Opinion
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4— Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Emma Chang
Joel Danilewitz

Samantha Goldstein

Elena Hubbell
Emily Huhman

Tara Jayaram

Jeremy Kaplan

Sarah Khan

Lucas Maiman

Magdalena Mihaylova

Ellery Rosenzweig

Jason Rowland

Reign of chaos

A letter from MVision

C

haos once again returned 
to the White House this 
past 
week 

with 
the 
sudden 

resignation of Hope 
Hicks, White House 
communications 
director, 
in 
the 

wake of news that 
she 
testified 
to 

Congress that part 
of the job entailed 
telling 
“white 

lies” on President 
Donald 
Trump’s 

behalf. Hicks was Trump’s 
fourth 
communications 

director in the span of barely 
a year in office, but more 
importantly, 
Hicks 
was 
a 

loyal and trusted member of 
Trump’s inner circle.

Her stunning departure 

serves as an indication that 
the Trump administration’s 
unprecedented 
streak 
of 

attrition — which has seen 
the exit of Chief Strategist 
Steve 
Bannon, 
Chief 
of 

Staff Reince Priebus, Press 
Secretary Sean Spicer and 
many others — is far from 
over. 
A 
day 
after 
Hicks 

announced her resignation, 
NBC 
News 
reported 
that 

National 
Security 
Adviser 

H.R. 
McMaster 
will 
be 

replaced within the month 
at the behest of Defense 
Secretary James Mattis and 
John 
Kelly, 
White 
House 

chief of staff. That same day, 
news broke that Kelly, at 
Trump’s request, is planning 
to remove Ivanka Trump and 
Jared Kushner from their 
official advisor roles. 

Kelly 
was 
supposed 

to provide order when he 
was hired last summer, but 
instead, the White House 
has fractured further under 
his direction. Kelly himself 
was recently embroiled in 
controversy over his handling 
of domestic abuse allegations 
against former White House 
aide Rob Porter, which Kelly 
ignored for months, only firing 
Porter after the accusations 
leaked to the media.

Amid 
this 
frenzy 
of 

attrition, 
speculation 
and 

scandal, one thing is clear: 
Trump’s 
White 
House 
is 

engulfed 
in 
turmoil, 
the 

repercussions of which flared 
brightly 
this 
past 
week. 

Trump has long been known to 
flip-flop on policy positions, 
expressing 
contradictory 

views on topics ranging from 
immigration to taxation to 
abortion 
throughout 
his 

campaign and first year in 

office, but he outdid himself 
last week on gun control. At 

a televised meeting 
with senators and 
congressman from 
both parties, Trump 
praised 
proposals 

to 
establish 

comprehensive 
background 
checks on all gun 
purchases 
and 

to raise the age 
to 
buy 
assault 

weapons to 21. In a 

surreal moment, Trump even 
expressed openness to a ban 
on assault weapons. Yet, in 
an ironic twist, after chiding 
Republican 
lawmakers 
for 

being “afraid of” the NRA, 
Trump 
met 
with 
NRA 

lobbyists and rescinded his 
support for the gun control 
measures he had praised just 
a day earlier.

Trump’s 
inconsistency 

on 
guns 
confused 
and 

exasperated leaders of both 
parties, 
but 
was 
quickly 

overshadowed when Trump 
declared 
his 
intention 
to 

introduce 
tariffs 
on 
steel 

and 
aluminum 
imports. 

Such a move would violate 
existing 
trade 
agreements 

and 
indubitably 
lead 
to 

retaliatory 
measures 
from 

other countries that could 
easily spiral into a costly and 
disastrous trade war.

The reaction to Trump’s 

tariff plan was swift and 
harsh. 
Leaders 
of 
both 

parties quickly rebuked the 
idea, global leaders blasted 
Trump and the stock market 
plunged. 
However, 
amid 

this 
widespread 
criticism, 

Trump doubled down and 
tweeted that trade wars are 
“good” and “easy to win.” 
That’s blatantly false, and 
the fact that no one in the 
White House has conveyed to 
Trump the threat a trade war 
poses to the U.S. economy is 
rather alarming.

