The Giannini Politics Update, 1st edition

By Ishaan Bhattacharya
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​Welcome to the Giannini Beacon Gazette Politics Update! Today we’ll be discussing three current events. The first one regards our president, Donald J. Trump’s ultimately senseless Iran Nuclear Deal mess. Next we’ll talk about problems in the NFL related to our president. Lastly, we’ll move on to the relationship between Trump and North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-Un.

President Trump announced recently his decision to disavow the Iranian nuclear deal. He threatened to leave the deal altogether if it was not amended to permanently block Tehran from building nuclear weapons or intercontinental missiles. The President has called the nuclear deal “the worst deal ever” which shows why he wants to destroy it.

Secondly, recently, national anthem protests are becoming more popular. Although you may wonder how this topic relates to current events and politics, our president, Donald J. Trump, has been known to influence these protests. On October 23, Donald Trump tweeted, “Two dozen NFL players continue to kneel during the National Anthem, showing total disrespect to our Flag and Country. No leadership in NFL!” This tweet caused more Democrats to support the idea that professional sports leagues should NOT require their players to stand up for the national anthem (from 58% to 71%). The number of all adults supporting the idea increased as well (from 43% to 51%). However, the number of Republicans with this opinion has decreased from 25% to 18%. This sudden focus on the NFL’s issue is a predictable change considering that the President has shifted his focus towards it.

Lastly, on November 8th, the North Korean State Media declared that President Trump should be “sentenced to death” for calling North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un “short and fat.” Trump was described as an “old lunatic, mean trickster and human reject.” The editorial published in Rodong Sinmun, the state’s ruling party newspaper, called Trump a “hideous criminal” for attempting to unite world leaders against Kim Jong Un and for later insulting the dictator.

“The worst crime for which [Trump] can never be pardoned is that he dared [to] malignantly hurt the dignity of the supreme leadership,” the editorial stated. “Trump, who is no more than an old slave of money, dared point an accusing finger at the sun.” It added, “[Trump] should know that he is just a hideous criminal sentenced to death by the Korean people.”

“Why would Kim Jong-Un insult me by calling me ‘old,’ when I would NEVER call him
‘Short and fat’?” Trump tweeted in reply. The editorial also took notice of the fact that Trump failed to tour the demilitarized zone dividing the two Koreas - a traditional stop-off for senior U.S. officials visiting the south. Trump’s helicopter taking him there turned back after just five minutes due to bad weather - an explanation the newspaper dismissed. “It wasn’t the weather,” the editorial stated. “He was just too scared to face the glaring eyes of our troops.”

Thank you for reading this edition of the Giannini Politics Update and be sure to read the next article for more information on politics!


Note: All these opinions are those of Ishaan Bhattacharya.

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