Jerry Falwell Jr. says that Trump has asked him to lead a federal task force on higher education policy.
Falwell says he can be very helpful to Betsy DeVos (if she is confirmed). DeVos showed at her hearing that she knows nothing about higher education.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“I’ve got notebooks full of issues,” [Falwell] said.
At least he’s got one thing right.
Like Romney’s famous gaffe, “Binders of women”?
Corsets?
Duane, you may have hit on one of his “issues.” Some people have said that, so according to the standards of the day, it’s most likely true.
Just when you think it can’t get worse . . . .
Don’t say that!!! I had a friend who used to say, “Things aren’t so bad they can’t get worse.” She was right.
What can we do!? When is the Senate vote on DeVos? Whom should we call that is on the fence about her?
Sen. Toomey (PA)
Sen. Collins (ME)
Sen. Murkowski (AK)
from Politico (published today): http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/trump-cabinet-congress-democrats-234449
“Collins and Alaska GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski also on Tuesday reserved the right to oppose Betsy DeVos on the floor after backing the Education Secretary pick during a contentious committee vote.”
Kate
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The DeVoses have contributed HEAVILY $$ to Falwell Jr. in their mutual desire to “advance God’s kingdom.”
Which of the gods’ kingdom?
The one that is a gated community. You know, Heaven’s Gate.
Contributed HEAVILY” or “Heavenly”?
Heavens to Betsy
Heavens to Betsy
Theory’s all wet, see
Threat of a grizzly
Invading the school
On the whole, failin’
‘Cept up near Palin
Simply high tailin’
As general rule
I am a strong believer in God’s will = GOODNESS’ intention.
I quickly Google on Liberty University. Here is what I have:
[start paragraph]
Liberty is one of only about 70 private universities in the nation rated AA by Standard & Poor’s and Aa by Moody’s, yet has remained among the most affordable of all private universities and continues to award over $200 million of institutional aid to its students each year.
The Chronicle of Higher Education even reported in 2015 that Liberty had become an unexpected model for the future of higher education.
Under Falwell’s leadership, Liberty has grown to become the nation’s fifth largest university, the largest university in Virginia, and the largest Christian university in the world.
His goal for the university is to fulfill the original vision to provide a world class educational experience that will train champions for Christ who are fully equipped for successful careers in every profession.
[end paragraph]
Dr. Jerry Falwell Jr. has the best intention. That is the hope for the survival academe in USA , so that he can do “to fulfill the original vision to provide a world class educational experience that will train champions for Christ who are fully equipped for successful careers in every profession.”
I admire and respect his intentional and original intention and belief in Christ to motivate and help learners to achieve their successful careers in every profession. Back2basic
The problem with Falwell is that he is an evangelical and I do not wish to convert. I am content with my own religion
Dearest Dr. Ravitch:
I hope that with degree in law, Dr. Falwell Jr. would be more logical than blind faith.
In this 21st century, people in high education should know better that the will and intention in public will resonate with THE COMMON GOOD = American Public education = the corner stone of democracy = the pursuit of happiness at any cost. Love. May.
Falwell is and has been a Trump supporter which makes him as much a menace as Trump.
From the NY Post 2016: Jerry Falwell Jr. gave Trump a boost by hailing him as a fresh voice on the political scene and comparing him to his father.
“Like Mr. Trump, Dad would speak his mind,” Falwell Jr. said, going on to call Trump a “breath of fresh air” and comparing him with both Martin Luther King Jr. and Jesus Christ.
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/falwell-jr-donald-trump-like-jesus-christ-martin-luther-king-jr-and-jerry-falwell/
Excuse me while I vomit. Falwell is just another right wing Christo-fascist.
Diane and mpot4w: When I lived in Virginia, Liberty University had a reputation for developing political operatives and getting them jobs in the government just up the road in D.C. I am a Catholic myself; but that doesn’t mean I love ideologues of any stripe, and who cannot appreciate the kind of life that Jesus is known for modeling. The problem often is not what such evangelicals support, but what and whom they are so totally against.
May…My long post was taken down but maybe this will pass muster.
