Reader Vale Math posted this comment:
“I read today, people trashed a woman’s car and spray painted anti-Muslim messages on the car with swastikas as they thought she was wearing a hijab. She was wearing a head scarf because she lost her hair due to lupus. So now, Trump supporters are attacking people with cancer and auto-immune diseases.
“At a local school, a black student was told she should be lynched. She said she is used to it because the Trump-supporting students usually just spit on her.
“At my daughter’s college, I witnessed a pickup truck of rural Trump-supporting locals driving recklessly through the campus with confederate and “don’t tread on me” flags mounted on the back. I’ve seen similar large groups (10-15) of mostly pickups driving around Ohio with similar flags.
“Oh, and Hillary had an email server in her basement.”
Unless Trump acts promptly to stop the hate actions perpetrated in his name and inspired by his campaign, we are in for a terrible four years. How many years will it take to recover from the Trump era?
We must resist. We must protect our friends and our students. We must denounce hate crimes and hateful actions. This is not America.
Were all the pollsters wrong or was Trump right when he declared it was “a rigged election?” I think Trump was right.
As odious as these acts are, we liberals must seriously think about how decades of identity politics might have spawned this virulent while identity. Instead of talking about “Americans” we’ve talked about whites, blacks, straights, gays, Muslims, Christians, etc. Schools have abandoned teaching about a melting pot, in lieu of a salad bowl. If we’re a salad, we can pick out the tomatoes. If we’re a fondue, it’s hard to divide us.
Not that I advocate turing a blind eye to historical injustices; just that this must be accompanied by a robust effort to knit us together. In France, the government refuses to collect data about racial and religious groups; everyone is just a “citizen”. Imagine if we talked this way more often.
Whether we are considered a salad or fondue, we are still America, a nation of immigrants. One of our strengths compared to Europe, we have never had a problem with assimilation. It happens quite naturally I must say and sometimes too quickly. I’m an retired ESL teacher. Yes, we have our bigots and racists, but we also have many people with big hearts and open minds. We will get through Trump just like we got through Reagan. We will fight for our schools and our neighbors’ rights to live freely and openly. We will resist bad, harmful policies. We will forge alliances with like minded people ensure the integrity of our democracy. That is what we have to do.
That would be refreshing.
avannr: The French will probably be coming back for their Statue of Liberty soon.
Ponderosa…you hit it right on…Angela Davis said this long ago and she worried that the salad would be the end of intergration.
Watch this video of Keith Olbermann raging about “pretending”.
Olbermann: This Is Not Normal
Please, a better techie than I, post this video from Schools Matter today. Olbermann makes the case for us all.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/keith-olberman-donald-trump-chance_us_582da43ae4b099512f80ff95
Wrong video pal…wanted you to see the one posted roday on Schools Matter. “This is NOT Normal”….he makes much sense…and Joel, then you will be my hero. But better yet, teach me how to scan these things myself.
Ellen Lubic
I knew it was wrong but thought it appropriate for the moment anyway.
Olbermann, Schultz , Uygur. missed greatly on cable news.
Are you blaming this hate on the schools? When I moved to North Carolina, many of the schools were integrated. Then, a bunch of school boards decided to push neighborhood schools. This was code for resegregation. Was it the fault of the liberals that many whites didn’t want their children going to school with black children? I talked to some of these white parents in private conversations, and they said very racist things.
This same white flight is going on right now in liberal California. We call charterizing our public schools.
Diane, Please read Greg Palast’s analyses of the election results. Consider posting. He shows how the polls were right but many forces converged to reduce the votes counted.
You are correct about the need to keep alive this reality: What Trump is advocating mst NOT to be taken as if perfectly fine, normal, deserving of a delayed response to daily insults, deserving of an “opportunity for him to prove himself” as competent to be President of this nation.
Every day brings a new proof that he is in a way over his head. His hostility to even milld criticism from the press reveals a very thin skin…and eagerness to use threats to exercise power.
Exactly, Laura…it is far from ‘normal’…yet some of the media is indeed normalizing the Trump brigade.
I cannot seem to copy the Keith Olbermann video to post here, but this is his theme. He calls it, “pretending” and documents it all with history and facts. Hope someone here puts it online.
Thanks Diane. My post, but I’m done for today. I’m disgusted from what I’m reading at online news sites about the post election hate crimes and comments from Trump supporters. My neighbor is Muslim. I need to go rake her leaves, maybe give her a hug.
One self correction. The woman with lupus didn’t have her SUV spray painted. Just vandalized with a note that said
“Hijab wearing b—-
This is our nation now.
GET THE F— OUT”
Sadly, the spray painted swastikas on another SUV was a different crime. Apologies for my inaccuracy.
http://denver.cbslocal.com/2016/11/16/capitol-hill-denver-hate-crime/
I really hope these are just not real.
This anti American behavior has been around, but fairly underground, for a long time. When I did public policy mediation in a county in California I was called in to mediate in a public high school which had a group calling themselves the White Knights, who drove in pick ups flying Confederate flags, and they also wore them as a statement. There were many Latino/Chicano students, but only two Black students, in this school, but it was mainly White middle class. These ‘White Knights’ leaned in and focused on getting rid of the two Black kids. They beat up the boy and left drawings on the desk of the girl showing her hanging from a tree. Both children of color were so frightened and intimidated, they stopped coming to school.
The District Supt called me in to do some ‘fixing’….the Principal had no idea that there were organizations like So. Poverty Law Center and ADL who also worked on these issues of racism. She was shocked this was even an issue at her school…not an auspicious beginning. I did a multi level proposal to work with students, parents, teachers, staff, and local community. Only one teacher whom I interviewed had a real grasp on the situation and she had transferred from an inner city LA high school.
The BoE eventually decided that they would rather use their funds to hire an expensive law firm when the parents of the Black students, and shockingly the parents of the Confederates, sued them instead of doing any conciousness raising and mediation.
Trump has unleashed this deadly genie which might never again get back into a sealed bottle. It is now de riguer to be a racist, a fascist, an anti Semite.
In the LA Times today, the front page story is about an inner city elementary school of mainly Latino/Chicano children and their Latina teacher. These young students come to her terrified and crying for reassurance that they and their parents and grandparents will not be put in concentration camps and then dumped into Mexico. She is falling apart and admits she cries with them.
The usually teaming streets of Latino areas of town have become quiet and people seem to be only walking on the streets to do errands like grocery shopping. I am as alarmed as I have ever been in my long life.
FYI: James Carville is on http://www.bookTV.org at Miami Dade College talking about his new book. But the talk is an excellent critique (almost rant) and guide–critique of what is wrong, and a guide about what to do.
http://www.booktv.org
It is up to each individual to address anyone would deny other’s basic human rights as described above in the post and others who, as Ponderosa has pointed out, promote divisive identity politics that serve to alienate the “other” to promote themselves/their group over others.
My hometown’s middle school recently became known for a viral video of kids chanting “build the wall” in the school cafeteria. I blogged about the incident here: https://jenslyon.wordpress.com/2016/11/13/if-it-can-happen-here-it-can-happen-in-your-town/
Yesterday, a noose was found hanging in the boys’ bathroom at this same school.
This community has a lot of work to do! 😦
This is not our America, the majority of Americans, but what’s happening is the America of Trump’s deplorables, a clear minority of Americans, where freedom means they can terrorize anyone they hate or don’t like just because we do not think like them.
These same deplorables think they had their freedom taken away from them by liberals during the Civil Rights era, and they are angry that they lost the freedom to lynch minorities, refuse to serve minorities, make minorities walk in the gutters, and not on the side walks, burn minority churches down, refuse to sell a house or rent an apartment to minorities, and burn crosses on minority lawns knowing nothing would happen to them.