Trump’s 
eventful 
week 

culminated 
with 
renewed 

scrutiny 
over 
his 
neglect 

to 
fill 
dozens 
of 
vacant 

positions, 
including 
41 

ambassadorships. 
Critical 

allies 
and 
strategic 

partners like South Korea, 
Germany, Saudi Arabia and 
the 
European 
Union 
are 

among 
the 
countries 
and 

organizations that currently 
lack 
an 
American 
chief 

diplomat. When considering 
the 
current 
geopolitical 

climate around the world, it is 
astounding that some of these 
positions have yet to be filled. 
Given the tensions on the 
Korean peninsula, appointing 
an ambassador to South Korea 
should be a priority, but to 
the Trump administration, it 
is an afterthought.

It is no coincidence that 

a week of internal White 
House chaos coincided with 
one of Trump’s most volatile 
weeks in the policy sphere. 
Trump’s 
advisers 
appear 

incapable of providing astute 
advice, a problem that is 
likely compounded by the 
constant attrition plaguing 
the White House. In the 
absence of stability, Trump 
appears to have adopted a 
strategy of going off-script 
and reversing positions as 
he pleases, knowing that his 
public statements have little 
correlation to the policy his 
administration executes. This 
inconsistency 
compounds 

government 
inaction, 
as 

evidenced by Trump’s gun 
policy flip-flopping, and leads 
to impulsive decisions like 
these new proposed tariffs.

Order 
must 
be 

established 
in 
the 
White 

House. At present, Trump’s 
administration is the most 
disorganized, dysfunctional 
and, 
at 
times, 
utterly 

incompetent administration 
in modern American history. 
The 
chaos 
plaguing 
the 

White 
House 
muddles 

the 
president’s 
legislative 

priorities, devalues the U.S.’s 
image abroad and weakens the 
credibility of the institution 
of the presidency. It often is 
tempting to dismiss the White 
House drama as meaningless 
or 
even 
entertaining, 
but 

weeks like this past one 
demonstrate the significant 
consequences of an executive 
branch drowning in chaos.

Noah Harrison can be reached at 

noahharr@umich.edu

NOAH HARRISON | COLUMN

DANIEL GREENE AND IZZY BAER | OP-ED

T

o Our Fellow Wolverines,

As 
new 
Central 

Student 
Government 

parties form and elections fast 
approach, we wanted to take a 
minute, amid of our marathon 
meetings 
and 
late-night 

platform talks, to discuss what 
matters most: the students 
that make up the University of 
Michigan’s campus. It’s with a 
dedication to creating a better 
and more unified campus that 
we announce our candidacy 
as Student Body President and 
Vice President with the newly 
formed MVision party.

Having collectively spent 

time working with and on 
Central Student Government 
(CSG), 
LSA 
Student 

Government (LSA SG), Center 
for 
Campus 
Involvement 

(CCI), 
Wolverine 
Support 

Network (WSN), LSA Honor 
Council, 
Counseling 
and 

Psychological Services (CAPS), 
Sexual Assault Prevention and 
Awareness Center (SAPAC), 
Panhellenic 
Association 

and Interfraternity Council 
(IFC) we have no shortage 
of acronyms, nor time spent 
listening to, debating with and 
working for the greater student 
body. We understand the huge 
potential 
and 
astounding 

responsibilities of the offices 
we hope to hold. We also know 
the shortcomings of CSG and 
the pitfalls of overpromising 
that have been made clear 
over our semesters on campus. 
The changes we wish to bring 
about are manifold, but our 
vision is clear: to create a CSG 
that serves the entire student 
body. Ultimately, we want a 
CSG that empowers students 
to be seen, to be heard and to 
be supported. 

