The Greatest Super Bowl

By Jaylan Waxter

As a lifelong football fan, I can honestly say the last five to six minutes of last night's game were the hardest for me to watch. I am notorious for picking the team that eventually loses the big game, but after watching the first three-quarters of Super Bowl LI I felt like I had finally picked a winner. Matt Ryan and his incredible Falcons offensive were on fire. Ryan had thrown two touchdowns and seemed to be right at home on football's biggest stage. On top of the Falcons rapid-fire offensive, they were also firing on all cylinders defensively. Robert Alford intercepted a pass from Tom Brady and then scored a touchdown. By the end of the third quarter, the score was 28-9 in favor of the Atlanta Falcons and it seemed that Matt Ryan who had just received the MVP  trophy the night before would wrap up his weekend with a Vince Lombardi trophy as well. But what happened in the fourth quarter was something I could not have imaged in my wildest dreams. In the fourth quarter, I expected to see a mentally broken Tom Brady step back on the field for one last quarter of embarrassment, but Tom Brady never came back into the game but his alter ego, Psycho Tom emerged in the fourth quarter. In the fourth quarter, Brady seemed rejuvenated, Throwing a touchdown to Danny Amendola and then completing a two-point conversion. Suddenly the game was 28-20 Falcons. The Falcons had possession of the ball with about seven minutes on the clock they punted the ball after a three and out. Brady's Patriots had the ball for the last time in regulation and what they strung together will be remembered forever. The Patriots put together a drive that put them at about the one-yard line with about a minute and thirty seconds left on the clock.  James White forced his way into the in zone, Brady followed it up with a two-point conversion officially tying the game 28-28. By this point, my jaw was on the floor and I had lost all faith in the Falcons defense. The game went into overtime where the Patriots won the coin toss and decided to keep the ball. The Patriots strung together another impressive drive lead by Tom Brady that put them in a second and goal situation, and with a quick pitch to James White who rushed in for the game-winning touchdown, the game was over. I was in complete shock that the Patriots had overcome the odds and scored 31 unanswered points. I was in disbelief but I had to give it up to Tom Brady and The Patriots they were incredible. Although I picked another losing team this year, Last night's Super Bowl was the most impressive I have ever seen.

60 Is The Magic Number

By Jaylan Waxter

As of January 31 of 2017, President Trump's mind is made up, his official nominee for the Supreme Court is Neil Gorsuch. Gorsuch will replace former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia who passed away last February. Gorsuch is viewed as the perfect successor to Scalia because he is a strong writer and a literalist. He also attended Harvard just as Scalia did. Besides his similarities to Scalia, Gorsuch resume is pretty extensive, he graduated from Harvard, Columbia, and Oxford. He also worked in the department of justice, and since 2006 served as a judge on the 10th circuit of appeals in Colorado. But now that Trump has announced his nomination the senate has to vote. Gorsuch will certainly receive the fifty-two Republican votes, but in order to get to 60 which is the magic number, Gorsuch will need eight Democratic votes in order to become the next Justice. Today hyper-partisanship is more prominent than ever which makes getting eight Democratic votes incredibly difficult. There are two reasons why Democrats will be difficult in this voting process. One is Gorsuch mirrors Scalia a lot, which is great for conservatives but in the cases of liberals its leaves a sour taste in their mouths. Scalia rarely sided with liberals and often voiced rude opinions and harmful rhetoric about liberals. The second reason stems for the Obama Administration, former President Obama wanted to appoint Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court after the death of Scalia but Republicans withheld votes in the senate and refused to allow Garland to become a justice. Now that Republicans need Democratic votes, liberal may attempt to use the conservatives strategy against them. In the case of Gorsuch sixty is the magic number, but whether or not he will receive the eight necessary Democratic votes is yet to be seen. In reality, Gorsuch will eventually make it to the Supreme Court because he occasionally sides with liberals and because Republicans could use the “Nuclear option” which could get Gorsuch in on just 51 votes. For these reasons despite the skepticism of Democratic, Gorsuch will more than likely be our next Supreme Court Justice.

Obama Cares. But Does Trump?

By Jaylan Waxter

             In former President Barack Obamas, farewell speech, he talked about the importance of healthcare in America. The Affordable Care Act is one of the most memorable accomplishments of Obama's presidency.  The Affordable Care Act otherwise known as Obamacare has supplied over twenty million Americans with affordable healthcare. Obamacare also stopped insurance companies in the U.S. from denying Americans healthcare because of preexisting conditions. But Now that Obama has left the White House, President Trump is now determined to repeal and replace Obamacare within his first 100 days in office. President Trump has no concrete replacement for Obamacare. But that has not stopped congress from dismantling it. This is a big problem for Americans particularly college students who are covered by their parent. Obamacare allows children to stay on their parent’s health insurance until they are twenty-six year of age but if this act is repealed it will leave over twenty million Americans without health insurance including college students who are covered by their parents. Although President Trump promises that Americans would only be without health insurance for just a short period there is still one big hole in Trump's plan. That hole is how long is a short period? In just a couple of weeks’ millions of Americans could need access to healthcare but without an act like Obamacare, those Americans would not be able to afford it. With this current plan to repeal and replace Obamacare millions of Americans could be without affordable healthcare for weeks or possibly longer. Without a concrete replacement for Obamacare millions of Americans are put at risk including college students. In Trump's inauguration speech he said that people have the right to good jobs, affordable housing, and healthcare. Trump also said that he would put America first, If Trump really believes in putting America first he will make sure he has a strong solution for the healthcare problem in America before he repeals Obamacare and leaves millions of Americans without health insurance.