The Statesmen

With everything going on in the world, it's easy to lose track of the important issues going on in the world. For this edition of Articles that Make You Smarter, I wanted to share three articles that would give some perspective on three major issues in America. I hope you read and enjoy: Why statehood matters: The House of Representatives approved a bill that would recognize Washington D.C. as the 51st state of the country. While the Senate will more than likely shoot the bill down, here's an article by The Gaurdian that explains everything surrounding the bid for statehood:  https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/25/washington-dc-statehood-bid-house The United States and Policing: What's going on in America with policing doesn't just happen in a bubble. Here's a great article by The New Republic about how our country sets the standard for policing across the world: https://newrepublic.com/article/158297/america-exports-police-violence-around-world A new surge

By ALEX After a litany of setbacks handed to the Trump Administration by the Supreme Court, some good news for has finally come. On Wednesday a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered Judge Emmet Sullivan to dismiss a felony-false statement charge he gave during Robert Mueller's probe into Trump/Russian ties. The decision was split 2-1 along ideological lines. The majority opinion written by Judge Neomi Rao - a Trump appointee- said that allowing the case to continue would intrude on the executive branch's prerogatives to control criminal prosecutions. She went further by saying that scheduling a hearing was improper under the circumstances because there was no reason to doubt the government's prosecution decisions during the case. “Each of our three coequal branches should be encouraged to self-correct when it errs. If evidence comes to light calling into question the integrity or purpose of an underlying criminal investigation, the Executive Branch

BY ALEX A federal judge in Maryland denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by families who were denied coronavirus checks because their parents were undocumented on Friday. U.S. District Judge Paul Grimm rules that even though the children, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of their parents, aren't receiving the checks - they have been directly harmed by it. The judge also rejected the government's motion to dismiss the lawsuit on the grounds that it was immune to these kinds of constitutional claims and that families couldn't sue for money damages. Some have argued that the CARES act, which was signed on March 27,  is inherently unconstitutional because the law requires anyone receiving the money to have a social security number to be eligible for the max payment of $1,200 and an additional $500 for each dependent claimed. This requirement singles out undocumented immigrants who aren't authorized to work but can still file taxes using a separate identification number

By ALEX  Investigators at both the United States Department of Justice and the F.B.I are looking into the noose found in NASCAR Driver Bubba Wallace's garage stall at the Talledega Motor Speedway found Sunday. The investigation will be to determine if any federal law was broken, according to an announcement from the DoJ. "The U.S. Attorney's office for the Northern District of Alabama, FBI and the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division are reviewing the situation surrounding the noose that was found in Bubba Wallace's garage to determine whether there are violations of federal law. Regardless of whether federal charges can be brought, this type of action has no place in our society," reads a statement released by the DoJ. NASCAR has also announced an internal investigation into the matter and condemning what happened as a "heinous act." The organization has come under fire recently after announcing that it would no longer allow confederate flags at

It shouldn't come as any shock to people but I am not the smartest person. Most my articles take about an hour or so to research and write so that I have a clear understanding of facts to base my opinions on.  So with this in mind, I'm starting a new periodic series called "Articles that Make You Smarter," in which I will post links to a few stories that will help enlighten your point of view. Sometimes they will be culturally relevant, sometimes they will be interesting reads and sometimes they will be entertaining. Here are some stories you should read this weekend: In honor of Juneteenth: With everything going on with Black Lives Matter, President Trump had the bright idea of scheduling a rally for June 19 in Tulsa. For those of you not in the know, this is a triple whammy for the president who has notoriously been on the wrong side of racial issues. Not only is June 19, Juneteenth day when slaves from Texas realized they were free but Tulsa is the sight of a riot

(unenthusiastically) He did what? Today numerous media outlets including the Washington Post, the New York Times and the Wallstreet Jurnal got their hands on copies of former National Security Advisor John Bolton's new book "The Room Where it Happened." The controversial book, which the Trump Administration is currently suing to block outlines several concerning actions that President Trump has taken during the last few years. The Wall Street Journal published an entire chapter of the book about Trump's dealings with China. You know it's bad when the Wall Street Journal says "to hell with it," and publishes an entire freaking chapter of the book. Can you imagine a journalist being so exhausted from the kind of things that this administration has done that they just straight-up publish the source material to make it easier on themselves? Here are some of the things the book outlines: -President Trump tried getting Chinese President Xi Jinping to buy more