This is what freedom means to Trump’s deplorables, and with Trump’s election, they think they are getting that freedom back.
The deplorbales want that America back where children and women of all colors did not have the vote and were the chattel property of men who were free to abuse those children and women anyway they want without fear of the legal system.
To keep our freedom, the freedom of the majority of Americans, we must be ready to fight back when the deplorables show up to regain the freedom they think they lost.
Lloyd…it is only a short time ago when we Californians had deed restrictions. In both La Jolla and in Santa Barbara, both restricted “Negroes and Jews” from buying homes in the ‘fancy’ area of town, and it was only when U.of California built a university in these two beach resort cities, that the locals were forced to rescind these deed restrictions. Friends who have lived in SB for over 50 years have shown me these deeds.
And there are still some in Montecito, where Oprah has her $42 M estate, who would prefer having these restrictions.
And do you know Trump changed those same rules in Palm Beach? Before his resort was built, no country club allowed Jews or Blacks. Trump went up against the establishment and got those laws changed. Doesn’t sound racist to me, and I don’t think he is. The left has labeled every GOP president I can remember as racist, Hitler etc. Like crying wolf.
Hard to believe that Avannar…read some of these articles written by David Corn in Mother Jones about Trump’s friend and long time butler at Maralago…the most disgusting and racist I have read.
On Facebook, Trump’s Longtime Butler Calls for … – Mother Jones
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/…/trump-butler-anthony-senecal-facebook-kill-obama
May 12, 2016 – Donald Trump and his longtime butler Anthony Senecal From the Facebook page of Anthony Senecal. Anthony Senecal, who worked as …
Secret Service Will Investigate Trump’s Former Butler … – Mother Jones
http://www.motherjones.com/…/secret-service-says-it-will-investigate-trumps-butler-trump-c..
.
May 12, 2016 – The former butler has made numerous violent remarks about the … Obama written by Donald Trump’s former butler Anthony Senecal on his …
Read the Facebook Posts Donald Trump’s Butler … – Mother Jones
http://www.motherjones.com/documents/2830634-Senecal-Facebook-Posts
Read the Facebook Posts Donald Trump’s Butler Wrote Wishing Death On President Obama. Anthony Senecal, who worked as Donald Trump’s butler for 17 …
Donald Trump’s Former Butler Calls for Obama’s Death; Secret ..
.
http://www.nytimes.com/…/donald-trumps-longtime-butler-calls-for-violence-against-obama-s..
May 12, 2016 – The racially tinged posts by the butler, Anthony Senecal, were unearthed by Mother Jones on Thursday, and referred to Mr. Obama as a …
My last try to post these…refuting Avannr on Trump’s liberal behavior in Florida.
On Facebook, Trump’s Longtime Butler Calls for … – Mother Jones
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/…/trump-butler-anthony-senecal-facebook-kill-obama
May 12, 2016 – Donald Trump and his longtime butler Anthony Senecal From the Facebook page of Anthony Senecal. Anthony Senecal, who worked as …
Secret Service Will Investigate Trump’s Former Butler … – Mother Jones
http://www.motherjones.com/…/secret-service-says-it-will-investigate-trumps-butler-trump-c...
May 12, 2016 – The former butler has made numerous violent remarks about the … Obama written by Donald Trump’s former butler Anthony Senecal on his …
Read the Facebook Posts Donald Trump’s Butler … – Mother Jones
http://www.motherjones.com/documents/2830634-Senecal-Facebook-Posts
Read the Facebook Posts Donald Trump’s Butler Wrote Wishing Death On President Obama. Anthony Senecal, who worked as Donald Trump’s butler for 17 …
Donald Trump’s Former Butler Calls for Obama’s Death; Secret ..
.
http://www.nytimes.com/…/donald-trumps-longtime-butler-calls-for-violence-against-obama-s..
FASCINATING…all the articles on the Trump butler, the fascist Senecal, have been scubbed from Google. Now that is very alarming. This is the start of Trump’s revisionist history, and now there is no way to protest his alliances with fascists.
The odds are good that someone, or more than one, took screen shots of those now scrubbed pages on the butler.
Ellen, the fact is still true that Trump fought against the restrictions for Jews and Blacks. The Jews in Palm Beach, as told to me by my Jewish MIL who has lived there for decades, love Trump because of it.
Very horrible if his butler wrote that, but that doesn’t prove Trump is racist.
What your MIL told you is specious…show us proof. We have proof that Trump is a racist, with the testimony of the Trump father and son not allowing Black Americans to rent in their buildings, as told to news sources by his old building rental manager and presented on world news only two weeks ago.
Ellen, I doubt my MIL would like her phone number published so you can verify…believe me or not. I don’t really care. Even if you spoke to her you’d say she’s an imposter, lol. You can find plenty of info about Trump going against the discriminatory laws in PB. If you want the truth.
Also, Google has not erased anything about trumps butler. It is all there. And yes, the man is totally racist.
It must be proven in the streets that they are a
minority .With demonstrations so large they fear the future.
Is it your America where four black teens beat up a fifty year old white guy???
Who are you talking about — Trump’s deplorables or the rest of the population?
LLoyd
Did you really have to ask that question? I am trying to figure out a way to answer it and still get on an airplane.
Whatever an individual thinks about what another person wrote or said is just their opinion, it is not a fact, and for sure someone else will agree with them just like Hillary Clinton having more than 1 million more votes than Trump. But Trump still had votes too.
Rudy, America has more than 320 million people. Only India and China have more people. If you look hard enough, you will find all kinds of examples like this one. What four young black men did to one old white man does not define everyone in America. It is one incident just like a white man blowing up a black church in Birmingham in 1963 that killed four black schoolgirls. How do you blame all the white people in America for what that one man did?
And, in the realm of balanced reporting:
GARFIELD PARK & NORTH LAWNDALECrime & Mayhem
4 Arrested In ‘Don’t Vote Trump’ Beating Caught On Tape, Police Say
By Joe Ward | November 19, 2016 11:38am
@jaydubward
TwitterFacebookEmailMore
Four people, including a juvenile who is not pictured, arrested Thursday are accused of beating a man for voting for Donald Trump.
Four people, including a juvenile who is not pictured, arrested Thursday are accused of beating a man for voting for Donald Trump.
View Full CaptionProvided/Chicago Police Department
CHICAGO — Four people have been arrested in connection with the brutal beating of a 50-year-old man they accused of voting for Donald Trump in North Lawndale last week, police said.
The attack, captured on video, happened at the intersection of South Kedzie Avenue and West Roosevelt Road in North Lawndale Nov. 9, the day Trump won the presidency.
RELATED: Group Brutally Beats Man In Chicago While Yelling ‘Don’t Vote Trump’
In the 32-second video, two men are seen punching and kicking the 50-year-old man in the street. Onlookers can be heard saying “You voted Trump?” and “Beat his a–.” Another witness said, “Don’t vote Trump” and “Steal his stuff.”
The common thread here seems to be Trump is inspiring threats violence.
No one “inspires” violence. It’s a personal decision to commit violence.
There is a difference between a demonstration and a riot.
Four teenagers beating and kicking someone, robbing him because they “think” he voted for trump is never to be excused.
But it’s easier to blame someone than to assume personal responsibility.
There is no common thread here . Like everything on the right. There is only one thing wrong with his story . It is
BULL SHIT
http://www.snopes.com/black-mob-beats-white-man-for-voting-trump/
I copied the text from a reputable website. I suggest you look that up, too. https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/
Again, facts don’t seem to mean anything.
