Opinion

SHOHAM GEVA
EDITOR IN CHIEF

CLAIRE BRYAN

AND REGAN DETWILER
EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS

LAURA SCHINAGLE
MANAGING EDITOR

420 Maynard St.

Ann Arbor, MI 48109

tothedaily@michigandaily.com

Edited and managed by students at

the University of Michigan since 1890.

Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s editorial board.

All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4A — Tuesday, January 19, 2016

H

is
rhetoric,
passionate;

his rallies, electric; his
supporters, eclectic. Sen.

Bernie
Sand-

ers has captured
the hearts and
minds of exas-
perated
voters

across the coun-
try who want to
restructure our
economy to bet-
ter enfranchise
people
of
all

classes,
colors

and creeds. This
makes him the
best available candidate for secre-
tary of labor.

Now, I know, Americans don’t

actually vote for secretary of labor.
The secretary of labor is nominated
by the president and then approved
by the Senate. That being said, Sen.
Sanders, with his impassioned focus
throughout his political career on
leveling the economic playing field,
makes an excellent appointee.

Sen. Sanders is, in fact, running

for president. I wholeheartedly
agree with his goals of “a progres-
sive economic agenda that creates
jobs, raises wages, protects the
environment and provides health-
care for all.” I also agree with
his desire to advance the social
services that our global partners
have had for years, allowing for
lower rates of incarceration, lower
income inequality and better health
outcomes for less money. Many of
these goals fit within the mandate
of a secretary of labor, however,
more so than that of the president.

The president has a greater

responsibility. In addition to cul-
tivating an environment in which
all Americans have the tools and
opportunity to live up to their
potential, a president needs to
maintain America’s image abroad.
To do so, a president of the United
States must demand respect on the
world stage. They must have intri-
cate knowledge of both how to
make our country a better place to

live in and how to tackle problems
that involve a diverse set of global
stakeholders with vastly different
histories, cultures and social envi-
ronments.

Now, I understand that as a

child of immigrants who has lived
abroad, I may approach this issue
with a slightly different perspec-
tive. It is a perspective, however,
that I feel is important when con-
sidering your choice for our next
president.

Growing up in South Africa, my

friends and I saw the United States
in its best light. We saw a country of
plenty with the resources to provide
its citizens with the opportunity to
achieve their dreams. Moving to
the United States, and the accom-
panying experiences, has slowly
exposed the naiveté of my idealistic
fantasy, but I still hold that how the
United States is portrayed abroad
is important strategically and a
responsibility of the president.

President George W. Bush’s

years in office exposed some of
the worst sides of America to the
world at large. We saw unchecked
military oversteps and govern-
ment-endorsed — or at least not
government-condemned
—
sci-

entific denial. Conversely, Presi-
dent Obama, in my opinion, has
restored some trust in the United
States through his global leader-
ship. He negotiated the Iran deal
and played a pivotal role in the
recent climate change COP21 con-
ference. While not everything he
has done has worked to restore
global trust in the United States
(for example, his use of drones),
there have been concrete steps
taken in the right direction.

In this respect, I feel that Sen.

Sanders is unprepared. While his
nuanced grasp of our stacked deck
of an economy is admirable, his
failure to demonstrate any desire to
take on foreign policy questions is
concerning.

The advantages of a healthy glob-

al image, while it may seem unim-
portant to an average American,

provides us with not only increased
security and an increased ability to
shape global affairs, but also with an
inflow of migrants who propel our
economy forward — drawn, like my
parents, to the opportunity of better
lives for their children. Creating and
nurturing that image takes time, and
given Sen. Sanders’s lack of global
name recognition and experience, I
am not yet sure he is the best candi-
date to continue President Obama’s
progress on this front.

