Readers of this blog have been very upset by the election and by the results of the election.
There has been altogether too much anger and finger-pointing, directed at one another, not at the source of our mutual disappointment.
I was looking for the right words to address the anger and mutual recrimination. Then I got this message from my son Michael, and it seemed appropriate to post here (I have his permission after having posted it.)
“There never was a war that was not inward; I must fight till i have conquered in myself what causes war” – Marianne Moore
The first step towards defeating President-elect Trump is conquering our inner Trump.
He is cruelty; we must be kinder, towards ourselves, and the people around us, and then to people who disagree with us.
He is greed and selfishness; we must not sink into complacency – we must stay engaged, make a deeper commitment to the black and brown people of this country who will be his targets – we white people must listen to them, follow their lead, take risks on their behalf.
He is a congenital liar, who counts on us forgetting; we cannot be lulled to sleep by any apparent “moderation”, we cannot forget who the man is and how he won this office, we cannot be discouraged by the blizzard of bullshit he spreads.
He is a bully who divides people. We must commit to building bridges among our allies, not forming circular firing-squads. His greatest weapon is our discouragement and disengagement.
He is a fearful man who spreads fear like a contagion. We must be braver than we’ve ever been, braver than we thought possible. I think it’s likely we see a police crackdown like nothing we’ve seen in a generation. It will be legit scary to be a critic and protester in the age of Trump.
He is aesthetic ugliness. I know that seems petty compared to the other things on the list, but I believe it matters. I think human beings are made for more than just mindless consumption, but for making and appreciating beauty. Hatred and blindness thrive in the absence of beauty.
He is a cynic who believes in nothing except his own aggrandizement. In our shame that half of the country voted for this buffoon, we must not give into cynicism. We must have the courage to defend American ideals against their gravest threat ever. If we ever believed in this crazy experiment in self-governance, we must stand up for it now.
Let us be kinder to one another. Let us not forget what matters most. Let us not form a circular firing squad. No more recriminations between supporters of Bernie or Hillary or someone else. Let us remember that our country has survived other dark eras and, with enough pushing, emerged with a vision of what should be, what might be. What we cannot be is vindictive towards our allies. What we must be is informed, alert, organized, and ready to resist what must be resisted. We now live in the Age of Trump. These are interesting times and dangerous times. We must not turn against one another. Let us defend the weak and vulnerable. Let us resist as best we can. Let us be strong enough to know that this too will pass, but only if we make it so. Passivity is acquiescence. We will not acquiesce. We will resist.
Basically perfect. Thank you.
Amen!!!! Thank you so much for sharing and giving hope to a seemingly hopeless situation.
I think it is a huge mistake to focus on Trump’s personality fobiles and get distracted from the malevolent legislation emerging from a Republican Congress (which Trump will invariably sign). Also, policies that emerge from his Cabinet appointees. I doubt that Trump cares passionately about any issue beyond his poll numbers and approval ratings, but those he surrounds himself with will do damage.
Exactly right, Joel. He won’t have the attention span, and he won’t give his attention to what his people are doing. And they will be doing awful stuff.
You have a wonderful son, how proud you must be. Thank you for sharing!
As the song says, “the future’s not ours to see….” Maybe we should wait and see. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our fears were NOT met.
Thank you for sharing this with us. We’ll try our best to be civil. Please forgive us if we go off the path at times.
Your son is a wise man. Let us heed his words and work towards the greatest good.
At least as wise as his mother.
Very beautiful and Strong. The working people I am meeting are ready to come together with like minds. Especially true of Young Blacks and Hispanics. I am proud to hear their thoughts and feelings in the grocery, the paint store or at the gas station. We flooded badly back in April and the men helping to put our home back together agree with what Diane has written here. We are ONE and definitely stronger with each other than we were a year ago. Yes, it will be very dicey but the deep change must come now and through our coming together.
i pulled the plug on all my electronic connections the night of the election. I didn’t want to engage when i was feeling so angry. I didn’t trust myself to moderate or to be civil to people I care about, and whose cause is my own. I may have to go so far as to stop reading the emails that come through list serves because the intensity of judgement and purity are more than i can bear. I don’t want to lash out. So I am withdrawing. How far? I don’t know. Its not far enough yet. I shut down my subscription to the media, I’ve deleted all my news apps, deactivated my social media accounts….I may shut down all my own media channels shortly. I feel like i will keep retreating until something shifts. i have to wait and see how I can transform these feelings, what ever I turn them into now, would only be infused with my darkness,
Wisely, you shut out the tumult and seek inner truth and strength. You will emerge when ready to shine your light.
I’m taking a break. While the alt-right gloats and tries to push through their harmful conservative agenda, overreach has ushered in major shifts in power. I will sit back for now and watch as the Republicans destroy themselves thinking they have a clear mandate from a populace that doesn’t really trust them. And then have only themselves to blame. Two years comes not soon enough, but, as the old saying goes, Republicans are the party that says government doesn’t work, then they get elected and prove it.
Your son has wonderful gifts, of writing, understanding and compassion. You must be extremely proud of him. Thanks for sharing his letter.
All we can hope is that this man has a modicum of empathy and humility and will soon come to realize the incredible weight that has been put upon him. As a woman, I find it abhorrent that a man who calls women pigs and boasts of being able to use his status to “grab ’em by the pussy” can ascend to the highest office in this nation. I am just very sad that this is what many people want this country to be about (among other things). Just very depressed.
I think your fears can be eased by polls which show a majority of Trump voters neither like his character nor entirely trust in his ability to implement campaign promises. The majority of Trump-voters at exit polls bought in because they want to see more JOBS, & have judged that both Dem & Repub policies have bought into global trade to the detriment of jobs for working & middle classes.
Thank you, Diane. I am heartbroken and desperately worried about my ACA insurance. Choosing to focus on my work and on my volunteer project focused on bringing diversity and equity to local schools. I am deeply grateful that Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren remain in the senate and Nancy Pelosi in the house. So sad about Hillary Clinton. Beyond that, well, we wait to see how bad it will become, while doing our best for our own corner of the world.