The eMerge party ran with 

the desire to build a more 
accessible, inclusive student 
government, and we are proud 
to have been a part of that 

campaign. 
CSG 
President 

Anushka 
Sarkar 
and 
CSG 

Vice President Nadine Jawad 
have done a phenomenal job 
providing our campus with 
hope and a sense of belonging 
for communities that CSG had 
previously alienated. We hope 
to continue their impactful 
work 
by 
expanding 
CSG’s 

outreach to communities who 
still feel isolated on campus.

We will not be distracted 

from CSG’s mission to serve 
students. It is imperative that 
CSG becomes a group dedicated 
to providing resources for 
the 
student 
organizations 

that create the richness of 
our campus. Let’s allow those 
organizations to shine in their 
own right, indebted only to 
the students and causes that 
they serve. We created a team 
with the intention of building 
a platform based on direct 
experience 
and 
expanding 

CSG’s outreach. The range 
of CSG experience that our 
team brings has allowed our 
platform to reflect the varying 
communities 
and 
concerns 

from across our campus.

We 
have 
experienced, 

firsthand, policies that need 
to be improved to allow for a 
campus where each student 
is 
valued. 
The 
MVision 

Michigan team is comprised 
of students who understand 
what it means to be openly gay 
in Greek life, to be a woman 
on a college campus today, to 
struggle with mental illness, 
to survive sexual assault, to 
balance work-study positions 
or to feel unsafe because of 
their 
identities. 
However, 

we 
understand 
that 
our 

experiences do not speak for 
the 46,000 voices that make 
up the University. We hope to 
increase the representation of 
all marginalized and invisible 
identities within classrooms 
and campus resources. We 

hope to replace “freshmen” 
with “first-years,” and other, 
more inclusive, terminology. 
We plan to embed a SAPAC 
ex-officio in CSG to connect 
the University with the needs 
of survivors on campus.

No student should feel 

alone as they struggle with 
mental health, which is why 
we need to reach the golden 
ratio of CAPS counselors to 
students. No student who is 
a survivor of sexual assault 
should be unsure of their 
options, which is why we 
need to expand the SAPAC 
empowerment 
fund. 
No 

student on campus should feel 
isolated or disenfranchised, 
which is why we need to 
proactively 
address 
the 

campus climate. That is where 
our CSG philosophy stems 
from. Our experiences have 
shaped 
our 
determination, 

and our willingness to go the 
extra mile.

We are honored to work 

with 
brilliant 
individuals 

from across the communities 
that represent the breadth 
of 
experience 
here 
on 

the 
University 
campus. 

MVision is actively creating 
a community that promotes 
equity and acceptance and 
works at a grassroots level to 
pursue inclusivity.

If you have policy ideas 

that you believe will elevate 
students 
on 
this 
campus, 

please 
visit 
the 
MVision 

website. We see you and want 
you to feel heard.

Let’s MVision together,

Daniel and Izzy

Daniel Green is a Public Policy 

junior and Izzy Baer is an LSA 

sophmore.

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Order must be 

established in the 

White House.

NOAH 

HARRISON

I 

was hopeless about gun 
control. Until now.

Another mass shooting. 

Over a dozen children dead. 
Prayers 
from 
both 
sides. 

Arguments about restricting 
guns. Rebukes from the NRA. 
You’ve heard and seen all of 
this before. In many ways, we 
had become so jaded to this 
process, I truly felt like we 
had lost hope. I, like many 
of us, had begun to feel that 
there was nothing that could 
be done. This being said, I’ve 
found some hope from those 
students advocating for gun 
control at Marjory Stoneman 
Douglas High School.

You’ve 
likely 
heard 
a 

variety of jarring statistics, 
but let me provide a reminder: 
Nearly 
one 
in 
four 
have 

been threatened with a gun 
in their lifetime or have 
a family member who has 
been threatened. And this 
is even worse for minority 
communities: nearly a third 
of African-Americans have 
reported that they or their 
families have been threatened 
by gun violence. Whether 
it’s being threatened with 
a gun or regarding actual 
shootings, we can see that 
there has been little change 
in gun violence: 10 of the 
15 deadliest shootings have 
occurred in the past 10 years.

