As readers know, I met Hillary Clinton at a fund-raiser on August 28. It was not the in-depth meeting I had hoped for, but it was better than nothing.
I endorsed Hillary after she secured the Democratic nomination. I assured you that I would support the winner of the Democratic nomination. I consider Trump to be an ignorant buffoon and a danger to our nation and the world. I wrote an even stronger endorsement in July.
As I watch this bizarre campaign unfold, I feel even stronger about the importance of stopping Donald Trump. His admiration for Putin, who murders journalists, stifles a free press, harasses homosexuals, invades another nation, and is re-establishing a dictatorship–makes me feel that what Trump admires in leadership is a disrespect for human rights, a commanding style that censors opposition: in short, dictatorship. Nothing in Trump’s background is reassuring. He should return to reality television to rant and boast.
So, I reiterate, on every issue that matters, I’m with her. Given Trump’s desire to turn $20 billion of federal spending into support for school choice, I now am certain that she will be far better than he on education, even if she doesn’t stand up to fight all forms of privatization
Valerie Strauss invited me to elaborate on my brief meeting with Hillary, which I did here.
As the response from the campaign makes clear, she is walking a fine line between major donors who support charters and the teachers’ unions, which know that the charter movement is meant to demolish them (90% or more of the nation’s charters are non-union).
As I have said to readers on many occasions in the comments, I don’t know what Hillary will do on education, although after Trump revealed his full-throated support for school choice, I am sure that Trump will be a wrecking ball for public education. She said that she would stop federal funding for for-profit charter schools, and that would be a big step forward.
But on every other issue, from climate change to gun control to civil rights to Supteme Court appointments to international relations, I support her enthusiastically and without reservation.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Well, Diane, I think you probably know what is coming from this corner of the planet:
Vote Green, Vote Jill Stein!
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I am kind of leaning towards a Richard Pryor type vote…..”none of the above”
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Really? Did you vote for Ralph Nader in 1999?
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No.
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“But on every other issue, from climate change to … international relations, I support her enthusiastically and without reservation.”
Climate change: fracking, Keystone, TPP
international relations: Iraq, Libya, Honduras, Haiti.
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Incidentally, civil rights: Patriot Act, private prisons. As for her Supreme Court nominees, yes, they’re likely to be better than Trump’s, but probably along the lines of Merrick Garland. If you’re thinking we’re going to get truly liberal choices, you haven’t been paying attention.
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What about Breyer and Ginsburg? Or Kagan and Sotomayor? They aren’t exactly chopped liver.
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Kagan and Sotomayor, especially the former, while liberal on social issues, tend to be closer to corporatist than liberal.
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Instead of Kagan and Soromayor, we might get two more Scalias.
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Hopefully more liberal candidates if we get the Senate as well (and hopefully keep it longer than last time).
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Who is the we, John?
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Duane,
Please replace “we” with “dems”.
Thanks.
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The choice is between Trump and Clinton. Period. Stein is polling at 3%. The libertarian candidate is about 10%. He never heard of Aleppo.
Trump or Clinton.
If you can tolerate a buffoon and a bully as president, one who loves to tell you how great he is, how rich he is, how smart he is, then vote for him.
Trump or Clinton.
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Sigh. Woody Hayes would never say “Michigan” and instead always said “The team up north”. Ok, I’ll have to vote for the candidate on the left.
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Stein is polling so low because of the media and because so many like those on here operate out of fear rather than principle. If everybody who was most aligned with the positions of Stein supported her, considering that Trump and Clinton are the two most disliked and distrusted candidates in history, she actually might win… or at least finally make a statement that we’re not going to settle any longer for corporatist liars who put on a mask of liberalism to win our votes.
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No argument from me if more people voted third party, those candidates would have a chance. A true multi-party system would give us more options. But if we wanted a revolution, Sanders was more qualified than Stein and had more support. Don’t forget, Johnson and Stein largely escape vetting on a national scale. Witness the “What is Aleppo?” performance by Johnson. So Diane is correct. It is either insane candidate or untrustworthy candidate and untrustworthy beats insane.
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The DNC platform negotiation resulted in Hillary’s side agreeing to curtail fracking and Keystone by endorsing a Carbon Tax and the “Keystone standard” in consideration for new energy infrastructure which shouldn’t be built if it poses risk of environmental harm. Hilary’s side also made major compromises on College tuition, TPP, minimum wage, the weight of superdelegates, private prisons, funding community health centers and more.
Her foreign policies are a concern because she consults lobbyists like Lanny Davis and Tony Podesta even as they are paid to spin PR for those countries and then donate large sums to the Hillary campaign. The good news is there is 60 days for Hillary to earn votes by getting money out of HER politics. We know Trump is very, very bad, but Hillary can’t use that as an excuse to continue serve the rich instead of the middle class. There is plenty of time yet for a campaign finance announcement…she can to secure a path to victory by rejecting the big Wall Street donations to restore the foundational concept of democracy.
It’s Hillary supporters who have a choice now as polls tighten. They can continue describing how scared they are of Trump or they can urge the Hillary campaign to do the right thing for the future of campaign finance and secure herself a landslide victory. The eternal question remains – who will cave first?
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Diane – yes first stop Trump but it’s just as important to actively and consciously support Hillary for who she is and what she will bring to the Presidency. I don’t think she is on the right track with education yet but I think she could be as I feel she has an innate respect for people and will listen intelligently – especially if you can talk to her some more…..
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I’ll be voting for the much lesser evil and she’s not a batsheet loon who’s all over the map on the issues.
All that being said, the really crucial issue of galactic importance is: what’s Putin’s position(s) on charter schools, school privatization, school vouchers, seniority, tenure, LIFO and teacher pensions. But wait, aren’t the schools in Russia government schools controlled by the central government from top to bottom, every nut, bolt and nail. Oops, Putin will have to have a word with his ward, DT.