From what I’m reading, repealing ACA means getting through a Senate filibuster. They can use majority votes to erode ACA though reconciliation and bypass a filibuster, but that takes more time and is limited to budget items. Trump can play games to push the law into collapse, but Republicans do not have a replacement. Leaving 20 million people without insurance would have political consequences. Hospitals depend on ACA. Doctors have adjusted to the law. Medicaid has ensured many Trump voters in rural areas can live. A full repeal of the law’s taxes means the national debt increases. Insurance companies warn lack of a mandate isn’t workable. Red state senators, often the biggest beneficiaries of ACA and Medicaid, are up for re-election in 2018.
Republicans now own health care and I suspect that contributes to their deer-in-the-headlight look recently. I think it will be very difficult to completely end Obamacare.
I thought the Senate already has plans to do away with the filibuster. They can’t have Dems preventing them from doing everything they want to do.
Will be very interesting to see what will happen if they repeal ACA. My guess is the Republicans don’t really care much about the Americans who don’t have insurance anyway. They’ll be happy to offer them a cheap “faux insurance” that will make everyone who never gets a serious illness that needs expensive medicines and hospitalization feel really good. As long as there are more healthy people happy with their low-cost fake insurance than there are sick people who realize they got scammed, it’s all good for the Republicans.
I hope you’re right. It doesn’t seem to me like it will be too difficult. The Republican legislative agenda is stacked. Are the Democrats going to filibuster everything? If that’s their inclination, this would seem to be the term in which we finally see the nuclear option.
If there were ever a time to mortgage the party’s future in the Senate on the nuclear option, this has to be the time.
I believe you presented it all correctly, Vale Math.
I sure hope you’re right, ValeMath. My most proximate fear w/a Rep POTUS/ Congr/ Senate is that they can disappear ACA, which covers my 3/4-time [no bennies] eldest at a price he can afford, & younger 1/2-time worker will be in same boat w/in months. We are already past ‘retirement age’ & still working; main breadwinner hopes to retire soon. Helping them float full-boat health-ins premiums when we are on Soc Sec/ pensions seems undoable.
Well said by your son! Apples don’t fall far from trees!
What you said!
😎
Are you ok, Krazy? Worried that you have stopped posting. Thinking about you…and the Poet…and bethree…haven’t heard from these friends lately.
We are all wounded and ashamed, but we are all always together.
Election 2016 is over. Thanks God.
“Hatred and blindness thrive in the absence of beauty.” — Diane Ravitch’s wise son
Vitae Summa Brevis Spem Nos Vetat Incohare Longam
Ellen– o u r too much! Thank u 4 noticing I have been hors de combat for a while. u may know I am a post-retirement-age longtime freelancer in PreK for-lang enrichment (courtesy of sugar-daddy breadwinner). That means I am an at-will employee in a cut-throat market. Just recently got one of those kicks-in-the-teeth that are routine every few yrs… but up on my feet & teaching the good fight again!
Left Coast Teacher – what a perfect quote. Were you referencing Horace, or Ernest Dowson’s beautiful poem?
The poem.
The fact that only 25.8% of registered voters voted for Trump gives me hope. It was NOT half the country. About 48% of registered voters did not vote. I take that to mean that a great many Americans have given up hope that they really have a voice. Others really have been disenfranchised. We need to help those people regain their voices.
Oh, jeez, so in addition to everything else, you raised at least one fine human being!
Thank you for leading, Diane. The consequences of this devastating loss will be felt just as much by those who could not muster up the enthusiasm as it will be felt by those who were annoying in our advocacy. It’s taking every bit of discipline and humanity and love in me to avoid the places where I’ll be tempted to lash out. I a man going to keep trying. We are all going to need each other and surely the weakest among us will need us all.
Beautiful, positive sentiments. Important to keep that perspective.
Wow!! I needed to hear this. It has been a very emotional past two days. I grew up under a dictatorship and recognized the red flags throughout the campaign.
I d like to stay optimistic that during the coming 4 year purge, we will learn the inner strength of our nation is more than one person who thinks he alone can fix everything.
Dare I say that the election campaign and results present a stark condemnation of the state of American public education as a result of teaching small disconnected skills to make higher test scores for over a decade?
I almost wish it were so. But millenials voted 95% for Hillary. I’m afraid we have to lay this at the feet of a huge bunch of people who were educated in the public school system well before the turn of this century.
I don’t really think it’s about critical thinking/ education or lack thereof. Most of the voters who made this happen were just looking at– what have the Dem & Rep parties been doing for [to] me for umpty-ump years– my job situation sucks & it’s worse for my kids. So they voted for the guy who says he’ll try to reverse the global-trade trend which has enriched the 1% at everyone else’s expense.
Hi Diane,
Think of Soviet Premier Nikita Khushchev (NK) who said (as I can best recollect): “I’d walk across a bridge with the devil to get to the other side.”
I see Trump supporters apparently following NK’s line of thought to get to the other side (anti-immigration, anti-Muslim, pro guns, Clinton hatred, etc.) with their very own devil.
I truly respect you for your work and advocacy for public education but I will not continue to read your blog while you continue to bash everything Republican and Trump. Would Trump have been my choice? Absolutely not! Am I happy with the outcome? I don’t know and won’t for some time. Do I believe that there is an opportunity to bring a divided country together? I don’t know the answer to that either but do know that the likelihood of that occurring is the same regardless of the candidate elected. Both of these individuals went out of their way to make personal attacks and that carried over to their supporters in many cases. What is needed is for all of us to respect the office of the president and to work at a grassroots level to find common ground. People who refuse to even make an effort are part of the problem. I can only hope that this will settle down and that we can all work together to try and resolve differences.