As I recall you are a Canadian of Viet Namese background (please correct me if my memory is incorrect) and have not been endowed with the belief system of the US that separation of church and state is an imperative in our universal public education system. Having had to deal with radical religiousists since the John Birch Society, when I did graduate from law school and represented the teachers who were being attacked by the Birchers since the 1960s, in much the same was educators face today with the Trumpists, I would like to mention a few things. First, a law degree is like not a touch stone for good education nor intelligence nor a reality position. Many unaccredited for – profit law schools abound in the US..and the degrees they proffer are FAR from a degree in law from Yale or Harvard of NYU or UCLA.
Most educators for the last 30 years have had to deal with “creationism” which is based in myth. Evolution is based in provable fact. Early humans did NOT roam the earth with dinosaurs 5000 years ago. But this is the belief system of both Betsy DeVos and of Jerry Falwell. They are certainly entitled to worship as they wish but forcing students to believe this kind of personal religious dogma is not an American free universal education goal and it is unacceptable in a leader of K-12 and higher ed who will run our Office of Education in DC.
Also, I was personally charged by the NGO for which I worked, with interviewing and hiring an educational research supervisor some years ago in our Southern States. I interviewed candidates from a few states using the private room at the Athens, Georgia airport since they all flew in on the same day. The one person who had gone to a Christian college (as with Falwell) was shockingly short of facts and education subject matter, and only repeated to me verbiage from the Bible. It was a distressing eye opener on how limited his course material really produced that qualified him for a real job in education. Over the years I have had similar interactions with more graduates of for-profit religious colleges. I also have had professional interaction with students and faculty of Yale Divinity School which is a world apart from the Falwell institution.
Would you want a chiropractor or a brain surgeon from Johns Hopkins to do open heart surgery on you?
I respect your comments but disagree, and I believe that one person’s view of God should never be imposed in an academic setting, but studying Comparative Religion is an excellent and valid course when taught without bias by a true scholar.
So, having these two people, DeVos and Falwell, who only went to religious schools and have no academic experience in the greater world, whose main personal education was directed solely to Christianity which they now purport for all students, worries me.
That is not what American PUBLIC education is about.
May..only for-profit businesses are rated by Standard and Poor’s and by Moody. That rating is for investors not academics. They rate very low in academic standards.
They are a money making machine, and Falwell junior’s father who started this sham university (to enrich himself with lucre) almost went to prison for his ill gotten gains and shady fund raising.
Your paragraph on ” students who are champions for Christ and equipped for careers”…is similar to the Koch brothers, and their view is for the students to infiltrate all areas of business and government to make America a Christian nation. This concept is terrifying to me and to most educators and free thinkers.
Ellen Lubic and May: Two examples of great institutions of higher education that are backed by religious institutions, but that are well-accredited in terms of academics and the freedom of thought that Ellen speaks of are Georgetown and Catholic Universities.
Ellen Lubic
I was going to throw up but instead I listened to another Californian
Liberty isn’t a University it like VonClownstick is a sick joke.
“I hope I live to see the day when, as in the early days of our country, we won’t have any public schools. The churches will have taken them over again and Christians will be running them. What a happy day that will be! ” Falwell sr.
Catholic University of America took $3 million in strings-attached money from the Koch Bros., while another Catholic university, the University of Dayton, stood by its principles of social justice and, said “no” to future Koch money (first in the nation to do so).
UnKochMyCampus.org, is a website worth visiting.
Linda: I haven’t researched where their money comes from. But I attended Georgetown U. (and graduated from there) and know many who work at and attended Catholic U. Their curriculum is as open as any I have been acquainted with, for instance, the University of Virginia. From my experience, the coursework in philosophy and the study of religions is critical and far from ideological.
I don’t see any reason to believe that Mr. Falwell, or Ms. DeVos, or, really any other Protestant evangelical respects the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution.
I can’t speak for anyone else, but I have absolutely no interest in living in a theocracy.
I do not see this in these two individuals. I am a Protestant (I do not accept any authority of the Church of Rome). I fully embrace the establishment clause, and separation of church and state. I have a perspective, which I gained from spending a year in Saudi Arabia. Islam is the state church of Saudi. No other religion can be practiced. (People from many different religions, live in Saudi). I share your lack of desire to live in a theocracy, because I have done so. Nothing like first-hand experience.
Freedom of religion, is one of our splendid American traditions. I like to think of what George Washington wrote to the Truro Synagogue. “To bigotry no sanction, to persecution, no assistance.”
