Adam Laats is a historian of education at the State University of New York in Binghamton. He recently wrote a hopeful article in The Atlantic about the future, which I posted here, while disagreeing with his optimism. As the Supreme Court seems poised to tear down the wall of separaration, as the charter industry grows despite its multiple failures, as Republicans embrace privatization of schools, I’m not able to share his optimism. I hope he is right, and I am wrong.
He writes:
Things in the world of public education are grim. Texas politicians are banning books. GOP leaders continue their attacks on teachers and curriculum. And teachers are left, in one case at least, literally scrambling for dollars to fund their classroom essentials.
And for those who know the history, none of this is new. As I argued in my book The Other School Reformers(Harvard University Press, 2015), for a hundred years, politicians and activists have attacked public schools, humiliated teachers, and frightened administrators into purging good science, history, and literature from their classrooms.
In this environment, it might seem ridiculous to suggest that public schools are winning, in the long term. Yet that’s what I argued recently in the pages of The Atlantic. Yes, conservatives seem to be mounting a vigorous assault on public education, a series of mini-January 6ths at school board meetings. In the end, though, those assaults only amount to what I’ve called a “politics of petulance,” more about political theater than actual ed policy. In the end, I think, the widespread demand for public education will outweigh any short-sighted partisan rancor. As I wrote,
Politicians willing to stand in the schoolhouse door to keep out troubling ideas will not be willing to stand there forever. Sooner or later, the cameras will leave, and parents will demand that schools give their children the best available education.
On this blog, Diane asked fair questions about my optimism. As Diane put it,
If parents really cared about high-quality education, wouldn’t they demand higher teacher salaries, reduced class sizes, and better physical care of schools?
I appreciate the opportunity to respond. In my current book, I’m exploring the earliest history of public schools in American cities, a topic Diane knows very well from her research into the history of New York’s schools. That history shows exactly those trends Diane mentioned, leading to the birth of urban public education. Parents DID demand higher teacher salaries, reduced class sizes, and better school facilities.
99+% of this blog’s readers and commenters are comprised of people who want the traditional public schools (TPS) to have no competition no matter how lousy any TPS is. But there are millions of parents who have chosen or would choose other options if family finances or logistics made that possible. Those parents want to do what this blog’s host did for her own kids several decades ago: put them in the best environment possible to get a high quality education, be that the nearby TPS, a charter, or a private school. I’ve known several dozen charter and private school parents over the last 30 years, and the #1 reason they decided to forego the TPS is their perception – the reality – that standards for student behavior and academic achievement have badly eroded in most – not all – TPS. Many parents who choose other than TPS are non-white and/or lower-income. Their kids are in school RIGHT NOW – they are not going to wait for TPS to improve, for their kids to be physically safe and academically challenged.
A good example of why parents opt out of TPS is shown in the linked article. All the usual ad hominem attacks won’t change the substance of what this man says, and what many others – including many political liberals – also say.
https://nypost.com/2021/12/18/activist-parents-should-be-able-to-choose-best-school-for-kids/?fbclid=IwAR1Qd2aZO7mvi8zlCAKXV7nXumLAYomXRDaLAuddLeUer2m0OFfJ-0NAmXU
Telling the truth about school privatization is an ad hominem attack? How convenient. Private schools and religious schools are not obligated to take all students who apply to their schools. Charter schools have specific enrollment dates, they don’t take kids throughout the whole school year as do the real public schools. Many of these charter and private schools have entry exams and demand meetings with the parents prior to possible enrollment…IF they decide to accept the kid in the first place. The real public schools which do all the heavy lifting accept ALL the kids who have the proper residency requirements, who live in the school district. Charter schools often engage in counseling out the children who are problematic or who have special needs.
Two words: straw man.
Or is it, person?
I have no objection to those who choose a private or religious school, so long as they pay for it themselves and don’t ask the public to pay for their private choice. You will be unhappy to learn that many states that have enacted school choice plans have empty seats in charter schools and subpar religious schools, where children really ARE indoctrinated to the beliefs of one religion. The schools where children learn freedom of thought are public schools. Oh, one more thing: no voucher plan underwrites the cost of elite private schools.
“Political Liberals” — such a sad, and so overwhelmingly powerful, US term
“Political liberals”, in other words, the people who are fighting to enable Becky to continue to vote while her friends like GOP Peter Thiel tells audiences that women voting in a capitalistic democracy is an oxymoron.
