A

s 
President 
Donald 
Trump took to the House 
of Representatives dais, 
grinned 
in 
encouragement 
along with his Republican 
colleagues’ “four more years” 
chant and refused a handshake 
from Speaker Nancy Pelosi, it 
became readily apparent that 
this year’s State of the Union 
address was going to be unlike 
any in recent history.
Customary 
to 
tradition, 
President Trump made frequent 
appeals to his administration’s 
achievements 
throughout 
his 
speech 
by 
honoring 
individuals 
whom 
he 
had 
invited to attend. However, 
Trump 
blatantly 
disgraced 
American democratic values 
and 
attacked 
his 
political 
opponents 
in 
deciding 
to 
honor 
conservative 
radio 
personality Rush Limbaugh 
with the Presidential Medal of 
Freedom during his address to 
the nation. 
Limbaugh 
has 
made 
his 
career 
as 
a 
political 
commentator 
with 
little 
regard 
for 
the 
unbiased 
scrutiny 
of 
facts 
or 
issues. 
Instead, 
Limbaugh 
approaches political discourse 
with a conservative outcome 
in mind and will find any 
means necessary to justify. 
He dictates his justifications 
to his listeners and instructs 
them on how they should 
think about political issues. 
This framework was evident 

in the “birther” movement 
when 
Limbaugh 
greatly 
contributed to the spread 
of a conspiracy theory that 
President Obama was born 
in Kenya, and thus, was not 
an American citizen. This 
style of press is a threat to 
American democracy as it 
promotes 
groupthink 
and 
false truths. 
In 
a 
December 
2016 
discussion 
of 
President 
Obama’s 
legacy, 
Limbaugh 
states 
that 
any 
“legitimate 
criticism” 
of 
the 
former 
President was “paralyzed” by 
his race, giving rise to what 
Limbaugh calls a “thugocracy.” 
This example along with many 
others 
demonstrates 
that 
Limbaugh has not hesitated to 
incite racism, misogyny and 
utter disrespect in justifying 
his conservative point of view.
Honoring 
Limbaugh 
with 
the highest American civilian 
honor legitimizes his means 
of informing the American 
public. Limbaugh’s award is 
not only a humiliation of the 
prior award winners, such 
as Rosa Parks and Harper 
Lee, but more importantly 
is a reproach to fact-seeking 
journalists, 
who 
are 
vital 
to our country’s democratic 
prosperity. The objective of the 
independent press should not be to 
laud politicians without question. 
A well and accurately informed 
electorate is a basic requirement 
for a democratic republic.

With Limbaugh over the 
radio waves and Fox News 
television, Trump has staunch 
supporters in the media who 
will rarely, if ever, criticize 
him. Meanwhile, he excludes 
left-leaning 
networks 
like 
CNN from coverage. Trump 
also exploits social media 
to denigrate any Republican 
who steps out of line with 
his agenda. This uniformity 
is unhealthy for American 
democracy, which is reliant 
upon the free expression of 
ideas, debate and compromise. 
Former 
Republican 
party 
leaders, like Mitt Romney, 
who are brave enough to stand 
up against the President find 
themselves mostly ostracized 
from the party. 
President Trump’s State of 
the Union was, in essence, a 
campaign rally. His choice to 
present the award during his 
address to the nation was a 
deliberate attempt to vex his 
opponents and to rally his 
base. He used surprise events 
like awarding Limbaugh and 
a returning soldier from war 
as 
reality 
television-type 
reveals. It will be interesting 
to see who Trump decides to 
award the Presidential Medal 
of Freedom in the future — 
possibly the entire “Fox & 
Friends” cast? 

Opinion
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4A — Friday, February 14, 2020

Alanna Berger
Zack Blumberg
Brittany Bowman
Emily Considine
Jenny Gurung

Cheryn Hong
Krystal Hur
Ethan Kessler
Mary Rolfes
Michael Russo

Timothy Spurlin
Miles Stephenson
Joel Weiner
Erin White 

ERIN WHITE
Managing Editor

Stanford Lipsey Student Publications Building
420 Maynard St. 
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
 tothedaily@michigandaily.com

Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890.

ELIZABETH LAWRENCE
Editor in Chief
EMILY CONSIDINE AND 
MILES STEPHENSON
Editorial Page Editors

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.

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS

CONRAD PENTALERI | CONTRIBUTOR

The state of the Presidential Medal of Freedom

Conrad Pentaleri is a junior in the 

Ross School of Business and can be 

reached at jcpental@umich.edu.