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Even as a retired educator, I am not a single-issue candidate. I look at Secretary Clinton’s record and comments vis a vis US foreign policy, and what I see is disturbing. Dienne above mentioned Iraq, Libya, Honduras, and Haiti. What is missing is her unconditional support for Israel which has maintained an ugly and brutal military occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. She has spoken at the pro-Israeli lobby, AIPAC for years, and takes big financial contributions from American Jewish financiers such as Haim Saban. She vehemently opposes the Palestinian-led nonviolent protest movement called BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions). Apparently, her support for human and civil rights for the “other” is missing. BTW, MLK helped lead the boycott of buses in Montgomery, Ala. in 1955, and people such as Harry Belafonte and Rosa Parks supported the boycott of the racist white minority gov’t. of South Africa in the 80s. Mrs. Clinton is on the wrong side of history/hersory as is Mr. Trump. We do not need any “war hawk” as the next president which is why I am going “Green” and as most people realize, it’s not easy being “Green.”
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Thanks for the additions.
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No problem, and probably most people do not know that the US Congress, with Obama’s approval, will enter into a new agreement to send Israel (not a poor country) $45 billion in aid (mostly military) over the next 10 years. The previous arrangement was for a mere $30 billion or so over the last 10 years. For me, this is outrageous. It seems that the words “human rights” are missing regarding US foreign policy.
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Israel has the right to remain sovereign and democratic. It deserves support from allies. But paying this much into its military is unjust for the American taxpayer, who has virtually no say as to how much of his/her tax dollar goes overseas for basic living and military aid.
This is a disgrace.
Aid to Argentina. Aid to Iran. It never stops.
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I agree with most of what you said, but I’ve got to go with the understanding that a vote for anyone but Hillary is a vote for Trump. I just can’t contribute to that happening in any way.’
She is far from perfect, but the only viable alternative is unthinkable.
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If all the people who feel as you do would vote for an alternative candidate we would have a viable option to both Clinton and Trump.
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Option yes, but “viable” woulds till be debatable. I think if other parties want a chance of winning the presidency, they have to get there by winning down ballot races.
Also, while I supported Bernie in the primary, I don’t care for either of the two most popular alternatives.
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“… I don’t care for either of the two most popular alternatives….”
What a dilemma! Both of the “most popular” alternatives are the least popular of ANY candidate in the past few decades…
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Given the alleged improprieties by the DNC I would say “clenched the Democratic nomination” is an apt description.
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I agree with you wholeheartedly. Thank you for your informative, grounded, and articulate articles that always enlighten. Your wisdom and perspective are particularly needed at this time.
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A vote for other than Hillary is a vote for Trump … the “winner” will be either Hillary or Trump – voting for a third party candidate is a useless vote … I have worked for numerous candidates – many were far from perfect – they were better than “the other guy.” As Diane continues to say on one side is Hillary – on the other an admirer of Putin – a modern day Stalin. It boggles my mind that anyone who reads this blog could participate in the election of Trump – and that is exactly what a vote for a third party candidate is …
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Well, when Hillary passes the TPP and gets us involved in more foreign military adventures and supports Wall Street and crushes public education, please tell me how worthwhile your vote was.
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Ah, Dienne, your hatred for Hillary makes you open to a Trump presidency. What do you think he will do that pleases you? Roll back abortion rights? Gay rights? Voting rights? Gun control? Promote torture? Seize Iraq’s oil? Eliminate public schools?
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Diane,
Don’t forget declaring martial law, suspending our constitutional rights, putting people in detainment camps (just illegals at first), placing his children in important government posts, etc. These are the kinds of things that dictators do. He clearly would like to be a dictator. He loves Putin, has quoted Mussolini, and had nice things to say about Saddam Hussein. And don’t think for a second that the Republican majority in Congress will stop him. They will roll over immediately. They are spineless. It is very, very important that Trump does not win. That’s why I’m voting for Hillary.
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Hi Dienne:
I love you for the way you are.
Here is the reality check for all people who are naive and gullible with dictator whose political and military control is in the hand of the commander and his family members and of course his favorite gang members.
Please remember that your concern is VERY TRIVIAL as compared to the real living under DT’s dictatorship whose record in business has shown his real personality, attitude and intention to HARM people or any voices that oppose him with threat and action.
GOP and ALEC will be spineless due to their fear for their OWN safety and their loves ones’ lives-in-danger.
All immigrants in USA will deserve to have freedom of expression or SILENCE through their votes in This 2016 Presidential Election.
All intellectual people like lawyers, educators, writers, composers, and movie directors will GRADUALLY face the reality of SUBMISSIVE attitudes or living with “Hell or High Water.”
Hahaha, I lived with “high water” in 1978, 1979 and I escaped to live in hell in 1975, 76, and 77. If I had ever had a gun, I would end up dying at very young age due to self-defense. Love. May.
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It’s unfortunate that being critical of Clinton resulted in others labeling you a hater and ignorant of the risks of Trump. I am certain we would both agree that Trump is an outrageous individual not worthy of the role of President. However, You are also right. Clinton presents serious risks to us all. Simply endorsing her because she is the Dem nom or the lesser of two evils is not integrity, it’s fear.
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I don’t support Clinton as the lesser of two evils because I do not consider her evil. I consider her experienced, knowledgeable, smart, and highly qualified. Throughout her life, she has shown a deep commitment to the rights of women and the needs of children. I don’t expect to agree with everything she does, with every decision she makes, but in my long life, I don’t remember any elected official whose decisions pleased me 100% of the time. Not Eisenhower. Not Kennedy. Not Johnson. Not Nixon. Not Ford. Not Reagan. Not the first Bush. Not Bill Clinton. Not George W. Not Obama. Politics is the art of the possible. It requires working with others and making compromises. Those who insist on perfection will never find it except in fringe candidates who have no chance of winning.
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“Those who insist on perfection will never find it except in fringe candidates who have no chance of winning.”
I would end that sentence after “it.”
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A theme I keep hearing from those that know Hillary well is that she listens. This is an important quality for any leader. All Trump knows how to do is boast, lie and make thoughtless, bigoted comments. With Hillary public education has a chance. Some of the best years I had in public education were when Hillary was a senator in New York. She never made a hostile move against public schools. At least with Hillary she may be swayed by evidence, and we know we are dealing with a rational person. With Trump we know where he stands, and none of it is good for millions of children across our nation.