Becky should review the history of women who had no political rights until they fought the conservatives for them. That’s assuming “Becky” isn’t the cat fishing that GOP men seem to like.
Becky feels strongly about competition in the market. She should spend her energies bringing Adam Smith to monopolistic tech companies.
The majority of Americans don’t want competing public services because they know what they will get- inferior service, no
voice like they currently have in a local democratic process, they’ll lose the local economic multiplier effect, etc.
When you’ve got losing arguments like Becky’s, the description “ad hominem” would only come into play for people making a buck from Gates, Walton heirs or Reed Hastings, while gaslighting their neighbors.
I, like other Ohio taxpayers, was forced to pay for ECOT. What did I or the students get for that $1 bil. boondoggle? We bought assets and when ECOT went belly up, we didn’t even get listed as creditors for the non-existent assets. Fordham owes me money for influencing policy that costed Ohio…hugely.
What a horrible thing to say, that public schools are lousy: “99+% of this blog’s readers and commenters are comprised of people who want the traditional public schools (TPS) to have no competition no matter how lousy any TPS is.” 99+% of this blog’s readers and commenters are comprised of people who want public schools to continue to be a public service for our country, and are willing to stand up to those who falsely scream that public schools are failing, to stand up to people who tear apart public education and would dance on democracy’s grave, no matter how lousy those people are. I acknowledge that all the historical fact, all the research, all the results, all the reasoning, and all the ad hominem attacks in the world won’t make greedy and resentful privatization idolators care.
Now that Becky mentions it, I have also noticed a lot of people here using ad homonym — using “ad” (advertisement) when they should have been using “AD”(Anno Domini)
I didn’t want to say anything for fear of being called a pendant.
SomeDamPendant, eh!
Becky Kaiser– First off, your source. Are you a denizen of NYC? I was, from age 25-45 [30yrs ago]. This has not changed: NYT is for detailed factual coverage of news. NYDailyNews is a necessary adjunct: nitty-gritty local coverage plus great sports coverage plus comic strips and fun columns. NYPost OTOH is a rag, always has been, always will be.
Secondly. you say friends over a 30-yr span find “standards for student behavior and academic achievement have badly eroded in most – not all – TPS. Many parents who choose other than TPS are non-white and/or lower-income.” Are those the friends making this observation?
30yrs ago when I left NYC there was no place for the local Bklyn zoned hisch around the corner from me to go but up. Yet today its kids have it worse, because it was forced to co-locate with a charter. Its enrollees via blocked-off staircases and unequally shared common facilities have even larger classes, eat and do gym at odd times to accommodate the interlopers, [who BTW have more space to do those things because smaller enrollment but equal weight]. They have had to give up what once were extracurricular spaces to classrooms for the other guys. Most likely by now they have higher % SpEd and ESL, but no separate space to accommodate them.
The same thing happened to the diverse elemsch my kids would have attended had we not had to move due to job relocation. Not the chi-chi elemsch whose border was just across our street– some on our side thought that a tragedy, but before home-owning we’d rented right across from the “lesser” school & preferred it. Same crap—colocation with a charter. I read that they were going to get rid of the school library to make the space work.
I hope you understand from these details that “school choice” in the charter era is just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. It’s taking a fixed pubsch budget and divvying it up between some who get more, some who get less.
If OTOH you’re talking about the diminished NYC middle class, know that public school choice was alive & kicking well before charters. I had a friend who moved her son 3 times between 6th-12th gr in late-‘70’s/ early-‘80’s to get the right fit. IMHO magnets can work in such a huge schdistr. There are some problems, but they provide flexibility. Most importantly, unlike charters, they do not have the freedom to vary significantly from district stds/ mores, nor are their practices protected by $clouty hedge-funders/ political donors.
Downplaying threats is not new strategy.
Laats’ Atlantic article leaves out significant factors in today’s environment (1) Gates, Walton heirs, John Arnold, Zuck, and the Koch network, whose agendas threaten public schools. (2) The article doesn’t mention a change that began with Reagan, “Every GOP Pres. since Ronald Reagan has looked mostly to conservative Catholics, rather than mainline or evangelical protestants in choosing candidates for the U.S. Supreme Court. (CNN, Ronald Brownstein, 9-27-2020, “How conservative Catholics became supreme in GOP’s court.”)