Rudy, you have demonstrated that facts mean nothing to you in your constant creation of false equivalences.
Notice how Trump supporters are harassing and threatening people in the name of Trump. If this incident is true, they are assaulting this guy because of Trump. I’d say the common thread here is Trump.
Trump’s first leadership challenge is to calm the fringe and restore decency and dialog. So far, he’s failing miserably.
It must be because I did not grow up in this rabbit hole that I have trouble understanding why the damage caused by people who disagree with the outcome of the election is considered acceptable and not condemned on this list as is the violence supposedly committed in trump’s name.
It must be because I did not grow up in this rabbit hole that I have trouble understanding that personal responsibility is not accepted for acts of violence, no matter the reason.
Rudy,
You are in moderation because you would post every five minutes if I didn’t monitor you. You are like a dog with a bone. You say the same thing over and over and over and over. If anyone disagrees, you say it again ten more times.
You will never convince me that Hillary inspired violence just as Trump did, or that Hillary supporters are writing vicious messages to Trump supporters. Who is waving the Confederate flag at black people, even in the North?
Stop arguing that adjuncts have high salaries. They don’t. They are paid by the course. And if they can manage to teach five different courses, sometimes at five different universities, they are lucky to earn $20,000 a year. People have a hard time living on that.
I won’t post anything more on the subject. It is closed.
Evidence speaks for itself, dr. The figures are there but you don’t like the reality. You prefer to live with extremes and non supported objections. Fallwell wa right. You are wrong. Simple as that. And you cannot admit that.
I have not called anyone names, I have not insulted anyone. Facts are used from independent sources. I believe I have met your requirements.
But you seem to have a preference for allowing name calling, imaginary truths and anything is acceptable – as long as it is directed to someone on the other side of your opinions.
Rudy,
The discussion is closed.
“While it’s clear Wilcox was assaulted, it seems from initial police reports and his own statements that the assault stemmed from a traffic incident. Bystanders are heard taunting him for voting for Trump, but that’s not what the impetus for the beating was.
It’s also not clear, as some publications are claiming, that the battery suspects in the video were supporters of Trump’s Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton. One woman can be heard off camera asking, “Are you gonna pay for my shit?” which seems to align with the police statement that the fight stemmed from a traffic accident resulting in property damage.”
Rudy,
As a Northern native European, I am somewhere firmly between embarrassed for you and offended by you. You really should fact check virtually everything you put out there, including how falsely you portray single payer healthcare systems in Europe.
You claim you were a man of the cloth offering guidance to men and women in uniform in the military. That you were. CHRISTIAN, in the philosophical sense, you are not and never will be.
You will never grow up before you grow old.
This is the report until 2004
Key findings
• According to the Health Care Budgetary Framework the costs of health care
were 45 billion euros, representing 9.2% of GDP, in 2004
• According to the Health Accounts the costs of health care rose from 37 billion
euros to 60 billion euros in the period 1998–2004
• The expenditure on long-term care increased more than the expenditure on
curative care
• Economic recession was the main cause of the rise in health care expenditure
as a share of GDP in the period 2000–2004
• The rise in costs was primarily due to an increase in the volume of care in the
period 2000–2004
• Both the health care share of GDP and the health care costs per capita in the
Netherlands are higher than the EU-15 average and the OECD average
This is from FREE health care to up to about $ 175.00 monthly.
http://www.gezondheidszorgbalans.nl/dsresource?type=pdf&disposition=inline&objectid=rivmp:256248&versionid=&subobjectname=
On page 137 you can see the rise in cost for the other European countries. And that is just a 6 year picture.
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Healthcare_statistics
Gives some more data.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_tourism
Gives you some insight into medical tourisms
Rudy…in glancing at your endless posts lauding mainly your self and your insights…i suggest you are not a reasonable reporter of just about anything though you claim to be a “balanced reporter”….yet all your endless rambling posts below are so slanted. You come from a frame of reference like some notorius others in your homeland, of unprincipled bigotry and misinformation.
You have stated here that you brought your unique brilliance to America 19 years ago for money. Your many remarks seem to indicate your are a Trump supporter…so I cannot really understand why you left the Netherlands since the level of violence there seems to be rising to be in goose step with Le Pen in France as to people of color and Jews and Muslims….your cup of tea.
I do not welcome your endless insults to others, especially to Diane who allows you to have a voice on her blog. Since you are like some other Right Wing trolls, and also are a Christian religious fanatic (according to google), there seems no way to stop your blathering…but I personally would welcome your disappearance.
I was much interested in the Greg Palast post. I have wondered about the same thing. HOW could the pollsters have been so wrong? Palast found the same thing, hanky panky, after the Florida debacle which put with the Supreme Court;s help George W into the
White House and our country changed forever.
Trump was right. It was a rigged election.
The school debate from a different perspective. And look: not a single derogatory remark to the other side. I don’t agree with the mission, I just appreciate the clear, calm reasoned “autopsy.”
A Huge Wake-up Call
Losses in Massachusetts, Georgia Point To Need For New Approach
Anyway you slice it, last week was pretty disastrous for the education reform movement.
On Election Day, two closely watched and fiercely contested ballot initiatives backed by reformers in Massachusetts and Georgia went down in defeat. The former was an effort to lift the Bay State’s charter school cap, while the latter was a proposition by Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal to create the Opportunity School District (OSD), a state-run entity with the power to takeover perennially failing public schools.
Graphic from the Boston Globe.
Opposition to both measures was organized and funded by the teachers unions, and in both cases, the proposals failed spectacularly. When the ballots were tallied, 64% of Massachusetts voters opposed lifting the charter school cap and 60% of Georgia voters rejected Gov. Deal’s takeover plan.
Screenshot from the website of the Georgia Secretary of State.
Not only are the defeats a huge loss for the tens of thousands of children trapped in underperforming schools in Massachusetts and Georgia, but they are a tremendous public relations coup for the teachers unions, who are currently engaged in a nationwide campaign to curb charter school expansion and rollback the accountability policies of the No Child Left Behind era. In fact, their victories in Massachusetts and Georgia are already being used to rally reform opponents around the unions’ broader effort.
The lopsided results in these two contests should serve as a huge wake-up call for education reform supporters, especially coming in the wake of other recent setbacks, such as the NAACP’s call for a moratorium on charter schools. It should be clear at this point that our current approach (or lack thereof) isn’t working. Unless reformers come together, develop new strategies, and combine our efforts, there will be more defeats in store for us in the future.
Here are two important lessons I hope reformers take away from last week…
1. We need a coordinated and aggressive communications strategy
Those of us steeped in the education debate often forget that most Americans have only a vague understanding of what charters are, have no idea what “supplement not supplant” means, and they couldn’t tell you what LIFO is or how it impacts schools. Therefore, it’s incumbent on reformers to breakdown policy issues and communicate their importance to the broader public. Unfortunately, the reform camp hasn’t done that particularly well.
The teachers unions, on the other hand, have launched a full-scale communications offensive and they have a constellation of allied community organizations, advocacy groups, and “media” outlets (many of which happen to receive union funding) to help amplify their key messages.
The response from reformers to this onslaught has been inconsistent and largely reactive. In the absence of a clear counter-narrative, the incessant drumbeat of the teachers unions’ talking points assumes the illusion of truth in the minds of the public. Moreover, a recent Pew Research Center report found that 20% of social media users say they’ve modified their stance on a social or political issue because of material they saw online.