I 
am 
likely 
preaching 

to the choir, unfortunately, 
despite the fact that nearly 
nine out of 10 Americans 
want 
more 
regulation 
on 

guns— specifically, common-
sense legislation that includes 
restrictions on those with 
mental 
illnesses 
having 

access to guns as well as 
more 
thorough 
background 

checks. 
These 
legislative 

proposals have high support 
across party lines, and most 
people support ending private, 
unlicensed sales of firearms 
(colloquially known as the 
“gun show loophole”). Still, 
there has yet to be legislation 
that is representative of the 
will of the people. This is a 
true testament to the NRA 
and the number of officials 
that have received funding 

from them for their political 
campaigns. Here in Michigan, 
nine legislators have received 
funding 
from 
the 
NRA’s 

political 
action 
committee 

funds — unsurprisingly, all are 
members of the Republican 
Party, which has prevented 
gun control legislation from 
being enacted.

I had truly become so 

jaded to the cycle of thoughts 
and 
prayers, 
followed 
by 

the inundation of statistics 
and 
descriptions 
of 
the 

propagators of gun violence, 
and, finally, inaction from our 
legislative body. That is until 
I saw and heard from the kids 
at Marjory Stoneman Douglas 
High School. A high school 
senior, Emma Gonzalez spoke 
out against the inaction of 
government officials regarding 

gun control legislation.

“Politicians who sit in their 

gilded House and Senate seats 
funded by the NRA telling us 
nothing could have been done to 
prevent this, we call B.S.,” she 
said. “That us kids don’t know 
what we’re talking about, that 
we’re too young to understand 
how the government works. We 
call B.S.”

I think it’s important to 

note that she is younger than 
all or nearly all of us here at 
the University of Michigan. It 
bears repeating that, despite 
the fact that she has yet to enter 
college, she is likely doing 
more than most of us regarding 
gun control legislation. While 
I’m sure many of us students 
are feeling upset about the 
recent events, I question if we 
have been willing to do what it 
takes to change the discourse 

surrounding gun control into 
tangible legislative action. It’s 
these kids who are starting 
protests, 
who 
are 
raising 

money and who are putting 
in the energy to take these 
concerns and grow them into 
national outcries in ways that 
I’m not sure I’ve seen before.

These young activists have 

pioneered the #NeverAgain 
movement. In doing so, they 
have 
raised 
nearly 
three 

million dollars in support of 
gun control legislation. In 
many ways, their protests and 
their voices have elevated the 
conversations in ways that 
an average person cannot. 
For 
the 
American 
public, 

and our legislators, having to 
hear from children who had 
to experience the effects of 
gun violence has seemingly 
turned 
the 
conversation 

in unexpected ways. Just 
the 
other 
day, 
President 

Donald 
Trump 
announced 

some 
tentative 
support 

for 
increasing 
background 

checks, surprising officials 
and 
virtually 
all 
of 
the 

American community. There 
is still hope that we can make 
the change, but, if there is to 
be effective legislation, those 
in support of gun control 
cannot let up now. If we are 
to pursue legislation, support 
can’t simply be just from the 
#NeverAgain 
individuals. 

It can’t be just from the 
victims of shootings. It has 
to be from every individual 
in the American government 
speaking out on what may 
be one of the larger issues of 
our time. What I now know, 
however, is that there is still 
hope for us to enact common-
sense 
legislation 
for 
guns. 

Maybe it won’t be tomorrow 
— it might not even be within 
the coming year — but if we 
continue to ratchet up the 
pressure 
on 
our 
officials 

and suggest how to fix this 
problem, we can ensure that 
fewer individuals die from gun 
shootings and that kids can go 
to school believing in the safety 

Hope for gun control

IAN LEACH | COLUMN

Ian Leach can be reached at 

ileach@umich.edu.

Nearly one in 
four have been 
threatened with 

a gun in their 

lifetime

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