As a final thought, thank you for your work for public education and on behalf of students across the country. I fully anticipate greater challenges than had Clinton been elected but that should increase our resolve to advocate on behalf of these students. As a Texas resident, I am more fearful of our Lt. Governor’s agenda than I am of the president-elect. Perhaps I will be proven wrong over time but I am at least willing to make an effort; I pray that others will as well. Thank you.
Thank you Diane
Are you Dr. Ben Carson who ran for Prez????
Trump is considering Carson for………DRUM ROLL………….TRUMPETS…………..SECRETARY OF EDUCATION!!!!!!!! Oh no, no, no, no. Dear Lord Almighty, my head will explode.
Ellen,
I think it is a nom de plume
Hope so…couldn’t imagine someone who believes humans roamed the earth 5K years ago with the dinosaurs would also be on your blog.
Dr. Ravitch,
I think you are underestimating all the teachers and adminstrators who supported Trump and voted for him. Finally we can close the border and send those illegally here back where they came from. It is a wonderful time to be an American. We are going to take this country back! What an awesome election against the globalists and for the American people! Now it’s time to repair the damage of the last eight years.
Delete
The Wall will not happen. It is not practical. Deporting children will give all but the most heartless Trump supporters pause. Mass deportations require money and a law infrastructure not in place. I think you and many other Trump supporters are in for a big letdown. Already, Trump is finding governing is not the same as campaigning and retreating from his campaign rhetoric.
I have a plaudit for LAUSD and Steve Zimmer who yesterday said counselors will be at all schools to help the Latino students who are terrified that their parents will disappear. LAUSD is almost 80% Latino. These children are truly traumatized.
Should we hope that Trump starts claiming that he never said that?
If you are a teacher or administrator, I recommend another job or career path for you. It is not an educator’s job to judge children or their parents based on heritage, status or ethnicity. We value compassion and empathy toward all.
It breaks my heart to see such lack of empathy for one’s fellow human beings. Some of those who came here “illegally” were so young they don’t even speak the language of their country of origin. I can’t even understand such cruelty. If this election has taught me one thing, it is to never be silent again.
And many children were born here and are legal US citizens…and they are terrified that any day their parents will be ripped from them and dumped over the border.
Steve,
I thought Trump already took his promise to depart everyone off his website.
I suspect that Trump promise was about as truthful as his claim to have proof that Obama was born in Kenya.
If so, it will be one of the times I’m thrilled Donald Trump is such a liar.
I’m guessing that if you aren’t a fake troll, you will be very angry when Trump breaks his promise to “send those illegally here back where they came from”. The joke will be on you, Steve.
^^^to DEPORT everyone
Yes the electorate voted against globalists, but the damages to be repaired (if possible– isolationism would probably cause worse troubles) go back a lot further than 8 yrs. Reagan saw it coming, his response? It’s a shrinking pie: deregulate banks/ brokers/ corps & undermine unions, let the devil take the hindmost (p.s. tell the public the $ flowing to the top will ‘trickle down’). Every admin Dem or Repub has doubled down on those policies since.
YEP!
Thanks…I’ll add that we have to do more than resist. We have to get black and brown and young people to register and vote in larger numbers. Only half of registered voters voted…yikes. I wonder how those folks are feeling today…The only people more clueless are those in the rust belt who think Trump will bring jobs back to that part of the country.
Tony,
Agreed.
Those are the two groups that will lose th most:
Those who didn’t vote and those who count onTrump to bring back manufacturing jobs
The POLITICAL TRIBAL WARS continues into its 220th year!
Sorry Diane. I respect folks ability to be a part of a political party, but I am saddened by their ignorance of (or ignoring) the negative consequences of doing so. George Washington warned us of the collateral damage, but if one does not learn from history…. We end up having to make choices between candidates like Hillary and Trump.
IF you or anyone else wants to understand the direction I am coming from please read George Washington’s Farewell Address. He wrote repeatedly about the harm of political parties.
Respectfully submitted
Bk, what we learned in NYC is that the 1% want to get rid of political parties so no one can rise without great wealth
I had some hope when I read, “There has been too much finger pointing…” I thought that maybe there would be some coming together and peace. But then you go on to slash into President-elect Trump and his supporters with disparaging, hurtful and untrue remarks.
It is you who doesn’t practice what you preach. It is you who judges and discriminates. And it is you who spreads hateful words and divisive labels. All to make yourself feel superior to people you don’t agree with. It shocks me that so many of you are teachers who spread a culture of victimization and discrimination to people who share different religions or political ideas.
I read your book several years ago about how you were wrong about education while you were in the Bush administration. I thought you were a compassionate person who humbled herself to admit she was wrong. I was so impressed with your argument for public schools and I remember praying for you when you were sick.
But, I can no longer be apart of such a hypocritical website that serves only the left wing zealots who are wallowing in a political loss that took them by surprise. Now I know why–because you only associate with those like you. You close yourself off to the rest of the world because they aren’t exactly like you. And you shame or belittle those who think differently. Calling people “racist” is your ultimate card to shut down anyone who disagrees–so now we have, what, millions of racists in America?! Goodness, you have lost track of clear, rational thinking and replaced it with hysterical, doomsday-type predictions and thoughts.
STOP making our children believe that they are victims who have been wronged by a bad America and encourage them that, regardless who they are, THEY alone have the potential to lift themselves up to make their dreams come true, and that no one is stopping them or even wishing that they don’t become everything they want to become. You have the labels wrong: we are not LBGTQ, we are not straight, we are not women, we are not men, we are not Mexicans, we are not Muslims, we are not Blacks, we are not Whites…we are HUMANITY.
Will HUMANITY be subject to extreme vetting?
Momoffive, I have now read the original post three times. It is true, the post describes Donald Trump of having many unattractive traits.
But I do not see a single word that “slashes his supporters.” The only time the word “supporters” is used is here: “No more recriminations between supporters of Bernie or Hillary or someone else.”