The Massachusetts charter cap fight illustrates how a disciplined and consistent messaging campaign can sway public opinion. A May poll conducted by Suffolk University found that nearly half of likely voters were in favor of lifting the cap. However, by the time Election Day rolled around, that support had fallen dramatically.
Why? The “No on 2” campaign was led by a single group, Save Our Public Schools, a referendum committee organized and funded by the the unions, that had concise messages they repeated ad nauseam. Meanwhile, the pro-charter campaign was waged by five separate committees, each sending their own messages and muddling it in the process.
2. We need to pick our battles wisely
Another lesson reformers should take from last week’s defeats is relatively simple: Don’t pick a fight that you’re unlikely to win.
While I supported the effort to lift the cap in Massachusetts, I was perplexed why so many reform organizations decided to focus the bulk of their energy and resources battling it out in a labor-friendly state where the teachers unions hold considerable political influence. It should have been clear from the get-go that reformers faced an uphill climb, but nevertheless they poured nearly $21 million into the charter cap fight, narrowly outspending their union counterparts. In the end, they had little to show for it.
Compare that to the contest over the Opportunity School District in Georgia, where the teachers unions are far weaker because state law prohibits collective bargaining by public employees. From a political standpoint, the prospects for success in Georgia were more favorable for reformers than they were in Massachusetts and yet they directed much less attention and money to the OSD fight. In total, OSD supporters spent $2.6 million during the campaign, while the unions put up nearly twice that amount — $4.7 million — to defeat the proposal. One wonders whether the outcome might have been different if some of the resources that went to Massachusetts went down south instead
Admittedly, the teachers unions bring several advantages to the fight. Not only do they have hundreds of millions of dollars on available to defend their interests and expand their influence across the country, but as we saw in Georgia and Massachusetts, they can mobilize their members to knock on doors, hand out leaflets, and show up at rallies.
Given that fact, reformers need all hands on deck when it comes to fighting for better schools. We need a consistent and proactive messaging plan that counters misinformation and takes the fight to our opponents. It also requires that pro-reform groups coalesce behind a coherent strategy that uses a cost/benefit approach in deciding where to focus their efforts. Although the children stuck in failing schools in Georgia and Massachusetts lost last week, far more kids across the country will lose if we don’t take steps now to turn things around.
dianeravitch: even a broken clock is right two times a day.
“Trump was right. It was a rigged election.”
Agreed.
😎
Me too, Gordon. I am amazed that states used some potentially-error-ridden software [“Crosscheck”] to purge voters from polls. Who voted for that?! At a minimum, the onus should be on the states using it to prove their claims in a challenge to vote count, not delete folks from the rolls beforehand.
Voter registration is clearly a federal matter. Voting is a civil right. Why on earth we leave the details of voter registration up to individual state policy is beyond me. Look to any number of nations with a simple, centralized method of voter registration, done automatically by the national govt, which issues a national ID card to citizens which is used as voter ID.
I am more than my skin color. I am a human being and only one of many who must share this planet we call Earth.
Collectively we must be aware that we are just a speck, one small blink in this cosmos.
Think of all the space advancements and the FACT that we are on the brink of even more discoveries beyond our universe.
Think: Kepler.
All this pettiness about “them and us” fueled by arrogance and greed is ridiculous. Why should ANY person dictate WHO WE ARE?
We are all going to perish because of global warming, disease, and who knows what else unless we are working for all of HUMANITY, rather than $$$$$ and power.
Stand up, Speak out.
No more registries.
No more internments.
No more racist attacks on any disenfranchised group of people.
And after we suffer through this – no more Trumps ever again.
The discussion was fine right till the author tried to mic-drop by using the dog whistle about the private server. Ask the people of Haiti and Honduras whether they believe the private server was the worst thing Hillary Clinton has to answer for.
That was a poor attempt, perhaps, to demonstrate false equivalence.
It seems media and many strain to try to normalize the future presidency by comparison. “Trump does this, but ________ did that.” I’m not sure what it will take for people to say “This is wrong.”.
Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II
http://billmoyers.com/story/dying-mule-always-kicks-hardest/
My niece is a Freshman st Ohio State and is being harassed because she is Jewish. Her new found so called friends turned their backs and did nothing to defend her.
When visiting college campuses her senior year in high school, antisemitism was not one of her criteria for choosing where to go to school in September. They should include a warning in the acceptance letter.
This harassment is common all over the US. On my campus the Jewish students are getting very frightened since things have become so blatantly anti Semitic. They are afraid to be seen entering Hillel and it has become an obstacle course for them to get past the shouting and intimidating bigots who scream at them under the guise of the First Amendment.
When the Regents finally decided that the HATE speech had to stop, they too were attacked. It is a growing situation of constant aggression toward these students. The BDS movement has made the university hellish. Trump had made it an ok thing to do and aggravated an already dangerous undemocratic activity.
Ellen, You are so right.
Up to now my neice has led a sheltered life. It is so sad that her first forays into adulthood have plunged her into this new world reality. Antisemitism is alive and well and the Jews are fair game along with Muslims and Immigrants.
On the same theme, my mother is in the hospital and her nurse, who is from Puerto Rico, is currently being harassed by those who think she is in this country illegally, even though her homeland is a part of the United States.
These trolls are not even smart enough to recognize US citizens. They base their verbiage and actions by discerning with their eyes and not their common sense (though many would argue that they can’t practice a skill they never acquired).
Our Tweeting King of All Things has turned the attempted education of Pence into international news. He is instigating Twitter war and bragging about paying less than the potential award in the fraud case.
https://www.google.com/amp/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/38039286?client=safari
Anything can be staged, till proven wrong I will say this one is real.
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/woman_demeans_christian_assyrian-american_as_terrorist_for_speaking_jesus_l
This article was emailed to me today: http://www.vox.com/first-person/2016/11/10/13580582/leslie-knope-donald-trump
The trump effect is news today!
Trump sets low bars for ethics, civility, justice and fairness, and an exceedingly high bar for crazy!
https://www.google.com/amp/www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/hate-harassment-incidents-spike-since-donald-trump-election/?client=safari
You people have totally lost it!
Yeah, there was a nasty post on my department’s bathroom door which said something like “you latinos, niggers, chinese are all the same. Your time has come.”
My daughter’s school had to set up the metal detector because of a “shoot up” threat the other day. And kids wearing Trump hats are harassing the black and brown kids coming out of the school at the end of the day.
There was also a protest on our campus against the elections, but then students supporting Trump also gathered and as one student put it “there was some verbage but no physical fighting”.
Rudy S,
You’re kidding, right? Whatever money the leadership of the NEA & AFT have thrown at defeating the Georgia & Massachusetts ballot initiatives, absolutely pales in comparison to the billions thrown at “reform”, by Gate$, Broad, Walton, etc. Throw in the fact that union leaders have tried kiss the behinds of these folks, and the shooting down of these initiatives is amazing. As they said in Watergate “follow the money”…leads you right to Wall Street & Seattle.
Just to be clear about the money in Massachusetts: the unions and many individual parents and teachers raised $12 million.
The out of state financiers put in $26 million.
There have been reported attacks from both sides. Many of the reported attacks have been proven false. The media (and Clinton campaign) has done a great job of persuading many that Trump (and supporters) are racist and “dangerous”. The only danger and intolerance I see right now are the protesters who cannot accept that this time, it is their turn to feel uncomfortable and sad about the candidate that won the election, so they cause disruption and fear to anyone who doesn’t fall into line with their thinking.
Hillary Clinton never once appealed to racism, never once called for violence at her rallies.