CNN’s Brownstein is one of the very, very few msm journalists who identifies the Koch-funded Paul Weyrich as Catholic. Laats’ Atlantic article doesn’t address Weyrich’s call for parallel schools to destroy public schools. (Weyrich’s training manual is posted at Theocracy Watch.)
The CNN article states a cause for the conservative Catholic jurist choices as, the “solidity of the political bond between conservative Catholics and evangelicals.” (Brownstein also notes the Catholic pool of candidates is “robust”). Until I read Brownstein’s CNN article, I was unaware of an important point that likely played into the beginning of the political bond of the two religions. “The modern wave of evangelical protestant political activism was the result of Pres. Carter’s attempt to revoke tax-exempt status from racially segregated religious schools.”
The following research which relates to Catholic voters who are Republican or “lean Republican” is significant. 67% believe that government programs for the poor do more harm than good (Pew research). Six of the SCOTUS judges likely hold that view.
Linda, you make an important point. The anti-evolution crusaders did not have a phalanx of billionaires supporting their cause.
Dr. Alexander Pavuk, Morgan State University, researched the position of Catholic thought which was expressed during the Scopes trial. We’re able to recognize the significant change in the landscape today by reading the abstract for his article, “Evolution and Voices of Progressive Catholicism in the Age of the Scopes Trial” (Cambridge University Press, June,18, 2018).
Adam Laats constructs his narrow argument about hope based on a time period when conservative protestant thought lost some of its hold on the country and distance between them and Catholic leaders existed.
While I don’t know how many Catholics at the time supported the modernism that Pavuk describes, it appears that Catholic intellectuals had more sway in the public square, unlike today, when 63% of white Catholics who attended church regularly in 2020, voted for Trump.
A quote from the abstract of Pavuk’s research follows, “Catholics…supported evolution and opposed the Scopes prosecution…may have unintentionally fostered scientism and religious modernism, rather than Catholicism in the public square.”
The issue in education today is not simply a matter of “choice,” even though it has been the banner that privatizers have hidden behind for years. The main issue today is about dismantling a public democratic institution. There is an entire cottage industry funded by billionaires that intends to dismantle public education. It involves paying off politicians that are assisting with this twisted mission. All you have to do is google billionaires that want to destroy public education, and you will see the long list of those with money that are working behind the scenes to defund and upend the schools that serve all students.https://tultican.com/2017/12/15/destroy-public-education-dpe-its-a-billionaire-fueled-agenda/
Retired teacher, in my book Slaying Goliath, I have an exhaustive list of billionaires and corporations who contribute to the goal of public school destruction and privatization.
Yup. Some of the billionaires play very dirty. If so-called reform is about choice, why are Proud Boys funded by billionaire dark money trying to intimidate school boards around the country? It is an overt assault on a democratic meeting.
While the odds appear to be against the tide turning against the kleptocratic fascists determined to destroy the public schools and the U.S. Constitution, there may be one more chance to stop these deplorably dangerous and dumb traitors, and that will be the outcome of the midterms in 2022.
And, historically, as I keep reading and hearing, the odds are against the Democrats holding on to the majority in both Houses of Congress, but not impossible.
The Democrats NEED more than a slim majority. The Democrats must have enough votes to not depend on so-called Democrats such as Manchin and Sinema.
But that will be up to Democratic, independent, and a few Republican voters (maybe 15% of the GOP) to turn out and vote in 2022, instead of staying home.
The fate of the U.S. is now in the hands of the voters to turn out and vote that do not approve of or support the traitor. If the Democrats not only hold on to the majority in both Houses of Congress but increase those majorities in 2022, then BLUE will be in a position to roll back a lot of the damage caused by Traitor Trump and his RED allies in the GOP.
What’s at stake that’s worse than losing our public schools?
ANSWER: Traitor Trump
The traitor is pulling every trick he’s ever used and then some to run out the clock in courts across the country to avoid justice. Little hands with beady eyes and a cruel mouth is gambling on the Republican Party taking back the majority in one or both houses of Congress in 2020, so he will be in a better position to become Dear Leader for Life in 2024, toss the U.S. Constitution in the toilet and pardon himself of all crimes, and then match or surpass one of his role models monsters: Kim Jong-un, Putin, or Hitler.