Thanks Charles: I actually teach, in one of my English classes, Washington’s letter on toleration, which is, as you point out, a great piece of Enlightenment rhetoric.
markstextterminal: Your post: “I don’t see any reason to believe that Mr. Falwell, or Ms. DeVos, or, really any other Protestant evangelical respects the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution. . . .
I can’t speak for anyone else, but I have absolutely no interest in living in a theocracy.”
Your post is succinct and EXACTLY on point. Part of the problem is that many evangelicals don’t seem to understand the difference between SECULARISM and SECULARITY. They set themselves off from a SECULARISM as if it were the source and equivalent to ALL THE EVILS IN THE WORLD.
Whereas, the establishment clause merely separates government from religious ideology insofar as it can be separated–it is SECULARITY as a part of a constitutional democracy that affords freedom for all to worship as they please without State interference. But so many evangelicals think that what is occurring is equates to an assault on their **freedom of religion” which, in some cases that I have heard, means they cannot have the Christian Theocracy that you speak of.
Having been around many Catholics and evangelicals for many years, and though the Catholics are not known as evangelical, I have come to believe that, deep in the heart of many Catholic AND evangelicals is a totalitarian trying to get out. And as we’ve seen on this list, evangelical writings show they are not ashamed of their frightening takeover ambitions. Those ambitions are not only frightening, they are also self-defeating–because a takeover of a secular government by Christian or any religious order is an invitation to religious warfare on a global scale. From my understanding of Bannon, he seems to want just that; so that the factioning and disunity of our political culture is a an accomplishment of his goals.
“Theocrazy”
Theocracy is bad
But Theocrazy’s badder
The former may be mad
But latter is a Hatter
Well put, Some DAM!
I have family near Lynchburg, where Liberty is located, and people there have a strong love-hate relationship with the university. I found Kevin Roose’s book, An Unlikely Discipline, about his year “abroad” at Liberty from Brown University to be surprisingly even-handed.
Although not an evangelical, I have admiration for many of them who take their faith seriously and put their money where their mouth is in the work they do for others. (My mother-in-law was one who fed and provided comfort to migrant workers, taught English and literacy skills to others, and lent a sympathetic ear to people in her rural community where mental health care is hard to access well into her 80s.) I have lost all respect for Jerry Falwell, Jr., though – willing to sell his faith out for a little bit of power by supporting Donald Trump, who in no way adheres to the moral template of the evangelical church.
Diane…how come my posted comment was taken down?
I wrote the first one hours ago and it noted that it was awaiting editing, and now it is gone. Ir was less verbose than the one above…but this is an issue I cannot let pass.
Sometimes my posts get lost in the nether lands of WordPress and I never see them again. It’s not a perfect set up by any means. So I just repost. Sometimes my comments go into moderation for no apparent reason, except using FLERP! seems to be one of the reasons. We’ll see if that happens on this post.
Nope, didn’t happen this time with FLERP!
Dearest Joel Herman and Ellen Lubic:
I profoundly appreciate your insight regarding Liberty University.
I am sorry that I believe in “The Chronicle of Higher Education” which even reported in 2015 that Liberty had become an unexpected model for the future of higher education.
It is shockingly to acknowledge that law Degree from University of Virginia is invalid. It seems to me that any university that bears its State name should be PUBLIC INSTITUTE.
If I saw the clip re: Bill Maher and Liberty University, I would not write such a post to praise Dr. Jerry Falwell Jr.
I thought that Trump corrects his mistake in Education by appointing Mr. Falwell Jr. who can guide Betty DeVos.
Please accept my apology to praise the wrong leader in Higher Education. Dr. Ravitch did not give me a link to know the true fact about Trump’s new appointee. I only read Mr. Falwell Jr. from Wikipedia and Google about Liberty University.
Outch! Please all grassroots should organize fast and locally in order to be ready for the survival of American Public Education = American Corner Stone of Democracy. May.
Dearest Ellen Lubic:
My high hope in higher education authority blindfolds my instinct about bad associate or good friend to the new US administration.
I have understood well that money can buy and influence the highest power and any credential in education in any society.
I thought that Western people are naive to all tricks from communists and fascists. Here, I am very naive to all FAKE credentials from all FAKE universities.