Secretary Hillary Clinton cer-

tainly has the poise and expertise to
effectively maintain and strength-
en our image abroad. She is, howev-
er, not without her drawbacks. The
Clinton name, for one, is haunted by
past controversy. Her association
with Establishment American poli-
tics may be as much of a liability as
it is an asset in our current political
climate. Lastly, her trustworthi-
ness rating among potential voters
is frighteningly low.

That being said, it seems presi-

dential elections are as much about
persona as they are about grasp of
the issues. Judging by Secretary
Clinton’s most recent debate perfor-
mance, in addition to her mastery
of both domestic and international
issues, she can successfully weave
together policy and emotion to
make a succinct argument for how
to move forward as a country.

At this point in the election sea-

son, I am highly conflicted. While
I recognize the importance of Sen.
Sanders’ domestic message, his
seeming lack of interest in global
affairs discredits him on the world
stage and makes him a better candi-
date for secretary of labor than for
president. Secretary Clinton has a
complete grasp of the responsibili-
ties of the presidency, but she needs
to prove that her missteps will stay
in the past.

The primary is not until March,

though; plenty of time to start feel-
ing the Bern …

—Danny Sack can be reached

at sackd@umich.edu.

Bernie for secretary of labor

Claire Bryan, Regan Detwiler, Caitlin Heenan,

Jeremy Kaplan, Ben Keller, Minsoo Kim, Payton Luokkala,

Aarica Marsh, Anna Polumbo-Levy, Jason Rowland,

Lauren Schandevel, Melissa Scholke, Rebecca Tarnopol,

Ashley Tjhung, Stephanie Trierweiler,

Mary Kate Winn, Derek Wolfe

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS

T

hursday night’s GOP primary debate
was business as usual. “The Donald”
was loud and off the cuff, squab-

bling with Ted Cruz over
poll numbers in Iowa.
We were reminded of the
real challenges facing the
United States, like The
New York Times and Hill-
ary Clinton. As a proud
son of New Jersey, every
fiber in my being wanted
to disown Chris Christie
when he spoke, and Ben
Carson seemed to hover
somewhere
between
a

casual nap and the deep-
est of REM cycles.

To the naked eye skimming headlines Fri-

day morning, the contest on Fox Business
Network was standard operating procedure.
With one big exception — moderators Neil
Cavuto and Maria Bartiromo offered the most
unabashedly biased performance in the pres-
idential primaries to date. They asked ques-
tions that played to Republicans’ strengths,
they neglected to ask follow-ups and kept
the conversation centered on the candidates’
strengths — national security, gun rights and
Obama-bashing.

The softballs started early with a ques-

tion to Gov. Christie regarding appropriate
use of military action
by a president, a ques-
tion worthy of any pri-
mary debate. That is,
if the question had not
been so loaded. Bar-
tiromo
prefaced
her

inquiry
with
discus-

sion of Iran’s capture
of
American
sailors,

North Korea’s nuclear
ambitions, “an aggres-
sive China,” a deterio-
rating Middle East and
a stronger ISIS. “Some-
times,” she continued,
teeing it up for Christie.
“It seems the world is
on fire.” Offering a clearly alarmed summa-
ry of evil in the world, coaxing Christie into
his bread and butter of fear mongering and
“no-nonsense” statements, Bartiromo’s ques-
tion simplified the complexities of national
security and military engagement beyond
all reason. How do we keep Americans safe?
Strengthen the military. Talk to our allies. It’s
that easy!

Later, Trump was asked about whether

or not, if he should win the White House, he
could unite the Republican Party. The mod-
erators waited politely as the front-runner
chose to dance around the question, reciting
a slice of his stump speech on incompetence
and anger. Time constraints then (supposed-
ly) forbade Bartiromo’s follow-up that anyone
at home might have phrased, “Did you even
try to answer the question, or were you dis-
tracted by a bumblebee while I asked it and
decided to just spout your usual nonsense?”