ISABELLE SCHINDLER | COLUMN

The student vote in 2020

T

his 
March, 
the 
presidential race will come 
to Michigan and allow 
University of Michigan students 
to raise our voices and exercise 
our civic duty. Both the Democrats 
and 
Republicans 
are 
holding 
their primaries on March 10. This 
provides a unique opportunity for 
people to choose the direction of 
their party and who they want to 
see on the ballot in November.
The primary is also extremely 
unique because it marks the first 
major election since the passage of 
Michigan’s Proposal 3, which made 
it significantly easier to register 
and vote in Michigan. Some of the 
most exciting aspects of Proposal 3 
include online registration, same-
day registration at the clerk’s office 
and no-excuse-needed absentee 
voting. These laws will make it 
much easier for Michigan students 
and residents to vote.
If you have a Michigan driver’s 
license or ID card you can now 
register to vote online. This process 
is extremely quick and easy. So 
today, whether you are on a Blue 
Bus, waiting for your class to start 
or studying in the library, take five 
minutes and register to vote.
If you are an out-of-state 
student you can choose to register 
in Michigan or your home state. 
Out-of-state 
students 
cannot 
register online in Michigan, but 
the process is still fairly simple: 
All you have to do is fill out a 
voter registration form and mail 
or deliver it to the local county, 
city or township clerk’s office. If 
you want to easily register, there 
are many organizations around 
campus holding voter registration 
drives, which are an easy way to 
get registered. The deadline to 
register both online and by mail is 
Feb. 24 — after that, you can still 
register in person up until and on 

election day at the clerk’s office. For 
information about registering to 
vote and deadlines, govote.umich.
edu has important information 
compiled by the Ginsburg Center 
for Community Service Learning.

Another 
exciting 
part 
of 
Proposal 3 is it now allows 
no-excuse-needed absentee voting. 
This means that students who feel 
they will be too busy to vote in 
person on election day can request 
an absentee ballot. There are so 
many reasons why students should 
go out and vote. Voting is one of our 
fundamental civic duties. There 
are people around the world who 
would give anything to have the 
right to live in a nation where they 
can vote in fair and free elections. 
By voting, you are recognizing 
these people, as well as honoring 
those who have fought and won the 
right to vote. This year marks the 
100th anniversary of the passage of 
the 19th Amendment, which gave 
women the right to vote. One of 
the reasons why I vote is to honor 
the memory and courage of the 
suffragettes who refused to give 
up until women had a right to the 
ballot box.
Every 
student 
at 
U-M 
is 
passionate 
about 
something. 
Whether it be health care, the 
environment, funding for STEM 
research or federal support for the 

arts, every student has an issue that 
mobilizes them. We are fortunate 
to live in an age where information 
is available at the tips of our 
fingers and it’s never been 
easier 
to 
find 
information 
on 
prospective 
candidates 
and their platforms. Even if 
you don’t know much about 
politics, spend five minutes on 
Google and find a candidate 
who aligns with your views.
Voting in the primary is 
especially exciting because it 
allows students to have a say 
in the future of their party. 
Unlike a general election with 
two stark choices, the primary 
allows people to choose among 
many candidates. As we saw in 
Iowa, the difference between 
first and second place came 
down to just a handful of votes. 
Your vote is so important, 
especially in a primary.
As young people, we often 
feel unheard. We see the 
government 
taking 
actions 
we disagree with, and we 
feel frustrated and forgotten. 
One of the reasons for this 
is because politicians know 
many young people do not 
vote. In 2018, 41 percent of 
U-M students went to the 
polls. If young people want a 
seat at the table, we need to 
have strong showings at the 
polls and show that our voices 
cannot be ignored.
Registering to vote has never 
been easier and voting has 
never been more important. 
That’s why all of us in the U-M 
community should head to 
the polls and make our voices 
heard in this primary and in 
the future general election.

Isabelle Schindler can be reached 

at ischind@umich.edu.