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People have lost dignity. People are angry. Clinton may be walking a fine line, but that’s the problem. She is always walking a fine line rather take a stand. If she believes teachers are worthy of professional status, then she needs to support teachers. It isn’t that difficult. We’ve had almost 8 years of Republican-lite and the disaster that is Obama and his basketball buddy Duncan. Hillary will sell out teachers with an Obama 2.0 presidency. You can bet on that. Many Trump supporters are tired of the Establishment lies from both parties. Many are well educated and willing to vote for a narcissistic demagogue like Trump with a fatalistic, scorched-Earth attitude. “Better to wreck havoc and start over than more of the same” philosophy.
If Clinton doesn’t begin to get a backbone and listen, really listen, to most of America between the coasts, we may be with her for this election, but fall hard in 4 years. I’m not with her nor Trump, but will pull the lever then take a shower.
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“Many are well educated and willing to vote for a narcissistic demagogue like Trump with a fatalistic, scorched-Earth attitude. “Better to wreck havoc and start over than more of the same” philosophy.”
Gee, sounds like they would make good ed reform soldiers!
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Probably. Honestly, Democrats seem oblivious to the undercurrents in this election. Diane describes in another post how Trump wants to end public schools. Yet we see Hillary bragging about putting coal miners out of a job and supporting H1bs to displace American tech workers. But then she takes a lukewarm stance on supporting teachers. Democrats have NO idea the growing wave of disgust and anger building in middle America. Dienne mentions voting for Stein and I can relate. I supported Sanders because he was authentic and was willing to fight. Democrats have to understand Republicans are committed and willing to fight for what they believe. Hillary just wants to appease everyone benefitting no one. It is a weak, wishy washy position. C’mon Hillary. Take a stance and support teachers and hard working Americans, not hedge funds and Wall Street.
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Vale Math,
The GOP will privatize everything, including schools.
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I agree. But will Dems step up to stop them? Ohio under Kasich is a mess. But our Democrats seem unwilling to fight to support teachers, schools, and working Americans. It is like they have given up and are unwilling to try and recapture the hearts and minds of middle class Ohio. Or it is some intellectual exercise. Or they have to compromise. Kasich and the far right GOP have no interest in compromise. If Dems would fight hard to support Social Security, teachers, unions, retirees, rural counties – Ohio would be a solid blue state. I’m no longer sure Sen. Brown supports teachers or workers. Strickland was a poor choice, no matter how nice a guy he is. It should be easy to replace Portman. My concern is Ohio is a test market for this election.
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If you want to know where Trumps position on education came from, just read the 2016 GOP platform. He is merely a sock puppet for their views and positions, he probably knows less than nothing about education issues. Spoiler – the GOP’s positions double down on all of the botched policy ideas of the Obama administration, Rees little daylight between the two.
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If anyone is interested I will hold my nose and vote for Hillary for the reasons Dr. Ravitch has posted.
As she has stated Jill Stein has a 3% polling number now. I would LOVE to vote for her and as Jill Stein has said, it is out of fear that I will vote the way I said.
Trump presidency ; good bye earth and human kind.
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The comment made by John(?) also resonates with me. The Green party needs to concentrate on winning down ballot races. I believe the Republican party built its recent strength using exactly that strategy.
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Me too, Gordon. The growing problem is that she is too often only addressing T-Rump’s ridiculous behaviors rather than stating HER OWN policies and how she will actually govern.
She was best during the MSNBC Lauer questioning when she spoke on policy and directed her comments to the military audience. She is so far better informed, educated, and experienced than the Midas Boy that she can step over him in any kind of debate. But just throwing mud back and forth will not show her strengths.
I want to know not only her stances on education, but on the economy and job creation, on trade, on international relations, on health care, and all in DETAIL, not hyperbole. Hyperbole is T-Rumps forte.
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Ellen,
It does seem that the campaign has gotten that message and will be focusing more on her message and less on Trump’s.
I think that’s what resonated during the convention. Hopefully it will help her recover some of what she’s lost since.
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What difference does it make what position Hillary states when? She has flip-flopped and lied about every single issue.
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Webera2014. Trump is a flip flopper and a liar. Hillary has not flip flopped. Is Trump deporting all 11 million undocumented immigrants? Or did he change his mind? Was he for or against the Iraq War. He is a world class liar.
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Werbera2014,
I welcome debate and dissent on my blog. I do not welcome insults directed at me. In fact, that’s the first rule of the blog. This is my living room, and I like a good discussion. You don’t have to agree with me, but you do have to be civil. If you are not, don’t want you here.
I have four simple rules:
Don’t insult me.
No extreme cursing (never the F word).
No racist comments or comments that demean others based on their race, religion, gender, or ethnicity.
No conspiracy theories, not about 9/11, not Sandy Hook was staged.
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I see you posted this, but didn’t allow me an opportunity to respond, leaving the impression that I did insult you and not letting anyone see how I actually did reply or would reply. You seem to have missed that I, one, also criticized Trump, two, wrote to someone else that you deserve respect, and, three, that criticizing Hillary Clinton is not attacking you.
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webera2014,
I want to take this opportunity to apologize to you. You are not a Trump troll. You are a Jill Stein supporter. I apologize for assuming that your critique of Hillary was coming from the left, not the right.
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As I read about Trump’s regard for Putin, I reflected that Putin doesn’t have to deal with US-style Republican Congeessional leaders.
Wonder if Putin concurs with Trump’s statement that Japan and South Kirea should get nuclear weapons. (Trump may not have taken many electives in diplomatic history or foreign policy at Wharton.)
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I am so sorry to see you resort to name-calling someone you disagree with and ignoring the lack of integrity that Hilary has exhibited for many years. If she is elected, you will still not be able to trust her. I would rather have an honest man with impetuosity and sometimes says what he thinks that I disagree with than anyone whom I know I cannot trust. I will not drop your blog because I disagree with you, and I will not resort to calling you names. There are many things I agree with you on, and on that basis, I listen to you.