Now it is true that a couple of the commentators on this post mention Trump supporters. But the original post contains absolutely NO “disparaging, hurtful and untrue remarks” about people like you.
Words and actions matter. His words about others and his actions toward others are a reflection of his character. Over 3,500 past and current lawsuits are a reflection of his character, mindset and business practices. In my view, those who read this blog have expressed their views based on his words and actions.
Donald Trump Heads To Court For Trump University Lawsuit On Heels Of Election
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-university-court_us_5823d830e4b0d9ce6fc0cac8
Delete
I suspect your message would be much different if Trump lost. I’d encourage you to go back and review Trump’s campaign promises, speeches, and the shouts of his supporters.
While it is time to move on, that doesn’t mean those that disagree with Trump and his policies should be silent. I listen to opposing views. But what Trump said in this election was abhorrent. I am puzzled how supposedly decent people could listen to him and watch his rallies and still vote for him as the president. That disturbs me more than anything else.
Since I find the exchange here intellectually stimulating, I would like to suggest that the above characterization of its participants is silly. This country has never seen a radical left. These people are squarely in the middle of a road that has developed more lanes on its right than it has on its left. Right wing lunatics have killed many people since McVeigh. Left wing? Not so much.
Nor are modern criticisms of Trump particularly vitriolic. Read what Phillip Freneau said about George Washington. Read what Henry Clay said about Jackson. If Trump cannot take a political jab without apoplexy, he will spend the next four years in absolute misery. I suspect that he can take it.
The worst error above is the suggestion that pointing out who in our society gets the wrong end of the stick is teaching them that bad America has wronged them. The same logic was used to explain why certain portions of humanity had to drink out of different water fountains during Jim Crow. What was wrong with these people? They should pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. Those who point out that a group had been persecuted follow in the footsteps of the prophet Amos, not the surly mob.
Sorry to disappoint you, Mom of five. I speak from the heart. I assume you do too. Let he who casts the first stone be free of sin. I don’t cast stones. You should not either. I freely admit that I did not like Trump’s remarks about Mexicans, immigrants, Muslims, and women. I speak honestly. No one compels you to agree. Or to read.
Momoffive, I’m genuinely mystified by the fact that you, and many people who support Trump, regard him as just another candidate (now President) with the standard mix of weaknesses and strengths that any one hoping to be president inevitably has. To you he falls within some kind of norm that makes him equivalent to all those Presidents that have come before.
Maybe what distinguishes him from any President or candidate, that I’m aware of, is insignificant and no big deal to you. But as far as I, and many, many sensible people can tell, his character is deeply flawed, and these character flaws manifest again and again in every aspect of his life. The fact that this is not apparent to you and his supporters is as shocking to me as is his winning the election.
This article by David Remnick captures the shock that some people felt when they realized Trump would be elected. He was never known as a champion for the little guy or the working man and woman: http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/an-american-tragedy-donald-trump
A nice story…..
http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/10/politics/hillary-clinton-hiking-photo/index.html
Buzz Feed is reporting that creationist Ben Carson is top choice for Education Secretary. God help us!
Carson believes that the pyramids were built by Joseph for grain storage.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/11/05/ben-carson-believes-joseph-built-egypts-pyramids-to-store-grain-and-it-just-may-get-him-some-votes/
Which god?
TAGO!
While we do all these things, we above all must remain vigilant. Allowing the victimization of any group of people in this country will make us no better than the German passivity which led to the nefarious actions connected to WWII.
My son came to visit me last night and offered me a hug saying everything would be all right.
Checking up on me today, he called and asked if I needed a dose of Xanex.
Your sons kind words help, but my stomach is still unsettled.
Thank you, Diane. That was just what I needed to hear today. And to take to heart. God bless you.
Today, in the year 2016, one of my students was told to go to the back of the bus. Another was told to go back to Mexico. There is nothing I can say or do in response that feels like enough. So I hug them, tell them to stay strong and that it will be ok. I encourage empathy and remind students how important it is to stand up for what is morally right and to defend the most vulnerable among us. And later, after the bell rang and my door closed, I cried for them. Because it just doesn’t feel like anything will ever be enough.
You have the compassion and understanding that I expect all teachers to demonstrate who teach children, kindergarten through graduation. Thank you for sharing what happened at your school after the election.
Thank you, Diane. Please moderate this if it is not appropriate, but if it is, there’s one small step we can all take: Support Congressperson Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, as new chair of the DNC. There’s a petition at berniesanders.com. Again, I apologize if this is inappropriate on your blog.
Wow…i did not realize that he is running. Today Howard Dean said he is running to head the DNC, again….and I have been urging Russ Feingold to run. But Ellison would be a good choice, Russell.
Russell, it is not at all inappropriate. Keith Ellison would be a fresh face for the DNC.
Just reading Trump wants Steve Bannon as chief of staff. So much for the unity and healing of America. Maybe David Duke as Ambassador to the UN?
Dearest Dr. Ravitch:
I really love the quote that your son expresses:
[start quote]
“There never was a war that was not inward; I must fight till I have conquered in myself what causes war” – Marianne Moore
[end quote]
Also, I really admire his strategy and philosophy in dealing with new elected President’s characters. I hope that he would run for any governmental job to serve public.
In this website, there are lots of experts and gurus who know well USA Constitution and the key dates in all 50 States. Most of all, some of these gurus should run for office like Councillors, Mayors, State Superintendent, Congressmen/women and Senators…
Regardless of ideology, or independent, or third party, people who are trustworthy, decency, and responsible for their duties as shown by their daily activities and good social working record, should be brave to run for being representative in any level of government job.
Until earnest people are willing to participate to work in all levels of all elections, American society will be great again and in unity.
Very respectfully yours,
May King
My 8 year old son said he will be worse than König Ludwig ll from Bavaria.
Spend our taxes like a drunken sailor.
Haha good one! Hasn’t Trump bought Neuschwanstein yet?