Please keep up with cultivating Public about all FAKE universities and its INVALID DEGREES. I am a quick learner and I hope that you forgive my naivete in my last post. May
What stands out to me in the article is the last sentence. As the days pass, it is increasingly evident that the real power in Washington is in the hands of President Trump’s chief strategist, Steve Bannon.
Agree with you about Bannon being Trump’s brain…and he is connected by the hip to Sessions. It is not only the issue of Falwell and DeVos that he manipulates.
This war monger and apparently deranged guy is all for tearing apart our entire society, have masses of people die, while he joins Ryan and giggles. Trump is not a smart as Bannon, nor as intimidating, so he got Trump to put him in the lead with the NSC to destroy both the economy and the safety of America. We are in for massive increases in taxation for the Middle Class to enrich weapons manufacturers, and then WW3 with the US and Russia joining forces to blow up the planet while the billionaires hide in bunkers. It will also take care of the problem of ‘whitening’ the US, for these three bigots will conspire to use young people of color to front for them in the military.
It is all very dark…and this afternoon Sessions and Mnuchin were appointed by their committees, and Tillerson was appointed by the Senate and he is now Sect. of State (he and Putin must be downing vodka in celebration of sanctions to be lifted in a few days).
If Dems don’t stop their internecine warfare and focus on the 2018 and 2020 elections, it will all be over. And with Gorsuch, Alito, Roberts, Thomas, and even Kennedy, plus perhaps a couple more at SCOTUS, we will have this crew for the next 100 years. Indeed, 100 Years of Solitude.
I plan to look down, or up, from the Elysian Fields and watch the return to the Dark Ages and Serfdom.
Sad that Susan Durst does not understand this nor does she seem to have words to refute this position nor to support hers, wgersen.
Bullshit
(Big or selective) university leaders have much more clout than K-12 leaders. They travel in completely different circles- CEO and Senator circles.
No one wants to admit this but part of the reason they go after K-12 schools is they don’t really respect the people who run them- it’s two different social classes.
Some university faculty and administrators are, as you suggest. The proof was the letter posted at Huffpo, identified as written by prominent progressives (mostly from academia), in support of Clinton. The letter mentioned student debt and pre-K, which are Democratic talking points but, there was no mention of Gates’ takeover of K-12.
When signers, who dismissed K-12, find themselves as the inevitable next targets, they will be shocked.
Many K-12 teachers have, by their inaction, failed themselves. One defense they could offer, is that their union leadership wasn’t vigilant, didn’t correctly anticipate and assess the threats and, chose not to vigorously lead, at every level and, at every opportunity.
The unions are complicit in the corporate take over.
Chiara
I dare say on this blog that the assault on k-12 is secondary to the assault at the
University level . Get back to me when 3/4 of the teaching staff in k-12 institutions are part time , at will, with no tenure nor even annual contract . The University system has been in the cross-hairs since the early seventies.,
Maybe high school students should start receiving high school credits for teaching middle school.
Joel: From my reading of many religious ideologues, they seem to equate freedom of thought with anti-religion, which is code for anti-THEIR religious ideology. And they have this funny way of forgetting just how Jesus really lived and for what he taught.
Catherine…I appreciate your comments. We also have to consider that although it is not spelled out in the Establishment Clause, we in America honor both freedom of religion, and freedom FROM religion.
Ellen Lubic: An afterthought: It seems to me that, first, the encroachment from either side is sometimes merely perceived, but sometimes real. However, second, in either case, the felt encroachment becomes the de facto cause of an immediate and extreme push-back and even more aggression from the other side.
There are some things that won’t be cured or even helped by carving out missing but needed distinctions made in the context of peaceful communications. However, in many cases, the cure or help can be accomplished by an understanding of those distinctions and that communication; and at least set in another and perhaps higher dialogue frame. I think the secularity/secularism/religious-ideology distinction is one of them.
And again, as a general rule, I think that missing understanding of secular/religion goes back to a poor education where civics and history are concerned. The other thing I have noticed is this: many from religious camps who are (from my experience) good, faithful, and well-meaning people have no idea what non-religious or other-religion people feel when :”accosted” by what they see as a raving ideologue nee “evangelical.”
In either case, there is nothing more aggravating and counter-productive that being in the presence of a closed mind coupled with an aggressive spirit.
