February 19, 2020 | The Clarion
Opinion
Page 5
Wake up. Democrats!
By Eleanor Flannery
Sports Editor
Once again, it seems as though the DNC is
bending over backwards to delegitimize Senator
Bemie Sanders’s 2020 Presidential campaign.
In 2016, the Democratic Party wanted
Hillary Clinton to go up against Trump for the
presidency, which successfully screwed over
democratic candidate hopeful, Bemie Sanders,
who was projected to beat Tmmp according to
nearly every poll. Sadly, it feels like a similar
story is brewing.
In a recent interview with Hillary Clinton
by The Hollywood Reporter promoting her
new documentary on Hulu, Clinton voiced her
thoughts on Sanders. She had the gall to assert
that he was unliked throughout the party and
used divisive rhetoric in an attempt to slander
his name.
“Nobody likes him, nobody wants to work
with him, he got nothing done. He was a career
politician,” Clinton said. “It’s all just baloney,
and I feel so bad that people got sucked into it.”
When asked by The Reporter recently if that
assessment still held, she replied, “Yes, it does.”
I was sincerely shocked when she made these
claims, especially when considering the fact that
Bemie was quick to announce his support of
Clinton when she won the nomination in 2016, at
the Democratic National Convention. Of course
she wasn’t his ideal pick, but he endorsed her
because it was the right thing to do; to quote her
own campaign’s motto, democrats are “Stronger
Together.”
Filmmaker, Michael Moore, had some thoughts
on Hillary’s attack. “Hillary's comments about
Bemie... that only exists to help Donald Trump,"
Moore said in an interview with MSNBC. "It
was divisive, it was cmel and it was a lie."
I agree, and according to recent polls, so
does the majority of democratic voters, with
Bemie recently overtaking Biden on the national
level. Bemie specifically appeals to voters aged
18-34, who undoubtedly hold the future of the
democratic party. Maybe we should listen to
them.
As a democrat. I’m frustrated; democrats
pride themselves on being the party that is
non-divisive, yet actively do things that divide
the party. I am sick and tired of it. I want to be
enthusiastic about the democratic nominee, and
only a few of the remaining hopefuls give me
that feeling. I just hope the party will make the
right decision.
Democrats win elections when voters are
excited for a candidate. Past democratic
presidents, such as Bill Clinton and Barack
Obama, capmred voters’ attention, and brought
folks out to the polls because they inspired
Americans to believe in and advocate for
change. I don’t understand why the DNC thinks
pushing safe candidates to mn, those like Joe
Biden and Amy Klobuchar, is the winning route
to take in order to get a democrat into the White
House in 2020.
Unfortunately, I believe neither Biden nor
Klobuchar is strong enough to beat Trump.
Democrats need someone who is tough, who
not only will ignore Trump’s antics on the
debate stage, but will excite the party and bring
something new to the table. I’m sick of the
same-old-same-old; it’s time for change.
'Boys will be boys'
By Julie Carter
Opinion Editor
On Feb. 12, former defensive backs for Ohio
State football Amir Riep and Jahsen Wint were
arrested for rape and kidnapping following
an incident that occurred on Feb. 4. In the
allegations, Wint and Riep were said to have
forced a woman into vaginal and oral sex before
forcing her to say the encounter was consensual
on video. The woman was then instructed to
shower by the men before they took her home.
Ohio State issued a statement following the
arrest of Riep and Wint, stating the men were
suspended from all campus activities. Ohio State
head football coach Ryan Day later dismissed
the pair from the football program, citing their
failure to “live up to our standards and my
expectations.”
In court, Karl Schneider, Riep’s attorney,
stated that his client was “sad and depressed”
over being released from the football program.
Both Riep and Wint pled not guilty. Riep’s
bond was set at $100,000 while Wint’s was set
at $75,000.
The judge presiding over the case also
stipulated that the men have no contact with each
other nor the victim. The pair are also barred
from speaking about the victim on social media.
Both men have since posted bond.
Every part of this case is absolutely outrageous.
Ohio State’s first response to two of its
students being arrested for felony rape and
kidnapping charges was to suspend them from
campus activities. Ridiculous.
The men didn’t “live up to expectations.”
Those are some pretty low expectations.
Riep only really cares that he was dismissed
from football. Too bad.
They were able to post bond within hours.
Shameful.
Perhaps the most gut-wrenching part of this
whole case is none of that though. It is the
fact that, while filming the woman they just
assaulted, they laughed at her. Laughed.
How self-assured does one have to be that they
feel confident enough to film another human
being they just hurt? The laughter rubs salt into
the open wound of the pain they just inflicted.
Riep and Wint must have felt so self-confldent,
hiding behind the mentality of “boys will be
boys.” We as a society have given too many
men a pass behind this false sense of “justice.”
We hide behind the all-too-thin veil of “innocent
until proven guilty” while failing to recognize
the human being behind the crime.
Women are not your victims, your things that
have been defiled. They are people. If you are
not outraged on that basis alone, you surely need
to reevaluate your true sense of morality.
Photo from InsideHook