JESS D’AGOSTINO | COLUMN

Why nobody cares about Trump’s impeachment
L

et’s 
face 
it: 
Trump 
got 
impeached 
and 
nobody cared. The 45th 
President of the United States was 
investigated 
through 
multiple 
committees in the House of 
Representatives and impeached by 
a House vote of 230 to 197 and 229 
to 198 on each Article, respectively. 
For the third time in American 
history, 
the 
commander 
in 
chief 
went 
through 
this 
careful constitutional process 
and was voted to stand trial 
in the Senate. How much of 
Americans collectively deciding 
not to care can be attributed 
to the symbiotic relationship 
between news coverage and 
viewer opinions? How much of 
it speaks to the divisive nature 
of Congress and politics in 
general?
Through 
our 
academic 
journeys, 
we 
learn 
about 
the constructs of American 
government. My U.S. History 
teachers 
emphasized 
the 
severity of impeachment. When 
a sitting president’s actions 
warrant impeachment talks, it 
should be treated as serious by 
both the media and the average 
American 
citizen. 
But 
this 
whole impeachment was just 
another unread story, another 
neglected piece of history.
The 
prior 
two 
times 
presidents have been impeached 
were in 1868 when Andrew 
Johnson violated a “tenure of 
office law” and also arguably 
“undermined the cause of racial 
equality” established by former 
President 
Abraham 
Lincoln 
only years earlier. President 
Bill 
Clinton’s 
impeachment 
in 1998 holds precedence as 
what most modern Americans 
associate with impeachment. 
Although 
the 
Articles 
of 
Impeachment were passed for 
Clinton’s 
dishonesty 
under 
oath, the Senate voted across 
party lines to acquit him, 
noting 
the 
overly-politicized 
charges. Why did people care 
so much more about Clinton’s 
impeachment than Trump’s? 
It can be argued that it is 
because Trump’s impeachment 

dealt with legitimate foreign 
policy concerns as opposed to 
lying about sexual relations 
under oath — much less juicy. 
Is that what we care about, 
entertainment 
and 
drama 
more 
than 
abiding 
by 
the 
Constitution?
It 
isn’t 
that 
this 
wasn’t 
interesting 
enough 
to 
care 
about; it was the generally-
accepted 
assumption 
that 
Congressional party lines are 
drawn with a thick Sharpie and 
this undeniable division made 
way for a predictable outcome. 
The Democratic House would 
impeach, the Republican Senate 
would acquit. It is important 
to 
recognize 
Senator 
Mitt 
Romney, R-Utah, who went 
against the Republican party 
by voting to impeach Trump, 

and who is now receiving a 
great deal of ostracism and 
hate for it. Whether you love 
“The Donald” or hate him, 
every American should hope 
for a less predictable outcome 
in 
important 
governmental 
processes like impeachment. 
I do not have a law degree 
(yet), nor can I sit here and 
write about the intricacies 
of the Constitution. I just 
wish we, could have more 
trust in the government, look 
past party lines and take an 
impeachment 
seriously. 
It 
is depressing, especially as 
a political science student, 
to see George Washington’s 
worst fears about a two-party 
system come true through such 
turbulent political parties. 
The 
news, 
generally 
speaking, has made things 

worse. I distinctly remember 
the 
notification 
popping 
up on my phone from The 
New 
York 
Times 
saying 
something like: “President 
Donald Trump has just been 
impeached by the House of 
Representatives.” News has 
a large impact on what we 
prioritize and how we think. 
So instead of aesthetically 
pleasing graphics and pop 
culture 
perspectives, 
the 
media 
should 
help 
the 
public 
understand 
what 
impeachment means.
People 
may 
not 
think 
their 
opinions 
matter, 
a 
feeling I relate to. Despite my 
excitement to partake in my 
first presidential election this 
year, I know my vote won’t 
make a difference (especially 
since New Jersey and I share 
the same political affiliation). 
However, I refuse to believe 
that we have done everything 
we can. We, meaning all of 
us: Democrats, Republicans, 
Independents, 
Libertarians 
and Green Party members 
alike can and must do more 
if we expect more from the 
government we put our faith 
in. 
Call your senators, stand 
up for what you believe in and 
demand your representatives 
find a balance between being 
a delegate working with their 
constituents and a trustee 
working for their constituents. 
Through 
all 
of 
American 
history, 
things 
have 
only 
changed because of passionate 
people who are not afraid to 
wait or to work. We shouldn’t 
have seen an impeachment 
trial pass us by, seemingly 
scripted as it went perfectly 
to plan. I know it’s naive to 
think partisanship will ever 
fully disappear — and frankly 
it shouldn’t — but next time 
something as important as 
an 
impeachment 
happens, 
no 
matter 
your 
political 
affiliation, care. 

Jess D’Agostino can be reached at 

jessdag@umich.edu.

Honor the 
memory and 
courage of the 
Suffragettes who 
refused to give up. 

The media should 
help the public 
understand what 
impeachment 
means.

LEENA GHANNAM | CONTACT CARTOONIST AT LZGHANNA@UMICH.EDU

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