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Trump is clearly no more honest and has no more integrity than Clinton. That’s why we HAVE to support the Green Party. There IS no “lesser of evils,” and for our children there is no choice but to start the hard work of building an alternative to the oligarchy. We can’t keep putting it off for another four years and another and another out of fear, ignorance or wishful thinking.
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I agree Hillary is not trustworthy. I haven’t found Trump particularly honest. And when he is, he is admitting to reprehensible behavior. Honesty by itself is not a virtue.
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Trump lies every day. You can believe anything he says. He will say the opposite tomorrow.
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What I think is odd is when he tells the truth, he loses no support. For example, Trump admitted he pays candidates on both sides for favors and gave money to the Florida AG investigating Trump U. He honestly admits to buying influence. Yet, his supporters brush it off. Trump IS the Establishment his supporters despise. Can you imagine Reagan or Nixon praising a Russian dictator like Putin and Republicans applauding? Or if the Clintons said “yes, Clinton Foundation played favorites”. An amazing double standard in the GOP.
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Diane, your willingness to continue to press for the best outcome possible in this election is commendable, even knowing the wrath you will receive. I’m with her, too, for the same reasons and even with enthusiasm!
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with enthusiasm? please explain why in terms of Education only.
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And will anybody stick up for hard working teachers and cry “foul!” on these silly XQ Institute commercials portraying all schools as stuck in 1950 and failing? Another clueless billionaire. Will Clinton speak up?
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So your support of Clinton is out of fear for Trump rather than anything that Clinton might do on behalf of public education. Not good enough. I am tired of this mentality. It’s time for guts and a commitment to something better rather than fear. So no thanks. Your endorsement lessens the value of your thinking for me.
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Diane deserves respect, but on this I agree with you on substance, she is horribly wrong. We should, en masse, be supporting the Green Party.
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I made my comment respectfully. I am also public school teacher in the trenches. Lip service is no longer of value to me.
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Ms. Ravitch is a voice for public school teachers. It is a position she has chosen and has sought the endorsement of. On this, you do not represent. Perhaps it is time to step down.
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Cynthia Nagel,
I am a voice for myself, based on nearly 50 years as a scholar of education. If I favor teachers, it is because without them, schools can’t function. No teachers, no education.
I do not seek your endorsement or any one else’s. I write and say what I believe. No one pays me.
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You are a voice for yourself, but you are also a voice for teachers. You have placed yourself in that role, and with it comes influence, and you know it. I am a public school teacher of 34 years. I am still in the classroom because I love it. Hillary Clinton has not stood up for our public schools or Education as a whole so your “endorsement” is one of fear of Trump. I believe we can and should do better. I believe your influence is misdirected. It is your choice. I am choosing to challenge it.
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Cynthia, if you are a teacher, then surely you know that either Trump or Clinton will be elected president on November 8. Yes, I am afraid of Trump. I think he is the most unqualified person to be a major party candidate in my lifetime, and I am 78. I endorse Hillary because she is one million times more qualified to serve than Trump. Maybe ten million times. This man should not be in charge of the nuclear codes. He should not have the power to select Supreme Court justices. His admiration for Putin is bizarre.
If you believe we can and should do better, please let me know how. This is September 8. Do you expect another candidate to emerge in the next two months?
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To Cynthia Nagel:
You must be TFA and already quit teaching career, Am I correct about my guessing?
The first virtue in teaching career is PATIENCE, then LISTENING, and last is to respect wisdom in people with credentials in intelligence, experience and well research in a specific field = an expert.
People, who support Green party, have shown that they do not UNDERSTAND a proper procedure in American electoral system.
No party can jump the queue. Period. Each party must build their strength from all 50 states in order to have decent power to deal with domestic policy and foreign policy EFFECTIVELY.
And YOU ARE CORRECT that Lip service (=no power in government like house of congress or senator) is no longer of value to me, neither.
Please assess your thinking and decision again. Back2basic.
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Whatever gave you the impression that I am TFA?? I am a classroom teacher – Title I public schools for the last 34 years.
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Diane is correct. In our two party system, it is insane candidate or the person on the left. So a third party vote is not likely to elect Johnson or Stein.
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?????
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Hillary is on the left of WHAT? The left hand of Wall Street? The left hand of the banking, insurance and pharmaceutical industries? The left hand of the fossil fuel lobby? The left hand of Saudi Arabia and China? The only thing “left” about her is that she left progressivism when she left the Children’s Defense Fund.
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Left of Trump, Ryan, Sessions, Pence, easily. I don’t want to try and defend Clinton, but in comparison to Trump, she is the more qualified and stable candidate. Not perfect, not even close. I also think Trump has at least a borderline disorder and listing out Clinton’s obvious flaws doesn’t cure that. Nothing against people struggling with those challenges, but Trump’s bizarre behavior is a concern.
And in our system, third parties haven’t a chance.
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Cynthia,
My support for Clinton is based on two factors:
Trump is inexperienced, ignorant, crude, vulgar, and in thrall to the basest instincts of the least educated.
I admire her. I fear him. I think he wants to be a dictator and run our country like Putin runs Russia or Trump runs his casinos.
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All CEOs are dictators. I can’t see Trump functioning within checks and balances. I often wonder if once obtaining the presidency, he’d be bored and turn the job over to his VP, or more likely, his kids and their spouses. When wooing Kasich, his campaign effectively told the Ohio governor he’d be shadow president while Trump focused on “making America great again”.
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It doesn’t seem like the “faithful” are drinking the Kool-Aid anymore. I guess people are waking up to the darkness. I love it! We all support Dr. Ravitch with public schools, but this blind support for HRC is “off the rails.” Think for yourself and don’t be a sheep!
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I do not support Hillary blindly. If Bernie had won the primaries, I would be supporting him now.
I support Hillary for the reasons I stated.
Trump is an incipient fascist. Need I say more. If you support him, good luck.
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“Incipient fascist.” Yes. Yes. Yes. That’s the phrase I’ve been looking for. That is exactly what he is. If elected, he will certainly try to turn our country into a dictatorship.
