News
President Barack Obama spent Thursday afternoon on Twitter, answering questions from people who tweeted using the hashtag #AskPOTUS. Though he only answered a handful of questions, he covered a wide variety of topics, from health care to gun control to basketball. The president participated in the event while visiting McKinley High School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana for a town hall that morning, according to the Advocate. There are a number of questions Obama didn't answer during #AskPOTUS, though, and some that definitely deserved some air time.
All told, Obama answered nine tweets. When asked how to make college more affordable, Obama suggested expanding Pell grants, capping loan repayments, and making community college free. When confronted with a complaint about former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, he deftly replied with praise for the new governor, John Bel Edwards (classy). When asked to pick favorites between Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, and Lebron James, Obama, a former senator of Illinois, chose Jordan, and also had good things to say about Louisiana State University freshman Ben Simmons. Imagine getting a shout-out by the president at only 19 years old! Lucky guy.
Obama was also asked what his greatest presidential memory was, and he responded that it was the night that the Affordable Care Act passed. He said he was standing on the Truman balcony with his staff, thinking about how they had just helped millions of Americans. I love how he always gives credit where credit is due! A few more choice tweets:
But what about the questions he didn't answer? I combed through the hastag and found a few well-deserving tweets that urgently need to be addressed:
Voting Advice?
Great question! It's so important for young people to vote, but it can be hard to make sense of all the candidates and issues. Heck, sometimes I still don't trust myself to vote in primaries. Mand bro, if you're out there, I recommend starting with the website ISideWith.com.
What Can't You Do?
Let's not forget, he's also a pretty good singer, basketball player, baby whisperer, and also possibly a Jedi.
Will You Please Stay Forever?
Obama did actually bring this up last July, when he spoke in Ethiopia. While he thinks he could win if he was constitutionally allowed to seek a third term, he's not interested. "I'm looking forward to life after being president," he told the crowd. "I can go take a walk. I can spend time with my family." He does deserve some rest, after all.
What About The Teachers?
This is a very disturbing graphic. My son's kindergarten teacher was so awesome, she still gets chased down for hugs by me, him, and everyone else who has ever known her. Teachers change lives. They shape the future. And they get paid jack for it. How can we fix that?
Can We Not Frack, Please?
I still don't get how fracking — drilling into the earth's core to extract natural resources at the cost of serious environmental damage — is legal, tbh.