Donald Trump appealed to racism, promoted violence at his rallies, said he would pay the legal fees for anyone who was arrested for punching out a protester. He has allied himself with the renegades, the racists, the misogynists, the haters of immigrants and Muslims and Mexicans. He ran a hateful campaign, and his followers are now taunting others by flying the Confederate flag. It is too soon to start rewriting history. We saw what he said at his rallies.
Lock her up was disgraceful. It was the cry of a dictator in a Banana Republic, not a person who understands democracy. Trump incited violence, and we will see more of it over the next four years.
He said he would pay legal fees for violence? Isn’t that a crime in itself? And his soothing, calming rhetoric to reverse this: Stop it!
This is a dark comedy sketch that should never have made its way into reality.
I thought this posted before I left.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/264543/undercover-video-democrats-caused-violence-trump-matthew-vadum
Trump offered compensation to a man who responded to bullying by Hillary plant and again when Hillary plants were in the audience, waiting to throw tomatoes. (Who would do that?!)
Also, Hillary campaign wanted to focus on Bernies religion to sway voters. Not anti Semitic? At least decisive.
Trump wants the immigration laws to be enforced. What’s wrong with that. I can’t just go move to Mexico or Muslim countries (I can never even become a citizen of Muslim countries cuz I’m not Muslim). Why is only America racist?
Lastly, Hillary committed crimes. Others have been convicted for much less…but no worries, Obama will pardon them all.
If you’re willing to admit it, Trump has moved to the center on much of his original campaign rhetoric, which we expected.
Read what Snopes has to say about these allegations: http://www.snopes.com/2016/10/18/project-veritas-election-videos/
I’m sorry to say, but you’re a typical example of how one sided many Trump supporters have proven to be. Above you are factual examples of instances where racism and antisemitism have doubled since the victory of Trump, and how Trump supporters seem to have found new morale in the face of their wrong doing, and all you argue with are baseless talks. You can start by admitting the truth, that many Trump supporters are racists, and that they are perpetuating new waves of racism and other wrong doings. you’re not blinded from the truth. you do not just want to acknowledge the truth.
I certainly see Trumps flaws. Enforcing immigration LAWS is not one of them-nor does it make him racist. (What other country lets you just move in and support you? Not Mexico. Muslim countries won’t even LET Jews or Christians become citizens…isn’t that racist?
Can you see the lefts flaws?
We’re you concerned about all the trump supporters beat up and harassed just for exercising their right to listen to a political candidate (whe there you agreed with him or not)
Have you read reports coming out about many of the claims of violent acts committed by “trump supporters” are being proved false?
Have you read the reports of many attacks on Trump supporters after the election that the media conveniently ignore?
It’s not all black and white as you would like to think.
And plenty of us were worried about Obamas election due to his alt left associations (Reverend Wright, Alinsky, Said etc.) but we did not go out and protest and refuse to accept his presidency.
“Muslim countries won’t even LET Jews or Christians become citizens…isn’t that racist?”
No. It’s religious intolerance.
I am not faulting trump’s policies on immigration or anything like that, before I do, I would have to do research to understand how it would affect the United States, and whether negatively or positively. However, what I am blatantly against, and what everybody should see and acknowledge, is the nature of him that tries to enforce this rules. the side of him that utters the racist coated comments and misogynist statements that trailed him throughout his campaign. Trump’s campaign was remarkably known to be filled with hate remarks directed at different sects of the world. Would you close your eyes to this and act like you are not aware that his policies and his motives are negatively influenced? Do you think that a man who has hate, insensitivity, and a biased approach to things would be capable of making sane and impartial decisions that would not negatively affect certain sects and peoples?
When Obama ran for the office of the Presidency, he was known to voters as a Senator with good academic creds, and a history of teaching Con Law at U.of Chicago.
When Trump ran for this office he was known to us, and to the world as a self proclaimed reality “STAR” billionaire who could do anything he wanted.
The contrast between these two candidates was world’s apart…a reality show guy who abused women and lied and cheated, and a scholar and community leader who happened to be half Black.
The “STAR” immediately made a name for himself by leading the Birther Movement and accusing the Prez, up until only weeks ago, of being born in Kenya and of being a Muslim.
This contrast is stark as black and white…no dichotomies here.
I don’t see how this analysis is going to be of any relevance to the main subject here. I wouldn’t mind being enlightened some more
If I can suggest this entire post be deleted. It is clear that America has a lot of work to do, passions are high, and nothing constructive is happening here on this post. Maybe we can start together from a new, clean slate at least here on this blog. Reset the discussion, take a deep breath, and step back. The past several weeks have been very difficult for many. I don’t see Trump attempting to control the situation to heal the rancor and damage this campaign has done. But I’m willing to try and find reasonable people from either side who will move forward with constructive dialog. I’m tired and burnt out. Enough for now.
Don’t lose heart. It was an important point you made. The descent has to stop. Not the dissent.
Vale Math,
I am not going to delete the post. There are terrible things happening in our country. The man who started the name-calling has to insist that his followers stop painting swastikas and flying Confederate names and taunting Muslims.
There were swastikas painted in my neighborhood today. Enough is enough. This won’t end by not naming it. The evil must be confronted. Edmund Burke, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to remain silent.”
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Adam-Yauch-Park-Defaced-With-Swastikas-Pro-Trump-Graffiti-in-Brooklyn-Heights-402041675.html
How do you know they were done by Trump supporters? Don’t you think it’s possible these could be done by anti trump people to fan the fire? in my city, the security camera showed an African American man painting the swasticas…not who you would expect to be part of any racist group.
I will stop posting as I see I am in the minority here. I’m used to staying quiet around all my liberal co-workers. It’s why no one saw a trump victory coming. People are afraid to admit they’re conservative. Think what that says…
I would just ask that people do their research and not believe everything they hear.
Ps. Diane, I still think you are the best messenger about Education today. Thx
avannr: Every day the foundations of our democracy take a hit via Trump. When someone with power strikes at the foundations of democracy, they take the battle beyond party politics and to the very core of what allows any of us to be free to discuss anything political at all.
I have a friend who says he won’t put out arguments against Trump any more on the web or on blogs–because he doesn’t want to leave a trail of Trump dissent. He knows history. I have thought that too, though I haven’t stopped writing yet. With any other candidate, I never thought my freedoms would be threatened by the de facto personality and already-expressed activities of the candidate. The strike at democracy’s foundations is why comparisons with other candidates are not equivalent.
If you need examples about foundational “hits,” think about Trump’s attitude towards the press, his vindictiveness, jailing his opponents, his embrace of nepotism (already), his disregard for democratic protocols, e.g., showing his taxes to the American public, and all of the racist (etc.) people he is surrounding himself with.
The list is long; and I think it’s the greatest oversight operating in Trump voters–they don’t realize that they are involved in the destruction of the very democratic (small d) institutions that they and we all depend on–for now. They’ve shot themselves in the foot. Now we are just waiting until they realize it. The real question is how much destruction can Trump and his cronies do before the rest of the nation recognize their error, and whether the Republicans in Congress will be able to become true leaders and move beyond party politics to curb the destruction of their own Constitutional foundations.
avannr
How do I know you were not responsible for painting them after all you are a Trump supporter .
Don’t be upset , that is an example of the false logic that you apply all the time .
Because a possibility exists however remote, is certainly not the reason to assume it is correct . . The sad part is we have an unqualified repugnant puke about to enter the White House who is equally flawed. Whose primary message is one of demagoguery.
“Trump wants the immigration laws to be enforced. What’s wrong with that. I can’t just go move to Mexico or Muslim countries (I can never even become a citizen of Muslim countries cuz I’m not Muslim). Why is only America racist?”