For all his faults, President Trump does have some bright moments. For example, today he signed an executive order that outlines the White House plans for police reform in our country. The order includes the groundwork for a national police database for misconduct as well as new guidelines for use of force and de-escalation. The legislation also gives social workers a larger role in responding to specific issues. The action is almost a 180 for the Republican administration. Remember when he called Colin Kaepernick a sonofabitch? Remember when he told cops not to be "too nice," to people under arrest in 2017? Remember literally days ago when he urged governors to send in the national guard to squash the protests? Of course, Democrats including media outlets like Vox.com have pointed out that this bill falls short of what many activists are calling for: "Trump’s executive order is less bold than the transformative changes many activists have called for as the antiracism p

In today's media/blogoshpere, it's hard to believe that just one thing can take the cake as biggest WTF news bit of the day. I mean, people brave enough to keep up with what's going on could read an awesome story about Beyonce writing a letter urging officials to look into Breonne Taylor's death to President Trump actually saying that if there were fewer tests we'd see fewer COVID-19 cases in America if any. That's like saying if we just closed our eyes, we'd see fewer petitions to see the Zack Snyder cut of Justice League if any. It's still going to be there and we all have to accept that it's going to happen and adjust our lives accordingly. However, I think I found the WTF story of the day. Today, it was reported by Buzzfeed that six eBay executives targeted and allegedly terrorized a middle-aged couple because of extremely critical articles the two wrote for their newsletter.  The executives at the company sent the couple disturbing packages li

Photo by Brianna Swank The Supreme Court ruled Monday in a 6-3 decision that existing anti-discrimination laws that prevent job discrimination based on sexual orientation. The now federal law also extends protection to transgender workers. In the majority opinion authored by Justice Neil Gorsuch, states that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which makes it illegal for employers to discriminate based on sex also protects gay and lesbian workers from discrimination. This decision is huge because the majority of the Supreme Court is conservative and even more so because some of those judges were appointed by President Trump - including Gorsuch. This is also coming from the fact that the Trump administration argued the law did not cover sexual orientation. What I'm more interested in that one of the main arguments to rule in favor of allowing employers to not hire workers based on their sexual orientation is that it infringed on religious rights. Essentially it was the beli

The DoJ's quest to get former national security advisor Michael Flynn off the hook for lying about conversations he had with the Russian ambassador to the United States has hit another snag. In his brief filed today, former U.S. District Judge John Gleeson tore into a request by the government to dismiss the case by calling the request "clear evidence of a gross abuse of prosecutorial power," and that the government has "has engaged in highly irregular conduct to benefit a political ally of the president." Gleeson was appointed by Judge Emmet Sullivan as a friend of the court to review the request to dismiss the case. While this was his opinion on the matter, it Sullivan and an appeals court whether to accept the motion, according to the Associated Press. The judge, who was also a former federal prosecutor in New York said that the DoJ's request is  "riddled with errors of law and fact and they depart from positions that the government has taken in othe

Photo courtesy of Anna Shvets Experts at the World Health Organization believe there is a strong chance that there will be a second wave of the COVID019 pandemic. Dr. Soumya Swaminathan told CNBC's "Street Signs Asia," on Tuesday that it's unclear that there will be a second wave, peak, or a continuing first wave since numbers haven't really dropped since countries have begun reopening. "Now, the moment you start having that mixing again, there's every chance that the transmission could restart," she said, noting that the virus is still in the community. She also noted that extreme social distancing and lockdowns have so far halted the spread. Which, of course means we're totally going to have a second wave of the pandemic hit the U.S. Think about it, we barely made it two months before white people had to grab their semi-automatic pitchforks and scream safely at police to re-open the country because we needed haircuts. We ar