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Eric,
Every positive thing Trump says about Putin is his way of saying that he admires “strong” leadership. Decisive, no discussion, no debate. Putin is very decisive, very strong. And a dictator.
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That’s a total myth. See this.. http://www.snopes.com/hillary-clinton-freed-child-rapist-laughed-about-it/
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I read that. It’s absolutely NOT a total myth. The only thing that was called into question was what exactly she was laughing about, but laughter was hardly appropriate regardless. Whether or not she HAD to take the case, she took it and the rest is true.
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Webera2014, no Trump trolls wanted here.
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Webera2014,
I notice that you sent multiple emails under three different names. Same IP address. No Trump trolls wanted here.
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Who are you, Jack? The very first warning in my first year in University is that students cannot cite or use any stories from Wikipedia. Here, you excitedly claim that the Wikipedia creator is your hero. Am I reading with my own cataract eye? Or is it just you with your gullible point of view?
Have you ever worked in any American political party in any position like City Councillor, or Mayor, or Governor, or Congressman, or Senator???
Are you real educator or TFA reformer? Don’t be a sheep! Back2basic
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Diane, I don’t believe that anyone who has been well-educated about the evils of dictators like Putin could even begin to entertain the thought that Trump might be better than Hillary. What I think I see in many of these comments is a failure of education.
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Ponderosa,
Trump is scary. It’s a real embarrassment to our country that this brazen fraud is the Republican nominee. He was interviewed on Russian TV today, ridiculing our government and saying that there no evidence that Russian operatives hacked the DNC emails. The CIA said otherwise. How low can he go?
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Tonight, Trump told an audience of veterans that if Iran sends its little motorboats to annoy our destroyers when he is President, he will give the order to blast them out of the water.
The man is unfit to be president. Trump said he loves the uneducated. That makes sense.
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Oh, and Trump gave an interview to RT, Russian Television, in which he belittled our leaders and defended Putin. Nice.
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Even her hawkishness?!
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Carol Gross,
I will vote for Hillary over that racist misogynistic, boastful bully with enthusiasm. I trust her and fear him.
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There’s a difference between calling for a vote for Clinton, and declaring a “trust” in her. Please, let us not ask anyone to “trust” any politician (especially one with her record). We have our work to do, which will have us bucking her, not following her, when she is president.
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Kipp,
If she is elected president and appoints a member of the Obama circle to continue the same failed policies, we will fight her every step of the way.
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Kipp.
On the other hand, I do trust her to defend civil rights, women’s rights, gay rights, and to appoint Supreme Court justices who won’t roll back the clock to pre-FDR.
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To webera2014:
Are you taking some money from Trump’s campaign manager to smear Secretary Clinton?
It is obviously that the lie detector test saved the rapist. Also, the 12 years old rape victim was vulnerable for her age regarding her curiosity of sexuality.
In short, I really admire Secretary, Governor and lawyer Hillary Clinton for her being humanitarian ideology towards the unfortunate from very young age. Most of all, I profoundly respect President-to-be Hillary Clinton for her belief in FORGIVENESS and CARING for the welfare of her loved ones.
GOP and Republicans try very hard to smear Hillary Clinton whose characters represent traditional Republican virtues whereas they support Donald Trump whose characters are completely OPPOSITE in traditional Republican virtues.
Traditional Republican virtues are to protect the country’s wealth, and to preserve national resources.
HOWEVER, today, GOP, or republicans promote deregulation and outsource all ESSENTIAL PUBLIC SERVICES TO FOREIGNERS, from national security (like internet, telecommunication…); to transportation (like Uber, Lift, air, and cruise…);to education (like charter chain, voucher, …), to all daily consumption in manufacturing ( see India, China, Brasil, Mexico products, NOT USA anymore!!! Sigh)
Traditional Democrat virtues are to protect the democratic rights for all and to preserve Public Education for all.
Hopefully, today, leader in Democrat with her conscience and her early humanitarian ideology will be lit up from 100% VOTERS’ support and belief in her intelligence and experience with her 40 years+ SUCCESSFUL political career.
Libertarian virtues are to promote individual rights over PUBLIC RESPONSIBILITIES.
Green party virtues are to preserve environment WITHOUT substance or stand OR A CHANCE to against corrupted corporate who trashes and pollutes the Earth from land to ocean and air. Back2basic
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From Timothy Egan’s op ed in the NYTimes today: I asked Bill McKibben, who may one day win a Nobel Prize for his decades of alarm-sounding about life-altering changes to Earth, what a progressive drawn to a third-party candidate should do.
“My thinking is that the point of elections is not to find a savior,” said McKibben, who was a supporter of Senator Bernie Sanders. What matters is the movement toward change, he said. But this year is different. Trump “is bad in a unique (in American presidential history) way that scares me to the marrow.”
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Gotta go with Diane on this one. Not just because of Trump or Clinton but because of Diane.
I do find it very troubling that Hillary is not sitting down with Diane for a very long conversation. There are people with wisdom in this country and they’re not being listened to enough -if at all.
I can cast a vote for Clinton on November 8. But I cannot bring myself to donate a single penny to her. (I can’t pay politicians anymore who then turn around and harm my kids, my family.)
When are the Democrats going to apologize to us for the serious, enduring damage they’ve done to our public schools, to our children, to the ideals of democracy? I’m certainly not holding my breath. Obama gave John B. King a promotion to run the nation’s schools -even though he was a disaster in New York State. And, Cuomo keeps cruising along.
I did send some money to a liberal group that is opposing Trump. Will again. That’s the best I can do, right now.
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John,
I have said it many times. My expectations re education are low. She has advisors on education from the Obama administration (Carmel Martin) and from Center for American Progress/TFA (Catherine Brown). Martin has the distinction of being both from the Obama administration and CAP. She once debated Carol Burris on Common Core, defending it. CAP (John Podesta) has promoted all of Obama’s disastrous education policies. HRC has been notably silent on K-12. She did say that she opposes “for-profit” charter schools. That’s start. But as I have said repeatedly, defeating Donald Trump is the highest priority. He would be a disaster on every issue, including education. All Title I funding would go into a $20 Billion block grant for charters and vouchers. I noted that in the Clinton campaign’s response to Trump’s education proposal, they warned that he wanted to spread vouchers but were silent on charters.
