6
OPINIONS
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2020
THE
GL BE’S POINT
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THE GLOBE NEWSPAPER POINT PARK UNIVERSITY
New virus or government conspiracy? By Shannon Hartnett Co-Opinions Editor
Calling all conspiracy theorists, there’s a new one popping up on social media. Apparently, every US election year there has been a new virus that sweeps the globe. The viruses are listed as follows: SARS – 2004, AVIAN – 2008, SWINE – 2010, MERS – 2012, EBOLA – 2014, ZIKA – 2016, EBOLA – 2018, CORONA – 2020. Is this a coincidence? I think not. Now, many of these viruses may have not originated in the U.S. My thought, however, is that the United States conspires to allow the virus to penetrate into not only the American immune systems, but the American minds to produce sickness, but even more unfortunately to produce anxiety and chaos. Think about it, the election years are hectic enough with dealing with changing political climates and candidates who love
money far more than the idea of winning the election. Let’s face it, politics are more evil than good. When candidates step up to the platform, they preach their standpoints and how they will fix America at large, but underneath all of this they fear the public eye watching their every move. As the population gears up to vote in April and then again in November, I believe that politicians fear they will be publicly smeared, and in retaliation, attempt to scare the public eye into focusing on something else. We see this tactic used all the time in politics against one another, who is to say they wouldn’t use it at large to help them win an election. While the citizens of America are distracted by the coronavirus, the political parties are creeping around trying to upset the competition. As politics become the new religion of America
and news outlets run 24 hours a day, it has become harder and harder to make mistakes and play dirty as a politician, without the American people noticing. I log onto Twitter and all I see are coronavirus stories. Every possible angle, idea and thought about the virus is published. I think this is an attempt to distract people from the upcoming election. One thing that I truly believe is that there is not a single politician rising to power simply because they are perfect people who only care about helping others. Therefore, to distract the public from the morally wrong and illegal things that they do, they publicize viruses that have the potential to scare people enough to turn away from politics for a certain period of time.
Shannon Hartnett snhartn@pointpark.edu
Super Tuesday: Joe Biden superior Bernie Sanders: By Logan Dubil Staff Writer
Within a twenty-hour time period, two Democratic candidates, Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar, joined the long list of failed campaigns. Although many predicted Klobuchar would not last much longer, with polls not favoring her victory in the 2020 election, Buttigieg halted at a time of personal success. Was this decision made because of self-doubt or to – once again – rip the election away from Democratic leader, at the time, Bernie Sanders? The evidence is there to support both theories, though it is clear what transpired. Ironically, both Buttigieg and Klobuchar suspended their campaigns before one of the most important days of the primary election, Super Tuesday. On this day, 14 states had the opportunity to cast their votes towards the President they want to see in the White House. Before Buttigieg and Klobuchar dropped out of the race, voters had numerous options in the moderate candidate category, as these two politicians are not as far-left compared to Sanders, for example. With the removal of these two options, former Vice President Joe Biden is now in the spotlight. After experiencing a major victory in South Carolina, receiving 48.4-percent of the votes, it has become clear that he has a better chance at the nomination than people expected. For this reason alone, something is not adding up. As stated before, Buttigieg halted at a time of
personal success. Caucus after caucus, he continued to surprise the nation, performing above expectation. In New Hampshire, Buttigieg placed second within two percentage points of Sanders. The Nevada Caucus highlights this failed candidate in the top three. Even after the disaster in Iowa, one thing is for sure, he did a lot better than people imagined. What would a successful candidate do in response to heaping support and vote counts? Continue, right? In Buttigieg’s case, not so much of Klobuchar’s, his campaign was suspended. Looking back at Biden’s victory in South Carolina, puzzle pieces start to fit together. Buttigieg and Klobuchar do not want Sanders to be the nominee, so they ended their campaigns to aid in Biden’s. By dropping out before Super Tuesday, Biden’s door to the Democratic nomination opened all the way. As of March 5, Biden currently leads with a total of 595 delegates with prior leader Sanders not far behind with 526. Although the race is close, it was assumed Sanders would lead, up until the dropping out of Buttigieg and Klobuchar. By the end of Super Tuesday, people now know this is a race between Sanders and Biden. Bloomberg placed third in numerous states, leading voters to believe that he will continue his campaign; however, this is far from the truth. Bloomberg not only joined the failed candidates list but added his name to