Quite astute analysis, Chiara. No doubt what you say!
Chiara, Duane..et al.
As to the differences between the veracity and education of K -12 teachers and university professors….there is truth in your comments that some are afforded more respect and entre into higher levels of political and other society.
However, please consider that the training to be a teacher, and certainly in Early Education, is far different than to be a chemist or mathematician, or doctor/lawyer, or one who is a prime cancer researcher or who understands splitting the atom.
For example….In my state, the majority of teachers are trained in Calif. State U. system which only requires a C average in high school. Our U.of California system, however, requires an A average, with UCLA and Berkeley now requiring an A PLUS average.
People are born with a genetic continuum of ability shown by IQ, so in this sense we are really not born equal.
However, giftedness has many forms, for instance, some wonderful mechanics have the gift of understanding how transportation vehicles work. Some Early Ed teachers have infinite patience and the gift of being able to capture the attention of 3 – 7 year old students to teach them early reading and writing readiness skills. In high school, some wonderful teachers (who could have also taught in college if they wished to) deeply understand their subject matter in chemistry, math, literature, etc. and can make it visionary to their lucky students.
And then there are the amazing musicians, artists, actors, writers, who may not be able to fathom square root and negative numbers, and could not tell where Kazakstan is, but they can play musical instruments and transport us to a heavenly world. There is a place for each of us, and each of us is necessary for a balanced society.
However, those teaching at university level have a different level of mandated and chosen education which generally requires many years of earning advanced degrees from stringent university curriculum before they can enter a classroom or write highly researched and peer reviewed academic tomes. Many at this level prefer to do research than to do classroom teaching…and others prefer to enter industry after comparing the economic rewards for spending so much time, money, and energy to earn their advanced degrees.
FYI…these days, when most university professors are adjunct after all those years of study, and they are in huge debt for their tuition, their salaries are less then those of K – 12 classroom teachers, and they receive NO benefits such as health care and pensions..
It is counter productive to make this a completion as you seem to be doing. Each educator is vital to our system of creating graduates at all levels into productive people who have an ability to earn a living and strong skills in critical thinking.
NOTE….This diatribe of mine does not excuse the education system for producing so many Trump voters and I am doing some research about this… which will of course end up being a paper that maybe a few people will read. Arthur Camins wrote an excellent report some months ago on this failure to teach civics…everyone should google it and read it again now that we are in the New Normal of ignorance and deception.
Ellen Lubic: The efforts to denigrate (long-term bullying) k-12 teachers will differ from trying to bully-influence college professors in this respect: college professors are in the habit of teaching sometimes-adversarial courses, and of otherwise communicating in conflicting situations with ill-meaning adults about adult questions and, in special fields, with other field professionals. In that regard, and not to lessen the importance of K-12 teachers AT ALL, efforts to bully at the college level are going to run into a bunch of people who are politically aware, less controlled, and generally much better-equipped to field the political bullying that’s going on.
Ellen,
I think you missed the gist of Chiara’s statement. It’s not about the differences in education needed for various positions in work and life, but about the fact that the powers that be haven’t set their sights on post K12 education in the same fashion as in K12. And part of the reason for that difference is the differing levels of education involved in the two sectors is “they don’t really respect the people who run them [K12]- it’s two different social classes.”
Chiara’s comment is on the social class aspect of which level of education is just one aspect, albeit, an important one not a comment on the need for higher educational level attainment for K12 practitioners.
Also would you explain “It is counter productive to make this a completion as you seem to be doing.” To what does the “it” and “this” refer? I am confused by that statement.
I was typing too fast as the phone was ringing and meant ‘competition’ not ‘completion’…hard to work and do my avocational writing here. As to Chiara’s statement, I am clear as to her comparison. And am clear as to why this situation exists…which it does.
Also- “task force”? It’s a political payback. It doesn’t mean anything.
Joe Biden led a “task force” on wage workers. Name a single thing that resulted.
I can’t. Maybe someone can. “Task forces” are for when they have to pretend to be responding to some political constituency 🙂
Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Education.
They DO seem to have a bias against people who attended public schools in the Trump Administration, however.
Why not appoint some president of a giant public university? That’s where lower and middle class kids go to college. Tens of thousands every year. Millions. If they really wanted to make it representative they’d reward a state school that takes thousands of first generation college average students and graduates them.
