http://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/oregon-shooting-donald-trump-responds-214359
In response to the Oregon shooting, Trump maintained that gun laws are not the issue. "We have millions and millions of sick people in the world...you're going to have difficulty no matter what," he said. He then went on to say it wouldn't be practical to put everyone who poses a threat in an institution for the rest of their lives just because they look like they could cause problems, and that even if our nation would improve the conditions of mental health programs, there will always be people who "slip through the cracks."
First of all, there will always be people who break the laws no matter how strict they are, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't enforce regulations. It's better to have a few people "slip through the cracks" than make it easy for anyone to get through them.
Secondly, I think Trump's point was very weak in that he merely dismissed the issue as something that could never be improved. If restricting guns is not the answer, and neither is improving care for the mentally ill, what is Mr. Trump's proposed solution for this prevalent problem in our nation? It seems to me that he is just dodging the difficult, controversial issues without adding anything substantial to the current argument. He says, "What are you going to do, institutionalize everybody? You're going to have difficulties with many different things...that's the way the world works, and that's the way the world has always worked." This answer makes it sound like Trump is dismissing the issue of guns as an issue that will never be solved anyway, and therefore nothing should be done about it. That's the only way I've ever seen him approach controversial topics in this election. We understand that these are the issues, but we're interested in what the solutions are. If he continues dodging these sensitive topics as they become more and more crucial in the election, he will never be able to win over the trust of the American people.
I also noticed that Trump paid a lot more attention on people "slipping through the cracks" in terms of the mentally-ill and seemingly dismissed the issue of gun control. While there will be people who do "slip through the cracks", saying that this is essentially the way things are is, in my opinion, the wrong approach.
ReplyDeleteI recall the discussion in class where it was said that there have only been 274 days in 2015, yet the number of mass shootings totaled to 294. Instead of putting aside such major issues, we should perhaps more strictly enforce gun control laws. I remember when it was reported that two news reporters were gunned down whilst live on air. The gunman was an ex co-worker who had thrown "tantrums" and had to be escorted out of the studio by police upon his firing. Stricter background checks are needed to ensure that people with these conditions, whether or not they are "mentally-ill", do not receive the resources to cause mass shootings.
The way that Donald Trump presented a dismissal attitude of this serious issue that broke a lot of hearts probably makes many feel horrified and uneasy at how he will handle other, even more serious issues that have to do with the nation...and practically the world. As Zion mentioned, I feel that it is indeed difficult for him to gain the trust of the Americans, especially from the millions of this similar issue's victims' parents. A president should be able to make the nation's people feel safe, not feel uneasy and hopeless. He is rubbing salt into the wounds of the families' hearts when he says, "that's the way the world works." As Mr. Scardino had pointed out, would politicians, such as Trump in this case (that is, if he becomes president) say the same if his own children and family were the victims of this situation? Trump seems to be missing the point that we vote because of the way the world is. We want someone to change that, and that should be the role that he is up for as a candidate for presidency.He is basically telling the nation, "I can't do anything about that. What do you expect me to do? There's nothing I can do about it, so just suck it up and live life the way it comes around." As mentioned, this does not seem like an ideal type of president to respect and trust.
ReplyDeleteI also noticed Trump saying, "Even if you did great mental health programs, people are going to slip through the cracks...it's the same old story. But what are you going to do? Institutionalize everybody?" Why is he asking us? He should be the one who should work to find and compromise a way to solve that issue in readiness for presidency. His attitude and choice of words just shows that he will disregard issues that he decides as unimportant if becoming president. With this kind of person, how would we trust him with the kind of serious and crucial issues such as that of the ISIS?
Trump's response to the Oregon shooting incident really ticked me off. As we discussed in class, the reason trump is gaining so much support is due to the fact that our politicians are failing to resolve the current issues that affect the lives of Americans. despite that, we, as the people, should not be blinded by trump's ignorant remarks and impractical resolutions to the problems our nation is facing. It is evident that the republican candidate does have the essential qualities necessary to become an effective leader. His brash commentaries explicitly show that he has not done any thorough consideration to resolve current issues, one prime example being his endorsement of loose gun control. It seems like trump is only enjoying the media coverage; he has not demonstrated any signs of being an effective leader, and yet, he is leading the national polls
ReplyDeleteI think this is just another example of how Trump tries to dodge issues because he doesn't really have a plan. He notices that gun shootings are a problem but does not have a plan to deal with them so he says that there will alway be people who will fall through the cracks.
ReplyDeleteI made a post about Trump's remarks on gun laws. I took a different stance on the remarks then you did. While I do believe that deaths will decrease, I think by passing stricter gun laws, there will be an increase in illegal guns and crime rates will increase. Mr. Trump said in his remarks that shootings like Oregon and Wisconsin will happen regardless of new laws. In your criticism of his comments you said, "It's better to have a few people "slip through the cracks" than make it easy for anyone to get through them." This proves Trumps point that shootings will happen. Through the temperance movement I think we are able to see the detrimental effect that removing something present to people for thousands of years can have.
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