Gillian Daley/ Contributing Writer
As we near the anniversary of the 2016 presidential elections — also known as the Election that broke Washington — some people may begin to notice that they’re experiencing some mild stress.
It’s reasonable — anniversaries are, after all, monumental events and this has been a particularly interesting year for those of us who have tried to keep up with the breaking news headlines coming out of Washington.
Distressing as it may be, it’s important for us as constituents, voters and Americans to keep abreast of the developments coming from POTUS.
So as we welcome in the anniversary of one of the most degenerative and divisive election nights in the history of this great nation, I think we could all do with a little trip down memory lane.
Whether you simply haven’t been able to keep up with the day-to-day Trump bombshells or you just need a reminder of the major social policy retrogrades happening under Trump’s watch, it’s important that we utilize this time to remind ourselves of what is happening in Washington.
January was the month we were introduced to the Muslim Ban. It may not be called a Muslim Ban, but it was a travel ban on seven countries with predominantly Muslim populations. So yes, it was very much a ban on Muslims.
Was it an effective alternative to actually vetting refugees and immigrants? No. Was it a ridiculous, fundamentally un-American attempt to discriminate entire nations based upon the faith of their citizens? Yes.
In July, we saw the transgender Ban. As the first president in recorded history who uses Twitter to announce his plans for major legislative action, Donald J. Trump decided that it was a good idea to tweet out a proposal to ban an entire segment of the population from military service.
Despite tweeting claims of running the idea by unnamed “generals,” General Joseph F. Dunford reported that he specifically advised white house officials against it, according to latimes.com.
August saw the College Campus Sexual Assault Rollback. For those of you who don’t know, Betsy DeVos is the woefully unqualified Trump pick for the U.S Secretary of the Education Department.
She was handpicked by Trump despite her lack of understanding how the U.S. public school system works on multiple occasions. There’s also the fact that she potentially has a sizeable financial conflict of interest in her duties as the Secretary of the Department of Education, according to U.S news.
Early this year Betsy DeVos was responsible for undoing some major policies about how universities are required to respond to allegations of rape and other forms of sexual assault.
These rollbacks on the Obama Era Policy has “In effect weaken sexual violence protections,” said Janet Napolitano, the former secretary of Homeland Security and current president of the University of California. “[And] prompt confusion among campuses about how best to respond to reports of sexual violence and sexual harassment, and unravel the progress that so many schools have made.”
And then there was October and DACA. This one is a real kicker. For those of you who don’t know, DACA stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or colloquially known as the Dreamers Act.
Earlier last month, Trump moved to end the program, which was created under the Obama administration in order to protect undocumented children and young adults who have spent their entire lives in the United States.
Bearing the election anniversary in mind, now more than ever, it is important for everyone [Democrat or Republican] to take stock of what is being done in Washington.
On this election anniversary we need to be able to, begrudgingly as ever, remember that #NotMyPresident will not be enough to carry us on for three more years.
Mr. Trump’s actions have become an epidemic in this country, and it is our civic duty to keep abreast of developments coming out of Washington so that we can hold our elected officials accountable for what they do.
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The opinions presented within this page do not represent the views of Panther Press Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect individual perspectives of contributing writers and/or members of the University community.
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