Perhaps this blog and Diane should have supported Bernie sanders and not the extremely flawed Hillary Clinton
I don’t disagree with that, but people are who they are. There were many here who did support Sanders . . . and still do.
bradobloj, I did not support Hillary until after she won the nomination. I told readers I would support which Democrat won the nomination.
Thanks to you and your son, Dr. Ravitch!
Very well said and it captures the need for us to speak for what is right , work for a better future for the children and rally against any suppression of those of color wherever they reside
Thank you
When I think of writers like Michael Paul Goldenberg and Lloyd Lofthouse arguing with each other, I have to say, “Fellas! You’re both of the same camp and on the same side. And you’re both valuable and indispensable to the cause. Don’t lose yourself in impulsive, hasty vexation!”
Do you know what I mean?
I admire so many people this blog, and I have not long belonged to the blog: Ellen Lubic, Michael Paul Goldenberg, Michael Fiorillo, Susan Schwartz, Dienne, Chiara, Duane Swacker, Lloyd Lofthouse, NYC Parent, NYS teacher, Linda, Retired but miss the kids . . . . The list is really endless. Forgive me if I did not mention more because there are many more.
Keep it up and don’t get into quarrels. You are a group of very powerful Americans who make a difference in the lives of millions here on this blog and far, far beyond the blog. I thought we Europeans knew most things, but I am learning SO much from all of you! What a serious boon and gift.
How is my English, by the way? I’m curious.
Wow…thank you for the second time today (I replied to your comment about Michael Moore working w/agent Ari Emanuel, which I did not know).
Your English is outstanding, BTW!
As rbmtk stated, thanks for the kind words again. Your English is excellent (that’s coming from one who knows the struggles of learning and teaching a second language, Spanish for me.)
One of the things that keeps me coming back is that I learn so much from all those who post and from the links they attach. Sometimes it gets a little heated. I know I don’t always agree, even with those with whom I almost always agree but that is what dialogue and learning is about.
Thank you NW for giving a little different perspective from outside this box we call the USA. People are people everywhere, more commonalities exist than differences, at least that is my experience from having lived and studied abroad.
By the way, do you have any links to your work as a filmmaker that you would share with us? I hope so!!
Take care,
Duane
Glad to see bethree back! &, Krazy TA–are you perhaps as exhausted from this election cycle as we all are? (Reason for your brief comment.)
I am more than sad that Some Poet hasn’t been back–if you’re reading this, S.P., I’m sure I’m not alone in saying I hope you are in good health & will come back to light(en) us up w/your brilliance.
Thanks, retired! & always learning from you.
Before this election cycle, I came to this blog almost everyday. I rarely come to this blog anymore. This post affirms my decision.
Every negative point your son made about Trump is equally or more applicable to Hillary Clinton.
I applaud your efforts to combat the enemies of public education at the state and local levels. However, you have zero credibility at the national level. It’s a shame, because I am sure that Trump will propose some bad education policies, but I doubt he will ever come close to implementing the destructive policies of the Obama administration. Trump certainly won’t waste over $4 BILLION on destructive federal education policies. Elections have consequences, and your ill advised support for HRC has significantly diminished your influence at the federal level.
I celebrate the defeat of Hillary Clinton and her clique of corruption.
False equivalences won’t help Trump govern. He and the Republicans will be a disaster. Trump will let down his supporters and they will be angry. So far, much of his 100 day contract is viewed as impractical, expensive, or even opposed by fellow Republicans. He is considering alt-right leader Steve Bannon for chief of staff. Trump’s presidential-elect response to the Oregon protesters is an angry tweet blaming a vast media conspiracy. We can only wonder what tweets will come from the oval office when Trump is tested by world leaders.
Hillary lost. Democrats lost. It is time to remake the Democratic Party without the Clinton machine. But from what we’ve seen of Trump so far, Democrats loss may turn into a win.
False equivalences? You’re blind to the corrupt nature of the Clinton’s and the ENTIRE Democrat establishment, which leads straight to your last paragraph. You will continue to push a divisive agenda that discounts the 1/2 of this country that wants NOTHING to do with your progressive utopia. You live in an echo chamber, and you can’t imagine that the non-urban population won’t welcome your big government Shangri-la.
I support public education because I believe it is the best tool to provide an equal opportunity for all Americans. I do NOT support the fairy tale progressive notions of equality, and I despise the identity politics of the Democrat Party. I have equal disdain for the Republicans who practice identity politics. Democrats and Republicans use politics to push their agendas. Hopefully Trump will push an agenda that seeks to improve the lives of all Americans. If he doesn’t, I will be the first one in line to throw him out in 2020.
You’ve said enough. Truly, Fl Teacher, I cannot respond to your rant as it is insulting, bizarre, and incohesive. But maybe you can find someone else who will listen on this or other blogs. I’m tired at all the yelling this election. Have a nice life.
FL Teacher,
“I celebrate the defeat of Hillary Clinton and her clique of corruption.”
I will never celebrate the election of a narcissist who has a history of seeking revenge on those who he perceives have slighted him in the past or in the present.
In USA today, his surrogate Omarosa Manigault announced that he already has a list of enemies including Lindsay Graham.
Let’s be reminded of Nixon’s list of enemies that included certain senators, congressmen, mayors, governors, organizations such as the NEA, celebrities, businessmen, media, and columnists.
http://www.colorado.edu/AmStudies/lewis/film/enemies.htm
“I will never celebrate the election of a narcissist who has a history of seeking revenge on those who he perceives have slighted him in the past or in the present.”
If the election went the other way, I would type that exact paragraph with the pronouns changed from he to she and him to her. Do you know ANYONE other than the Clinton’s (with their social status) who have so many connections to people who died prematurely under suspicious circumstances?
Can you name a powerful political figure who is not a narcissist? Please don’t say Hillary Clinton; I will probably hurt myself if I laugh that hard.
“the destructive policies of the Obama administration.”
Okay, Race to the Top was a poor idea…though to be fair, it was likely conceived to address the problems addressed in the PBS segment linked.