the list of Biden endorsers. In a statement made on March 4, Bloomberg shared: “While I will not be the nominee, I will not walk away from the most important political fight of my life.” Bloomberg is ready to aid in Biden’s campaign to ensure the prevention of another Trump term. Elizabeth Warren, a candidate with similar policy plans as Sanders, followed Bloomberg’s fate on March 5. Her refusal to immediately endorse a candidate should worry Sander’s supporters. Why wouldn’t she express her approval of Sander’s campaign, seeing that her plans would be passed anyway? Even as a Trump supporter, I feel bad for Sanders and his campaign. This is the second election in which the Democratic party is shutting out an effort with major support. Although I believe his policies have no place in the United States, people on the other side of the political spectrum seem to relate with his message, which is what this country needs. Looking at Biden’s campaign, I start to worry. At the end of the day, Buttigieg, Klobuchar and Bloomberg have turned the tables for the Democratic party. Voters now have a big decision to make: a left-leaning democratic-socialist or the moderate candidate who most likely has a better chance of obtaining Republican voters.
Logan Dubil lmdubil@pointpark.edu
the better choice By Jake Dabkowski Co-News Editor
Picture this: it’s Nov. 3, 2020. You’re up late, watching CNN with your friends. A pizza box and empty White Claw cans decorate the depressing scene as you watch Joe Biden lose to Donald Trump by 200 electoral votes. Your uncle shoots you a text reading “Still your president! MAGA!” By the end of Trump’s second term, the Supreme Court will lean 7-2. Justice Jeanine Pirro will cast the deciding vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. Irreparable harm will have been done to the planet and we will no longer be in a position to stop the climate catastrophe. Don Jr. is Secretary of State and Eric is Postmaster General. Ivanka will run in 2024 and become the first female president, because #Resistance twitter accounts will claim that Democratic candidate Rashida Tlaib is too angry. We wash, rinse and repeat this cycle for the next twenty to thirty years until rising sea levels cause the collapse of global society and we all die. It doesn’t have to be this way. The night before Super Tuesday, Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar dropped out of the race and endorsed Joe Biden. Beto O’Rourke skateboarded out of hiding to endorse Biden and threw away all of the credibility he’d built up with his “for the people, not PACs, campaign.” Then, on Super Tuesday, Biden won ten states. After Super Tuesday, Mike Bloomberg dropped out and put his billions of dollars and vast media empire behind Joe Biden. Elizabeth Warren has
since dropped out, and despite Biden suggesting J.P. Morgan’s CEO to be Secretary of the Treasury and Bloomberg to be in charge of the World Bank, she says she is unsure of who to endorse. Now, unlike some of my fellow Sanders supporters, I still respect Warren. I think she made some bad calls late in the race, but I still think she would have made a great president. So here’s the pitch: It is time for progressives to unite. If you’re a Warren supporter considering supporting Biden, then you clearly never actually cared about her policies, but simply her aesthetic. If you are willing to give Bernie Sanders a chance, and lend your support to the movement, we can win this thing. The establishment will do everything they can to stop Sanders, and the only way that he can win is by continuing to build the historic coalition that he is building. They have hundreds of millions of dollars at their disposal. We will have the people. When the Not Me, Us Movement beats Trump and saves this country, those who doubted and fought against us will claim to have been with us. Our movement will be big enough to let them. Warren and Sanders supporters are in the same fight, and both groups must come together to build the largest progressive coalition in history. As Senator Sanders said when he endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016, “We are stronger together.”
Jake Dabkowski jcdabko@pointpark.edu
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