After the Gates Foundation does its number on the public universities, they will be in the same defensive position as K-12.
Bill Gates’ for-profit schools-in-a-box, is a plan that reduces taxes, enriches the 0.1%, and can be applied easily to post K-12 education.
This is already happening in Florida. Scott challenged public colleges to produce a $10,000 diploma. A few schools submitted plans that include mostly cyber instruction.
Chiara…the President of the great U. of California higher ed system is Janet Napolitano who was the Director of Homeland Security.
I could not agree with you more that this the kind of person and credentials most thinking people would want to lead a vital part of our government…and comparing her lifelong accomplishments in government and in academics, it is both shocking embarrassing to see the choices Trump has imposed on America with inadequate people like DeVos and Falwell.
Just as a reminder, a past president of Pat Robertson’s university was a Gates Foundation education consultant. Conservative Leaders for Education was founded by the sister of the president, of Gates-funded NCTQ. CL4E posted recommended candidates for U.S. Secretary of Ed., which included, the aforementioned Gates’ education consultant, a Fellow of the Gates-funded Pahara institute, Devos,…
Linda…it has always been clear that these ersatz Christian leaders have always milked their constituents for endless cash ONLY to enrich themselves. They are ALL Elmer Gantry scam artists…and this has been proven often by policing authorities like the IRS and the courts, over the past 40 years. There are those who love prostitutes literally like Baker and the Crybaby guy who still has a TV show…and the phonies like Falwell and Robertson. It is pathetic and nauseating that so many are taken in by them. The multitude of reports of how they bilk little old lady pensioners to send them money every month is notorious and shameful.
It is a real ‘What Would Jesus Say?’ moment.
Considering Christ preached inclusivity and acceptance and, against the temple money changers, Jesus would have, likely, criticized people like DeVos, Trump, etc. Exploiting the poor, by shifting tax burdens to them, like Gates’ home state does, and taking money, intended for kids’ educations, to construct “human capital pipelines” instead of schools, would, obviously, be anathema to Christ.
Thank you for your comments and information, Linda.
“In an interview, Mr. Falwell said he sees it as a response to what he called “overreaching regulation” and micromanagement by the department in areas like accreditation and policies that affect colleges’ student-recruiting behavior, like the new “borrower defense to repayment” regulations. Those regulations allow students who have been defrauded, especially by for-profits, to escape from debt. There are plenty of efforts to micromange higher ed and these do need a good triage, but I have no “faith” that Mr. Falwell should be doing that work.
Now everyone will start to see who the planned president really is….Mike Pence. I’m sorry to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but Trump is the red herring. His ego has been stroked and he won (that’s all the narcissist needed), but the intention (I believe) is for him to be impeached so that the ultra conservative, ultra religious Pence is in the White House. Trump is doing the dirty work( and probably being paid enormous amounts of cash) by setting up the perfect right wing, religious, ultra conservative administration so that as the impeachments happen, the next one in line is just as ultra conservative as the previous. The religious zealots have played the game of chess very well and have patiently waited to “check mate”. Trump won’t divest his business interests because he has every intention of continuing his con man money, making gig. He will make his final “impeachable” movement once the administration is in place. All the executive orders are a means to an end…DISTRACTION for an ultra right movement. The Calvinists, Quiverfulls and all the other ultra religious factions are poised to take over. Mike Pence is a very scary man! Pretty soon our children will be required to say their “Amen’s” after every test they take and before every meal they eat in school. I hope I’m wrong….but I don’t think so.
You may be right Lisa B.
Lisa,
Pence is already choosing the cabinet
Lisa…you make a very rational and well constructed case. I have been sorting this scenario out in my mind and talking with a few colleagues about exactly what you purport. I am a afraid that you are right on the money…again.
This group of people are just as dangerous as ISIS and they are living among us. Why do you think that Josh Duggar and his indiscretions were so disastrous? It’s because he was part of the movement and he was installed into DC politics for a purpose. Although the Duggar family states they are not of the Quiverfull clan, I think otherwise. Pence is the puppet master and Trump the puppet (and likely getting rich from it). Trump doesn’t care because he’s a con man and a 3rd rate actor. His fake “presidency” is just a show….a deflection….a distraction for the takeover by Mike Pence. Pence is truly a scary man!
