The Mirror | October 2020 | Van Nuys High School | Los Angeles, California USA

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8/9| OCTOBER 2020 | | C O V E R S FIGHT TO THE FINISH Gentle Joe vers GENTLE JOE Biden’s criminal justice policies are not as liberal as people like to think. The November elections are inching closer and American voters remain divided and unsure over their upcoming decision. Left-leaning voters believe that this year’s vote is not just a vote for one candidate or the other, but a vote to protect American democracy. A growing number of Joe Biden supporters have adopted the “Settle for Biden” and “vote blue no matter who” campaign method, in an attempt to ensure President Donald Trump is voted out of office despite Biden’s political and moral shortcomings. Most right-leaning voters are eager to vote for Trump in hopes of giving him a second presidential term and maybe even a third, which Trump said he could “negotiate” because he is “probably entitled” to it. An amendment to the Constitution places a two-term limit on the office of president. Conservatives believe that America’s current state of chaos needs to be changed and that can only be done under Trump’s presidency. During the Republican National Convention, a common talking point was that Americans won’t be safe in Biden’s America, a counterargument to progressive Democrats’ critiques of law enforcement — stances Biden himself has refused to take. Coronavirus was not the only unexpected event that shook the nation. In light of George Floyd’s murder by police officers, protestors took to the streets, not merely angry over Floyd’s death but that he was only one of many Black people killed by police over the years — a result of systemic racism. Demonstrators joined the Black Lives Matter movement in support of racial justice for Black people. Protestors have been demanding police reform and even abolishing the entire policing system. The two leading presidential candidates have voiced their opinions on America’s policing system and the BLM movement. Democrat Joe Biden Despite the Republican Party’s notions that former VP Joe Biden will implement police budget cuts if elected, he is not only opposed to defunding the police, much like a majority of Democratic leaders, but actually advocates adding more funding to the police. Biden has proposed a $300 million investment in the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program to “reinvigorate” community-oriented policing which would increase the number of police officers in Black and Brown communities. He has said several times in interviews that he does not support defunding the police. He underscored this message at the Democratic National Convention when he commented that “most cops are good” during a conversation about racial justice. Instead, he feels that law enforcement can be improved by weeding out bad police officers. Biden has called for systemic changes to the country’s criminal justice system and proposed reforms such as banning chokeholds and ending the transferring of “weapons of war” to police forces, but he opposes cutting resources for law enforcement. In his interview with NowThis News, a progressive social mediafocused news organization, Biden agreed to redirecting some funding, but then shifted the conversation from policing to prison reform. He said that the prison system “should be a rehabilitation system, not a punishment system,” and that the formerly incarcerated are entitled to the same rights and same federal programs as Americans who have not gone to prison. Biden has also pledged to create a national police oversight commission within the first hundred days of his presidency. During the first presidential debate of 2020 Biden said that he supports “law and order with justice where people ge He contended tha temic injustice in law but that a vast major officers are “good, de able men and wome During the debate condemned violence supports peaceful pr are marching for BLM Biden has a proble on racial justice. He once called sta school integration “th concept you can com In his early politic Biden helped kill one effective policies for i Black educational att America has known. During his first ca the ‘70s, he was an ad desegregating Ameri but after backlash fro constituents he chan arguing against busin integration. He said that force appropriate for the S segregation was the racist laws, but unne North, where Biden c was simply a matter Black community pr Biden also voted t partment of Health, E Welfare from requiri provide information makeup of their stud making it impossible ernment to withhold from school districts to integrate. Although the mea jected, Biden remain Now Biden says “t changed drastically,” about his past policie hall in Philadelphia. Republican Donald T Since the start of t protests, President D has been harshly crit handling of the situa of action by critics on Earlier this year, T the National Guard t CREATIVE COMMONS | ILLUSTRATIONS BY DONKEY HOTEY YOUR VIEW HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS YEAR’S PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES? STUDENT POLL If you could vote or are voting, who would you vote for in the 2020 presidential election? Results based on 203 responses from students in a Mirror online poll. ‘‘ Trump has lost his bearing as president over the last six months. He’s contradicted almost anything he’s said, tries to suppress the mail in vote by telling people it’s fraudulent. Honestly it’s very scary because he might not give up his power if he loses the election. Trump will deny the result and do everything in his power to win, which he has been doing for the past four years.” TRISTAN TIMPERS 12th grade ‘‘ Joe is a senile old man who even remember his name m or less the false left ideologi he will try to push upon us. N he is not up for the job of pre dency as he has done nothin in his 47 years [in politics] an will instead do worse for this country. Unlike Trump, Biden been prejudiced against peo of color countless times and supports the BLM moveme to help him win the election. URQUIDEZ LEVI 10th grad
