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The Inevitable Chaos of Politics

Hello!

In just a week, I will be embarking on my flight to Paris. My excitement is tempered by the chilling dread that comes with unknown experiences. I feel like I won't fully be "ready for study abroad" until I get there.

Since I am currently staying away from social media, I have been using NPR's Up First and the NPR Politics Podcast to keep up with what is happening in the world. Friday was such a wild day in the news. Like, first of all, Roger Stone was indicted in the Russia investigation. Roger Stone is one of the strangest and most intriguing figures in politics today. If you haven't heard of Roger Stone, I highly recommend watching the Netflix documentary Get Me Roger Stone. The film discusses his biography and his role in the rise of Donald Trump. Roger Stone worked for the Nixon campaign and was involved in the Watergate scandal. (He even has a tattoo of Nixon on his back!) He also worked for Ronald Reagan's presidential campaign. Roger Stone is a longtime friend of Donald Trump, and he pressed Trump to run for office for several election cycles. Even though he stopped working for the Trump campaign officially in 2015, he never really stopped being involved in Trump's campaign and presidency. And now this man has been indicted for allegedly being asked by the Trump campaign to communicate with Wikileaks about the Podesta emails!

Then, of course, we had the news that the government shutdown will be ending shortly for a three-week period in which President Trump and Congress will try to reach a compromise. Everything about Donald Trump exhausts and upsets me, but his insistence on a border wall particularly grinds my gears. I absolutely believe that we need to focus our efforts on immigration reform. We need a path to citizenship, and to end the senseless detention of undocumented immigrants. Besides, a wall is an expensive and ineffective remedy for this problem. Most undocumented immigrants come over by plane, and border walls have not been effective in the past. I am frustrated that our government was shut down because of Trump's insistence on a senseless proposal, and I am not optimistic that they will reach a compromise when the government is reopened.

In the midst of this whole debacle, I am trying to keep an eye on the Democratic presidential candidates for 2020. With a playing field so saturated with candidates, it honestly feels as if any one of them could take the primary by the luck of the draw. Still, my inexperienced and unprofessional opinion is that many candidates will pull out of the race before the primaries are in full swing, as Richard Ojeda did this week.

As you can tell, I am trying to remain hopeful about the future of this nation as I prepare to leave it for France.

Best wishes,
Lydia

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