Category: News

by Emma Ruggiero

On Wednesday, January 20th, at the inauguration of Joe Biden, 22-year-old Amanda Gorman surpassed all other inaugural performances when she delivered her show-stopping poem, The Hill We Climb. Using her exceptional skill with words, the young writer crafted a poem combining unison, hope, and justice with current events. She even managed to weave in a couple of Hamilton references.

When Amanda Gorman found out that she would be the inaugural poet, she began researching ideas right away. In an interview with Anderson Cooper of CNN, Gorman explained that she was only about halfway through the process of creating her poem when the insurrection happened at the Capitol on January 6. She explained that, as she was watching the violence happening, she was also looking at the tweets and articles that began to pop up. When she saw and read about what was happening, she knew she had to include some of it in her poem. The line “We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation, rather than share it,” was inspired by several tweets she saw. She said, about the event, “it energized me even more to believe that much more firmly in the message of hope and unity and healing. I felt like that was the type of poem that I needed to write, and it was the type of poem that the country and the world needed to hear.” 

In 2017, Gorman received the honor of becoming the very first National Youth Poet Laureate. When she performed her piece at the 2021 presidential inauguration, she became the youngest of the now six total inaugural poets, the first of which was Robert Frost. Joe Biden is the fourth U.S. President to continue the tradition of inaugural poets. The other three presidents were Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and John F. Kennedy. 

At the ceremony, Gorman wore a bright yellow coat and red satin hair accessory, which made her stand out against the crowd like a beacon of light. According to an article from CNN, her gold hoop earrings and ring were gifts from Oprah Winfrey. The ring was in the shape of a caged bird to symbolize Maya Angelou, the poet who performed at Bill Clinton’s inauguration in 1993.

In the interview, Gorman also talked about the speech impediment she had been struggling with her whole life, which caused her to drop letters from her words as she spoke. She shared that her love of poetry and writing helped her express herself, and reciting her poems out loud pushed her to challenge her voice and eventually move past her impediment. Even up until college, she struggled to pronounce the letter R. She explained that she practiced pronouncing the letter by rapping along to the well-known Hamilton song, ‘Aaron Burr, Sir.’ 

Gorman’s love of Hamilton inspired her to include a couple of references to the musical in her poem. The lines, “For while we have our eyes on the future, / history has its eyes on us,” allude to the song, ‘History Has Its Eyes On You.’ Gorman admitted, “I’m really proud that I was able to incorporate that [the references] in there.”

Additionally, Gorman revealed that, before her big performance, she closed her eyes and recited her mantra, “I’m the daughter of black writers / We’re descended from freedom-fighters / who broke their chains and changed the world / They call me.”

The final line of Gorman’s beautiful poem sparked peace and hope for all Americans: “For there is always light, / if only we’re brave enough to see it / If only we’re brave enough to be it.”

by The Lighthouse Staff

On January 20th, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were sworn into their new roles as President and Vice President. The ceremony took place in front of the capitol building, with spectators observing on the lawn below.

Sonia Sotomayor– the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice– swore in Kamala Harris, after which Lady Gaga performed the national anthem. There were also performances by Jennifer Lopez and Garth Brooks.

Joe Biden was sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts. His inaugural address focused on themes of unity, saying, “Politics need not be a raging fire destroying everything in its path.” He also promised that “I will be a President for all Americans. I will fight as hard for those who did not support me as for those who did.”

After the speech concluded, Amanda Gorman, the youngest ever inaugural poet, recited a poem she wrote in the aftermath of the assault on the capitol. “For there is always light,/if only we’re brave enough to see it/If only we’re brave enough to be it.” After this, Rev. Silvester Beaman, a personal friend of the Bidens, concluded the ceremony with a benediction.