A few corrections here. Trump does not want immigration laws enforced. It is a rather simple thing to do . I also want immigration controlled, because it provides a wage wedge to employers . One that they have used in industry after industry to crush wages .
These immigrants came here for jobs not for welfare. If anybody committed a crime it was the employers who knowingly hired them including Donald Trump. Those that are shouting the loudest about the undocumented may never have met a Mexican or a Muslim in rural America. .
You want to solve the problem, grant legal status to those who are here with a path to citizenship. So that families and good people are not devastated.So that these workers have a stake in protecting their wages from future waves of undocumented workers . Then impose a”very very great,the best, bigly” jail time on employers like Trump who has in the past and would seek in the future ,to hire the undocumented. That has been the position of organized labor for decades , one that has always been rejected by Republicans and Oligarchs like Trump who want the cheap labor.
Oligarchs who have fought unions in their business and then say they are for the working man. Just remember “Americans are paid too much ” and he “loves H1Bs.” By the time he is done most Americans on both ends of the educational spectrum ,will be paid much less and we wont need as many H1Bs.
http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/19634/stop_blaming_immigrants_and_start_punishing_the_employers_who_exploit_them
Now the Muslims . You do sound a bit whinny. You are correct about the Saudis and other autocratic Muslim regimes. Let us make America great again by showing these people that they ain’t got “nothin ” on us when it comes to being Jackasses
And let’s make sure that Muslims that don’t agree with the violence and repressive policies in their own countries can’t come here to a country supposedly based on religious freedom. Am I wrong or didn’t a lot of the first immigrants to North America come to escape religious persecution and practice their religion as they saw fit?
I’m not willing to try and find reasonable people. They may not consider themselves racists, bigots, xenophobes, homophobes, Islamophobes, misogynists, etc. But they were perfectly willing to vote for someone who is.
Soco = Southern Comfort???
Sonoma County, CA.
Wait, What? and education blogs across the country have been asked to post the following message and link about an important study that is being conducted about teachers and the Election of 2016.
According to the researcher;
The purpose of this research study is to understand how teachers are responding to the 2016 presidential election outcomes in their classrooms and schools. For that reason, we will be surveying teachers from across the country. We are asking you to complete a brief questionnaire (approximately 20 minutes). If you are willing to participate, our questionnaire will ask about your background (e.g. age, race, years in the classroom), as well as your experience in your classroom since the presidential election.
This is an entirely anonymous questionnaire, and so your responses will not be identifiable in any way.
In addition, Please forward the following link to colleagues in the teaching profession.
You can find the survey via:
https://pitt.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0rlGdn20Hu8t6IJ
“This is not America.” Unfortunately, yes it is. It is the America of the slave-holding Founding Fathers. It is the America of the Know Nothing’s. It’s the America of Wounded Knee a and Native American genocide. It’s the America of the KKK and lynchings. It is the America of Operation Wetback. It is the America of the internment camps of WWII where we put American citizens because they were the “wrong” ethnicity. It is the America of Jim Crow. This is the America that it always has been.
And that is what is called, American Exceptionalism.
Ellen: America is exceptional because we write laws and continue to push back on those horrors of our past in order to get beyond identifying with them as “the way things are and should be.” Freedom and equality are inherently conflicting terms; and yet they are the rocks on which we live and work out that exceptionalism in history. Insofar as any nation takes up those principles they are also exceptional.
Catherine…I agree that the theory of an exceptional America of laws is righteous…however, the reality of Native American “socolaura” is more the fact. Suggest reading both Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, and the remarkable The New Jim Crow for how our country actually has functioned and is ever more functioning. Also see the treatment of the Native Am. Water Protectors v, the pipeline right now, and view the almost 50% of our citizens who voted for tRump and fellows.
You and I almost always in sync, so this is a minor glitch in our differing opinions.
Hello Ellen: I have no complaint with–but rather embrace–a recounting of all of our historical warts. And so I am “go for it” okay with historical facts, as when you say: “. . . however, the reality of Native American ‘socolaura’ is more the fact. Suggest reading both Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, and the remarkable The New Jim Crow for how our country actually has functioned and is ever more functioning. Also see the treatment of the Native Am. Water Protectors v, the pipeline right now, and view the almost 50% of our citizens who voted for tRump and fellows.” A complete shame on us.
However, I rail at the part about “. . . and is ever more functioning.” There are many reasons why it is, but stil, It need not be.
One of the reasons our Constitution is exceptional is because it is solid, but also general enough to be open to history and its change–through the very substance and process that it enshrines. It puts its faith in the, as you say, “righteousness” of the people, not as a given but as a hope. We can know the historical facts of our failures (and should); but those facts as historical arti-facts are responses to the general very-human question of “what should be the case?” That we have been oh-so-wrong about so many answers to that question (as you rightly recount) does not negate the fact that we have a Constitution-protected right to continue to address our faults and our exceptionalism in the modicum of freedom that we have as thinking human beings, and the great WE (obviously now) continue to govern our lives by those answers.
The more concrete point, as clearly and presently-dangerous, is that the source of our exceptionalism is under grave threat–no hyperbole there–but again, a possibility but not a given. Pessimism, even rooted in historical fact, is certainly an option–but not mine.
Catherine and socolaura….a few years ago I taught a course on SCOTUS decisions…and was shocked to learn that most of my Lifelong Learning senior students had NO information on recent court cases re Native Americans. Suggest following up on the ‘recent’ 1974 – 78 Indian ‘assault’ cases, and follow the trial and jailing of Leonard Pelletier re the shooting of an FBI agent. This melody lingers on.
Yes, Catherine, even after the European Anschluss in America by the early immigrant relatives of some of our Founding Fathers, as they traveled West and stole land from Native Americans, murdering them even with blanket-filled diseases, we still DO have an exemplary Constitution and a Bill of Rights that are second to none in the history of civilization. Well, maybe, the Aztecs and Incas, could claim this honor, but as Jared Diamond tells us in Collapse, they too fell from over population and sheer greed and wars.
The history of economics shows that humans from earliest times understood that by banning together for the common good, they had the greatest chance of survival and prospering. So, I see the world as a singular interdependent unit, not as a fractured assortment of diverse competing cultures that it has become over recorded time.
Even, Repub, Wendell Wilkie, in the 1930’s proposed the One World theory.
Trump, and his divisive governing choices, never learned any of these lessons, it would seem. As an educator, I ask myself every day, where did we older educators fail over the past 50 years, to get to today when voters chose to further divide society.
“. . . we still DO have an exemplary Constitution and a Bill of Rights that are second to none in the history of civilization. Well, maybe, the Aztecs and Incas, could claim this honor. . .”
Are you suggesting that the Aztecs and Incas were something other than religious monarchies? Or are you suggesting that due to the size and influence of their cultures on others that they stand with the US of A in exceptionalism? Or something else I am missing in your post?
The Azteca and Inca were basically “Johnny come latelys” when it comes to various civilizations from throughout the “new world”. Many other cultures came about and flourished for a lot longer periods than those two and were long gone by the time of the Azteca and Inca. If anything I might give the various Maya cultures/periods that claim of influence.
Just as an aside, the way-pre-Christian Chinese had some remarkably (what we would call) secular governmental structures–different in many respects than ours, of course, but similarly differentiated and quite peaceful–for long periods of time. That time of Chinese history is rich with various expressions of governmental structures. Just as an aside to the discussion.
‘ The Azteca and Inca were basically “Johnny come latelys” when it comes to various civilizations from throughout the “new world”. ‘
Sigh. Just when we get on a roll, someone who knows what he is talking about muddies the waters. 🙂
Thanks, 2o2t, for the kind words.