Pence in league with Bannon and Sessions…are the disciples of real HELL.
I forgot the Duggar situation…interesting speculation…and the Kochs are party to all it too.
As one who has been reading about and studying the far right xtian conservative sector since the late 70s what you state is quite correct. That sector has been extremely deceptive in it’s proclamations in the political realm, just enough to suck in all the xtian conservative fundamentalists and believers but to disguise their main intention of an xtian caliphate to the general populace. They have tried many means of attack to break down that “wall of separation” Jefferson declared as a bedrock principle of this country. And their playbook started with local small elections and kept building through the state elections, now national elections, judgeships and lawsuits with help from non-tax paying pastors, preachers and priests who have “rallied god’s troops” to make this into an xtian caliphate.
If anyone thinks this isn’t the plan they haven’t been following these folks closely enough. You have to give credit for long term thinking and strategies and with Pence, the governorships and statehouses all in xtian fundamentalist control religious shit will start hitting the fan exponentially,
Thanks for one of the best and most cogent comments you have ever made here, Duane.
“Xtian Caliphate” is the core of their drive. Wish I had thought of using this expression…but I have spoken often lately of their coup and called them the American Taliban…as have others.
Cannot understand how these aggressive Christian Crusaders are allowed to infiltrate society on non-taxpayer 501(c)(3) status. Seems as though the IRS has their own members of the infiltrators, as does the FBI and the CIA, who work for and protect them.
Thanks for the kind words Ellen. I am certainly just as baffled about that infiltration of intolerance as you.
Although I certainly consider my comments on standards and testing, on the ethical problem of expediency vs student justice and on the foundational conceptual problems with supposed “measurements” in the teaching and learning process to be far more important and germane for “a site to discuss a better education for all”.
Xtian….A Christian (pronunciation: i/ˈkrɪʃtʃən/ or /ˈkrɪstjən/) is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. “Christian” derives from the Koine Greek word Christós (Χριστός), a translation of the Biblical Hebrew
Duane is SO multi faceted and so intelligent…when he is not being a smart ass.
I’ve seen the X of xtian used many times over the years in growing up Catholic. I’ve always thought it was an appropriate use. I just refuse to capitalize it so as to not show any deference or obeisance to a word/concept that I believe doesn’t merit the capitalization.
That smartassedness is the result of frustration with our society to not adhere to a “fidelity to truth” attitude in all phases/aspect of life. Lest one think I have a high and mighty attitude, all I can say is that I apply it to myself and am not always happy with my analysis-I’ve learned not to totally focus on my shortcomings, which are many but to attempt to overcome those pecadillos. I live how I live and if someone doesn’t like it well, tough shit for them-there goes my smartassedness again.
Have gotten used to you this past 4 years…and t’would be nice if we were in closer proximity to share a martini or a cuppa…and discuss all this, eyeball to eyeball. Just think what a salon opportunity our soul mates here would make…sitting in an orchard, reflecting.
A true Dream Team.
Well, hopefully that “orchard” can be the next NPE meeting in the fall in Oakland. I plan to be there.
Duane is both multifaceted and multiasseded — and sometimes simultaneously.
Poet…once again you nailed it.
“Fallwell Ends”
If all’s well that ends well
Then all’s end that Fallswell
If you all haven’t read Jane Meyer’s Dark Money, then you must. Webs & connections from Kochs, et.al. to institutes of higher learning.
This has been the plan since before the 70s, w/the formation of ALEC (1971, I believe–correct me if I’m wrong). Don’t hear much about ALEC on the mainstream media news, do we? Nor about the big protest in the streets in Chicago, where ALEC’s 40th birthday party was held at the posh Palmer House Hilton.
ALEC has been a “yuge” part of the drive towards an xtian caliphate in this country. Wasn’t the senior Koch a founder of the John Birch Society in the 60s? Yes, he was.
Diane and all: Below is a letter to Trump from 48 US university presidents and chancellors published in the New York Review of Books.