But what other policies were “destructive?”
Please let us know.
My neighborhood in Boston is a very diverse one – racial, ethnic, socio-economic, religious, country of origin. One of our small independent newspapers published this editorial in response to the election. Perhaps it will act as a balm for our spirits. (Just for context, the writer is an Irish-American whose wife, a Haitian-American, is our state senator.)
http://www.dotnews.com/columns/2016/he-won-now-let-s-get-back-arena
Thank you for the link – great perspective.
The problem is the denial by the hardcore left. You all have no clue how much regular citizens hate the corruption promoted by Hillary, Kaine, Reid, Pelosi and all the rest. I hope you remain in denial so the US can become great once more.
They are getting a clue now. Trump will fail. Republicans will overreach thinking they have a mandate. Should be interesting to watch Republicans looking around to blame someone when they have only themselves.
You are right to lash into the GOP because they are rotten to the core. But so are the Democrats. The duopoly needs major competition with the growth of many new and vastly different parties.
May the Sanders revolution continue.
If we are “humanity”, as one commenter insists, then we damn well better take the role seriously. And in accepting the role of “humanity” in a democratic republic then we should not – cannot – as another commenter said elsewhere on this blog, “cast politics to the side to save our children.”
The two — politics, for humanity — go hand-in-hand don’t they? Especially in a nation built on democratic values and principles?
So, what do we have? Donald Trump, who surely is an exceptionally poor role model for kids, or for anyone.
Here’s how David Remnick put it at the New Yorker:
“The election of Donald Trump to the Presidency is nothing less than a tragedy for the American republic, a tragedy for the Constitution, and a triumph for the forces, at home and abroad, of nativism, authoritarianism, misogyny, and racism…On January 20, 2017, we will bid farewell to the first African-American President—a man of integrity, dignity, and generous spirit—and witness the inauguration of a con who did little to spurn endorsement by forces of xenophobia and white supremacy. It is impossible to react to this moment with anything less than revulsion and profound anxiety…There are miseries to come: an increasingly reactionary Supreme Court; an emboldened right-wing Congress; a President whose disdain for women and minorities, civil liberties and scientific fact, to say nothing of simple decency, has been repeatedly demonstrated. Trump is vulgarity unbounded…”
It is – I think – important to remember that Trump was the instrumental figure in the Birther movement, which was racist to the core. Amy Davidson put it this way:
“two and a half years after Obama released his birth certificate, Donald Trump began pushing the case that the birth certificate was not a birth certificate. In part, this was because instead of saying ‘birth certificate’ on top, it said ‘certification of live birth’ and it was a printout of a computer record, rather than something bearing the scrawl of an obstetrician. That is what Hawaiian birth certificates look like; this was, unambiguously, a Hawaiian state birth certificate…It is worth noting that for there to have been any sort of discrepancy between the certification and the certificate, multiple Hawaiian officials would have to have been involved in a fraud. (So would the editors of the two Hawaiian newspapers in which Obama’s birth was announced, in 1961, a move that would have required not only conspiring journalists but ones equipped with psychic powers or a time machine—and probably both.) Then again, polls in 2011 showed that a certain number of birthers accepted that Obama was born in Hawaii; they just didn’t believe that Hawaii was part of the United States.”
So this is what we and public education are dealing with, and it’s something that is robustly antithetical to the core values of American democracy.
Honestly, I think you fight that kind of anti-democratic dogma at any and every opportunity.
But there’s also this, from Alec MacGillis at ProPublica, on the white working class in the Rust Belt who supported Trump:
“None were traditional Republican voters. Some were in dire economic straits; others were just a notch up from that and looking down with resentment at the growing dependency around them. What they shared were three things. They lived in places that were in decline, and had been for some time. They lacked strong attachment to either party…And they had profound contempt for a dysfunctional, hyper-prosperous Washington that they saw as utterly removed from their lives…Trump attacked the trade deals that had helped hollow out these voters’ communities, he attacked the Mexicans who had heavily populated some of their towns…and, yes, he tapped into broader racial resentments as well.”
The voters interviewed by MacGillis recited all the right-wing bullet points about Hillary Clinton, most of which have been discredited.
So, back to “humanity” and children and politics.
The character of democracy is at stake…
“. . . is nothing less than a tragedy for the . . . ”
Not often I disagree with what you post, democracy, but in this case I disagree. We survived the Bushes and Reagan and Clinton 1. We’ll survive this. Unfortunately the survival part will just be that much more trying since this president-elect is the culmination of the last 36 years of oligarchic duopoly control.
Those were David Remnick’s words, not mine.
But I do tend to agree with him.
a lot of people today are blaming Randi; it is part of the divide and conquer if we do this… don’t let the powerful forces divide us…
I have had these disagreements with Duane for about 6 months during the campaigns… but here is what I say at this time …. Look up the meaning of “hypothetical counterfactual” because the writers always have a preferred vision of cause and effect; whereas, today we are dealing with chaos theory and you cannot prove with evidence your cause and effect so it us useless to blame Weingarten… get back to the coalition building and don’t let the politicians divide us to conquer.
P.S. one of the largest coalitions in Education was Title I… I don’t know if it was the largest but we need to get back to building it and not attacking and destroying each other. Listen to Barbara Madeloni who helped to get the MTA working effectively and we had AFT and also SEIU… in this struggle build some bonds… I don’t call it “networking” because that is utilitarian but make friends and build relationships.
P.S.S. Christine your comments in the Lowell Sun helped us in both Middlesex County and Essex County… thanks for all you do (when Dmitri insulted you I knew that you had made some points in the social media ). We need a “samizdat” because the Globe is totally owned
YEP! We have been at it as you state! Hopefully we both learned a little in the process, eh!