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I didn’t realize Hillary Clinton has already made her bed with the ed reformers who are the most ideological and offensive. I had hopes that she was more interested in this issue than Obama, who showed no curiosity and let other people give him a distorted story that he embraced without reservations or questions.
The one question to keep pounding Clinton with — why is her policy on education almost exactly like Donald Trump’s?
If education is the one area where Trump and Hillary agree 99%, perhaps that says she should look closely since Trump never supports any policy that is about looking at what is best for this country and the most vulnerable children who live in it. And Trump adores privatization and charters.
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Trump wants $20 billion of existing federal education funds to be turned over to states as a block grant, to be used as the state wishes. States with GOP governors will use it for vouchers and charters.
Hillary opposes vouchers. Not likely to endorse block grants, which is a GOP policy dream.
The issue is whether she would continue the Obama policy of charter funding without regulation. Will she cut off federal funding for for-profit charters? She said she would. But as we know, many nonprofits are runny for-profit EMOs.
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That all makes sense, Diane. I would still like a Democrat to say they’re sorry. That’s what people do when they cause harm…
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John, I agree. But I bet if you asked Obama and Duncan if they have any regrets about Race to the Tip, they would both say it was a huge success. In reality, it was a doubling down on NCLB and caused damage to the lives of children, teachers, principals, schools and the very idea of public education. RTTT advanced the GOP agenda more than Bush ever dreamed of, because it eliminated Dem opposition to choice, accountability, and testing.
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Actually Obama said during the ESSA signing: “The goals of No Child Left Behind … were the right ones”…“But in practice, it often fell short. … It often forced schools and school districts into cookie-cutter reforms.”
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Diane, thanks for your truth telling about CAP and their revolving door (which Hillary vowed to end in the Miami debate: http://www.wsj.com/articles/hillary-clinton-stops-short-of-ruling-out-wall-street-aides-1457590413). The education advisors in Hillary’s ear all support ed deform and get plum private sector jobs as CAP fellows, creating propaganda in friendly “news” outlets like US News & World Report as they leave their government jobs.
There is a major cover up, however in the corporate media reporting on this, the lobbying, the money, the backroom dealings or any of it. It seems like they are paid (through campaign ad buys and education reporter “scholarships”). But the lack of education debate in this election is appalling and seems very deliberate.
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I’m kinda in the same boat, John. I could put some money in a campaign finance pot. We need a massive overhaul of campaign financing.
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I think America will come to rue the loss of Bernie Sanders as the Democratic nominee and its consequences …..sigh ….
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True, but the only problem is that Sanders was also ignorant about charter schools. He was able to move Hillary to the left in the platform with other issues, but he didn’t care one whit about charters. (I supported him anyway, but that was obvious).
Imagine what would have happened if Sanders had made privatization of education an issue. People would have talked about it. He may even have garnered more votes. And the Democratic Party would have to address this issue face on instead of weasley supporting the billionaires like Broad who have an agenda that education plays no part in.
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I am in complete agreement with Diane that Donald Trump is a serious threat to our freedoms and form of government. She called him an “incipient fascist.” She also mentioned his dictatorial tendencies. I agree with that assessment. If elected, he will try to turn America into a dictatorship. He will emulate his pal Putin.
I voted for Bernie Sanders in the primary, and I will definitely be voting for Hillary Clinton in the general election.
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What’s troubling is that while on other issues she dares to say “I will wait for and evaluate the evidence before I form an opinion”, she doesn’t say anything of the sort in education.
Does it mean, she’s made up her mind already?
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Anyone who runs as the Democratic Party candidate for president who does not distance herself — one iota — from Arne Duncan’s (and Obama’s) record on education has made the statement about where they (she) stand(s). And it’s not on our side.
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Hillary has not distanced herself from Obama-Duncan record on education. Some of her closest advisors come from the Center for American Progress, which was a mouthpiece for Race to the Top. There is no commitment to a different approach. But the other candidate is a loon, a bigot, and a white nationalist.
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Diane, your actions speak much better than these words of yours.
I disagree with the statement, “the choice is between Clinton [I can’t call her by her first name; she’s not a buddy — kd) and Trump, period.”
I believe the real choice is between giving up our struggles to jump on any candidate’s bandwagon, trusting that politician to do the right things for us, on the one hand — and keeping our independent, insistent, determined, honest movement building going, on the other. Here, I am with Diane. Because you’re not giving up the work to support this candidate.
That said, I believe that H. Clinton is an opponent of many of the things I most value, including the lives and rights of peoples around this planet which her State Department helped to destroy. Her alliances which count the most to her are with people who are wrecking public education, and all of the parallel institutions and rights of the same people who most depend on public education.
Whether or not one votes for her, let us, please, not attack one another, but keep our movements for justice, and for our children, going. We will need these just as much under a Clinton regime as we do now.
Thank you for not lying to us, Diane. A huge tip of the hat to you, and the work you continue to do (even when we disagree).
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To kippdawson:
You sound very honest in your feeling and trust, but gullible in politics.
Have you ever experienced like swimming with all sharks surrounding you? If you make a small mistake, you might be injured or eaten by sharks.
I am chuckling whenever I read some expressions like yours and other readers whose thoughts blame on certain conscientious politicians, like Hillary, Bernie, or Elizabeth.
IMHO, these politicians are VERY INTELLIGENT, experienced, and conscientious. Most of all, they are well articulated and well versed in all aspects in governmental affairs like domestic and foreign polices.
Most importantly, it seems to me that all of 28 millions of viewers did not ponder WHY Dr. Ravitch did not participate in political games?
My answer to all of you that Dr. Ravitch’s sainthood trait is to serve as a voice for the public, NOT for the 1%. For this sole reason, I politely ask most of readers to show your profound respect and co-operation to Dr. Ravitch’s wisdom.
In dealing with evils, all followers of God must rigidly perform the exact routine as per God’s will, like being considerate for the unfortunate unconditionally.
In the same vein, in this 2016 Presidential election, we all tackle one step at a time.