T O R Y | theMIRROR us the Donald By ANI TUTUNJYAN | THE MIRROR EDITOR-IN-CHIEF t treated fairly.” t there is sysenforcement ity of police cent, honorn.” Biden also , but said he otestors who . matic record te-mandated e most racist e up with.” al career, of the most mproving ainment that mpaign in vocate for ca’s schools m white ged his mind, g for racial d busing was outh, where product of cessary for the laimed that it of white and eference. o bar the Deducation, and ng schools to on the racial ent bodies, for the govfederal funds that refused sure was reed persistent. hings have when asked s in a town rump his year’s BLM onald Trump icized for his tion and lack both sides. rump called in o Washington, D.C. to police demonstrations. He was heavily criticized after peaceful protestors near the White House were tear-gassed so that he could stage a photo opportunity at a church across the street. In Portland, Oregon, he also sent federal agents who clashed with demonstrators every evening over a several week period. Videos surfaced on social media of federal officers using unmarked vehicles to grab protestors off downtown Portland streets. Trump has signed an executive order that would provide some narrow police reforms including the establishment of a national database on police misconduct. This order came after he faced pressure to take action following the death of George Floyd at the hands of police. Trump has rejected ideas to defund police as “radical and dangerous,” instead outlining programs to hold police officers to higher standards. The president promised a ban on chokeholds, except when the officer believes his or her life is in danger; more support for officers who deal with the homeless, drug addicts and the mentally ill, along with social workers to help officers better navigate these encounters. However, his administration has yet to take any action. Although Trump rails against defunding the police, in February the Trump administration proposed a 58 percent cut in the COPS Hiring Program, a federal program that supports police department staffing. This is not the first time. The administration has routinely called for cuts to this program, only to be shut down by Congress. Despite some level of reform, Trump’s other policies and rhetoric seems to encourage violence from law enforcement. This summer, he posted a tweet that appeared to support violence in which he said “When the looting starts, the shooting starts,” a phrase used by segregationists against civil rights protestors. The president later said he did not mean it as a threat. Trump has also repeatedly empowered hate groups whose remarks resonate with white supremacists. During the first presidential debate of 2020, the president did not condemn white supremacists and the alt-right, instead telling the Proud Boys — a far-right and neofascist male-only organization that promotes and engages in political violence — to “stand back and stand by.” The group immediately adopted the phrase, adding it to their logo. Days after he declined to denounce white supremacists which sparked outrage among many Americans, he told Fox News that he condemns right-wing hate groups such as the KKK and the Proud Boys. Trump has repeatedly referred to the BLM movement as violent, calling it “discriminatory” and “bad for Black people.” He described BLM protestors as “dangerous thugs.” In July, the president tweeted about New York City’s decision to paint “Black Lives Matter” on Fifth Avenue, calling it “a symbol of hate.” American journalist Bob Woodward and the author of “Fear:Trump in the White House,” asked Trump whether he felt America “has systemic racism.” At first the president responded with “probably less here than most places or less here than many places.” But after he was pushed, he admitted that yes, America does have systemic racism. “I think it is [in America]. It’s unfortunate, but I think it is.” This statement was released only days after Trump visited Kenosha, Wisconsin in the wake of protests that erupted after Jacob Blake was shot in the back seven times by police, and completely dismissed the “idea” of systemic racism, instead saying the city has been “ravaged by anti-police and anti-America riots.” DISRUPTOR Trump’s promises of narrow police reform have yet to be enforced. can’t ore es o, sig d has ple only nt ” e ‘‘ In no way, shape, or form is Donald Trump fit or qualified to be a two-term president, nor a one-term president. He has grossly thrown away the ideals of the nation, refused to take action on coronavirus, left the Paris Climate Accords, skyrocketed unemployment due to the virus, hurt our trade relations with China, criticized NATO, sucked up to Russia, influenced racial instability, literally could not physically condemn white supremacist movements, attempted to suppress free media, lied to America and so much more.” ASHER TENENBAUM 9th grade “I do think that he is qualified to remain president of the United States. While he is far from perfect, I do believe he is the better of the two.”. ‘‘KEVIN SANTIAGO 12th grade I think he’s [Biden] a good candidate and I do believe he is qualified to be president. He has values, he listens to science, cares about the well-being of people and he is strong. I’m not saying this because he served with Obama ‘‘JOEL but also because I’ve did my research on him and he’s a really good man. ALCARAZ 11th grade ‘‘ I believe that he [Biden] would be a terrible president. He has many accounts against him about pedophilia and a president should never even be allowed to run if they have that against them. I am aware that Donald Trump does have accusations against him but they are just accusations, there isn’t proof that he did or does that to anyone. Joe Biden has proof of pedophilia. He talks to minors in suggestive ways and touches them in inappropriate ways even on live television. For those reasons, he should not only not be able to run for president, he should be in jail.” LEILAH GOINS 9th grade
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The Mirror | October 2020 | Van Nuys High School | Los Angeles, California USA

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