This one is a doozy. After a rough four days, CrossFit CEO Greg Glassman has "retired" following an insensitive joke he made on twitter and a Zoom call held on Saturday - literally hours before his tweet - that he wasn't mourning the death of George Floyd. "Can you tell me why I should mourn him? Other than it's the white thing to do - either than that, give me another reason," Glassman said during the video, which was obtained by Buzzfeed News. This following a joke he made on Twitter after racism was declared a public health crisis calling it "Floyd-19." The backlash was so immediate that brands like Reebok pulled out of its partnership with the franchise. It's my personal belief that not every business in the country needs to come out and make a statement about what's going on right now. Sometimes, it can really seem like pandering or a ploy to line corporate pockets.  Why a gym franchise would need to say

Photo by Bill Jacobsen Today President Trump floated a rumor on Twitter that Martin Gugino, the man who was pushed by Buffalo police last Thursday during a protest was an antifa provocateur . Yes, that man pictured above who looks like he doesn't have a violent bone in his body except for the fact that he probably makes a mean rib roast and works the hell out of his front lawn. In a post that immediately drew the ire of media, democrats and people with hearts, President Trump cited far-right cable news network OANN that suggested that the 75-year-old man was pushed away after appearing to scan police communications in order blackout equipment. He then went on to say that the man, who again is 75 years old, fell harder than he was pushed and it may have been a setup. Is anyone keeping track of how many rules President Trump has broken on Twitter ? I'm pretty sure this tweet counts as targeted harassment and promotes hateful conduct. How low do you have to

While President Trump and his allies have taken a victory lap over the country's increase in employment nationwide in May, another number also saw a shocking jump. Today, it was reported by the World Health Organization that the number of new daily COVID-19 cases hit a high on Sunday. More than 100,000 new cases have been reported on nine of the last ten days said  Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during a press briefing held today. "Yesterday, more than 136,000 cases were reported - the most in a single day so far," he said, noting that three-quarters of the cases came from the Americas and South Asia.  Unsurprisingly enough the two countries contributing the most to the new increase in cases are Brazil and wait for it - The United States! Honestly, I feel like this shouldn't have come as a shock to people but I'm sure it will. This is a pandemic, it's not like cleaning your room, you can't just hide your junk under the bed and hop

Today house democrats introduced t he Justice in Policing Act, which would hold police departments across the nation more accountable for their actions by stripping away some of their protections. The legislation would also c reate a national database of excessive-force incidents and ban police chokeholds. The legislation would also  revise the federal criminal police misconduct statute to make it easier to prosecute officers who are knowingly involved in reckless misconduct and seek to provide greater transparency on police behavior according to the AP News. To put it bluntly, as much as I want this legislation to get make ground, it is a long shot pipe dream to get put into law. This is because the senate is majority Republican and will more than likely shoot it down or have it stripped or include poison pill amendments to it, despite Senator Lindsey Graham and Majority Senate Leader Mitch McConnell vowing to look at the issues.  What do you think? -Alex 

It seemed like an impossible task, like carrying water in your bare hands up a mountain and trying not to spill any. Still, protestors marching in Minneapolis have started to make massive waves in how the justice system works in their city. As reported by The New York Times , nine members of the Minneapolis City Council vowed yesterday to dismantle the city's police force in the wake of George Floyd's death at the hands of police officer's two weeks ago. Nine members of the council announced during a gathering that the city's policing system was beyond reform and would instead focus on implementing a community-based system of justice.  While massive, it is unclear right now what specifically that will look like. What makes this especially interesting is just before this announcement, the city's Mayor Jacob Frey hesitated and then rejected the idea of abolishing the police department when asked at a rally on Saturday. While the council does control

I've been called a lot of things in life. Liberal hack, fake news media and jackass ranks up there pretty high. Some of the things that I've been called few and far in between are dishonest, liar, coward. My hope as the creator of The Statesmen, a news/politics/and opinion blog, is that those words lacking in what defines who I am reflect this website. But first, a small introduction of who I am and why I'm writing this. My name is Alex and I am a moderate liberal/populist that studied journalism at Kent State University and developed a love for politics during my senior year. I grew up in a conservative house, car rides homes with my father involved long quiet rides as Rush Limbaugh filled the car. For most of my life I considered myself a Republican until I didn't anymore. That isn't to say that I hate everything they do and I certainly don't like everything that Democrats do either. It goes without saying (but I will anyway) but the