Did you know that Trump has been compared to China’s Mao?
https://asiasociety.org/blog/asia/what-trump-has-common-mao
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2021-01-09/bloomberg-new-economy-trump-s-last-days-raise-comparisons-to-mao
https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3036231/america-living-under-threat-mao-figure-donald-trump
And it helps to know that Mao is not responsible for what China has become since his death. Everything Mao represented was abandoned and buried after Mao died and Deng Xia Peng became the leader of the CCP.
No matter what happens, Traitor Trump will not live forever.
Once again Lloyd Lofthouse shows that he is an apologist for the mass murderer Mao.
“Yang” didn’t have to dig deep to prove him/herself a ditto head from baseball’s left field.
I recommend that folks read the book “Mao’s Great Famine” by Frank Dikotter. His estimate that 45 million died between 1958 and 1962. Mao was certainly responsible for what his country was when he was alive.
Left field is definitely represented in force today, and not my kind of left, either.
Kim, I think you misread what Lloyd wrote about Mao. I have seen nothing to suggest that he is an apologist for Mao. Yes, he was one of the worst mass murderers of the 20th century.
“Politicians willing to stand in the schoolhouse door to keep out troubling ideas will not be willing to stand there forever. Sooner or later, the cameras will leave, and parents will demand that schools give their children the best available education.”
So true! Critical thinking cannot be left to indoctrination that leaves research, history and academia in conflict with one’s own perceptions of the world as it is.
Although LAUSD collected an abundance of data with the potential to slice and dice all kinds of information about each child and what subset they are in, no information was produced on the 34,000 students who didn’t comply with their mandate deadline.
The District narrative was simplified to say the City of Angeles program the non-followers would be funneled into after winter break wasn’t prepared to handle the influx.
They’re already taking critical editorial heat (and now doubt face legal battles) for this completely deficient program.
How are students of color, socio-economically disadvantaged, English language learners and students with disabilities are represented in the 34,000? What would it look like if they represented the majority?
Academic books dispel myths. The world needs more of them. No matter the narrative, no matter the laws written into code, like those used to circumvent FERPA, eliminate the fourth estate and enable the government to create and disseminate lies directed at us; regardless, glimmers of hope will keep the candle burning.
Diane, have you read the #1 Best Seller on Amazon’s non fiction list? It’s the same book that’s #1 on their best selling non fiction list.
What?
To be clear, I wasn’t asking what trash people are buying on Amazon these days. I was asking what you were trying to say, O commenter with the ironic username. Like, say what?
If you mean the book about Fauci by that quack RFK Jr., I would not read such trash.
Despite all of RFK Jr.’s ranting against vaccines, he just had a holiday party and all the guests were required to show proof that they were vaccinated! That was reported today by Politico.
I guess he wants you to get sick, but not his friends!
I did read The 1619 Project, and I highly recommend it.
Why don’t you read it?
Diane,
How does a book with 2,200 citations register as “trash”?
I read that Politico article. So what? Many co-exist with partners with different viewpoints.
IDK why you would assume I haven’t read The 1619 Project except to suggest that I have an issue with it, which I do not.
RFK Jr is a menace. He is urging people to avoid being vaccinated against every disease. He is giving advice that will lead to disease and death. Meanwhile he gives a party and guests must be vaccinated. The dangerous warnings are for other people, not him or his family.
There are millions of people who are unvaccinated and risking their lives. It is hardly surprising that many bought RFK Jr.’s deadly book book to justify their own stupidity.
How can 2,200 citations be trash? Please see Raj Chetty.
“How does a book with 2,200 citations register as ‘trash’?” Easy.
Quacks and conspiracy theorists (we’ve got to find another word, these people are incapable of understanding the concept of what a theory is), thanks to Johannes Gutenberg through self-published internet-sold screeds, are able to create a multi-cottage industry in which they cite each other as authorities. And they you can cite the people who cite you. And so on.
This creates entire fields of “research” based on lies, dangerous conjecture, and rank stupidity. So the number of citations means absolutely nothing. Check the bibliography. Does the author read only things that support their quackery or worse? That’s why Carl Sagan insisted, in his normal eloquence, that citizens must learn to reason using the scientific method in order to develop the “fine art of bullshit detection.” In this particular case, the bullshit Geiger counter goes pretty high and gets loud very, very quickly.