Couple things to point out. First, Trump got fewer votes than Romney did four years ago. Second, several states, including Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and, especially Pennsylvania, voted twice for Obama in 08 and 12, but voted Trump this election. These factors suggest that Trump’s election was not due to a sudden upward surge in racism/bigotry. It suggests (a) Hillary simply didn’t draw enough support to defeat Trump (she got 7 million fewer votes than Obama did in 12 and 10 million fewer than 08) and (b) people in rust belt states that have been hardest hit by trade agreements (which, let’s face it, Hillary has supported and continues to support) are fed up with the suffering that has been inflicted on them and the establishment’s insistence on supporting the big banks and big corporations over their needs. I keep hearing (I think Michael Moore said it) that Trump was the “human Molotov cocktail” these suffering people chose to throw to destroy the establishment they feel not only no longer benefits them but actively harms them. Was racism a factor? Certainly. But racism and economic suffering are inextricably linked – people are more likely to welcome a demagogue blaming scapegoats when they are genuinely suffering. The Democratic Party will, I fear, refuse to hear this message at their own peril.
As far as healing and coming together against a mutual enemy, yes, eventually. But considering the abuse Bernie/Stein/other supporters have endured from Hillary supporters, that’s going to take some time. Every single criticism of Hillary was met with “Trump lover!” type comments and worse. The primaries were rigged in favor of Hillary (this is documented, most especially in the DNC’s own emails). And, finally, I spent a great deal of election night on the phone with a friend in Arizona who volunteered for Bernie (primary) and Stein (general). As we were talking, his inbox was filling with hateful, vindictive and even overtly threatening emails from Hillary supporters blaming him for Hillary’s loss, some of which went so far as to threaten his teenage daughter who has significant disabilities (he read them to me for a while until I begged him to just delete them).
This blog used to be a place I felt welcome and which dissent was allowed. Sure, we’ve all been hard on “trolls” and adamant about defending our own positions, but it did seem like people used to be better about actually listening to what other people were saying and not knee-jerk responding with the exact opposite of what commenters were actually saying. It’s been hurtful to try to maintain my position over the past few months without having my words distorted and feeling personally attacked. I know many other dissenters have given up trying, which has led to an echo chamber feel around here.
I can hope that things will gradually come back to where they were before election fever. I know I’ve threatened this before and have never been terribly successful, but I’m going to try to lie low for a bit and not post terribly much for a while. Best wishes to you all.
It has been an exhausting election. It is time to move on. Democrats, like after Ohio’s 2010 election, are completely defeated. Hopefully, unlike Ohio, Democrats will stop the inner party fracturing along race and gender. Time to thank the Clinton machine for the memories and remake the party without them. Democrats must reach out also to disenfranchised white working Americans in the Rust Belt. Already, Trump is building his administration with the very lobbyists and insiders he pledged to purge from Washington. Trump will prove ineffective and sell out his supporters. Trump supporters will be angry. If Democrats are ready, they can step in and retake the presidency and return Congress to America.
Dienne, your voice is always welcome here.
On point commentary, Dienne. (except the not post terribly much part-LOL) I’m feeling abandoned-ha ha! Not really, but as with many others who have backed off the site for whatever reason, I say stick with it here. I tell folks that I have about this much, holding my thumb and finger about 1/8 of an inch apart, say on a national level in the education realm. It may not seem like much but your and my comments are read and to get kicked around by others. Your commentary is always welcomed by me if no else as it seems sometimes.
Dienne
“But considering the abuse Bernie/Stein/other supporters have endured from Hillary supporters, that’s going to take some time”
I share all you’re critiques of the problem . As Thomas Frank pointed out this morning the Liberal political class has delivered Trump. upon us.
I was not willing participate in enabling Trump, so yes even in solid blue NY I voted for Hillary. Even convinced my never Hillary
Millennial son to do the same and then go home and take a shower.
But at this point we have a more pressing issues than hurt feeling.
Not to sound to harsh Get over it.
It’s amazing to me how so many lay claim to how they were abused by the other side. We’re simply continuing the failiure that got us here. It’s all recrimination, resentment and blame. As far as coming together? I’m not seeing it, even in this thread and that’s why I pulled the plug on my network. And it’s why I’m going to do the same here. I can’t stand to watch us bludgeon each other over not having an answer to something we truly don’t understand.
As I have read the post-election analysis on blogs and in news articles, I haven’t seen many people talk about the 52 percent of white women who voted for Trump. And no one, certainly, has connected it to Obama’s education policies, and in my very red part of New York, Cuomo’s and King’s. Teaching is largely a female profession, and teachers in those red spots of New York felt abandoned and threatened.They tend to be a conservative lot in those rural areas. While their votes were nullified by electoral votes from downstate, I think it might be a scenario to apply to the rust belt. Teachers, female teachers, may have voted for Trump because they expected more of the same from Democrats–and the Democrats, by their silence on public education, confirmed a “steady as she goes” stance. Obama’s top-down mandates, testing, VAM, starvation of public funds for public schools looked a lot to them like the destruction of industrial jobs they’ve experienced for two decades. Except, if you destroy the teaching profession and teaching jobs in remote areas, you absolutely decimate the economy. It may not have been the logical solution to vote for Trump, but people in pain sometimes respond from the gut. Ironically, the party promoting women actually neglected a key constituency: female teachers.
I am assuming you are talking about NY? Could you provide a link? I could understand rural teachers in NY, with the assault they have endured from the Democratic establishment, not voting for Hillary. But Trump? Maybe they heard dismantle the DOE and return authority to the states, but NY screwed them, too.
Nimbus,
I hope the Democratic party, as it reflects on where it went wrong, realizes that its education policy was no different from that of Republicans and it turned off many parents and teachers.
Thank you!
To all who seek to pin this on the vast right wing conspiracy .On low information voters.
