The Wessex Wire

The Student News Site of West Essex Regional High School

The Wessex Wire

The Wessex Wire

Opinion: The lesser of two evils will replace Obama

By Heath Kalb ’18

The last eight years have gone by way too quickly for many. President Barack Obama’s time in office is coming to an end, and our future president will have large shoes to fill.

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(Photo courtesy of Marc Nozell CC BY-SA 2.0)

Obama will leave office this January with a debatable legacy. While some still falsely believe he is a communist Muslim who loves to raise taxes for no reason and allow illegals and terrorists to enter the country, informed voters tend to think otherwise.

He’s accomplished a great deal, even with a Congress that is known to not listen or collaborate with him. Among his largest achievements include the legalization of same-sex marriage, renewed relations with Cuba, millions of more citizens acquiring health care, taking a worldwide lead in combating climate change and most notably leading America out of our worst economic downturn since the Great Depression while adding millions of jobs and lowering the unemployment to under 5 percent.

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(Photo Courtesy of Gage Skidmore CC BY-SA 2.0)

Unfortunately, we are about to elect a new president … and America’s options are not looking too promising. Unsurprisingly, many voters are naming their choice for the 45th president the “lesser of two evils.”
America’s choices for president are either an egotistical obnoxious sexist tangerine or a controversial and horribly corrupt career politician. While obviously I’m referencing Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, there are third party options. The Libertarian candidate, Gary Johnson, has some support, usually polling around 7 percent nationally, although not being in the debates and his lack of familiarity with Syrian geography has derailed his chances. The only other noteworthy candidate is the Green party’s nominee, Jill Stein, and she is unfortunately polling even worse than Johnson.
There are a plethora of reasons why I would never support Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Aside from outlandish policy proposals such as an impractical border wall, I am legitimately worried for a potential Trump presidency just as millions of others are. According to a poll run by the Associated Press and public opinion group GfK, 56 percent of Americans say they are afraid of a Trump presidency — and for good reason.
A common argument for Trump supporters is that he is an outsider who is not a politician and that is what America needs. While someone not in the political establishment does sound appealing to me, it doesn’t sound appealing when that man is someone who says whatever he wants, is unknown in international politics, makes decisions based on his emotions and is considered a laughingstock to the majority of the world.
In addition to this, Trump has made a career of ripping off his workers, never paying taxes and outsourcing everything from his wives to his ties.
Furthermore while he is all against radical Islam, his Islamophobic statements and beliefs would serve as an ISIS propaganda tool suggesting that the West is waging a war against the entire religion of Islam.
Another core belief among Trump supporters is that his aversion to politically correct vocabulary will bring up issues otherwise not spoken about and will end our culture in America of political correctness. This is yet another idea that in theory sounds great but has no basis in reality.
Trump’s politically incorrect ramblings can often be found on his Twitter feed. He has a variety of bizarre tweets and retweets. He has retweeted white supremacists and often tweets the first thing that pops into his head, regardless of factual accuracy. For example Trump wrote in 2012 on his twitter that climate change is a hoax created by the Chinese.
Just ask yourself, do you honestly think it would be good for a whole generation of kids to look up to a president that has mocked the disabled, has called Mexicans rapists and criminals, curses regularly and brags about grabbing female genitals without consent?
The Democratic presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, has an impressive political resume and is certainly qualified for the presidency, but she herself has her fair share of reasons not to be supported. In this bizarre election I would vote for Clinton, although the only reason being is that she is not Donald Trump. In my opinion, she is not someone to be trusted. In fact 68 percent of people believe she isn’t honest or trustworthy, according to a CNN Poll than ran in early September.
Clinton’s whole political career has been filled with controversy. While “crooked Hillary” has extensive experience, she has committed horrible acts. She has taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from special interests, was involved in Benghazi, Whitewater, her email scandal, allegedly collaborated with the DNC to rig the primaries and supposedly she has been silencing accusers of Bill Clinton for decades.
Clinton has the potential to become the first female president. This sounds great and something that has been long in the waiting for an increasingly progressive country. Even though she is a self described feminist, while she was secretary of state she took thousands of dollars from nations such as Saudi Arabia that would execute women and wouldn’t allow them to be educated among other disgusting policies.
Additionally she is notorious for flip flopping on policy. She used to support the Iraq war, traditional marriage and universal health care and now she doesn’t.
Much has been down the last eight years to benefit the country. Sadly whoever is the next president will be replacing Barack Obama who, in my opinion, will be looked upon one day as one of our best presidents ever. His accomplishments in the White House will presumably make either Clinton’s or Trump’s presidency look abysmal.

 

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