On Halloween, the House passed a vote formalizing the Impeachment Inquiry, this proposal could be a ‘trick’ for some… a ‘treat’ for others. Democratic strategists claim to know Donald Trump’s 2020 strategy after his most recent political ad was aired at the World Series for the first time. Former President Obama speaks about what the media is calling a “woke warning”, targeting call-out culture at third annual Obama Foundation Summit in Chicago. I’m going to break down these headlines and tell you what they mean and how they affect you.

On October 31st, the House voted on formalizing the Impeachment Inquiry and its mission to impeach President Donald J. Trump out of office. The final vote was 232-196 and Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, included herself in this historical vote, and cast her vote in favor of the progression of the Impeachment Inquiry. Pelsoi is getting slammed by waves of backlash and harsh criticism for voting due to the common idea that Speaker of the House isn’t encouraged to vote over House issues. Dana Bash, journalist for CNN, speaks on the impact this Inquiry has, stating, “232 years ago is when the Constitution was ratified and set into law. And the fact that the House has only considered this [impeachment] four times in those 232 years is a reminder on how incredibly historic this is.”  

“He’s no Mr. Nice Guy. But sometimes it takes a Donald Trump to change Washington.” Donald Trump has wasted no time using his usual way of call out culture in his new political ad; specifically targeting the Impeachment Inquiry and the Democratic party as a whole in this video. Some are praising the President and his approach with the campaign ad while others are extremely disappointed in Trump and the message of his political advertisement. 

On the note of call-out culture, former President Barack Obama explains the toxicity in ‘call-out’ culture. “I tweet or hashtag about how you didn’t do something right or used the wrong verb and then I can sit back and say, “I called you out! Man, you see how woke I was ‘cause I called you out!”” He paused. “You know, that’s not activism. That’s not bringing about change.” Barack Obama goes on to explain that there isn’t a checklist for what your political party is or what it stands for. An example of this ‘call-out’ culture is the popular Tweet trend of saying, “Imagine being….. I can’t even say it… imagine being… Oh my god, I’m sorry… I can’t say it.” Call-out culture is one step away from cancel culture which is declaring somebody or something irrelevant or ‘cancelled’ due to a mistake or incident that occurred. Both are rising hot topics in the media, in hopes of cancelling “cancel culture” for good. It is agreeable that hate shouldn’t have a platform and that is all these toxic cultures are and what they represent. 

What this means: the Impeachment Inquiry is something that is now likely going to be mentioned in textbooks five years from now due to the successful progression it has had so far. The trend of call-out culture has spread into politics and is something former President Obama addressed in hopes of raising red flags on how crucial it is that hate isn’t given its own platform.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/31/politics/house-impeachment-inquiry-resolution-floor-vote/index.html Interview with Bash and information on Inquiry updates. “232 years ago is when the Constitution was ratified and set into law. And the fact that the House has only considered this [impeachment] four times in those 232 years is a reminder on how incredibly historic this is.”  

https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/31/politics/donald-trump-ad-world-series-2020/index.html

“He’s no Mr. Nice Guy. But sometimes it takes a Donald Trump to change Washington.” 

https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2019/10/30/barack-obama-on-political-purity-obama-foundation-summit-chicago-sot-ctn-vpx.cnn 

Information on callout culture 

https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2019/10/31/nancy-pelosi-make-a-point-vote-resolution-bash-ath-vpx.cnn