To be fair, Cavuto spoke up and asserted,

“That wasn’t my question” before Marco
Rubio picked up too much steam when
attempting to pivot from a question on the
Common Core to national security. I was
ready to chalk this one up to seven politicians,
whose bad habit of not answering questions
was exacerbated by the pressure and fanfare
of the approaching Iowa caucuses. The mod-
erators were struggling, but maybe ascribing
too much of the blame to them was unfair.

But then came the most ridiculous question
of them all.

Introduced through the question of wheth-

er or not Bill Clinton’s past indiscretions are
a legitimate topic in this election, Ben Carson
was asked, “What do you think of the notion
that Hillary Clinton is an enabler of sexual
misconduct?”

Ignoring how irrelevant this question

should be to Republican primary voters
(though the question was met with applause)
and bypassing the ridiculously misogynistic
notion that a woman is somehow respon-
sible for a man’s misconduct, consider this
question for what it really says — Ben Car-
son, would you like to take a free shot at the
Democratic front-runner, who we view as
the devil incarnate? Here, let me provide you
with some ammo. Fire away with condescen-
sion and platitudes about values.

Through loaded questions, softballs and a

strange aversion to ask follow-ups, the jour-
nalistic failures of the moderators allowed
the candidates to play to their strengths of
grandstanding and fear mongering. Trump
spoke about “bombings all over,” and predict-
ed “many to follow” in the footsteps of Paris.
Christie told us how, if you want to keep your
homes and your families safe, “you cannot
give Hillary Clinton a third term of Barack
Obama’s leadership.” Carson summoned up
images of cyberbombs, attacks on our elec-

trical grid and “dirty
bombs,” (shortly before
he misused the word
existential,
which
is

another story entirely).
Why? Because the basis
of these campaign strat-
egies is fear. Fear of who
in the world wants to
attack us, who is coming
to take your guns and
the apocalyptic post-
American society that
will exist if a Democrat
wins.

Just
like
Burgess

Meredith in “Rocky II,”
the
moderators
were

clearly in the GOP’s corner, introducing Hill-
ary Clinton as some sort of Clubber Lang in a
pantsuit, egging them on in a less than subtle
way. But don’t take my word for it. Count the
number of follow-ups. Go back and read the
questions asked. Hear how they were set up.
Listen to the tone and bias. Hear how it has
no place in political journalism. Fox Business
did its job Thursday night. Unfortunately,
that job apparently was not to present the best
form of argument to the American people, but
to insulate the GOP contenders and drum up
a few soundbites along the way. Look no fur-
ther than the litany of topics omitted from
the conversation.

Issues from the minimum wage to the

skyrocketing cost of higher education, from
income inequality to campaign finance
reform and women’s reproductive rights
were not deemed important enough to grace
the stage. However, the cardinal sin may have
been that just a 15-minute drive away from
the site of the Charleston AME Church shoot-
ing, the role of race in criminal justice was
mentioned once, by Jeb Bush.

Why? Because Republicans are much bet-

ter at talking about ISIS, immigration and Bill
Clinton’s sex life.

—Brett Graham can be reached

at btgraham@umich.edu.

Fear mongering and softballs

S

low down, you crazy child. So
you’ve finished final exams.
But the stress doesn’t stop

there. It just piv-
ots from those
dreaded
test

scores to sum-
mer internships,
job hunts or per-
haps larger existential crises. We
each have our own ways of dealing
with the burdens of college life, and
Winter Break is surely a good start.
For me, the best method of escape
is a pair of noise-canceling head-
phones.

A timely release by Larry Fish-

erman, rapper Mac Miller’s pia-
no-playing alter ego, reminds me
of what’s most important when
the pressures of school feel insur-
mountable. Miller reworks the Billy
Joel record “Vienna” with darker,
pitch-shifted vocals. This stripped-
down cover, absent of any drums or
bass, is a sign of Mac Miller’s matu-
ration as an artist, but also a sign
that he faces the same problems that
college-aged, entry-level job appli-
cants face today.