A Message to the President
Robert L. Barchi, Joanne Berger-Sweeney, Lee C. Bollinger, Robert A. Brown, and Ronald J. Daniels, et al. MARCH 9, 2017 ISSUE
The following letter by forty-eight US university presidents and chancellors was sent to President Trump on February 2, 2017. —The Editors (New York Review of Books)
President Donald J. Trump
The White House
United States of America
Dear President Trump:
We write as presidents of leading American colleges and universities to urge you to rectify or rescind the recent executive order closing our country’s borders to immigrants and others from seven majority-Muslim countries and to refugees from throughout the world. If left in place, the order threatens both American higher education and the defining principles of our country.
The order specifically prevents talented, law-abiding students and scholars from the affected regions from reaching our campuses. American higher education has benefited tremendously from this country’s long history of embracing immigrants from around the world. Their innovations and scholarship have enhanced American learning, added to our prosperity, and enriched our culture. Many who have returned to their own countries have taken with them the values that are the lifeblood of our democracy. America’s educational, scientific, economic, and artistic leadership depends upon our continued ability to attract the extraordinary people who for many generations have come to this country in search of freedom and a better life.
This action unfairly targets seven predominantly Muslim countries in a manner inconsistent with America’s best principles and greatest traditions. We welcome outstanding Muslim students and scholars from the United States and abroad, including the many who come from the seven affected countries. Their vibrant contributions to our institutions and our country exemplify the value of the religious diversity that has been a hallmark of American freedom since this country’s founding. The American dream depends on continued fidelity to that value.
We recognize and respect the need to protect America’s security. The vetting procedures already in place are rigorous. Improvements to them should be based on evidence, calibrated to real risks, and consistent with constitutional principle.
Throughout its history America has been a land of opportunity and a beacon of freedom in the world. It has attracted talented people to our shores and inspired people around the globe. This executive order is dimming the lamp of liberty and staining the country’s reputation. We respectfully urge you to rectify the damage done by this order.
Sincerely,
Robert L. Barchi, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Joanne Berger-Sweeney, Trinity College
Lee C. Bollinger, Columbia University
Robert A. Brown, Boston University
Ronald J. Daniels, Johns Hopkins University
Nicholas B. Dirks, University of California, Berkeley
Adam F. Falk, Williams College
Patrick Gallagher, University of Pittsburgh
Amy Gutmann, University of Pennsylvania
Philip J. Hanlon, Dartmouth College
Ralph J. Hexter, University of California, Davis
Kimberly W. Benston, Haverford College
George Blumenthal, University of California, Santa Cruz
Richard H. Brodhead, Duke University
Kimberly Wright Cassidy, Bryn Mawr College
John J. DeGioia, Georgetown University
Christopher L. Eisgruber, Princeton University
Drew Gilpin Faust, Harvard University
Howard Gillman, University of California, Irvine
Andrew Hamilton, New York University
Sam Hawgood, MBBS, University of California, San Francisco
Reverend John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., University of Notre Dame
Pradeep K. Khosla, University of California, San Diego
David W. Leebron, Rice University
Wallace D. Loh, University of Maryland, College Park
David Oxtoby, Pomona College
Daniel R. Porterfield, Franklin & Marshall College
Hunter R. Rawlings III, Cornell University
Peter Salovey, Yale University
Mark Schlissel, M.D., Ph.D., University of Michigan
Barbara R. Snyder, Case Western Reserve University
Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D., Stony Brook University
Claire E. Sterk, Emory University
Marvin Krislov, Oberlin College
Ron Liebowitz, Brandeis University
Anthony P. Monaco, Tufts University
Christina H. Paxson, Brown University
Carol Quillen, Davidson College
Clayton Rose, Bowdoin College
Michael H. Schill, University of Oregon
Valerie Smith, Swarthmore College
Debora L. Spar, Barnard College
Sonya Stephens, Mount Holyoke College
Marc Tessier-Lavigne, Stanford University
Satish K. Tripathi, University at Buffalo
Mark S. Wrighton, Washington University in St. Louis
Henry T. Yang, University of California, Santa Barbara
Nicholas S. Zeppos, Vanderbilt University
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2017/03/09/message-to-president-trump/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NYR%20Ground%20Zero%20Angela%20Carter%20university%20presidents&utm_content=NYR%20Ground%20Zero%20Angela%20Carter%20university%20presidents+CID_6432a863249e4a75c07cad35e78ad74a&utm_source=Newsletter&utm_term=A%20Message%20to%20the%20President