First, we unite to vote for Hillary in order to get rid of Trump and the GOP who causes the paralysis to the Democrat Party.
Secondly, we put pressure on Bernie to work with Hillary and Elizabeth in order to legalize the third party in American Electoral System.
Lastly and hopefully, Hillary can have SCOTUS draft the law to protect American PUBLIC education, economy and military in order to enforce all greedy tech tycoons to CONTRIBUTE their tax to strengthen American workforce, like Bill Gates, Mark Zukenberg, Peter Thiel, or real-estate/ grocery/hedge fund magnate like Eli Broad, D. Trump, Warren Buffet, Walton family, DeVox, …
They can move out America and live with thugs in communist and fascist countries like Russia, China and North Korea. American Public will not miss them at all.
If Trump and his GOP, and all millions of Trump supporters admire Putin’s dictatorial governing, they all can move to Russia and live under Putin regime. Back2basic
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Sorry, it is foreign POLICIES
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When all those rich people move out, you bet it will hurt the country.
Let me tell you what will happen:
Hospitals will lose enormous amounts of funding
Museums will close
Libraries will close
Research will be extremely limited
Hospitals like st Jude will not be able to provide free medical help
Shriners hospitals will lose funding
There will be no funding available for new businesses
It’s easy to rail against the rich.
But will you allow the government to take 60+% from your income to cover all of those cost?
Or will you increase your donations to make up the difference?
I’m not a fan of some things “the rich” do either. But at least I understand there is a balance we need.
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I assure you, Rudy, that the rich are not leaving. We have among the lowest tax rates of any highly developed nation. There is a high level of security, especially if you live in Trump Tower. Foreigners keep their money here.
Don’t worry about the 1%. They aren’t going anywhere.
By the way, during the Eisenhower administration, the top tax rate was 91%. We were a far more equal country then. It is 39% now. Developers like Trump hire creative accountants to pay zero taxes.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/nov/15/bernie-s/income-tax-rates-were-90-percent-under-eisenhower-/
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“When all those rich people move out, you bet it will hurt the country.”
It seems you are convinced, billionaires give us money, and we can’t function without them.
I say, once billionaires leave, they won’t take our money away, we’ll have millions of small businesses thriving in fair competition, we’ll be again the beneficiaries of research, and we’ll decide how our tax dollars are spent. And then we’ll be happy.
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I suggest you do some fact checking.
It’s not that I love rich people (I don’t hate them with the passion some on this list display) but I am aware of their philanthropy.
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Rudy,
Using one’s millions or billions to take control of other people’s lives without their permission, to undermine democracy, is not philanthropy. It is unbridled, unaccountable greed and self-love.
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Rudy,
No one here complained about foundations and philanthropists that donate to hospitals, public television, worthy causes that help those who need help.
The complaint has been about people like Gates, Broad, Walton, the Fischer Family, Michael Dell, John Arnold, and other billionaires who spend their money undermining public education and trying to take away teachers’ job rights and their pensions. Why would someone who lives a life of leisure get angry that a teacher who devoted her life to children has a pension of $50,000 a year to live in modest comfort? Some of these people have annual incomes in the millions and think that pensions don’t matter. If you are a billionaire, pensions don’t matter.
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Let’s try this again. The idea was to kick all the rich people out. I argued that would create a whole new set of problems. I was told that was not true.
I suggested a number of areas where the wealthy (most of whom btw don’t have anything to do with education!!) are making contributions to the nation that would cause breakdowns in a large number of areas. I was then told that I was wrong.
So my question was: when us the last time you donated enough money to…
And you did not answer my questions but started reasoning in circles – of which I see a lot on this list.
You paint an entire group of people with the same brush. “THE wealthy…” “THE billionaires…” Etc.
it seems that balanced reasoning has left the room.
Now it’s about pensions. No one denies people their pensions – except maybe unions.
I live and work in a “Right to work” state. Our public pension fund is 90-95% funded.
Just across the river is a “you have to be a member of the Union in order to work in education and everywhere else ” State. Their public pension fund is funded around 50%.
I’m eligible to retire in four years. And the good news? I don’t have to worry about my pension. It’s there. Part of the reason? When contributions had to go up, it was done. End of story. No argument.
Next door? The pension arrangements were so “generous,” the only way to find them is by raising property tax etc to such enormous amounts that no one could afford owning a home.
You can tax the rich all you want, but that won’t fix the problem either.
My son works for CPS. The district is hundreds of millions in the hole. Partially because of unreasonable union demands. And now what? How will you fix that? His older co workers cannot afford to retire – because payments have not kept up partially because of wage demands. Rip off the rich is not the answer. Which reminds me: so far, not a single Democrat had been able to answer the question,”How much taxes could be considered their fair share??” Want to take a try?
There is a series of problems in education. I am well aware of that. Unions have argued that if teachers were only paid more, there would be better results. Well, wages in this state for beginning teachers have increased drastically over the last ten years. But still, the same problems exist.
Teachers have argued, well, if you just give me the technology I ask for, results will improve. SIXTY BILLION dollars later, still not fixed.
Well, if we just figure out left brain areas and right brain areas, education will improve. You guessed it: still no improvement.
You are of a different generation. You earned your doctorate under a different educational system. What would YOU suggest is fine differently? Name some specifics.
I already know that
money did not make a difference,
technology just moved the problem,
brain based learning did not make a difference.
Test based education is not making a difference.
Charter schools or for- profit schools don’t make a difference.
What would YOU do different??
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EVIDENCE WINS DEBATES: Rudy, we have important data to debunk what you’re saying. In 2001 and 2003, the US passed major tax cuts for the rich, believing that they are the job creators. We were afraid they would leave the US and move to the Caymans Islands or Dubai.
The “Bush Tax Cuts” as they were called, were a miserable failure at creating jobs, contributing to the biggest economic meltdown of our lifetimes. This was 2008, before Obama was even elected.