Fewer spectators were present than usual because of the pandemic. Among those present were former presidents Bush, Obama, and Clinton. Former President Trump and former First Lady Melania Trump were not at the ceremony as they had already left for their home in Mar-a-Lago. There were many members of the Biden family present, including grandchildren. It snowed briefly during the inauguration but was mostly sunny.

by Olivia Brazier

Well, it’s happening again. This time, Donald Trump has been impeached because of his words which incited the violent insurrection at the capitol. Although the impeachment process has started, other options were initially discussed for getting rid of the President. One of them was the 25th amendment, which Mike Pence could have used to remove Trump from office and take his place.

Hearing about this course of action raises a few questions. How does this amendment work? How do you decide if a President can’t do his job? Why is it an amendment and not part of the actual Constitution? Hopefully, I can answer these questions for you and explain why lawmakers didn’t go with this option.

There is very little written about the role of the Vice President in our Constitution. Here is what Article II, section 1 of our Constitution says about succeeding the President.

In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation or inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what officer shall then act as President, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.

The main issue with this was that there was no way to replace a Vice President if they died in office. This happened frequently enough that for around 20% of US history before 1965, there was no one to step up if the President died. It was also unclear who decided if a President was unable to perform his duties. What if Congress wanted to remove a President, but the Commander in Chief insisted that he was still able to use his power properly? What if a President was unwell but recovered?

The 25th amendment, which was ratified in 1965, codified the traditional practice of presidential succession after death, and it specified that after a President resigned, their successor became President, not Acting President.

Section 1

In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.

It also specified a process through which a President could nominate and confirm a new Vice President.

Section 2

Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.

Section 3

Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.

Now we come to the part of the amendment that is most relevant today.

Section 4

Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.

Although this amendment could be used to remove a president from office, it’s not designed for the current situation. This power of the Vice Presidents is supposed to be used when the President is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.” Although Donald Trump may be seen by some as self-serving and dangerous, he is still technically able to perform his duties.

So now we know how we got to Trump’s second impeachment and why it was the best option. If lawmakers are set on keeping Trump out of the White House forever, they will have to go through the longer process of impeachment. But for those evacuated from their offices ahead of an angry mob, it’s probably worth the wait.

by Ava Salado

Given the current times, does this 2020 election affect non-voting age students? More specifically, how has this election affected these youth? Could someone under 18 years old even really care about these things, let alone be affected by it? I interviewed a 16-year-old, named Zephyr Depew, to see what she thinks in hopes of answering these questions.

Depew describes the election as being nerve-racking but reports no unhappiness within her family. One of the biggest questions is if students really care about the election. When asked this, she replied with “I do care but sadly I can’t vote because I’m underage so I care about it a decent amount but I can’t care about it as much as some adults.” When I asked her if her opinion has been swayed by her family members opinion, Depew replied with “A little bit, because of me being raised with people that have this opinion, but I feel I would end up voting for the Democratic party even if I was raised in a Republican household.” Most have seen every Prop XYZ commercial imaginable so it is understandable when Depew answered the question if any commercial or ads have affected her opinion, Depew answered by talking about candidates ad videos. She said “It gives me a bit of a chuckle that it looks like a 12-year-old Fortnite thumbnail, but it hasn’t swayed me to a different side.”

The internet is a place with lots of information, especially every 4 years when the election holiday season comes around. No, we do not get gifted with holiday cheer, but instead with a lot of debates and opinions. Most people get all of their political information from the internet. We wanted to see if the students that are interested in the election get most of their information and opinion from the internet. Depew stated “not really because the part of the internet that I’m on are people that share my opinion, so I haven’t seen any videos that have swapped my opinion around.” If you did not have the internet and just word of mouth and the news, do you think that your political view would be different? Depew’s response was “Maybe, but also with the fact of where I live in California, so close to San Francisco, it’s most likely that I would still have the same opinions of the more democratic leaning side even without the internet.” Now we get to the last question which was, did the prior election leave you with any feelings or opinions different than this year’s election? Depew answers with “No, my opinion is the same, the prior election was not as stressful because I was younger but I still like…so I wasn’t thinking about it as much but I’m about in the same spot that I was last time except a little more pessimistic about the world.”