It’s just that as a Spanish teacher I believed it necessary for me to know the history and background of modern Hispanic societies which includes the Pre-Columbian histories. Even the history of Spain and all the cultures of the Iberian peninsula over time are very interesting. Personally I am appalled that a Spanish teacher wouldn’t know that history of the Spanish speaking world (and I don’t claim to know all but have read quite a lot over the years in both Spanish and in English.)
Duane…I only used Aztecs and Incas as examples of major societies of their eras on an adjoining continent, which were wiped out due to the same problems that face us today, over population, cutting down the forests and denuding animal habitat, make wars of aggression to find more land for settlers, and also greed of leadership. Read Collapse by UCLA sociologist Jared Diamond who wrote Guns, Germs, and Steel many years ago, and therein showed his scholarship and prescience.
Thanks, Ellen, for the clarification on what you meant. I was confundido by what you had stated.
At the same time I’m not as convinced of your stated reasons and Diamond’s arguments as to the collapse of those empires. I’ve read* of many differing scenarios as to the cause of the collapses and what he says is more appropriate to the Maya over the various times that they held sway in Mesoamerica.
The Azteca, a group hated by many of the city states around them
were defeated by an alliance of Cortes and those city states. Without the warriors from those alliances, I believe the Spaniards under Cortes would have been defeated quite easily. Throw in the European diseases which in many places wiped out 9/10 natives and the “conquering” of the Azteca was enabled.
Now the Inca were in the middle of a “fight” of succession between two brothers to be the true Sun God which Pizarro took advantage of, not to mention his treacherous deeds (like Cortes, they were ruthless) in the treatment of Atahualpa. When a system, like both the Azteca and Inca cultures, rely on a “God” as emperor and that “god” is defeated, well let’s just say those systems have a tendency to collapse and in the case of the territories of the Azteca and Inca to be replaced with another monarchy with a heavy religious influence-the Spaniards.
*I consider myself to be somewhat of an amateur archaeologist/historian of Meso- and South America having read, taken courses and researched quite a bit of both Spanish and English writings on Pre-Columbian history, societies and cultures.
“Hopefully we will not be induced to drink from the deadly cup of the Greeks learned scholars.”
Again, I am confundido, Ellen. Not sure what you are trying to say with that statement. Help me out, please. TIA, Duane
Duane…thanks for putting me on the spot. You keep me focused.
First, .I should have mentioned the Mayans who were prominently mentioned in Collapse. I forgot, and so I apologize and defer to your far more nuanced explanations.
Also, I meant that with the history of demagogues coming first for the educators, I did not want to contemplate a time when we American educators who resist fascistic takeover, are forced to drink their hemlock or be pushed into their gas chambers or placed in front of their firing squads.
Was reminded of this scenario only weeks ago with the failed Turkish coup when Erdogan immediately jailed the students and professors, thousands of them. And with the “missing 400 students” and those many teachers recently murdered in Mexico.
It is also the America of close to two million person majority that voted to reject this dark vision.
True…but the Dark Vision prevailed and it shows us that half of our citizens are ok with bigotry and violence.
Ellen: I think the “reasons” that many voted for Trump are just that: many. I have asked around just to see what people I know said about it. An older gentleman, a now-American from Iraq, said that many of his acquaintances, who are citizens but who hail from the Middle-East, voted for Trump because of what they see as power, and O’BAMA’s (as they see it) lack of it.
This, it seemed to me, shed some light on one of those “many reasons.” First, the interpretation of power as “hard” and militaristic rather than “soft” and reasoned/diplomatic, the later being what Obama is pursuing. So this speaks of a crossover of world-views about what power is? where Obama’s is more forward-looking, concretely, in the light of our increasing technical capacities and their accessibility?
Another is the assumed identity of Clinton’s with O’bama’s policies.The “line in the sand” was brought up. Many also confused Hillary with their rightly-drawn disgust with Congressional dysfunction, especially when Republicans took over the seats at Obama’s 2-year mark, coupled with Tea Party-induced closing down of the government. In the light of the acceptance of Trump’s misogyny, my guess is that there is a heavy dose of woman-hating in the mix also.
In my view, I doubt we’ll ever sort out the mountains of ignorance that went into choosing Trump. I think at the core of it, however, is the loss of history and civics in our educational systems over the last several decades.
In lieu of thinking that Trump voters are consciously self-destructive, I vote for that omission, coupled with sustained and recalcitrant ignorance of the many about the much, sprinkled with in-your-face adolescence and anti-intellectualism (those arrogant elitists), and manifest as major irresponsibility in America’s voting booths.government. “We have to do something, even if it’s wrong.”
No, it shows us that somewhere under 25% can live with bigotry and violence or don’t quite believe that a Trump presidency will necessarily support those beliefs and actions. Remember, a whole lot of people didn’t or couldn’t vote.
Thanks Catherine, for your comment above. Agree with all you present.
Analysis of recent voting patterns is open to so much that is purely subjective, as you state with your example of the Iraqi man’s views. The thought patterns of various cultures do clearly infect the process. Killing of any sort, to progressives may be anathema, whereas to other cultures is merely a means to the end.
The subject of using Drones as surrogate warriors, is to many a way to kill without having to look into the eyes of the enemy, but to others it is better way of warfare, saving the lives of our own warriors.
A conundrum.
Ellen: A conundrum indeed–and a long way to go. I think that’s why I settled in education a long time ago–speaks to the longer-term view, which seems to be the missing link whenever retrospection comes along.
Me too, Catherine. As educators we have the right and the responsibility to learn from “retrospection” and I find so many of us here are soul mates in this endeavor. And we share the yearning to pass along our information and our insights to others whom we call our students. Hopefully we will not be induced to drink from the deadly cup of the Greeks learned scholars.
Cross Posted from National Literacy Association
Statement Against Bigotry and Violence
BEGIN QUOTE then STATEMENT in FULL
Sent: Saturday, November 19, 2016 4:28 P
To: National Literacy Association
Subject: [NLA] New Jersey Association for Lifelong Learning Statement Against Bigotry and Violence
Colleagues,
This is the first public statement I have seen from an adult basic skills community condemning recently accelerated bigotry and violence in the U.S. and the ascendancy of a new administration that has, during the campaign, fanned its flames. If you are a member of a state adult education professional association, you may wish to share this statement from the New Jersey Association for Lifelong Learning, and to encourage your state adult education professional association to also speak out against bigotry and violence.
==================
New Jersey Association for Lifelong Learning
Statement Against Bigotry and Violence
The New Jersey Association for Lifelong Learning wants to make clear that we stand by our brothers and sisters who are facing the brunt of the racism, sexism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, xenophobia, homophobia and transphobia that has marked the post-election period. As an organization we denounce such behavior as at odds with our standing concern for the health, safety and happiness of our diverse society. Adult education has a long history of fighting for social justice, and this moment calls for a renewed commitment to the field’s democratic and egalitarian values. To honor the heritage of the brave learners and teachers that came before us, we must stand up to bigotry and work together to make our communities safe and welcoming.
As you are aware, there have been an alarming number of reports of violence and intimidation targeting selected communities all across the country. We have heard about countless public acts and about more personal forms of aggression carried out by roommates and classmates. It seems that no place has been spared overt and inflammatory acts of bigotry.
African-Americans have been hung in effigy, been called racial slurs to their faces and had their property defaced with racist graffiti. People have been told “get ready to start picking cotton again” and told to move to the back of the bus. Students in one school in Pennsylvania walked down the halls with a Trump sign shouting “White Power.” This is not an isolated act, as assertions of white power and white supremacy litter social media. The KKK has already announced a victory parade.
