2016년 11월 10일 목요일

Response: Obama on Trump: 'We are now all rooting for his success'

Although I am a South Korean, I had a lot of my emotions heavily invested with America's 2016 election. Hillary Clinton had a less aggressive foreign and immigration policy which would be better for Korea's relationship with America and my future plans in going to America for college. So, I did want Hillary Clinton to be the next American President but that didn't happen. Donald Trump won the election and like a lot of other Hillary supporters, I was a bit bitter. However, Obama's speech about the result of the election was really healing, heart warming and positive. He basically said that both Democrats and Republicans are essentially on the same side in trying to make America better- which is true. He also congratulated Trump and promised to make the transition of power nice and easy. The intended target of this article was for all American's who cared about the election and the results. A response from a head figure of the Democratic party was also expected, and Obama did a great job in giving the public one. The writer of the article did have a bias for Obama and so did the publisher (CNN). For their defense, after watching the video myself, I feel like Obama did really give a great and hopeful speech. The purpose of this article was to inform the people that despite all the protests and bitter hearts, Obama himself is hopeful (or trying to be) about the results.

Obama on Trump: 'We are now all rooting for his success'

Washington-(CNN) An emphatically upbeat President Barack Obama promised Wednesday to work toward a "smooth transition" of power to the man he's spent the last year denigrating, insisting that despite his differences with President-elect Donald Trump he would uphold the central tenet of American democracy.
Speaking in the Rose Garden as some of his aides sobbed, Obama made a deliberate effort to counter Democrats' crushing sense of doom at the prospect of four years of President Trump.
    "It is no secret that the President-elect and I have some pretty significant differences," Obama said with Vice President Joe Biden at his side. "We are now all rooting for his success in uniting and leading the country."
    It was a markedly different tone from Monday, when Obama was aggressively campaigning for Hillary Clinton in a final, frantic bid to get her elected. He has said on the campaign trail that Trump is unprepared and "unfit" to be president, and warned that electing him would result in eight years of progress being washed away.
    On Wednesday, Obama didn't mention the long roster of his policies that Trump has vowed to reverse, or the proposals the Republican has suggested that Obama deemed dangerous and un-American.
    Nor did he reprise any of his attacks on Trump's character, which he said during the campaign were un-American.
    Instead, Obama sought to cast the election results as a natural swerve in the nation's political trajectory.
    "The path that this country has taken has never been a straight line," Obama said. "We zig and zag and sometimes we move in ways that some people think is forward and others think is moving back, and that's OK."
    "That's the way politics works sometimes," he said. "We try really hard to persuade people that we're right and then people vote. And then if we lose, we learn from our mistakes, we do some reflection, we lick our wounds, we brush ourselves off, we get back in the arena, we go at it. We try even harder the next time."
    Obama said he wanted to emulate his predecessor, a Republican, in smoothing the transfer of power.
    "The presidency and the vice presidency is bigger than any of us," Obama said.
    Over a hundred White House staff members -- including aides who have worked for Obama since his days as a US senator -- had gathered in the Rose Garden to witness their boss congratulating Trump. But their somber faces weren't reflected in Obama's message of unity going forward.
    "Everybody is sad when their side loses an election, but the day after we have to remember that we're actually all on one team. This is an intramural scrimmage. We're not Democrats first. We're not Republicans first. We are Americans first. We're patriots first," Obama said.
    "We all want what's best for this country," he went on. "That's what I heard in Mr. Trump's remarks last night. That's what I heard when I spoke to him directly. And I was heartened by that."


    Liptak, Kevin, Eugene Scott, and Allie Malloy. "Obama on Trump: 'We Are Now All Rooting for His Success'" CNN. Cable News Network, 9 Nov. 2016. Web. 10 Nov. 2016. <http://edition.cnn.com/2016/11/09/politics/obama-congratulates-trump-on-victory/>.

    2016년 11월 1일 화요일

    Response: What's next: FBI unlikely to conclude Clinton email review prior to election

    I was assigned to post an article relating to American Politics, so I chose one that had to do with the election. To quickly summarize the article, it just talked about the Clinton-email scandal that sprung up again because of newly found evidence in Anthony Weiner's laptop, and how the FBI are not going to make a conclusion before someone becomes president. I feel like it was written to discourage Trump followers and encourage confused Hillary followers. The writer and the organization publishing this article (CNN) is very biased for Hillary Clinton, so there is nothing surprising about the contrasting tittles about the same subject in CNN and Fox News. In my opinion, I do agree the FBI won't have enough time to truly come to a conclusion without illegally disturbing Hillary's campaign. However, I do feel like the uncertainty of the Scandal was a good comeback from Donald Trump's side (especially after the locker room talk scandal) and would effect the election a bit.