I made the mistake of agreeing with an anti-trans commenter here to buy and read Abigail Shrier’s Irresversible Damage if he would buy and read Joan Roughgarden’s Evolution’s Rainbow. I really regret this decision. It’s interesting, of course, this book, as any complete car wreck is interesting. It’s a mini encyclopedia of breathless conspiracy theory, loaded language, fact-free fantasizing, and logical fallacies on the subject of sexual and gender differences. And it’s really poorly written. I so wish I hadn’t actually spent money on this.
Return it and get a refund.
Our hospitals have been full of antivax, antimask crusaders dying of Covid. Recipients of Darwin Awards, but unfortunately, they take others with them. Lots of others. RFK, Jr., will have a lot to answer for.
I have a suspicion that RFK Jr is vaccinated.
Bob,
You might want to read “In Defense of Transracialism” available at (https://philpapers.org/rec/TUVIDO) and look at what happened at Hypatia after they published it. The Wikipedia account is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypatia_transracialism_controversy . That might give you a sense of the current academic climate around these issues.
2,200 citations including hundreds of peer reviewed studies and historical references from the very same sources often cited in this blog…but okay LeftCoastTeacher and GregB
All those “citations” vs 800,000 deaths! Do you trust RFK Jr. or more than 90% of the nation’s doctors?
Times of Israel (12-16-2021) has a good summary of Kennedy’s game. An organization linked to RFK Jr. doubled its revenues in 2020. Kennedy told the audience at InfoWars (Alex Jones’ trash site) that he had lost money.
The Times article’s title sums up the story, “Kennedy built a dangerous anti vaxx juggernaut amid Covid 19…experts say operation targets Black community.”
Clarity may be like my neighbor who thinks global elites are trying to kill half the population with the vaccine. Those who theoretically want to kill off large swaths of people, don’t have to go through an unnecessary, elaborate hoax. They have more efficient means at their disposal.
Diane,
“He is urging people to avoid being vaccinated against every disease. He is giving advice that will lead to disease and death.”
That’s conjecture. Where is the evidence? If what you say were factual, I’d agree with you. I believe in vaccines, judicious use of medicines and cost benefit analysis tied to their use. Valid concerns based on dosing, age, and other factors matter.
Just today, New Zealand announced suspected links to death from the Pfizer vaccine.
The trials we were promised ended. No long term studies are forthcoming.
The BJM’s recent letter to Zuckerberg should raise concerns about the media fact checking services employed to determine their article was “missing context.”:
Open letter from The BMJ to Mark Zuckerberg
https://www.bmj.com/content/375/bmj.n2635/rr-80
The growing cause for concern is far from irrational.
The party was thrown by his wife for her friends. They co-exist.
There are millions of vaccinated people today also risking their lives. This is true for more than 500 people in my county since June 1st.
The overwhelming number of people who are hospitalized or die from COVID are UNVACCINATED. People who are fully vaccinated can get COVID, but it is seldom serious. That is FACTUAL EVIDENCE that it is dangerous to be unvaccinated.
Linda,
Which organization linked to Kennedy? Why would it not be possible for both things to have happened? Does he take a salary? If so, how much?
“Kennedy built a dangerous anti vaxx juggernaut amid Covid 19…experts say operation targets Black community.”
What’s the title of the article?
Which experts are saying this? What is the area of their expertise?
There’s nothing I can do to fix your comic book hallucinations you’ve decided to project onto me.
I’ve noticed it’s a favorite tactic of many “free thinkers” here who engage in similar tactics and don’t see the obvious hypocrisy in utilizing it. They ask questions they could easily (or not) answer themselves and thus construct an argument, however fatuous it might be. Or they cite all kinds of sources and expect you to read it for them (because I am convinced they don’t read beyond the first one or two sentences of the things they post).
Again (and again and again), this blog is centered on education. If any student at any level from K through PhD came to me with what passes for argument as cited above, I would laugh at them, give them an F, and let them know they had a second chance to do the work and not expect me to do it for them.
As for your “comic book hallucinations”, Linda, carry on. Explanations, arguments supported by facts, and examples seem to baffle them.
For you, Linda:
I had Covid before the vaccines were developed. I had a serious bout and thought certain that I was going to die. A very dear friend of mine who is fully vaccinated is now recovering from her bout with Covid. Mild symptoms. Like a bad cold. A world of difference.
Greg
Thanks for the video link. The danger is evident. As you’ve identified in other comments, the difference between the thinking of the 3rd Reich and today’s American right wing, religious and otherwise, is not very great.