Just the opposite is true if you look at the successful US economies of the 50s-70s. Conservative Republicans like Eisenhower set the tax rate at 70-90% for the richest Americans. They were forced to reinvest in the US economy or lose all their wealth. It was a win-win, as jobs were created and the rich grew value in their companies. No one actually paid those high rates, it was all designed to create and support a JOBS economy.
So when we use evidence, we can see what success and failure look like from from past and recent history – extremely high taxes on the very rich create jobs, low taxes on the very rich destroy them as they offshore companies and squirrel away wealth, removing it from the circulating, working economy.
Don’t believe the BS when the rich say they will move out.
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I have some hope — perhaps misguided and naive — that Hillary Clinton will be much better than Obama on public education.
I saw it during the Democratic Convention when she recognized the issues that the Bernie voters were fighting for instead of dismissing them as loony lefties as we have seen in the past.
My great disappointment with Bernie is that he didn’t seem to care about public schools any more than Hillary did. I still voted for him, but it wasn’t because of his stance on education. If Bernie had made public education a centerpiece (or even a side piece) of his campaign, I suspect it would have moved the conversation and Hillary would have had to respond. But public education was barely mentioned by Bernie and that seems to be a problem for those of us fighting the fake “reform” that is driving conversation.
I have also not seen Elizabeth Warren expressing any concern about reform and charters. When political leaders like Warren and Sanders start really caring about public education and showing any interest in learning what has been wrong with the proliferation of charters, there will be change. What Democrats are leading this and making it an issue? In typical Democrat fashion, they are so terrified of the false narrative offered by the Fox News right that they are afraid to challenge it. Sure, if you take a poll, it appears that Americans support “charter schools replacing failing public schools”, but if you actually look closely, you will find the majority of Americans support their local public schools and believe in them — they don’t want charters who will take lots of money out of their schools in exchange for educating just the chosen ones and throwing the expensive ones back. Americans aren’t stupid, but they can be ignorant when the only conversation they hear about this issue is the one that offers false choices that the right wants them to have.
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I suspect that if these polls would ask whether people would prefer a privately managed charter or a properly resourced, local public school, there would be no great outcry for charters.
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To Rudy Schellekens:
Because of your vulnerable and timid thought, the greedy and bully employers keep robbing the blue collar with minimum wage and without benefit or pension.
In all third world, at teenager age, YOUNG ADULT start being STREETWISE. In all communist and fascist countries, kids can fight for their freedom. The drawback in this typical survival is that children lose their kindness by living like animals from their instinct and reflection for food, shelter, and sexual desires.
Here, in any civilized countries, children, in a whole child education, learn to love, share and mutual-respect for other different culture.
Most importantly, you should understand that those tycoons and those corrupted academe leaders work together and create legal system for their own gain and destabilize the commoners’ BASIC living NEEDS.
I am the manual worker in my early time in Canada and pay 27% tax on 30,000 salary. As soon as I make 50,000 annually, I paid 50% tax on every single hour that is called overtime.
Please tell me that those freaking tech tycoons, grocery magnates, pharmaceutical manufacturers, oil companies, sub-prime banking, …harm the environment, corrupt national economy, manipulate price on consumers’ daily needs in order to safely and legally LOOT billions of dollars weekly, monthly and annually through all loop-hole in their own creation of legal system to bail them out from millions hard workers’ tax fund from blue collar workforce.
To simplify a picture, let’s take a look in a unit as in a family. In 18th century, women can not own land or earn degree by law, so that they became slaves in the marriage. In the same vein, middle class was bullied to become a blue collar workforce for many centuries.
Can you admit that there are many intelligent and honest immigrants who never have a chance to work in their potential because they do not have money and God father to be reference in big business?
Have you heard the saying from the rich without intelligence that “if we cannot beat them, we buy them”?
All skilled surgeons, doctors, and talented musician, composers, writer are second generation of immigrant. John King, Donald Trump and Arne Duncan should be shameful for what they have said and done to all American conscientious educators.
Please allow me to RE-assure you that it takes time to GRADUALLY build up to the TOP LEVEL in all fields. Any shortcut to bring people fame, fortune and health (Michael Jackson), is to be alert about the dangerous and harmful consequences to the giver and receiver as well as the related surrounding people and environment. For instance, the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) project, or legalized marijuana.
In short, all masters need slaves to be rich, comfortable and survival. However, slaves do not need masters in order to be contented. In the same vein, we do not need all electronic gadgets to be educated, but freaking techies tycoons need to enforce PUBLIC SCHOOLS to consume their gadgets (iPad) in order to loot billions of dollars from public education tax fund.
Thank you for a chance to let my frustration pouring out from my mind. Back2basic
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Bill Gates – without help from rich parents
Ross Perot – without help from rich parents
Warren Buffett – without help from rich parents
Hilarry Clinton –
Sam Walton – without the help from rich parents
Just a few names of now rich people who started poor.
The list can be a lo longer.
As far as the best whatever job? 30 years ago a similar argument was used about homosexual accomplishments.
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What?
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To Rudy Schellekens:
Have you re-read your expression? Is it making any sense at all to your educational background?
Please forgive me being MAYBE younger than you, or MAYBE LESS a master degree than you, or MAYBE physically weaker than you, I am sorry to say that you are NOT an educator or even properly educated.
People, who are intelligent, well fed, well equipped with childhood education, and being well nurtured with love and care from parents, are VERY RICH by nature materially.
It is an advantage if people are brought up with KINDNESS and BEING CONSIDERATE for the unfortunate.
However, it is a drawback for people who are showered with wealth without hard work. It is a sin among 7 greatest sins according to Saint Gandhi.
Please self-examine your background to see if you are VERY RICH with an advantage or drawback. As a result, you will advocate for Public Education in a whole child education concept because it is the right choice for all intelligent human beings on Earth. Back2basic
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“Just a few names of now rich people who started poor.”
Well, I think this statement needs a little “fact checking” doesn’t it?
In any case, it’s irrelevant how these people started. What’s relevant is the money conservation principle: those who have a lot, necessarily took it from others—directly (like keeping minimum wage low) or indirectly (getting rid off competition, using resources our taxes created while paying little tax, etc) make no difference.
Rich people make only one kind of economy going: the rich people’s.
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