    What's next: FBI unlikely to conclude Clinton email review prior to election

    Washington-(CNN)FBI officials are unlikely to finish their review of new emails potentially related to the investigation into Hillary Clinton's private server before the November 8 election.
    Officials are constantly meeting and debating whether there's any more room for them to add clarity without further harming the situation. The initial work of cataloging top Clinton aide Huma Abedin's emails found on her estranged husband Anthony Weiner's laptop could be done in the next few days, US law enforcement officials told CNN.
      But the investigators are expected to spend more time doing other work, including likely coordinating with other federal agencies to determine what -- if any -- classified materials are in the emails. This makes it unlikely there will be a resolution prior to the election.
      "From the beginning, Ms. Abedin has complied fully and voluntarily with State Department and law enforcement requests, including sitting for hours-long interviews and providing her work-related and potentially work-related documents," said Abedin's lawyer, Karen Dunn of Boies, Schiller & Flexner, LLP, in statement to CNN.
      "Ms. Abedin's willing cooperation has been praised by members of Congress and law enforcement officials alike. She only learned for the first time on Friday, from press reports, of the possibility that a laptop belonging to Mr. Weiner could contain emails of hers. While the FBI has not contacted us about this, Ms. Abedin will continue to be, as she always has been, forthcoming and cooperative," Dunn said.
      FBI Director James Comey's decision to notify lawmakers of the review Friday is rocking the final days of the presidential race. Clinton's surrogates along with three former attorneys general have blasted Comey for violating FBI protocol designed to keep the bureau away from election-year politics.
      The investigators are using software comparable to a specialized search engine at FBI facilities in Quantico, Virginia, to try to isolate emails on Weiner's computer that could be pertinent to the Clinton email-server investigation, the law enforcement officials said. Some of that work was done earlier this month when agents conducting the Weiner investigation stumbled on the Abedin emails.
      After that work is done, investigators will examine the emails they believe are relevant to the Clinton investigation to see if they contain classified information and, if so, whether the individuals who sent or received the emails knew the information was classified.
      FBI officials also believe it's possible that investigators might have to conduct another interviewwith Abedin and others.
      Officials say they are providing all the necessary resources to streamline the process given the sense of urgency so close to the election.
      "We are very aware of the pressure on us," one law enforcement official told CNN. "This is not a resource problem."
      In a letter to congressional Democrats Monday, Assistant Attorney General Peter J. Kadzik wrote Monday that the Justice Department is moving as quickly as possible.
      "We assure you that the Department will continue to work closely with the FBI and together, dedicate all necessary resources and take appropriate steps as expeditiously as possible," Kadzik wrote.
      Officials say it's unlikely the public will hear from FBI Director James Comey until it is more clear about the substance of the pertinent emails, the officials said.
      Comey is under fire from Democrats in the wake of his Friday disclosure to lawmakers that the FBI is once again looking into emails potentially tied to its Clinton investigation.
      Clinton's campaign, sensing political danger, is calling on Comey to immediately release more information about the emails.
      White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Monday that Comey had meant to transparentlydisclose information by sending the letter -- but "clearly it had the opposite of the intended effect."
      Comey's revelation left many unanswered questions about the content of the emails and how they could be related to Clinton, at a particularly politically sensitive time for the Democratic nominee eight days out from the election.
      Former US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, a Republican, on Monday slammed Comey, saying his letter was an "error in judgment."
      "You don't comment on investigations because commenting on the investigation may jeopardize the investigation. And that's the box that he's put himself in, because people are now calling for more information -- for release of the emails," Gonzales told CNN's John Berman and Kate Bolduan on "At This Hour."
      Gonzales, who served in the George W. Bush administration, said Comey wouldn't have been misleading voters by withholding the news until after November 8.
      "If you delay the announcement, hopefully it's not going to jeopardize an investigation, it's not going to jeopardize the pursuit of justice, and voters will have the opportunity to vote on Election Day without information that may in fact be incomplete or untrue," he said.
      Eric Holder, the attorney general during much of President Barack Obama's administration, called Comey's action "incorrect" in The Washington Post on Monday.
      "I served with Jim Comey, and I know him well. This is a very difficult piece for me to write. He is a man of integrity and honor. I respect him. But good men make mistakes. In this instance, he has committed a serious error with potentially severe implications," Holder wrote.
      "It is incumbent upon him -- or the leadership of the department -- to dispel the uncertainty he has created before Election Day. It is up to the director to correct his mistake -- not for the sake of a political candidate or campaign but in order to protect our system of justice and best serve the American people."
      Despite the backlash, Comey stands by his decision and believes he did the right thing, according to a source familiar with Comey's thinking. In Comey's view, he was faced with two bad options: Not be upfront with Congress and risk the news leaking out or violating DOJ protocol and living up to his word to Congress to provide any updates related to the investigation.
      He chose the lesser of the two bad choices in his mind.
      "He's doing okay," the source said.