Clarity,
My neighbor thinks she is well-informed and would object to a characterization that she is cartoon-like. Some of what she believes follows,
(1) Ivermectin will treat and prevent Covid. It is what she and her husband rely on. (2) The NIH site has a record of 18,000 deaths due to Covid vaccines. (3) Ultimately, there will be a military tribunal, replacing civilian courts which will hang people like Fauci. (4) Arming one’s self with guns is essential. (5) Doctors and hospitals are part of the conspiracy of the global elites to kill one-half the population. (6) State legislation should be passed that forces hospital doctors to prescribe Ivermectin. (7) Six conservative SCOTUS judges is a good thing. Before Trump, she thought women should have a right to abortion, she’s changed her mind.
My neighbor’s personal characteristics include the following, her family immigrated from Germany between 1830 and 1860, she’s in her early 60’s, she’s married to a Republican, they both wear NRA hats and, they have an arsenal and target shoot regularly. They felt very badly when their dog jumped our fence and attacked our dog, who fortunately survived but, required stitches. That was last Christmas. They paid half for the pet’s emergency room visit. Her son is career military.
Update about vision loss and Covid 19 (8-24-2021)
MIS-C, due to Covid, has been reported in children and can lead to increased intracranial pressure and vision loss…In adults, corneal damage has been associated with ‘long Covid’….In adults, respiratory distress over a long period could affect metabolically active tissue, such as the optic nerve or retina (not the disease but, decreased oxygen causes the risk).
It would be heartbreaking for a parent to explain to a child that his/her vision loss reflected the Mom or Dad’s decision to substitute his/her judgement for 96% of practicing American physicians and the doctors at the NIH and CDC.
Thanks for the updates. I have no patience anymore for the anti-vaxxers. They have no evidence for their views, just uninformed opinion. They reject facts and science. I’m not sure what motivates them. A death wish? Peer pressure? Stupidity?
Linda,
Good to know you found the good in your neighbor regardless of her polar opposite views. I’m sure if you or she were in harms way the other would call the police, fire, emergency, etc. too.
As for your neighbors views, I will only speak to the few where there may be cross over.
“(1) Ivermectin will treat and prevent Covid. It is what she and her husband rely on. ”
There are many studies in addition to claims that Ivermectin can assist in deterring the disease. Some say that because it is used regularly in Africa, parts of India, etc. to prevent River Blindness, thee
folks were more protected and outbreaks, hospitalizaions and deaths in those locations are lower as a result. Here is just one study:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8248252/
“(2) The NIH site has a record of 18,000 deaths due to Covid vaccines.”
VAERS is the government reporting system. (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System.) I think she/you are referring to that. It’s found on the Health and Human Services website and I believe it is run through a joint venture of the CDC/FDA. These self/doctor reported data say that more than 19,000 have died as a result of the vaccine
https://vaers.hhs.gov/.
“(3) Ultimately, there will be a military tribunal, replacing civilian courts which will hang people like Fauci.”
We don’t do that but there is talk on the floor about some sort of investigation.
“6) State legislation should be passed that forces hospital doctors to prescribe Ivermectin.”
I believe the point should be made that doctors should not have been asked to stand down and do nothing. Doctors are always treating patients – twice I was treated for stuff they never pinned down. The point is that they try. But here they did not. You had to be admitted to the hospital before getting any treatment…and the protocol was ventilators which they later determine was the wrong thing for most.
Greg B.
I like Vice. My friend’s son works for them. A month ago he became very ill, drove to the ER and was diagnosed with Covid. He’s a healthy 32 yr old and was scared. He was told there was nothing they could do for him and sent him home. He had some breathing difficulties, headache, cough, fever, loss of smell… and was knocked out for eight days. He was also fully vaxxed. He’s fine now.
It looks like we are moving past the Delta. The news is that we are more Omicron than Delta. I hope this means that severe illness is on its way out.
Clarity-
Thank you for providing more info.
We can agree that self reporting sites that don’t vet nor investigate input are of minimal if any value to those of us consolidating information to make a vaccine/ treatment decision? 96% of American doctors chose to get vaccinated so, if they are reporting at VAERS, I don’t know how to evaluate the info. for my decision making.
