With my counterparts, Nisha and Susannah, already having cast a light on what occurs inside and outside our beloved TCT classroom, it’s now time to depart from FHC and look to the outside world– current events, politics, news, etc.

Welcome to the first chapter of “Outside the School.”

Arizona candidate, Paul Gosar, ad controversy

With midterm season approaching, various pockets of the country continue to catch the attention of the nation.

One such case is Arizona’s fourth district, in which Republican Paul Gosar is up against Democrat David Brill. Gosar already holds the seat and is set to sweep polls and easily secure his seat for another term. However, a shocking campaign from Brill has sparked a bit of controversy.

The ads in question feature a whopping six of Gosar’s nine siblings denouncing their brother and putting their support behind Brill. With arguments about Gosar working against the people and the haunting title, “A family defends its honor,” the campaign and the Gosar family’s stone-faced condemnation of their own brother certainly caught the interest of American from all sides of the spectrum.

Gosar fired back with a pointed Twitter response, rebuking his siblings and their fellow Democrats.

One of the featured brothers, David Gosar, says he stopped speaking to Paul back when he was first elected in 2010, after Paul told him that he believed President Obama was not born here, claiming he was “not going to break bread with a racist.” He then chose to keep his Twitter running just to publicly oppose his brother, as he felt it was out of necessity.

This ad is not the family’s first experience with elevated sibling drama. Back when Gosar claimed the Charlottesville rally to be masterminded by an “Obama sympathizer,” seven of Gosar’s siblings wrote in their denunciation of the belief to a local newspaper.

Regardless, though this move demonstrates how passionately the Gosar siblings oppose their brother, it is unlikely that this will sway Gosar’s impending victory in any way.

Rod Rosenstein

Last week, news broke that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein allegedly suggesting that cabinet members wear a secret wire and attempt to invoke the 25th amendment- which allows for a president to be removed from office if the vice president and a majority of the cabinet deems the president unfit for the job- to expel President Trump from office.

According to the report, Rosenstein made these suggestions just after taking over the attorney general job and beginning supervision of the Russia investigation. Though, during this same time, Rosenstein played a vital role in the dismissal of FBI Director James Comey, as he drafted the memo that Trump would later use to defend his decision. This, however, did not bode well with Rosenstein, as he later felt used by the White House over the whole situation.

Nevertheless, when this story broke, Rosenstein came out and denied all accusations and claims made by the original New York Times article, declining to comment any further on the matter. Though, in that same Fox News article containing Rosenstein’s statement, another source did back that Rosenstein made a comment about wearing a wire, but this was apparently done so in a sarcastic and joking manner.

Following this, many Democrats were worried that this would cost Rosenstein, and there was much confusion about the future status of his job. This was to be decided on Thursday, but later Trump attempted to clear the confusion, stating that he’d prefer to keep Rosenstein and finally postponed the Thursday meeting for next week.

Brett Kavanaugh hearing

The final story is the scandal that has captivated the country as of late and is, in fact, the very reason why the Rosenstein decision was postponed.

Four women have now leveled accusations against Judge Brett Kavanaugh- who is up for a Supreme Court nomination- of rape and other sexual crimes of varying degree. Kavanaugh has, of course, denied all accusations, insisting on his own integrity and unwavering respect for women.  

The Senate Judiciary Committee has been conducting an investigation of these allegations, and they have carried out various interviews, including with alleged witnesses to some of the accusations.

On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee began their hearing, in which one of the victims- Dr. Christine Blasey Ford- testified before Kavanaugh.

It was a divisive hearing, with the split between those who did and didn’t support Kavanaugh almost a partisan divide. Three Republican senators were on the fence and thus considered to be the deciding vote. However, before a vote could be held, one of those three senators, Sen. Jeff Flake, called for a one-week delay on the vote in order to allow for an FBI investigation.

As such, a decision will be made in one week’s time, and the country will continue to spar over the question of Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s character.