In addition to anger and bigotry aimed at African-Americans, immigrants and US citizens alike have been told to “go back to their country.” Children as young as kindergarten have been heard chanting “build the wall!” at their classmates who appear to be immigrants. Muslims, and individuals whom bigots presume to be Muslims, have been physically attacked and threatened with additional violence. Incidents of anti-Semitism have also been reported, with swastikas painted on store fronts and some Nazi flags have been seen flying.
Women have been groped and have been told that now it is legal to sexually harass them. You can even buy hats that repeat Trump’s infamous words about grabbing women by their genitalia. In addition, gays, lesbians and transgender people have also been the target of hateful language and threats. Rainbow flags have been set alight while still attached to homes, and cars have been destroyed in order to send the message that the LGBTQ community is not welcome and cannot feel safe.
None of this bigotry is new, but the sheer amount and intensity of the expressions of this hatred has fundamentally changed the country. Almost immediately, millions of our fellow Americans have started to feel increasingly afraid and vulnerable. Now is the time for all of us to stand up to bigotry, intimidation and violence.
Please contact NJALL if you have any information you would like to share, if you have ideas for actions that we can take to move forward, or if you simply need a place to connect with others who share your concerns.
njallmail@gmail.com
Omit typo: “government.”
Ed reform big shots are all lining up to kiss Trump’s ring. And these are the “Democrats”- Rhee and Moskowitz.
The Republican ed reformers are probably already planning how to spend the 20 billion in privatization money.
I resent how Donald Trump announced all public schools are “terrible”. Donald Trump doesn’t know the first thing about US public schools, but that fits the political narrative of ed reform so none of them are disputing it.
I thought these people were supposed to be researchers. They’re actually political operatives? Good to know.
Public schools should stop hiring them. They’re allied against the very existence of public schools. It’s insane to pay people who constantly undermine and lobby against existing schools. Charter schools would never do it. It’s dumb.
Would charter supporters allow him to smear charter schools like that? If Trump was running around the country saying all charter schools were terrible would ed reform push back? Of course they would. It would be front page news. But he’s smearing public schools so they’re fine with it.
And now the rigged election brings us these Tabloid Headlines.
“Trump meets with controversial school reformer Michelle Rhee – who fired 241 teachers in 2010 – as she is considered for Secretary of Education in his Cabinet
President-elect Donald Trump met with former Washington, D.C. public school chancellor Michelle Rhee who is considered to be in the running for Secretary of Education as part of his administration.
Rhee was joined by her husband, Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson for the meeting on Saturday at the billionaire businessman’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
The couple, who are both Democrats, were photographed departing the clubhouse in the afternoon after their meeting and shaking hands with Trump outside.
We’re going to have to do a lot of work educating public school parents about Betsy DeVos.
She’s been absolutely terrible for Michigan public schools, and Michigan is one of the worst ed reform states. 80% of their charters are for-profits – that’s her doing. Meanwhile, public schools in the state have either languished or gotten worse.
He could not pick a worse individual for public schools. Our schools will get hit again and again and again. DC will go from ignoring public schools to actively undermining and smearing them.
The only way public schools will survive this is if there’s an actual sweeping public rejection of ed reform dogma like we just saw in Mass. and Georgia.
People don’t hate public schools. Trump and Obama and DeVos are wrong. But it’s an echo chamber and the only way to get thru to these people is to absolutely trounce them on the local level.
“We’re going to have to do a lot of work.” Absolutely and this entire ring kissing crowd is beginning to look like the old Bush Era deck of cards. But this time, each of our cards contains a photo of the local level destroyer of Public Schools. Beneath, a few carefully chosen identifiers. “Shuttered 50 neighborhood schools. Fired 241 teachers with no due process. Slashed budgets by 30%.”
Kathy…Rhee and her child abuser husband Johnson, have been under a cloud in California for some months, since their use of our public building in Sacramento to run their own business enterprises (including their 23 charter schools) was made public info by the media.
These two believe completely in corporate welfare as long as they are the recipients…but they got an eviction notice from our legislators.
Johnson, who even wanted to run for Guv, belongs indicted as a sexual predator and other charges, and should not be not conniving with the new Prez-elect. Rhee too should have been indicted for her actions years ago as the DC Chancellor of Ed. She had only had two years as a TFA teacher in 2nd grade classes, when that political move was made…and she fired 241 teachers and principals too, without due process.
The public MUST have constant reminders of the all the crooked dealings surrounding each of the Trump picks.
My god…wolf killing Palin for Sect. of Interior, crazed illegal firings by Rhee for Sect. of Ed….and still some think he is the best of American’s candidates. It is a commentary on how many dangerous and malicious people are within our borders…and I do NOT mean undocumented Mexicans.
DeVos actually has a long and documented history in ed reform failures in Michigan, but it won’t be covered unless there’s a concerted effort to bring it to public school parents.
The Devos family have left a huge mark in western Michigan with privatization efforts. My family owns agricultural property there so I go there quite frequently. I pass a closed DeVos charter. They plunked down a huge charter school in a rural area, probably hoping they could knock the public system out completely. It failed. The school is abandoned but it’s still sitting there. They invested next to nothing in this effort- the “school” was to be housed in what is essentially a “pole barn”- pole barns are cheap, prefab buildings used to store agricultural equipment and supplies. I wouldn’t even keep farm animals in one. Too flimsy.
That story might be of interest to Mr. Trump’s rural supporters in the midwest. We’ll need photographs, and interview with locals 🙂
As a pole barn owner, I contest your description of pole barns and pre-fab buildings. Pre-fab buildings are manufactured with tight engineering specs and there are certifying agencies for the structures. When I worked for a metal building manufacturer in MA, (go Package Steel!) I learned all about those supposedly “too flimsy” buildings. They’re not flimsy at all. They have been engineered to withstand winds, earthquakes, snow loads, etc. . . . Now one may argue the aesthetics of metal buildings but I’ve seen many a metal building that unless you knew it you wouldn’t know it was a pre-engineered building.
NY Post just did a “whitewashing” on Jared Kushner claiming he is scandal free! Hmmm.. guess the fact that “daddy paid a big donation to Harvard right before he got accepted without stellar credentials” is a fact not worthy of notice. This seems to be a “Trump Effect”…
Guessing the NY Post is hoping to earn more Trump “brownie points”… here:
http://nypost.com/2016/11/20/trumps-scandal-free-son-in-law-crosses-aisle-into-his-presidency/
But then then there is that Harvard article by Valerie Strauss 🙂 :
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/11/19/trumps-influential-son-in-law-went-to-harvard-is-this-how-jared-kushner-got-in/
In the TrumpERA… clearly Strauss is “wrong”…
The NY Post, since it was sold to Murdoch, has become merely one more yellow journalism rag. Kushner’s father was sent to prison for breaking the law…he deserved to be there.
The prosecutor who sent Jared Kushner’s father to federal prison was Chris Christie. He is persona non grata in Trumpworld now.
“Charming” family that will now “represent” the US? Sure hope Stein pursues those recounts… if at least to show a HUGE IDIOTIC BULLY that The People will be monitoring his every hideous move!
This is all getting painfully stupid.
https://www.google.com/amp/www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/amp/trumpcup-protest-against-starbucks-latest-controversy-coffee-giant-n686251?client=safari
Thank you, Mr. Trump, for being an inadvertent reset button for our times, but what needs resetting is really you and your stupid posturing. You breathe and breed stupidity. The whole “look at me, I’m great, everything I do is wonderful, everything around me is the best, beautiful, terrific stuff” is about as infantile as this species gets.