Doctors commit to an oath, “first do no harm.” Their judgements, based on extensive training and review of available research may turn out to be misguided. It happened in the past with blood letting and the diagnosis of ulcers. But, forcing doctors to prescribe something that patients in the lay community want, is not a route the nation should take. A doctor’s liability insurance is voided if reasonable care standards aren’t followed. Professional standards and oaths are important.
People can find doctors who prescribe Ivermectin for Covid prevention. I don’t know how many of those doctors have hospital privileges so, IMO, people who choose that path should avoid hospitals where their doctors can’t practice.
One area that has not been addressed is cost. A person who doesn’t get a vaccine (Trump’s medicine to recover was described as
costing $700,000) is a burden we all share. IMO, a person who, at this point, chooses not to be vaccinated, should accept the burden of the payment for his or her treatment.
I recognize that as a society we pay for smokers with lung cancer and people who get the regular flu and require hospitalization. But, those costs are relatively small compared to the burden of Covid.
Business Insider reported an estimate for Trump’s Covid medical care at $650,000. The NYT estimated it at approx. $100,000.
Linda
For $650,000, they probably could have given Trump a new ❤️ — or maybe a ❤️, since he doesn’t appear to have one.
That would probably have been far more useful
And of course, giving Trump a brain would be most useful of all, but I don’t believe medicine has reached the brain transplant stage yet.
But when they do, Trump will certainly be near the top of the list for those in greatest need.
Clarity-
I agree Trump does not have America’s best interest at heart. Fox’ programs encourage beliefs that are anti-American, also.
My friends think the CDC made the right decision in its delay of permanent approval for the vaccines. I disagree with them. I think the CDC should have approved the vaccine before waiting until 150,000,000 Americans had been vaccinated. My friends’ view is that protecting the reputation of the CDC for thoroughness was important. My view- the delay stopped critical policy decisions from being enacted and allowed for expansion of misinformation to the public by individuals and groups who want to weaken America.
In the worst case scenario, earlier approval by the CDC would be assessed to be a mistake. However, overshadowing the resulting bad reputation, would be the far worse problem- 150,000,000 vaccinated Americans who were dead, dying or maimed, including 96% of America’s doctors.
Many will die, many will get diseases they needn’t have gotten, many will lose children, much damage will be done by spreading this anti-vaxx nonsense. It’s dangerous and unconscionable.
As stupid and evil as it gets
And now, a little history from the near future.
Truth Times
Exceptional News for an Exceptional Nation
May 1, 2025
Senate Passes Election Integrity Act
Since the stolen election of 2020, patriots have grieved over that breakdown of democratic processes and vowed to ensure that this will NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN. Today, the Senate did just that by passing the Election Integrity Act of 2025. The key provision of this act: Henceforth, in Congressional and Presidential Races, only the name of the incumbent will appear on ballots, and other candidates may be written in by voters. This ensures, for the first time, that the choice of leaders will be truly democratic and not determined by politicians in back rooms who choose which candidates they will place on ballots. Other key provisions: Fraud-prone mail-in balloting will be prohibited, and citizens will be relieved of the enormous burden of paying for polling places, which falls most heavily on the poor, by keying the number of polling places per district, nationwide, to local property taxes. So, the wealthy will pay more—as is only fair—and have more polling places, which is also fair because they will be shouldering the burden. It’s a win-win.
“Well, they feel strongly about this”: President InSantis reacts to Portland violence
Jimmy Olsen
In recent weeks, an angry nation has watched as lawless Socialist Antifa mobs protested in the sanctioned sanctuary city of Portland against the appointments of electors by state legislators that set aside the corrupt popular vote of 2024 and swept President InSantis to power. Refusing to accept democratic processes and the peaceful transfer of power, they have blocked streets and have brazenly written letters of protest that they have read aloud using megaphones.
Reacting to calls from around the country to take their city back, the Three Percent Citizens Militia took action today to regain control of this once peaceful, law-abiding city.
The violence, which left 49 dead and 86 wounded, erupted when the Yellow Shirt Moms, a militant, man-hating wokeanarchofeminist wacko wing of Antifa, held a candlelight vigil to protest the entirely accidental killing of one of their number by police.
As the ominous Pachouli-oil-scented candles burned, reminding us of the fires that destroyed Rome in AD 64, Citizens Militia patriots gathered, locked, loaded, and ready to protect and serve as necessary. For a full hour, they exhibited remarkable order, resolve, and restraint. Then, the Yellow Moms dared light bundles of sage to “cleanse” the protest area.
