A critique on Dana Muzquiz's editorial post

     On December 5, 2014 Dana Muzquiz posted an editorial on her blog titled "NYPD: Texting>African American Life". The article revolved around the events surrounding the death of one 28 year old Akai Gurley, who was supposedly shot by a New York police officer in the stairwell of an apartment building by police who were patrolling the apartment in an area they weren't told to patrol. The police officer allegedly shot Akai Gurley in the chest, killing him and he then proceeded to text his union representative rather than assist the dying man.

    The editorial is rather short, giving very little room for criticism, however, there are multiple ways this article could have been revised which would have made an incredible difference in the impact of the article on potential readers. First of all is the lack of cited sources that create a vacuum of credibility. The article links the reader to the Huffington post, which gave a relatively detailed account of the incident, but is primarily liberal which would lead some readers to find bias in her work, lowering her credibility. This could have been solved by citing more than one source or by having a more objective account of the incident rather than simply regurgitating the Huffington Post's analysis on the incident. 

    The way that the editorial also leaves out much information that was included in her link lowers her credibility on the subject as it creates the impression that she is attempting to make the incident seem more black and white than she makes it out to be. The editorial leaves out the fact that the accused officer is a relatively new officer and is inexperienced which may or may not account for the reasons behind his unwarranted patrols. The wording in the title and in the editorial gives the impression that the incident was a hate crime, and in my opinion, hate crime laws are incredibly hypocritical because the entire concept that people should be split into groups in order to affect the sentencing for a crime is ridiculous. The constant urging that crimes between races are hate crimes supports the idea that blacks are different from whites and the wording of the editorial incites that thought. 

    There was also a critical lack of analysis on the author's part as she did not give an opinion on her chosen topic as befits an editorial. The author simply restated some of the facts without giving any level of critical thinking. She also claims in her last sentence that, for a fact, the officer shot the man in the dark stairwell, even though her linked article claims that it was likely an accident. This shows an overall lack of involvement in the writing of this blog post that could have been easily alleviated had the author either chosen an article with more information or had given a critical analysis on the given facts.

The Fault in our Government

    "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." This quote from Benjamin Franklin demonstrates some of the ideals he held when this country was founded. The United States government was once the greatest in the world, but over the past couple of decades, corruption has begun to spread through the country. This is evident when you look at how the president has two terms, limiting his power to eight years, however congress has no term limits, meaning that politicians who are poor candidates, but have the resources to keep getting re-elected will continue to do so, effectively shutting down the campaigns of more qualified, but less funded individuals. 

     When the government began the tapping of phones across the country in order to attempt to locate terrorists, the government did the one thing that Benjamin Franklin warned against. Our elected officials decided on our behalf to give up essential liberty in order to obtain temporary safety. The United States is becoming more and more split, with our generation becoming a house divided against itself. Many people, including myself thought that president Obama would help bring race relations closer, and for a while, things seemed to be going that way, however with the way that things seem to be unfolding with the current status of Ferguson, it casts a darker light on the way our country is headed. Early on, Obama took firm stances on race relations early in his presidency, but he now seemed hesitant to remark on Ferguson, where race relations are hitting a fever-pitch.

     I feel as though our country needs to set priorities on what we should focus our efforts on because our country is 18 trillion dollars in debt and our foreign policy seems to change monthly, however our top priorities are social issues such as gay marriage and abortion. Granted that social issues are very important to the people, but when our number one priority is not the well-being of this country, that shows a serious lack of urgency in the people and in the officials who govern them. I believe that our government has the potential to get back on track and is able to regain our position as the greatest nation in the world, but it will take years of hard work and careful management of our assets.

Creative Title for Blog Post 4

       On November 17, 2014, The Los Angeles time  published an opinion article written by ‘The Editorial Board’ titled "To stop the government from collecting our phone records, pass the USA Freedom Act." The article describes how the many of the officials in the Obama administration as well as many democrats and republicans support the USA Freedom Act, a bill which would end the bulk collection of American "metadata." The author appears to be attempting neutrality by the way the article is worded, however emphasis on the supporting Democrats and adding in Republican supporters as an afterthought hints at the author's Democratic political views.

                  The author takes a solid stance regarding the unnecessary nature of bulk phone record collection when he states "Obama's own advisory panel, however, concluded that information obtained from the metadata program “was not essential to preventing attacks” and could have been acquired by other means." I appreciate the way in which the author uses external quotes, which adds to their credibility, which seeing as the author is an Editorial Board, is much higher than if the author was a single person. The author than turns to further expand upon the increasing lack of support for the continued collection of American phone records which, if the bill is passed, will be replaced with much more targeted and legal searches, which gives them a strong conclusion and a powerful message.
                      I personally agree with the message and fully enjoyed the article. The author is credible and keeps a consistently neutral tone throughout the editorial. I agreed with the points being made and felt that the wording of he article was concise and well thought out.

Blog Post 3

       On October 29th, 2014, USA Today published an opinion article written by ‘The Editorial Board’ titled "Why election is not about the Senate: Our view." The article discusses how the elections for the Senate race are not the big story, the races for state governor are what the elections will truly revolve around. The author is targeting a republican audience which is made blatantly obvious by their wording regarding President Obama when the author regards him as “a lame duck president whom (Congress) has thwarted quite well.”
        The author is trying to make the point that the Congressional elections are going to continue as the always have, but the Governor elections will be much more heated, resulting in many changes in power in the more efficient and responsive state governments. Due to heated races, Democratic candidates could become governor in Red states and Republicans in Blue states, which makes for a much more interesting election. The author also calls into focus the issue of why state governments are so much more efficient than the national government, and reasons that the reason for it is because each state is run by a solitary party so power struggles and constant argument are minimal. I believe he makes a valid point, seeing as there is a greater possibility of party change in the many state governments than the senate.
         The author has a high amount of credibility because The Editorial Board has multiple members, all of which have some credibility regarding journalism as they have produced many articles before. I agree with the points made, however I feel that the wording of the articles has a negative effect, losing approval from people who support Obama. I believe that the article itself is well written, but could be edited to appeal to a larger audience. 

Blog Post 2;

On October 17th, 2014 the Las Angeles Times published an articles titled "Obama putting key Priorities on hold until after midterm election." The article describes how the Obama administration is slowly placing important issues like immigration to the side until the midterm elections are over. This is because there is hope that Obama will get more democratic support which will allow him to have his policies passed. So far, immigration, affordable health care enrollment, and the choosing of an attorney General have been off-put until further notice. The Obama administration wishes to be able to pass their policies with extra democratic support with the two years he has left in office, however some of his most reliable allies believe he is squandering what remains of his time in office. Frank Sharry, the founder of an immigration group says that Obama is "playing politics with people's lives." Earlier in the year, Obama claimed that he would use a "pen and a phone" to get around an uncooperative congress, however their isn't as much executive action as one would expect. Many believe it is imperative that issues be dealt with as soon as possible because the work load will only grow.
I believe that this articles is worth reading because it is good to know whether or not congress is working, what they are working on, and what they will be doing in the future. The actions of congress will affect the American people whether they know it or not. This is what makes this article worth reading, as regardless of whether or not you pay attention to your government, their decision will affect you.