Miller asks, in the first verse, “If

you’re so smart, why are you still
so afraid?” The reinvigorated lyr-
ics ring just as true today for any
University student feeling moti-
vated, yet demoralized at an unclear
future as they did on the release of
the 1977 album The Stranger. It’s
not surprising that Miller chose to
recreate this Joel classic. The rap-
per has experienced quick success,
but at 23, he has the world ahead of
him, and that can be intimidating.
Miller is like any of us. Studying at
Michigan is a great start, but that
doesn’t make the road ahead any
less treacherous. The overwhelm-
ing sense of uncertainty is partly
what I’m afraid of.

The song raises several difficult

questions — difficult because we
may not want to answer them:

“Where’s the fire, what’s the

hurry about? / You’d better cool it

off before you burn it out / There’s
so much to do and only so many
hours in the day.”

It’s easy to get caught up in the rat

race of Ann Arbor. And it’s even eas-
ier for me (or Joel or Miller) to tell
you to slow down before you burn
it out. But I think it’s important to
remember that career goals are only
half of the picture. Setting personal
goals to spend time with those close
to you, being outside more or help-
ing others can put things in per-
spective. New York Times writer

David Brooks raises an interest-
ing point in his book “The Road to
Character.” We focus a lot of our
attention on “resume virtues” to
further our careers, rather than
“eulogy virtues,” the traits we’d like
to be remembered for. When you’re
sprinting toward a target, you may
be going too fast to realize you’re
aiming in the wrong direction. So,
really, what’s the hurry about?

Recently, I’ve been contemplat-

ing what’s next for me as a second-
semester senior. What jobs should I
be applying for? Is law school a good
decision for my long-term career
goals? The choices I make now will
dictate the path I head down, and
that’s a lot to digest. It’s unrealis-
tic to think that where I want to be
in 10 years is where I will actually
end up. It’s fun to dream, though

— maybe I could be an indie record
label executive, or maybe I could
manage a talented, emerging musi-
cian. We have no choice but to take
a blind leap toward a career we’re
passionate about and hope for the
best. Joel’s four-decade-old lyrics
sum up my feelings towards dream
chasing:

“You’ve got your passion, you’ve

got your pride / But don’t you know
that only fools are satisfied? / Dream
on, but don’t imagine that they’ll all
come true”

There’s a sense of complacency

in satisfaction. To set lofty goals
is healthy, even if we never quite
get there. It requires reinven-
tion. Eight years ago, Miller began
releasing mixtapes in high school
and then moved on to producing
his own independently distributed
chart-topping albums. Since, Miller
has released music using several
aliases, including Larry Fisher-
man, Delusional Thomas and jazz
frontman Larry Lovestein with the
Velvet Revolver. Miller continues
to redefine his sound as a musician,
instrumentalist and producer. In
an industry packed with a surplus
of artists, it can be hard to stay rel-
evant.

We are all trying to break into

industries flooded with talented
candidates. That alone can be a lot
of pressure to keep your foot on the
gas. So when your tank’s on empty
and the grind has taken its toll, don’t
hesitate to turn the lights down, put
on your headphones and take a step
back.

But if I haven’t persuaded you, it

may sound more convincing in lyri-
cal form:

“Slow down, you crazy child /

Take the phone off the hook and
disappear for a while / It’s all right,
you can afford to lose a day or two /
When will you realize, Vienna waits
for you.”

—Zach Brown can be reached

at zmbrown@umich.edu.

Eulogy Virtues

BRETT
GRAHAM

ZACH
BROWN

DANNY
SACK

“Fox Business did its
job Thursday night.

Unfortunately, that job
apparently was not to
present the best form

of argument to the
American people.”

“When you’re

sprinting toward
a target, you may
be going too fast
to realize you’re

aiming in the wrong

direction.

E-mail FrancEs at FrmillEr@umich.
FRANCES MILLER