“The truth was that Democrats were far more dependent on white working-class voters than many believed.In the end, the bastions of industrial-era Democratic strength among white working-class voters fell to Mr. Trump. So did many of the areas where Mr. Obama fared best in 2008 and 2012. In the end, the linchpin of Mr. Obama’s winning coalition broke hard to the Republicans.The Wyoming River Valley of Pennsylvania — which includes Scranton and Wilkes-Barre — voted for Mr. Trump. It had voted for Mr. Obama by double digits.”Youngstown, Ohio, where Mr. Obama won by more than 20 points in 2012, was basically a draw. Mr. Trump swept the string of traditionally Democratic and old industrial towns along Lake Erie. Counties that supported Mr. Obama in 2012 voted for Mr. Trump by 20 points.”
“The rural countryside of the North swung overwhelmingly to Mr. Trump. Most obvious was Iowa, where Mr. Obama won easily in 2012 but where Mr. Trump prevailed easily. These gains extended east, across Wisconsin and Michigan to New England. Mr. Trump won Maine’s Second Congressional District by 12 points; Mr. Obama had won it by eight points”
I am sorry, the deplorable’s never ever ,ever ,ever were Obama voters .They never ever voted for a Black man once, no less twice.. The good people of these states that voted for Obama twice did not all of a sudden start listening to Rush Limbo, on their daily trips to work . They did not vote for Obama twice and then suddenly glue their faces to Fox news in mass numbers. I doubt the Nielsen ratings show a vast upsurge in the industrial Mid West since 2012 for Fox.
I have voted for the Clinton’s/Obama 7 times .( I live in NY).
But I didn’t have exuberance any of those times. I voted my economic interest. I voted to preserve any semblance of the progressive visions of FDR and LBJ from economics to civil rights . I voted to protect a women’s right to chose and equal rights.
However every time I voted, it was not with joy. I was voting for the lesser of two evils . But I am a political ideologue. The good people across this country who either stayed home or voted for Trump after voting for Obama twice are not ideologues . They are citizens who have been kicked in the ass by a political economic philosophy that cost them jobs, their homes and their futures . They weren’t swayed by Fox news. They were swayed by the reality of their daily lives.
As Michael Moore talked about this morning ; did the President come to Flint with an army of plumbers to fix their drinking supply? No he came and symbolically drank a single glass of water . Look folks now you go back and drink it every day.
Did his justice department go after the Governor? No more than they went after one Banker. The Sewell Averys of today, were not going to be carried away by troops in an Obama administration .
Just as “President Obama’s decision to push the TPP this year was in effect waving a red cape in front of an angry bull”(Dean Baker) Today the Bull Fighter lies dead on the floor and the future of tens of millions of our citizens and our Democracy is uncertain.
This blog in particular can appreciate what happened . Yes Diane there are other issues greater than Education . However education is indicative of what is happening through out the economy. Education k-U was the Pearl Harbor and is the Dunkirk in the assault on Americas middle class
So somebody please explain to me . What the _ _ _ _ is a neo-liberal Democrat and how can those two words be put together. When you put those two words together you elect a Donal Trump. It is not a matter of which candidate could have defeated Donald Trump,but which philosophy could have prevented Donald Trump. Going forward what vision will prevent him doing harm to huge numbers of Americans. What vision will defeat him and those that surround him and their ultra conservative,ultra right and even fascist leanings.
In the wake of the election, I thought that some people might wish to reflect on a contribution I believe to be relevant: the visionary legacy of Aldous Huxley. My own book on Huxley’s legacy, published by Routledge last year is scheduled to be released as a somewhat more affordable paperback this month. It has been picked up primarily by college libraries, but I believe it is accessible and non-technical as a philosophical treatise. Huxley possessed both a sober understanding of the human condition as well as an inspired vision of the human potential. On this account he advanced three very different visions for our potential social, political and cultural trajectories. Brave New World is merely his most famous. Here is a link for those who might like to consider Huxley’s contribution toward understanding our world, our predicament and our potential.
https://www.routledge.com/The-Educational-Prophecies-of-Aldous-Huxley-The-Visionary-Legacy-of-Brave/Zigler/p/book/9781138832497
I hope you don’t feel it inappropriate for me to share this.
The mass media has allowed us to hold our meanness and hatred in a bubble called Trump,
while we look the other way from the failure to close Guantanamo, the treatment
of whistleblowers, our destabilizing of numerous countries and its impact on civilians.
are these less horrible than the demons laid on Trump? Are people rioting today about these issues, our horrors in Syria.
It shows that all of these violent events across the country in one day are not “we the people”. The same chickens or forces that said “Assad Must Go” are coming home to roost as “Trump Must Go”. We need to rise above the self absorption created by the media for our wound licking and move on. Trump has become the tar baby for all of the darkness in the land, created by the media.
Lies and hateful rhetoric debase democracy. It is godless behavior not fitting of the country, if indeed we are a nation under god.
Take 2008 for example. From TODAY books:
“We show our character in defeat, and in response to the humiliation of New Hampshire, George W. Bush’s true character emerged. He went hard right and he went down and dirty. Suddenly whisper campaigns sprouted up like kudzu all across the Palmetto State
McCain is crazy. Here’s how the Dallas Morning News reported the rumors: “In recent weeks, the Bush campaign has been accused of — and has denied — spreading rumors that Mr. McCain may be unstable as a result of being tortured while a prisoner of war in North Vietnam.
McCain is “the fag candidate.”
McCain’s wife is a drug addict.
McCain abandoned his “crippled first wife.”
McCain’s dark-skinned, adopted daughter was the product of a McCain extramarital affair. A teenager today, she is still owed an apology that will never come.”
Democracy has devolved from a quest for the best ideas to a contest of ugly schoolyard taunts.
I believe people have shared historical reports indicating that elections tend to draw out baser instincts. In most cases, if we abide by the process, democracy wins. Adversaries may avoid each other after an election, but the rule of law generally guides their actions. I may be disgusted by the campaign excesses but can feel pretty confident that in the end we will use the democratic process to seek change. As some of our immigrant neighbors can attest, we are very lucky that our political process generally leads to peaceful transitions rather than civil war. There is a lot to learn from what has happened.