 2012, Trump tweeted, “An ‘extremely credible source’ has called my office and told me that @BarackObama’s birth certificate is a fraud.” This may have been the start of his then ongoing thoughts about Obama not being a legitimate U.S. citizen. Another common topic Trump would talk about is that Obama “fabricated” his experience at Columbia University.

Now as Trump is president, this particular time in his life may be working against him. He was forced to resign commenting for the Birthers during the election, but that didn’t stop people from asking about it. And what did Mr. Trump do? Put all of the blame on Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. In an article by The Washington Post, they quoted Trump saying, “Hillary Clinton and her campaign of 2008 started the Birther controversy. I finished it. I finished it. You know what I mean.” He then finished this quote by stating clearly that former President Barack Obama was indeed born in the U.S.

While Trump is constantly asking for honest news, it’s interesting that he would generate fake news of his own. The problem in this is more than just Trump going back on his own words, but rather what it means for minorities in America. Sure, nobody is truly going to believe that Clinton started all of this Birther noise (though some may in their blind hatred for her). But now that Trump is president, what does this mean for Muslims? African Americans? Just to name two minorities.

Trump is proving himself to be a force to be reckoned with, turning back nearly every policy that Obama set in place. Add this claim that Clinton was the one supporting Birthers and it gets to be a bit terrifying. If Trump has this many supporters and this much power, will he create fake news again? Will the general public believe him? Let’s go back to what it means for minorities. He could create fake news for his own agenda; fake military information on Islamic countries, stage fights/conflict in notoriously African American cities, show inaccurate data on rapes executed by Hispanics (because he thinks all Mexicans are rapists).

Trump is a force to be feared, because of what we in the public have seen in his past with the Birthers, as well as his current state of throwing his doings onto others who are blameless in that context. What other fake news will he present to the world?