It was too much. “It’s paganism, pure and simple,” said Whitey “Buzz” Beatty, former Navy Seal and Portland Gruppenführer of the Citizens Militia SA. “It’s just the kind of anti-Christian filth that has infected our schools and our country for too long. We had to snuff it out.”
President InSantis reacted immediately and forcefully to these events: “While we regret the actions taken by the CM SA, I need to remind you that this is a spontaneously arising citizens group, and, well, they feel strongly about this. As they should.”
Inside
National Curriculum: The latest updates
Education Desk
The new 1776 National Curriculum Working Group completes its work on “Bringing Jesus to the Savages,” Part 1 of the New National Curriculum.
Support Your Leader: Home Prayer Teams
Lifestyle Desk
What can YOU do to support President InSantis and his Patriot team? Learn how you can organize a home prayer group to ensure that Jesus has his back.
Market Rally: Defense $$$ Drive Surge
Business
In a week of historic highs, markets rallied on news of the three-trillion-dollar internal and external defense budget.
NB: The 36 Democrats remaining in Congress vowed to fight the proposed ballot change in court, but it is expected to sail through muster by the newly expanded Supreme Court of the Fatherland.
“Supreme Court of the Fatherland” – very true
There are people who won’t get that this is meant to be satire. The post, which is on my blog, was just liked by someone who runs a Christian millenialist blog. Aie yie yie.
But who’s the father? Paternity is currently too doubtful to assess.
“Lady Liberty? She’s not my type,” said Donald, denying the accusations.
I worked in textbook publishing during the heyday of the Gablers in Texas–a couple crazy ultra-right-wingers who challenged anything in any textbook that might offend them. Now, here’s the thing: Texas was an adoption state, meaning that every few years, it would throw out all its K-12 textbooks in a particular subject and buy new ones, and it was the largest such state. So, all the textbook publishers would create a new program for the Texas adoption, and that would be the one they then sold throughout the rest of the country. So, these two morons had a stranglehold on national curricula. However, things are critically different now. Now, there is big oligarchical money behind the push for a sanitized, whitewashed curriculum and a big political push for this as well. The Great CRT Scare of 2021 is the Willy Horton, Monkey Business, Swiftboat, Benghazi, Caravans of Rapists and Murderers of this season on the U.S. Election carnival midway. And, of course, we have the recent example of the creation by Trump of the 1776 Curriculum working group. Trump the Inept couldn’t pull this off, but his smarter successor could very well do so, especially with majorities in the now fascist Repugnican Party in both the House and the Senate.
Adam Laats created an egregious false equivalency.
It really doesn’t matter what parents want because they are not in charge of funding.
And the funders simply don’t want public schools.
Arney Duncan didn’t want them.
Betsy Devos didn’t want them.
Andrew Cuomo didn’t want them.
Bill Gates doesn’t want them.
The Waltons don’t want them.
Who cares what parents want? Nobody in control of funding, obviously.
Of course, parents will always want better education for their children, and most already see the connection to stagnant teacher salaries, crumbling facilities, overcrowded classrooms. But we are in neither in early-20thC nor post-WWII era when family [/voter] demands for improvement had the wherewithal to produce results. Both were periods of expanding, then thriving economic conditions. The post-WWII period in particular reflected equitable distribution of profits throughout all levels of society via not just tax brackets but post-Crash banking regs, enforcement of anti-trust laws, investment in higher education, plentiful living-wage jobs, high degree of unionization. Social mobility was high, and public understood education as a key part of that.
Today the nation’s assets are poorly distributed. As of October, our top 1% officially holds more assets than the middle 60%– the entire middle class. Social mobility died in the late ‘80’s, and with it, the trust that K12 and higher ed are a path forward. $Corporate $clout dictates govtl policy, which is why public education is both underfunded and funneling a growing % of its budget into unmonitored for-profit alternatives: as far as corporations are concerned, public goods are mere overhead to be slashed in order to compete with the low-wage nations to whom mfg is outsourced.
Much fallout, but the main one is that the public perceives the constituent vote has little chance of overriding the $$$influence of corporations, oligarchs, and multi-billionaires with bees in their bonnets. Evidenced daily by comparing polls on public-goods issues vs whatever gets passed [or mainly, unpassed] by their elected representatives.